On Jason's Watch [Paladin Protection Agency 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

“I—will—not—do—this.” She panted each word like a prayer. Her voice was rough and the words were distorted as she tried to speak around the changes the creature within had already brought about. She knew that her newly grown fangs and other alterations had twisted her face into something less than human.

The lighter wolf made a noise that she swore was a chuff of laughter, and then it turned and vanished into the night. The darker wolf stared at her for another heartbeat, and then it followed its pack-mate into the darkness. It was only as they turned to go that her eyes picked out the detail that confirmed her greatest fear. They were both missing their tails. That meant there weren’t wolves loose in Seattle at all. There were werewolves. There were werewolves here, and they’d recognized her for what she was. The shock of that realization helped her force back the changes. She managed to lock up her wolf once more and sealed it behind walls built of will alone.

She hadn’t seen another werewolf since the attack that had left her an orphan, nearly eleven years ago. As the burning pain receded and her humanity returned, Jazz turned and ran to her car. She went straight through every puddle along the way, no longer caring about wet feet or anything else. Soaked to the bone and shaking, she threw herself into her car and locked the doors. “I’m in trouble,” she whispered to herself as she curled up in the seat of her car, shaking from fatigue, shock, and cold. “They’ve found me.”

Chapter 1

“Welcome back, sir.” The guard at the security checkpoint greeted Jase and handed back Jase’s ID card before gesturing for him to drive on.

“Don’t call me sir!” Jase barked at him as he rolled up the window and hit the gas, making the tires squeal just slightly as he launched the ’69 Shelby Mustang into the parking garage. “I swear the only reason Remington agreed to promote me was because he knew I would hate it.”

He pulled into his parking spot and turned off the engine. He gave the steering wheel an affectionate pat as he exited. “Sorry, baby, I know it’s not your fault. Maybe next weekend we’ll go spend some quality time at the raceway, sound good?”

Sinjin’s familiar voice rumbled in greeting, interrupting Jase’s musings. “If you treated women half as well as you treat that car, your girlfriends would likely stick around longer.”

“If my girlfriends were half as much fun as my baby, I’d want to keep them around longer,” Jase shot back as he turned around to greet his best friend and the supervisor of his division. “Hey, Sin, how’s it going? Has Michelle come to her senses yet? I’m still waiting for her to realize she’s settling for second best.”

“In your dreams, lover boy. We’re soul mates, remember? I’m her destiny.” The big man grinned. “You can’t argue with fate.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t argue with fate either if it dropped a long-legged blonde babe in my lap. Oh, and a rich one to boot. How the hell did you get so lucky?”

“I don’t know,” Sin answered, his expression turning serious. “But I’m glad I did. One of these days, you’ll find your destiny. Anya said so. I feel sorry for your future lady love already. Wherever she may be.”

“Thanks a bunch.” Jase grabbed his duffel bag out of the trunk and fell in beside Sinjin. “So what did I miss while I was gone?”

“Nothing too exciting. Jake managed to blow up one of the new servers. He swears it was a hardware flaw and had nothing to do with his tinkering. Oh, and we handled a minor poltergeist problem for the CEO of a major software firm over in Oregon. It’s been pretty quiet.” Sin slanted him a look Jase knew meant he already knew the answer. “How did things go with you?”

“I had to let Jackson go.”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“He’s got a vicious streak, Sin. I don’t know how he managed to hide it from recruiting. He’s got all the skills, but he likes the rough stuff too much. He was too busy looking to start a fight to be watching for real trouble. I know he’s got experience with some of the paranormal stuff, but I still think we’d be better off recruiting Paladin employees and teaching them what they need to know. They already know how to protect a client. We just need to expand their horizons a bit.”

“Agreed” was all Sin said, but Jase felt a quick wash of relief. Dismissing their newest recruit had been his first serious decision as a member of Paladin’s management. He had really hoped it wasn’t going to be his last.

“Glad to hear it.” They stepped into the elevator just as Jase’s cell went off, filling the small space with the soundtrack to
Ghostbusters
. “Your girlfriend is calling me.” He dug out his phone, laughing at the grumpy look on his best friend’s face.

“Hello, sweet thing. You rang?”

“Hi, Jase. By any chance is Sin with you? You remember him, right? Big, dark hair, hates it when you call me nicknames?”

“Yeah, he’s here, glowering at me as we speak. I really don’t know what you see in him.”

“Right now, neither do I. He’s forgotten to turn his cell on again. Will you be a dear and remind him he’s due to meet a new client in twenty minutes?”

“You bet, sugarlips.”

“He’s going to kill you for that…Oh and, Jase? You’re supposed to be at this meeting, too. Don’t be late.”

Jase ended the call and looked at Sin. “She says she loves me best, and you forgot to turn on your phone again. Apparently, we have a meeting with a new client in twenty minutes.”

“I hate that thing. It’s like being on an electronic leash twenty-four-seven,” Sin grumbled and tugged his phone out of his pocket. “Oh man, she called four times. I’m going to pay for that.”

“Lucky man. You go on ahead and make up with the missus. I need to clean up if we’re meeting a client. You never know, she might be hot.”

“Remington’s rule number three, Jase.” Sin rumbled a warning as he stepped out of the elevator. “Never get involved with a damsel in distress.”

“Yeah, ’cause that one never works out, right Sin?” Jase laughed as he ducked out of the elevator and headed down the hall to his office. Sinjin had met his girlfriend Michelle while she was being haunted by the malicious spirit of her ex-boyfriend. Breaking the rules of Geoff Remington, the owner of Paladin security, had led to Sin being happily in love. Jase figured it wouldn’t be long before his former wingman was heading for the altar.

