Living on the Edge Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Teaser chapter

  Praise for Shannon K. Butcher and the Sentinel Wars Novels

  Finding the Lost

  “Exerts much the same appeal as Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series, what with tortured heroes, the necessity of finding love or facing a fate worse than death, hot lovemaking, and danger-filled adventure.”

  —Booklist

  “A terrific grim thriller with the romantic subplot playing a strong supporting role. The cast is powerful as the audience will feel every emotion that Andra feels from fear for her sister to fear for her falling in love. Finding the Lost is a dark tale, as Shannon K. Butcher paints a forbidding, gloomy landscape in which an ancient war between humanity’s guardians and their nasty adversaries heats up in Nebraska.”

  —Alternative Worlds

  “A very entertaining read . . . the ending was a great cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series . . . a fast-paced story with great action scenes and lots of hot romance.”

  —The Book Lush

  “Butcher’s paranormal reality is dark and gritty in this second Sentinel Wars installment. What makes this story so gripping is the seamlessly delivered hard-hitting action and wrenching emotions. Butcher is a major talent in the making.”

  —Romantic Times

  Burning Alive

  “Starts off with nonstop action. Readers will race through the pages, only to reread the entire novel to capture every little detail . . . a promising start for a new voice in urban fantasy/paranormal romance. I look forward to the next installment.”

  —A Romance Review (5 Roses)

  “This first book of the Sentinel Wars whets your appetite for the rest of the books in the series. Ms. Butcher is carving her way onto the bestseller lists with this phenomenal nonstop ride that will have you preordering the second book the minute you put this one down.”

  —Affaire de Coeur (5 stars)

  “Absorbing. . . . Butcher skillfully balances erotic, tender interactions with Helen’s worries, and intriguing secondary characters further enhance the unusual premise. Fans of Butcher’s romantic suspense novels will enjoy her turn toward the paranormal.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Ms. Butcher offers fresh and delightfully creative elements in this paranormal romance, keeping readers engaged as the story unfolds. Burning Alive is a well-crafted beginning to this exciting new series, and will have fans of the genre coming back for the next adventure in the Sentinel Wars.”

  —Darque Reviews

  “An exciting romantic urban fantasy.... Shannon K. Butcher adds her trademark suspense with plenty of tension and danger to the mix of a terrific paranormal thriller.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “Burning Alive is Shannon Butcher’s first foray into paranormal romance, and what a doozy it is! Filled with sizzling love scenes, great storytelling, and action galore, fans of paranormal romance will rejoice to have Ms. Butcher finally join the genre!”

  —ParaNormal Romance

  “A different twist on the paranormal genre. . . . Overall, Shannon K. Butcher has done a good job with Burning Alive, and I will definitely be reading the next in the series.”

  —Fallen Angel Reviews

  Also by Shannon K. Butcher

  NOVELS OF THE SENTINEL WARS

  Running Scared

  Finding the Lost

  Burning Alive

  Living Nightmare

  eISBN : 978-1-101-47742-7

  SIGNET ECLIPSE

  Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

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  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:

  80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  First published by Signet Eclipse, an imprint of New American Library,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  First Printing, March 2011

  Copyright © Shannon K. Butcher, 2011

  All rights reserved

  SIGNET ECLIPSE and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are 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.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  For Jim Butcher.

  Happy twentieth anniversary, honey.

  Chapter 1

  Lucas Ramsey’s target stood out from the swirling masses of perfumed, sequined gold diggers on the ballroom floor. There was something different about her—a watchful, focused quality that none of the other women at this fancy shindig possessed. Then again, there were three other women flirting with the flabby, older man she was hanging on. Maybe she was worried she’d lose her sugar daddy.

  Too bad Lucas wasn’t a rich man, ’cause he’d love to sign up for that job, even if for only one night.

  The weapon in his shoulder holster felt odd through the thin cotton of his tuxedo shirt, and the shiny leather shoes didn’t have the same gripping traction of his combat boots. He was as far out of place here as a man could get, but Sloane Gideon was here, so he was, too.

&nbs
p; She was his last chance to repay a man he owed everything to. And the job was simple. All he had to do was keep her from catching her flight on a private jet in ninety-eight minutes.

