After Dark Read online

  And son of a bitch, he’d backed her into a dead end. She’d let her guard down, and the bastard had cornered her.

  She bared her canines, growling from deep within her throat. The hunter strode closer. Shadows covered his face, but she could see his gun pointed at her head. The silver dagger he’d pulled from his coat flashed in the streetlights. Her heart pounded in fear, knowing the fate she would be subjected to if she didn’t fight fast.

  Frankie’s tail bumped the wall, surprising herself; she hadn’t realized she’d backed away in the first place. The hunter maintained the upper ground, holding the fighting advantage. Even if she lunged for him, his dagger would pierce right through her chest. Anger and rage filled her, and she snarled, dying to rip his throat out. But her sense of logic prevailed. She would wait until the right moment, when he thought she was weak, then speed-shift—her specialty.

  A shiver ran down her spine as her limbs and muscles contorted. Pleading wasn’t her style, but it was worth a chance. A loud howl escaped her lips, slowly transitioning into the cry of a pained woman as she shifted. She fell back against the brick wall behind her, bare flesh scraping the pavement.

  The hunter stepped closer, his gun barrel held steady. A streak of rage rushed through her.

  On the average day she could handle this, but now she was knee-deep in trouble and shit out of luck. Damn estrus always clouded her judgment. Hell, she’d even warned her pack against doing anything stupid. And on the list of stupid things to do, hunting a supernatural serial killer on her own while in estrus ranked number one by far.

  And now he clearly thought she herself was that same killer, who he’d obviously been hunting himself.

  She scanned the alley. Sheer brick walls, a couple of Dumpsters too far away to offer protection and nothing in the garbage lying around that she could use as a weapon. Nothing that would help her escape, and there was no way in hell she could dodge around him when she was cornered like this.

  She lifted her hands and held them up, palms out. She wasn’t below milking the helpless female card. Not if it saved her ass.

  Draw him in. Pretend you’re weak. Then finish him off and get the hell outta Dodge.

  He hovered in the near shadows, a massive black silhouette, nothing visible but the width of his body and the gun still trained on her. Yeah, there was no missing that.

  * * * * *

  To see what happens next, don’t miss Kait Ballenger’s TWILIGHT HUNTER,

  available in September wherever Harlequin HQN Books are sold.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  A huge thanks to all of the following people:

  To my super agent, Nicole Resciniti, for dealing with all my neurotic tendencies and having the most awesome agent editorial chops I’ve ever encountered. Nic, thanks for taking a chance on this young, inexperienced writer and being my greatest cheerleader every step of the way. Having you for an agent has been a true blessing, and has changed my life for the better. You are both a great business partner and a great friend. I know we’re both in this for the long haul. I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I’ll be forever grateful.

  To my lovely editor, Leslie Wainger, and to the head of the HQN imprint, Tara Parsons, thank you for championing my work and for believing in the heroes of the Execution Underground. Leslie, thank you for giving me the final polishing touches on my manuscripts and for being my guide through the crazy publishing process. I couldn’t ask for a kinder editor to help me through my journey.

  To my first writing mentor, Mark Powell, for telling me I was good enough to build a writing career and for making me believe it. Mark, I may not be writing literary fiction, but I hope you’re proud of me and enjoy this book all the same.

  To my writing friends and mentors at Spalding University: you all rock! Special thanks to Rebekah Harris for reading this before it was polished. Rebekah, you’re a fantastic friend and hopefully I will find myself in the acknowledgments of your debut YA novel in the near future.

  To Dr. Thebaud and Dr. Romain, thank you for restoring my health when I needed it most and for always keeping my well-being in mind. You’ve seen me at my worst but lifted me to my best. My family and I are beyond thankful.

  To the best author girlfriends I could ever ask for, Cecy Robson and Kate SeRine. Thank you for holding me up every time I need it. I hope to always call you both my friends. And to my good friend and dance guru, Hollie Ruiz, for being such an enthusiastic fan and cheering for me: shimmying equals happiness. You’re a great friend and a beautiful person. You inspire me.

  To one of my best friends on the planet and the most awesome critique partner ever, Britt Marczak. Thank you for being there for me every step of the way. You read about Jace and the E.U. heroes when they weren’t decent to see the light of day, but you loved them nonetheless. I don’t know if I would have pushed through Jace’s book without you.

  To my pets: Sookie, Olivia and Elliot, for keeping me company in my office and being my favorite lazy editors—writing isn’t the same without you interrupting me every five seconds and walking across my keyboard.

  To my family (both immediate and extended) for supporting me in every single endeavor, I know that at the end of every day, no matter what has happened, you will all always love me and continue to support me. Mama, you believed in me. You believed in my writing way before it was any good, from that first butterfly book we made when I was little, to my sixth grade stories, through the first drafts of my first novels, all the way to where I am now and beyond. You’re my best friend. You brought me into this world, and you’ve been the one to hold me up ever since. I love you.

  To my husband, Jon, for sticking with me through all the ups and downs of the deadline for this book, for cooking dinner and cleaning the house when I’m too stressed out to do so, even in the face of a forty-hour work week. More importantly, honey, thank you for teaching me what it’s really like to fall in love. I’m looking forward to spending our lives together, for better and for worse, until we are old and gray. I love you more with each passing day.

  And greatest thanks be to God with Whom anything is possible. You rain down blessings on me every day, Lord.

  ISBN: 9781460315200

  AFTER DARK

  Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

  THE DARKEST ANGEL

  This is the revised text of the work, which was first published under license by Harlequin Enterprises Limited in 2010.

  Copyright © 2010 by Gena Showalter

  Revised text Copyright © 2013 by Gena Showalter

  SHADOW HUNTER

  Copyright © 2013 by Kaitlyn Ballenger

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

>   Harlequin.com