Disclaimer: I own the plot and any characters you do not recognize from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes books. All characters or ideas that you do recognize from the great Vampiress Amelia's books belong to her and her alone.
Prologue
The hallway was dimly lighted by the silver crescent moon outside the undraped windows. A shadow danced across the white carpet and blended in with the black walls. Blair crept silently to the last door. This assignment was paying well, but seemed uncomfortably easy. She picked the lock with an ease that only the experienced had.
The young mercenary slid into the room carefully, trusting that her target would be knocked out cold, by the powder Blair had slipped into his drink. There across from her lay the figure of the Marcus Delore, the heir to La Tigress's throne. The tiger though very powerful shape shifters were obviously arrogant, for she had had little trouble slipping into the family's mansion.
Blair stopped and listened to Delore's light snoring. Drawing her twins stilettos and planning to slit his throat quickly, not giving him time to scream or struggle. Then after he was dead she would take his head. That was after all her trademark. She always took her targets head to her employee has proof. Thinking this a small evil smile found it's way to her face.
As Blair crept closer to the bed she froze, but only momentarily. A soft trod of padded feet came to her ears from down the hall. She covered the distance between the herself and her target in three long legged strides. Agility no longer mattered. She must get done as quickly and silently as possible. Gently pulling the blanket down to reveal Delore's throat she raised her small blades in a crossing motion.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of action. Out of the closet burst a tiger fully changed and clearly rather pissed. From the bathroom door busted two broad men wearing the family's crest. The door she had just entered through swung open, to reveal another tiger and two guards. She was surrounded, they had strategically blocked every one of her possible exits.
To do this they would have had to know that she was coming. Meaning that somebody had tipped off the family. She was suddenly angry at this anonymous someone, and allowed the emotion take over her actions.
She flung a dagger at one of the guard's heart leaping over the tiger blocking the doorway. The tiger that had appeared from the closet, however anticipated this and lunged at Blair knocking her to the ground and pinning her there.
One of the men from the bathroom came over. She recognized him as Marcus Delore the First head of La Tigress. Damn it, she was as good as dead now. Strangely, Blair felt no fear in this fact. Largely because she was too stubborn to let herself fear anything.
Another part of her, the part that was always there when she took on jobs that were suppose to be suicide missions wanted to die.
She had nothing holding her back in this world. And death couldn't possible be as bad as living, and being forever alone could it? Swiftly the man knocked her out. The last thing Blair remembered seeing was her sister's face.
Chapter One: Kissing Freedom Goodbye.
When Blair awoke she found herself shackled and bound by chains. Not that big of a surprise though, she thought trying not to let herself feel anything. Her head was sore, but she had been trained to ignore any pain that was not life threatening.
Blair carefully thought back reviewing every plan that she had made. Reviewing every detail. She had taken all the precautions possible. Where had she fucked up? She forced her memory to go back to the restaurant where she and her employer's secretary had met. She thought back to ever detail of that meeting.
Then it hit her. Jasper had been sitting in a corner. A werewolf mercenary whom she wasn't too worried about being in the Onyx guild. She had seen him meeting with Lucious as she walked out. The bitch had been spying on her!
No stop! Blair forced herself to be rational about this. Yes, Lucious wanted her dead for killing his brother, but she couldn't be sure it was him. She had made many other enemies as well. She didn't have many morals when it came to her job. She would kill anything that was worth her bother. Vampire, witch, humans, werewolf, and shape shifters, a like as long as the reward was high.
Many called her ruthless and cold. Perhaps she was, but in the world that she had grown to know and was actually rather fond of, it was either kill or be killed. The great Law of the Jungle. That was how she survived. But not always…
No, it was her training master who had taught her this three years ago. She let herself slip back into that first lesson where the cold woman stood looking her over. Blair had met her gaze, rather bold for a thirteen year old girl, but she no longer considered herself a child.
She had been hurled from the world she had been raised in, into this one. One full of killing and games of predator and prey. It had been a vampire who had killed her father and mother but she didn't hate all of the vampire kind unjustly for this one's actions.
After all it had been another vampire who had saved herself and her twin sister. Gabriel, who had been a trusted friend and business partner to her parents had managed to get the girls out of the house, hearing that another vampire was coming to massacre the family.
It had been Gabriel who toke her to the mercenary guild to be trained, and sweet Aimee to Single Earth. Sarta herself, leader of all three Buja guilds had trained Blair. The small girl had quickly grown into the deep auburn haired sea green eyed woman she was now.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps outside in the dungeon's hallway. She stiffened as her door opened and a trio of guards entered her cell. One posted herself at the door, another male in front of her probably to knock her out if she fought. The other unlocked her shackled and rebound her hands with chain cuffs clinching the cuffs tight. They pushed her in the direction of the cell door and they 'escorted' her into a wide open hall with many other humans. Many were pretty young girls some handsome boys that had all been gathered to be sold into slavery.
They expected her to be sold into slavery! She wanted to laugh at the thought. She pitied whoever wasted the money to buy her. They would not ever make her one of their sick pets and take away her freedom. First of all the trainer wouldn't be able to get into her mind and twist her thoughts around. No one could get through her barriers not even her sister when they had been tested to see how strong their magic was. And her Aimee was her own blood! Second of all she would kill herself before she let anyone take away her freedom.
Vampires and a single werewolf entered the room. She looked around and saw that she was the only person to have her escort still gathered around her guarding her. She started scanning aura's to see if their was anyone she knew. Of course there was. Maybe she wouldn't have to endure being a slave for long after all.
Suddenly she sensed Gabriel enter the room. Surely he would buy her and set her free, but what if he didn't recognize her. What if another vampire 'purchased' her before he could. She argued with herself pessimistically.
Blair was about to call out to Gabriel with her mind when she sensed an all to familiar aura. Her mind froze up and she went inside herself shielding her mind from everyone in the room.
Lucious was here. The foolish headstrong werewolf had actually come to see who bought her!
Blair's temper rose. She would rip out that lycan's heart and eat it!
She made this silent vow as a vampire stepped forward and bought her before anyone else had so much as a chance to look her over.
Jaguar heard Gabriel's faint protest in his mind. The former trainer was protesting him buying a slave! This wasn't right and he suddenly felt he had made a bad mistake. He had bought the fiery red head as a present to his beloved Eric. "Meet me in my office." he whispered as he past Gabriel going to pay for his new slave.
To the guards he silently ordered them to knock the woman out. Best to not have her struggling as he took her to Midnight and her new home. He would hate to have to damage such a perfect gift.