  No sweat. Even a washed-up soldier like him could handle that. In fact, Lucas could think of more than one way to make her miss that flight. The Old Man had said to use any means necessary to keep her in Texas, and as the list of the more interesting possibilities formed in Lucas’s head, his body temperature kicked up a couple of degrees.

  There were hundreds of people here, all as well dressed as the room itself. Silk draped the walls, and fine linen cloths covered the tables. No polyester there.

  A tidy crew of unobtrusive waiters wove among the guests, offering an endless supply of champagne in crystal flutes. Live music swelled from the raised platform where a small orchestra played. Elegant harmonies wove their way through the room, and on the far left, couples danced to a waltz Lucas recognized but could not name.

  He was more of a beer and rock-and-roll kind of guy, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the finer things in life.

  Like Sloane Gideon. She was definitely fine.

  Sloane was lovely in an untouchable sort of way. Perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfect dress flowing over perfect curves. She was walking perfection, and he’d bet his last dollar that she knew it. Decked out in diamonds and a dress that probably cost more than his car, she was way out of his league. Of course, if a man managed to strip her of all that flash and sparkle, the playing field would be a lot more even. And a lot more interesting.

  All he had to do was pry her off the arm of Moneybags.

  Lucas made his way across the ballroom, through the glittering upper-crust socialites. He ignored the women who glanced his way, and the men who sized him up, staring at him as if trying to calculate his net worth. Not much, he knew, but he’d played enough roles in his life that this one wasn’t much of a stretch. At least here no one was shooting at him, which made this a walk in the park by comparison.

  He mimicked the rigid posture of the other men here, donned an air of casual indifference to the ridiculous amounts of wealth being displayed, and moved toward his target.

  His knee throbbed as he forced it to accept his weight without limping. He wasn’t sure how he was going to hit the dance floor with Sloane without giving away his weakness, but he’d think of something. Maybe a nice, long slow dance would come their way.

  Even with a busted knee, Lucas could still come up with at least a dozen ways he could make her forget about her flight. Hell, if he wasn’t too rusty, he might even be able to make her forget what day of the week it was. That would be a nice change of pace from his recent, unwelcomed, lengthy celibacy.

  Any means necessary held a cargo ship load of possibilities.

  Lucas had a hotel room upstairs all ready and waiting, stocked with enough wine to knock a man his size unconscious. Come morning when his debt to the Old Man was repaid, he’d leave Sloane satisfied and sleeping while he walked away from his old life with a clean slate and a clean conscience.

  His new life held little appeal, but that, thankfully, was a problem for another day.

  A movement in his peripheral vision stopped him dead in his tracks. He wasn’t yet sure what he’d seen, but his instincts were: trouble. The urge to duck and cover screamed inside him, making his pulse skyrocket.

  He turned his head, just enough to see the threat.

  On a raised platform behind the orchestra was a thick arrangement of huge potted trees and plants. Sticking out of those plants was the last six inches of a rifle’s barrel.

  And it was aimed right at Sloane.

  The man crossing the ballroom toward Sloane had been born to wear a tux.

  She let her gaze slide up and down his body, appreciating the way the fabric hugged his broad shoulders and accentuated his trim waist. The fit was so good it almost hid the bulge of the weapon beneath his jacket. Almost.

  She tightened her grip on the arm of her client, signaling to him there was trouble.

  “Time to go,” she whispered into his ear, smiling as though she’d just said something seductive.

  Edward Henning looked at the three cosmetically engineered gold diggers fawning over him and giggling, then back at her like she was crazy. “I don’t think so.”

  Sloane squeezed his arm harder. “Move. Now.”

  She’d scoped out the place earlier, and her best bet was the eastern stairwell exit. She gave her client a not so gentle tug, but the man refused to budge. Hanging on whatever bimbette number three was saying, he stayed glued to the spot.

  Mr. Tuxedo and his concealed weapon were still fifty feet away, but he was making progress through the crowds easily. Men parted from his path, pulling their wives and dates out of his way. Not that she could blame them. Any woman in that man’s path was a target—whether for sex or violence, Sloane wasn’t sure, but it was definitely one of the two. Maybe both.

  The bimbo trio giggled at something her client said, and she felt his chest puff up. At sixty-three, Edward Henning was turning to flab, spending too much time at a boardroom table and not enough in a gym. Then again, if he’d been in better shape, maybe he wouldn’t have needed to hire her to watch his back. Out-of-shape flab with deep pockets was her job security. And Sloane loved her job—loved the danger and adrenaline rush. If it hadn’t been for her friend Gina, she never would have even considered taking vacation time.

