A View to a Kill: (A Bird Shifter Novella) (King of Prey Book 2)
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Authors: Mandy M. Roth
About the Author, Mandy M. Roth
The Raven Books’ Complimentary Material
The Raven Books’ Complimentary Material
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A View to a Kill (A Bird Shifter Novella)
King of Prey II
Mandy M. Roth
The Raven Books
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Raven Books and all affiliate sites and projects are © Copyrighted 2004-2014
A View to a Kill: A Bird Shifter Novel © Copyright 2006-2014 by Mandy M. Roth
Cover art by Andrea Depasture, © Copyright 2014
First Electronic Printing 2006
Second Electronic Printing 2014, The Raven Books
Edited by: Angela James and Suz G.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
All books copyrighted to the author and may not be resold or given away without written permission from the author, Mandy M. Roth.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence. This book is intended for a mature audience only. Must be 18 years or older.
Published by Raven Books
www.ravenhappyhour.com
Raven Books and all affiliate sites and projects are © Copyrighted 2004-2014
Mandy M. Roth Featured Books
King of Prey (Bird Shifter Series)
King of Prey
A View to a Kill
Master of the Hunt
Rise of the King
Prince of Pleasure
Prince of Flight
The Druid Series
Sacred Places
Goddess of the Grove
Winter Solstice
A Druid of Her Own
Dark Wisdom
Temptation of the Highlander
PSI-Ops Series (Part of the Immortal Ops World)
Act of Mercy
Act of Surrender
Act of Submission
Act of Security
Act of Command
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A View to a Kill
King of Prey Series Book Two
A trained assassin…a man even the deadliest of warriors fear. To cross him is foolish. To steal his heart is pure madness.
Sachin, head advisor to the king of the Accipitridae realm, has been forced to put his trips to Earth on hold. He’s not been honest with himself or King Kabril about his need to visit the primitive planet. The king thinks him to be a womanizer, out to bed as many human females as possible.
In truth, a woman he should have been able to woo with little to no effort—his mate—has found someone else to fill that void in her life. She wasn’t supposed to be on Earth. She wasn’t supposed to be human. And she sure the hell wasn’t supposed to agree to marry another man while Sachin was away.
Sachin must make a choice, give up the one woman he knows to be his true mate and let her live in ignorant bliss of what walks among her people, or fight for what’s his, taking it at all costs. A trained assassin…a man even the deadliest of warriors fear. To cross him is foolish. To steal his heart is pure madness.
Dedication
To my readers. Thank you for being awesome!
Chapter One
Earth…
Sachin soared high in the air, satisfied after a night of hard sex with three human women. They practically threw themselves at him, as most women in this realm did. They were an itch he liked very much to scratch, even against the orders of his king and best friend, Kabril.
Kabril warned of the dangers of entering the human realm too much. There was a time in human history that his kind, the
Buteos Regalis,
and others like them were thought of as mythical creatures who would steal away with livestock and small children. The stories were absurd. A horse was too heavy to fly with, and why should he bother himself with something like that when he had only to return to the castle to a feast, already prepared. And what purpose would Sachin have with a child? They were noisy, at least from what he remembered. Accipitridae, the realm he called home, had not had a child born to it for hundreds of cycles. No one was sure as to why, but whispers of a prophecy involving the king spread like wildfire. He had to laugh at the idea of the king settling down to be with only one woman.
Sachin couldn’t fathom giving up his wicked ways to tether himself to one female for all his life. Eternity was a long time to sleep with the same woman. He shuddered at the thought.
Sachin dipped lower in his flight over the semi-wooded lands on his way to the nearest portal to Accipitridae.
“No!” The cry pierced the night. It was off in the distance but Sachin’s supernatural hearing offered him the ability to pick up on it. He scanned the area, trying to locate the source. A blast from a gun, a weapon the humans seemed to favor, went off. Another scream followed. Sachin zeroed in on the location and launched into a dive. He would worry later about humans seeing him in partially shifted form. He was part hawk, part man and they would never understand.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” a male voice came from the distance.
Sachin neared the spot of the disturbance and spotted a middle-aged man with a rifle in his hands, stalking something or someone. The man pushed greasy strands of hair from his face as he stared around, his eyes crazed. His nose was bulbous and nearly as red as his bloodshot eyes.
“Where are you, you little bitch?” the man spat.
The tiniest of whimpers caught Sachin’s attention. He landed silently several feet behind the man—the stench of alcohol and evil evident. It curled Sachin’s stomach. He drew his wings back into himself, shifting into his full human form. He stepped softly, making no sound as he advanced on the drunkard.
A gasp caught Sachin’s attention, pulling it to the right. He spotted a figure, huddled in the fetal position. Upon closer inspection, Sachin realized the figure was female and covered in blood. The fierce need to protect her at all costs consumed him. He channeled the rage he felt at the thought of the female having been harmed towards the armed man. Killing him would be a sweet victory.
