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Prologue
The light had given way to an unprecedented darkness: a flash of heat, a taste of sulfur, then nothing but fire.
The pain was constant. It drifted over his skin like black mist, sliding across flesh and caressing every inch of it, full of an evil that both fed upon and nourished him.
It sustained a need that grew stronger every day he was in this hellhole.
And it was hell, of that there was no question.
At the edge of Julian Castille’s vision a shape lingered, drifting, out of focus, ethereal. Watching . . . waiting, until it was time. Then she would carefully slice into his chest, peel back a piece of skin, and resume her position.
To wait once more.
For the day he’d finally break.
Chapter 1
Six Months Later
Jaden DaCosta knew she was in trouble about ten seconds before the door opened.
It was in the air she dragged deep into her lungs and the electricity that ran along with it, pulsing, burning, as it slid down.
She whipped her head around, eyes scanning with quick, cool precision, and dove behind the sofa just as a click echoed into the darkened penthouse.
Her heart slowed automatically, and she relaxed her limbs, calling the shadows to her as she slid forward on her belly. Fingers felt along her waist to cradle the edge of the charmed dagger there, and her senses sharpened as the animal inside awakened.
The door swung open slowly, sweeping across cool tiles and allowing a thin beam of light to fall into the dim interior. She saw a shadow reflected on the floor as long moments passed. It was impressive, and she gritted her teeth in anticipation.
And then he was there, striding into the room as if he owned the place.
Jaden gripped the dagger tightly. She inhaled the stench of otherworld, yet it was somehow different, already fading fast.
The intruder paused, his tall frame humming with an energy that was unlike any she’d ever come across. There was a familiarity to it that tugged at something deep inside her.
As he kicked the door shut, she watched in silence, wincing at the harsh echo as it slammed back against the frame.
The man held still for a few moments, then his head turned slowly. He paused, his nostrils flared. Her breath caught at the back of her throat. Would he be able to smell her through the charm that masked her scent?
Who the hell is he? What the hell is he?
The stranger relaxed a bit and rotated his neck, running his hands through thick hair that hung in waves to his shoulders. Power clung to him, gripping his tall form hungrily, electrifying the air.
It was tinged with a darkness that was hard to read.
After a few moments, he headed toward the kitchen, and the fridge door swung open at his command. Jaden could have saved him the bother. She’d already checked it out, and no one had been inside the penthouse since Julian Castille had pulled a Copperfield and disappeared into thin air. The food was either moldy, dated, or dried up.
The shrill echo of a cell phone pierced the silence, and she bit her tongue as her body jerked. The coppery taste of blood flooded her mouth, and her eyes narrowed as the stranger answered the call.
“Yeah.” His voice was low, husky. He straightened, running a hand along the back of his neck as he rolled his shoulders and listened. Jaden strained to hear, but even with her enhanced senses, she couldn’t pick up anything.
“I just got in.” He sounded weary, and she inched forward slowly to get a better look but froze as he turned once more and headed toward her hiding place, stopping a few feet away.
There was something about the man that called to her, and Jaden was finding it harder to remain calm and undetected.
She studied his profile, her gaze running over the aristocratic nose, high cheekbones, and a mouth that, even from this angle, was to die for.
Inside, the cat erupted, and she broke out in a sweat as her skin began to burn and itch. The tattoos along the side of her neck became inflamed, the nerves pinched and sensitive.
Son of a bitch! It couldn’t be . . .
“It’s bearable,” he said as he ran his hand over his chest. He nodded in answer to whatever was being said on the other end before whispering harshly, “Don’t worry, I’m ready. Tomorrow we hunt.”
He threw the cell phone onto the sofa where it landed with a thud. Jaden’s heart was pounding so hard it was a miracle he couldn’t hear it.
Julian Castille back from the Twilight Zone? Was it possible? Had the bastard managed to survive whatever the hell he’d disappeared into?
She ignored the rush of heat that rippled over her flesh as she struggled to keep it together. The man who’d haunted her dreams for the last three years stood not more than a few feet away, very much alive, when she’d thought him dead.
As much as Jaden loathed him, deep inside her soul the jaguar was singing, wanting nothing more than to mate. To claim once more the man who’d awakened her spirit and bonded with her jaguar. The man who’d given her one amazing night of pleasure, then rejected her.
How pathetic.
Jaden’s cheeks stung with a sharp slap of humiliation as she recalled the look of disgust that had crossed his face when he’d realized what she was.
No one had ever made her feel like that before. Like dirt. Like less than dirt.
So many questions crowded her head, but she pushed them away so she could concentrate. Something was off. This wasn’t the Julian Castille she remembered. Nope. Back in the day, he’d been total GQ, hot for sure, but polished and boardroom ready. This man? He was edgy, dark—the word sinister came to mind.
She watched as he crossed to his bedroom and paused in the entrance, his head cocked to the side for a moment. He then padded over to the large bed just beyond and stripped the shirt from his body before slipping the jeans from his hips.
Jaden’s mouth went dry. She couldn’t take her eyes from him as he stood there, tall, fierce, buck naked with nothing but moonbeams through the window caressing his taut, powerful frame. He’d packed on some serious muscle since she’d last seen him.
She bit her lips once more to stifle the groan that now sat inside her mouth. Her jaguar was chomping at the bit, wanting out, and a wave of dizziness rippled th
rough her skull.