  But Gina needed her. Now. Another half hour of guard duty and Sloane was officially off the clock. Her private flight left in ninety minutes, and it couldn’t happen soon enough. It had taken all day and she’d called in a lot of favors, but she’d managed to make arrangements for a whole lot of firepower to be waiting for her in Colombia. No matter how deep a mess Gina had gotten herself into this time, one way or another, Sloane was going to get her out of that godforsaken country in one piece.

  Mr. Tuxedo stopped for a split second, then fixed his gaze on her and picked up speed with more than a hint of desperation hurrying his pace.

  Now it was really time to go.

  Sloane plastered a vapid smile on her face and stomped over whatever bimbette number two was saying. “It’s time to go, Edward. I have twin twentysomethings back in our room waiting for us, and the girls won’t wait naked all night.”

  Edward’s eyes rounded with shock, and her absurd distraction worked well enough that when she tugged on his arm this time, he went.

  “What is going on?” he asked under his breath as they hurried toward the exit.

  “A man with a gun is headed right this way. I thought now would be a really good time to leave.”

  Edward cast an apologetic look over his shoulder at the girls. “Why didn’t you say so?”

  “I did,” said Sloane, refusing to allow her frustration to enter her tone.

  “No, you said it was time to go. You didn’t say anything about a gun.”

  “You hired me to protect you, rather than one of the big, beefy men I work with. That tells me that you really didn’t want a lot of people knowing you needed a bodyguard. I was trying to be discreet.”

  “By telling everyone I’m going to have sex with twin girls?”

  Sloane shrugged, urging Edward to hurry the hell up. The exit was only twenty feet away. “Would you have preferred guys?”

  He sputtered in outrage, but at least she’d gotten his blood moving enough that he had picked up speed.

  Just not enough.

  Hot, strong fingers closed around her bare arm, jerking her to the side. Her grip on Edward failed, and she stumbled toward Mr. Tuxedo.

  “Run,” she shouted at Edward.

  “Get down,” barked Mr. Tuxedo.

  He tried to push her to the floor, but Sloane had other plans. She had a perfect track record at the Edge, and she wasn’t about to ruin that now by leaving her principal unprotected.

  She spun her arm, breaking Mr. Tuxedo’s grip. She needed to reach Edward and get him out of harm’s way.
Running in heels was an art all its own—one she’d spent hours working on—but the laws of physics hadn’t changed because of that training, and she found herself slipping on the glossy ballroom floor.

  Edward hadn’t moved. He stood staring at her in shock, his mouth hanging open, his flabby body trembling with indecision.

  “Go!” yelled Sloane. She’d catch up with him on the stairwell once she’d disarmed Mr. Tuxedo.

  Behind Edward, only inches from his head, a glass wall sconce exploded into shrapnel. A large gaping hole opened up in the drywall where a bullet had shredded it.

  “Gun!” shouted Mr. Tuxedo, an instant before he tackled her to the floor, covering her with his bulk.

  Screams filled the ballroom. Confused panic skittered through her system.

  Mr. Tuxedo’s heavy body crushed the air from her lungs, and black spots formed in her vision. Through them, she saw Edward turn tail and run, pushing open the heavy stairwell door.

  Now all she had to do was get out from under Mr. Tuxedo and join Edward. Not that she was going anywhere until she got a little oxygen.

  Another shot went off, fracturing a section of the exit door, and people started stampeding.

  “We’re going to get trampled.” Mr. Tuxedo’s mouth was right next to her ear, allowing her to hear him over the panicked screams of the partygoers.

  His weight disappeared, and in the next instant, she felt weightless as he lifted her to her feet and pulled her toward the exit. She jerked away, dodging him in the crowd. The doorway was already clogged with people, pushing and shoving as if that would help them escape faster.

  For one split second, she thought about going back to find the shooter and take out the threat to her principal. She knew better; she knew her job was to keep Edward safe, not hunt down scum, but the urge was still there, and she had to fight it every step of the way. There were at least two gunmen here so far. Who knew how many more there might be flooding out the doors toward her unprotected client?