The man was walking in the other direction, unable to see the female’s hiding spot. Sachin motioned to her and then put a finger to his lips to indicate the need for silence. She nodded, shaking so much her teeth chattered.
Sachin bent his head, narrowing his silver gaze. He stepped closer and touched the man’s shoulder. He spun, firing the weapon as he did. Using his forearm, Sachin knocked the barrel of the gun away and the shot went wide. The man stared up at him, his eyes wide with fear.
“Who— Where did you come from?”
A tingle of satisfaction at instilling fear in him ran through Sachin. “You dared to touch the woman?”
“Woman?” The man’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “Paige ain’t no woman.”
“She’s my woman,” Sachin said.
Stunned by his own claim, Sachin blinked, giving the man time to point the rifle at him. He fired and the shot struck Sachin in the shoulder, creating a large, gaping hole. White-hot pain radiated through him. He knocked the man away, sending him hurtling into the air. The man hit a tree and slid to the ground where he lay motionless.
Sachin twisted, his gaze snapping to the female still huddled near a tree. He cupped the wound on his shoulder with one hand. His immortality afforded him the ability to heal rapidly. Even so, the spray from the shells had done considerable damage. The healers in his realm would need to cleanse the wound before it could be allowed to fully heal over.
The woman near the tree needed his help now. Her brown eyes held shock and her shaking was worse. Sachin approached and she cried out, trying to make herself smaller.
He stilled and looked down at himself. Blood dripped freely from his right arm and he cursed himself for not thinking to shield her mind from seeing the events unfolding. Wiping his hand on his pants, he thought back to his landing when his wings had been full. Had she seen him?
“D-don’t…don’t…hurt me,” she stammered.
The idea sickened him. “I mean you no harm.”
Moonlight streaked through the treetops, casting its soft rays over her hair. If his judgment was correct, she had auburn hair. Her skin was pale, creamy and currently marred with the start of bruises. He wanted to revive the man and kill him again for daring to harm her.
Calming himself, Sachin took a step forward and bent, going to one knee. There was so much blood on her. Sachin wasn’t sure how she was alive. “Where are you hurt?”
“Not my blood,” she said, her voice low. Their gazes collided and his chest tightened. She was breathtaking, even in her current state of disarray. “My mother.”
“What about her?” Sachin reached out tentatively, worried she’d scream or pull away. She didn’t, and he began to check her over for signs of injury. Aside from the bruises, he found none.
She scrambled to him, tossing her arms around his waist, nearly causing him to lose his balance. “It’s her blood. He… Hank killed her.”
Her pain sliced through Sachin. He stroked her hair and held her close, sensing how very young she was. His guess was that she was in her late teens. She clung to him, sobbing openly. Never one who was known for comforting women, Sachin was at a loss as to what to do. He did what felt natural. He kissed the top of her head, ignoring the biting pain and the limited use of his right arm. She weighed practically nothing.
He held her until her crying stopped and she fell silent. The steady, rhythmic sound of her breathing indicated she was asleep. It was for the best. He allowed his wings to form and lifted her high into the air, already knowing where he would take her—the ranch near the portal. The one run by an older woman who took in troubled teens.
He flew, covering the distance in record time. Upon landing, he quickly shifted into human form and carried the young female to the front door. He tapped it with his foot and waited. A woman he’d seen often enough when flying overhead opened the door. Sachin expected her to question why a man she did not know was holding an unconscious woman on her doorstep. She didn’t.
She offered a soft smile and stepped back, opening the door wide. “You can lay her on the sofa.”
Sachin did.
“How bad is she hurt?”
Confused, Sachin stared at the older woman, wondering why she was so composed. “The blood is not hers. It is her mother’s.”
“Is Tandy dead?” the woman asked.
Unsure, he shrugged. “I know not who Tandy is.”
“Tandy is Paige’s mother.” The woman bent near the sofa. “This here is Paige. She helps me tend the horses on her summer breaks.” She stood. “Where are my manners? I’m Sarah, in case you forgot.”
Forgot?
Sarah smiled. “I met you when I was a little girl. You swooped out of the sky and plucked me out of the ravine I’d fallen into. You told me I was dreaming and that you weren’t real. Either I’m dreaming again, or you’re real.”
Sachin glanced around nervously. He wanted only to have the young female cared for and to be gone from the human realm. Already too much had happened. He would have a lot of explaining to do when he returned to his realm.
Sarah waved a hand in the air. “Your secret is safe with me. I didn’t tell anyone about the bird-man when I was little. I’m sure the hell not going to start now.”
“You will watch over her?” He stared at Paige, not wanting to leave her, but he’d already exposed himself too much to the humans.
“I’ll call the police and the doctor. What about Hank?”
“Hank?”
Sarah nodded. “Her mother’s boyfriend. The man I’m sure is responsible for this.”
“He is dead.” Sachin wasn’t a hundred percent sure because he’d not taken the time to verify the man was dead, but it would be difficult to survive being thrown into a tree by a supernatural.
“By your hand?” Sarah held no accusation in her voice.