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    Deadly Shades of Gold
    Deadly Shades of Gold
    Deadly Shades of Gold
    Ebook148 pages2 hours

    Deadly Shades of Gold

    By Laura Harner and T.A. Webb

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    About this ebook

    “Wolf or vamp? Decide. It has to be now.”

    Those were the last words Sam Garrett ever heard—as a human. Now on the para side of normal, the NOPD slammed the proverbial door on his career.

    Travis Boudreaux knows exactly how his former partner feels—but when some doors close, the golden window of opportunity opens. Crimes against supernaturals require a new and different approach, and once the Feds show up, the Odd Squad isn’t the only law enforcement game in town.

    After a revenge-seeking vampire creates deadly havoc, the new agent-in-charge is on a recruiting mission—and he’s more than ready to fight fire with fire. What do you get when you mix old friends, new enemies, and a license to kill?

    Pure dynamite.

    Warning: This is an erotic urban fantasy. In this series the vampires don’t sparkle, werewolves kill, and the men sometimes have sex. With each other.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLaura Harner
    Release dateFeb 20, 2013
    ISBN9781937252311
    Deadly Shades of Gold
    Author

    Laura Harner

    Laura lives on waterfront property in Arizona because she's always wanted to be an oxymoron. She once enjoyed hobbies such as gardening and travel—now the characters in her head compel her to tell their stories, so she writes. (It doesn't actually help quiet the voices—but it keeps the folks in the white jackets at bay.)She shares her home with an ever-revolving cast of characters—some of whom are actually real—and is living her dream of building her own version of the Willow Springs Ranch.With over fifty published novels and novellas, Laura is an international bestselling author of erotic romances, romantic suspense, urban fantasy, and Highland romances. Her books can be found at all major online retailers.Connect with her online at:http://lauraharner.com

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      Book preview

      Deadly Shades of Gold - Laura Harner

      Deadly Shades of Gold

      Altered States: III

      Laura Harner and T.A. Webb

      Deadly Shades of Gold is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Copyright © 2013 by Laura Harner and T.A. Webb

      Edited by Jae Ashley

      Cover Art by Laura Harner

      All rights reserved.

      Smashwords Edition Published in the United States by Hot Corner Press.

      ISBN: 978-1-937252-23-1

      Warning: All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

      Contact the publisher for further information: Hotcornerpress@gmail.com

      Dedication

      To Laura, who is simply the best friend/writing partner/lady ever. Bar none. To Havan Fellows for her wonderful ideas, and who loves these guys. To Talon, whose voice still rings in my head and heart. To my dad—89, still a force of nature and proud of his gay son. I love you.

      Tom

      For our readers…

      I would also like to give a special thank you to Havan Fellows, Lee Brazil, and Will Parkinson—this book is better because of each of you. And to the twin of my heart, a big bear hug for the laughter, the tears, and the crazy ideas. Love you, Tom.

      Laura

      Acknowledgements

      The authors acknowledge the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following trademarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

      Corona: Cerveceria Modelo, S.A. De C.V.

      Glock: Glock, Inc.

      Husker: Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska

      Easy-Bake Oven: Hasbro, Inc.

      Jeep: Chrysler Group, LLC

      iMac: Apple, Inc.

      Elvis Presley (specifically, Teddy Bear): Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

      Contents

      Dedication

      Acknowledgements

      Prologue

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      About the Author

      Also Available

      Prologue

      Sam should have been watching. Goddammit—he knew better, but he’d been too busy trying to frame the perfect opening sentence so Travis would listen to him. Something eloquent and wise and so very un-Sam-like. He didn’t even feel the first attack.

      Slowing slightly, he’d stepped into the shadows three doors down from Travis’s home. There was a whoosh of wind, the feeling of something brushing him, then a cold, wet feeling against his neck.

      He wasn’t sure if the noise he made was out loud or just in his head…and how the fuck did he land on his back on the ground? When a beautiful woman’s face appeared over him, he wondered, just for a moment, if she might be an angel. Until he saw the teeth.

      "Ah, mon cher, such a pretty boy. Nothing personal, oui?" she crooned, then leaned down to lick at his neck. He was already light-headed, and the coldness that was on his neck suddenly became a razor sharp pain. He looked at his hand, which had been at his neck a moment earlier and saw it covered with blood.

      Ah hell. I will never get to tell Trav I’m sorry.

      He heard a howl, like the devil’s own hounds, and thought maybe they were coming for him, too. A stark black blur crossed his field of vision and suddenly the soft lovely voice of the vamp was screaming and horrible tearing sounds came from mere feet away.

      He closed his eyes, just for a moment, and when he opened them again, familiar faces were looking down at him.

      Danny. What a fine partner and a really good friend. He trusted him like no one else and wished he could take back the rough words they’d had this morning. He tried to smile to let him know he was sorry.

      Russ. Well, he wasn’t exactly a friend, but he could have been. Missed hitting the sheets with that one…he must have been a very bad boy in another life. Ah, the random thought crossed his now-fuzzy mind that the blur of black who pulled that bitch off his neck must have been Jet. He tried to wink, but was really too tired.