There’d been a time he would have felt sorry for his friend and his impending loss of freedom. But if Jase wanted to be honest with himself, he knew what he really felt when he looked at Sin and Michelle was envy.

He dumped his bag into an empty corner of his office and headed to the back of the room. “You’re going soft.” Jase laughed at himself as he stripped down to his briefs and grabbed a pair of dress slacks, a shirt, and a tie out of the dry-cleaning hanging in his closet. Leaving his more upscale wardrobe at the office beat having to come to work in a shirt and tie every day. He tossed his jeans and sweater into his duffel bag and checked his watch. He had just enough time to get dressed and get organized for this client meeting. Michelle would not be happy with him if he was late.

* * * *

Paladin wasn’t at all what she’d expected so far. From the guard who checked her in at the parking lot entrance to the well-appointed reception area she’d been escorted to, the whole place had given her a sense of calm and security. It was the first time she’d felt safe since the month before, when the werewolf pack had first crossed her path. Since then she’d seen them three more times. And more than once she’d caught their scent without spotting them. Last night she’d seen one of them skulking in the bushes just beside the gates of her house. It had been watching her car as she had arrived home after a long day at work. She’d backed out and driven away again and gone straight to a hotel, registering under a fake name and paying with cash. If they had tracked her to her home, then they had her name and god knew what other information. They were hunting her now. She knew what that meant. There were not many hard facts known about werewolves. Mostly it was just folklore and fantasy. In all the years of research she’d invested into learning about the curse she carried, she’d learned only a handful of verifiable truths. Silver didn’t affect her. Werewolves did not have tails. And once on the hunt, werewolves never stopped coming until they brought down their prey.

She’d called Paladin first thing this morning and asked for their help. She’d done her homework. She knew they were one of the few options she had for protection, but now that she was here, it was hard to imagine how she would be able to sit in a room full of strangers and explain to them she needed protection from a bunch of werewolves.
And let’s not forget the bit where I tell them the reason they’re after me is because I’m one, too.

She was still working out how she was going to explain her situation when an elegant, friendly looking blonde woman walked into the reception area and smiled at her. “Jasmine Masters?”

Jazz smiled in greeting and stood up. “Please, call me Jazz. Everyone does.”

“Hello, Jazz. I’m Michelle. I’m sort of the official meeter-and-greeter of this operation. I thought maybe you and I could talk for a few minutes before I brought in the guys.”

Jazz found herself being escorted into a small boardroom and tried to keep a lid on her nerves. “This is quite the place you have here. I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting, but I know this wasn’t it.”

Michelle laughed and nodded in agreement. “I had the same reaction the first time I came here. I’m going to pour myself some coffee. Would you like anything?”

“Coffee would be wonderful, thank you. I didn’t sleep much last night, and I could use the caffeine.”

A moment later, she had a cup of rich-smelling coffee in her hands and she was seated at a circular table with Michelle sitting across from her. “When you made your appointment, you said that your problem was a unique one and you had heard we might be able to help. That’s why I’m here to meet with you. We have a special division here at Paladin, one that deals with…unique problems. I want you to know that everything you tell us will be held in the strictest confidence. Even if you don’t choose to employ Paladin, we’ll protect your privacy.” The blonde woman’s smile softened, and she leaned in a bit closer. “I had my ex-boyfriend’s spirit haunting me for a time, and he was not the friendly sort of ghost. Paladin helped me then, and I am sure we can help you, too.”

Jazz blinked in shock. “You were haunted? Seriously?”

“I swear it really happened. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced. But he’s been banished, and I don’t have to be afraid any longer. I hope we can help you feel the same way.”

Jazz blew out a puff of air and folded her hands on the table in front of her. “I hope so, too. What does your company know about werewolves?” Jazz watched the other woman’s face, waiting for her to break into laughter or to tell her to get out and stop wasting her time on a joke.

Instead, Michelle tipped her head to the side thoughtfully and then took a sip of her coffee before answering. “So they’re real, then? We didn’t have confirmation on their existence yet, but we’d been told it was likely.”

“You believe me?” Relief flooded through her.

“You haven’t said much yet,” Michelle prompted her. “But yes, I accept that werewolves exist. The more important question is, do you have a werewolf problem?”

“Oh, you could say that, yes. I crossed paths with a few of them outside my gym last month and ran them off. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay gone. I’ve been seeing them around ever since. Last night they were waiting for me at the gates to my house. I turned the car around and headed to a hotel for the night and called you guys first thing this morning. If they’ve found my home, they know who I am.”

Michelle was watching her, her brows arched slightly. “Go back a bit please. You ran them off? How many? And how did you manage to do that?”

“There were two that first night.” Jazz’s fingers tightened, and she could see her fingertips turning white from the pressure. “And yes, I ran them off. I…” She trailed off and lowered her eyes to the table, hardly able to believe she was going to say the words aloud. “I was able to run them off because I’m not human. Not anymore. I’ve been a werewolf since I was fifteen.”

Jazz waited for Michelle to push back from the table and run from the room, or at the very least call for security to come in. She’d just admitted to being a monster after all. It was the most unexpected thing in the world for her to feel the other woman’s hand cover hers. She nearly flinched away from that sudden contact. When she lifted her eyes to Michelle’s face and saw nothing there but concern, Jazz burst into tears of relief.

* * * *