Demon Hunter Sophie Sinclair and ex-Homicide Detective Ryan Campbell are pitted against one another, tested by mysterious forces in a dangerous game of secret identities, contracts for murder and past betrayals.
Sophie Sinclair was presumed dead. When an enemy’s transmitter reveals her existence, she must return home to bargain for her ex-lover’s life and face the unanswered questions from her past.
Ryan Campbell is a reluctant fighter. Bitter since his father’s murder, he wants nothing to do with the paranormal world. When his act of betrayal is discovered, he must do the unthinkable to save his life.
Duty above love, duty above family and to protect the weak from the strong. Sophie has always lived by her family’s motto. Will she choose to protect the ex-lover from her past or the reluctant fighter who could be her future? She can save only one man.
Sophie Sinclair sprinted toward the house on the other side of the clearing. She was a shadow in the night, a figure dressed in black from her military-style boots to the parka hood that covered strands of her long hair. She’d wasted three minutes driving around the Portland neighborhood in search of the distinct aura, two to race from her truck to the house holding that aura, and a second to break the back door handle with her gloved hand.
In the kitchen, she faltered. A man stood over a teenage girl’s lifeless body. When he saw her, he smirked and tilted his knife. Blood dripped off its edge. A second late. One crucial second. She gritted her teeth and pushed down the urge to cut his head off. She needed answers and this bastard would be the one who gave them to her. Like a million wings fluttering, the drone in her stomach intensified, warning her that a creature from Hell invaded her space. He appeared human, yet his outward appearance was an illusion, and his aura blared red. The girl’s killer was a demon. Sophie unsheathed one of her swords and with a flick of her wrist, the blade expanded.
The creature stumbled back. “Shadow Watcher. A weapon of the gods.”
“You forgot two more,” she said and flashed him a wry grin.
His gaze raked over the length of her body. “And what would that be, little lady?”
Sophie tightened her grip on her sword’s hilt. “Tonight, I’m your judge and executioner. Xavier Black, I hereby sentence you to death for crimes committed against humans and Shadow Watchers.”
His face contorted into ugly, sinister lines. Black spat on the girl, and Sophie couldn’t help but look down. Terror and fear stared back at her in the girl’s now vacant eyes. So young. Fire burned in her veins, and she glared at Black. Black was big and tall, at least six-foot-two, and taking him down wouldn’t be easy. His eyes shifted to a spot above her shoulder. The back door.
“I’ll give you a head start,” she said. “I think it’s only fair.”
Black snickered, sheathed his knife and put his hands up as though to surrender. But when Sophie stepped forward, he barged past and bolted out the door. Coward. She ran after him, into the woods. Though the hour was eleven at night, it could’ve been the middle of a sunny afternoon— her sight was clear, as was the demon’s. He was a creature from Hell, born from darkness. It made sense that he would see the light of day in the pitch black of night. And it was fitting of her gods to gift her with the same ability.
Sophie followed him to a grouping of trees where deep mud from earlier rain saturated the ground. Black circled her and reached back for his sword. He attacked, and an image of silver flashed before her eyes mere seconds before she deflected his sword with her own. Again and again, he advanced, each strike an echo of metal against metal. He sank in the mud and moving quickly, she thrust her blade deep inside his stomach. Silence.