      And besides, he needed to try, one last time, to tell his friend how he felt before he was gone. He was under no illusions, he could feel the cold settling in his bones and the slow draining of his life through the hole in his neck.

      The hole that Travis was frantically trying to hold together with his hands. He saw the struggle in his friend’s eyes. The blood must be calling to him and yet he was practically wrist deep in Sam’s essence, his concern winning out over hunger. He tried to communicate the regret he felt for the lost two years, laying his own hand on top of Trav’s one last time. He hoped it was a smile on his face—he needed Trav to understand. Please, forgive me.

      As he closed his eyes for what he was sure would be the last time, he heard Danny’s voice cut through the night.

      Wolf or vamp? Decide. It has to be now.

      *

      All Sam knew was pain. And the dark…he knew the dark. He never considered that darkness had a smell before, but he could smell it, taste it, feel it on his skin now. He tried to swallow, but his throat was so dry it hurt. He ran a sandpaper tongue around his mouth and froze at an unfamiliar sharpness, but before he could process the physical change, there was the sound of loud voices from somewhere nearby. An argument over…him?

      I don’t care what the fuck you think. We did what we had to do! That was Russ’s voice.

      I’m telling you, he’s not going to be happy. You need to let me talk to him. I can— A calm, relatively reasoned response from Trav? What the fuck was he doing here? For that matter, where was here? The argument heated up.

      Can what, Boudreaux? Tell him how to fucking hide? How to give up on life because things didn’t turn out the way he planned? Jet’s voice was heavy with sarcasm.

      Sam tried to sit up, but realized he was restrained, tied to the fucking bed like some kind of…crazy person or monster. What was going on? What was so wrong that they put him in the dark and left him alone? He struggled to remember while the argument raged in some other part of wherever-the-hell he was.

      Not all of us can be so lucky as to have their maker explain the bare necessities, Trav said. His voice took on that strident tone, the one that warned everyone to watch out. "Try sitting up at your own damn wake and see how well you function, you overgrown hairball. Now, instead of giving me shit about my life choices, how about we focus on the more important issue at hand, huh?"

      Excellent point. Jet, enough. The command in Russ’s voice made Sam stop struggling against the straps holding him in place. Travis, I think it might be best if you talk to Sam first. He was obviously in front of your house; he must have been coming to see you. The truth might not be as much of a shock if it comes from you. But you should try to wake him soon; we didn’t tie him with anything stronger than rope. We don’t want to freak him out any more than necessary.

      In front of Trav’s house? Why would he have been there? He needed to stop and think. He let his mind settle, and tried to remember. The last thing he could recall was deciding to tell his friend how sorry he was for being such a giant dick to him after Trav tried to attack him in a fit of bloodlust. He’d gone there to apologize. Then…something. He was on the ground, looking up and some woman was hurting him and then Travis was there, then the pain, the blood, and his friends arguing over how to save him.

      Was that why he was tied and left alone in some back room? What was he now? Vampire? Werewolf? His heart began to pound, and he tried to reach out with his senses to find out. The dark had texture and depth to his eyes, and he knew he could hear more than he used to be able to. And what was that smell? His head jerked to what he now realized was an open window, and a warm and tangy scent caught his nose. He could hear something thrashing around not far away, and it must have caught its leg, because the coppery, hot musk of blood began to fill the room, and his mouth began to water.

      Everything else faded away except the odor of blood and the need to feed. Sam was barely aware of licking his elongated canines when his body began to change. First, the long muscles of his arms and legs began to strengthen and twist, and his chest began to expand. The ropes holding him in place began to strain and then broke, and his body lengthened. He rolled off the bed onto the floor, hitting it on what he thought were his hands and knees but were in fact four huge paws.

      He blinked at his reflection in the window. Well, now I know I’m werewolf and not vamp.

      He should be freaked out, or grateful for being alive, and some part of him was, he supposed. But then another waft of bloody hare hit his senses and with a mighty leap, he crashed through the partially opened window to give chase to the injured animal. The noise of his escape alerted his friends, he tracked with a part of his consciousness, and he heard them throw open the door to his room and shout for him. But he needed to feed. And his prey was trying to escape.

      God, it felt good to stretch his limbs and run. The night was dark and almost moonless, but with his wolf’s vision, his path was clear. For the first time he saw how the undergrowth teemed with life. How the first hints of spring were escaping from under the bark of the trees. How scents had taste, and now, how intoxicating the aroma of blood was to his wolf.

      Sam spotted his prey, frantically trying to escape under a fallen log. Throwing his head back and issuing a growl of triumph, Sam leapt and grabbed the large hare and snapped its neck before ripping out its throat. Reveling in the kill, Sam tore the hare to pieces and swallowed every tasty morsel. Hunger finally sated, Sam threw back his head and howled his pleasure into the night. The answering calls of his brother wolves prickled at his consciousness as he licked his bloody maw and tasted…life. And death.

      Chapter One

      The leather soles of Sam’s shoes slapped against the linoleum as he paced the hallway outside the hearing room. He’d never been particularly good at waiting. In the three months since his…accident, it felt as if he’d done nothing but wait. One way or the other, it all ended today.

      Detective Sam Garrett? The grandmotherly face of Stella Walker peered through a small opening in the door. As secretary to the chief of

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