Amber Fire by Lisa Renée Jones

It wasn’t written by a monster either.”
    â€œI need those letters,” Amber whispered.
    Suddenly, a warning jolted through Jareth, his senses shooting to red alert, hair standing up on the back of his neck. The threat of danger ripped through him with such intensity he barely contained the urge to shift, the beast in him rising up to protect his mate.
    Jareth shoved aside the urge, lunging forward and grabbing Evelyn. He thrust her toward Amber. “Go to the bathroom and lock the door!”
    A second later, the door imploded, bursting off the hinges. An armed Hunter charged into the room wearing a ski mask to hide his identity. Jareth was ready, snatching the weapon and tossing the man across the room. Jareth recovered as a tranquilizer dart skimmed past his ear, barely missing him. That was the Hunters’ way—tranq the Yaguara and then take them somewhere to kill them and burn the bodies. No evidence. No chance for screwups.
    The guy he’d tossed aside charged at him again. Jareth lifted the gun and shot a tranq into the guy. He turned back to the door. No one else came at him, but he wasn’t assuming this was over. Evelyn had said a team of Hunters was on the way. He stepped toward the door, preparing to scan outside when Amber’s voice froze him in place.
    â€œJareth.” Her voice was strained, stiff.
    He brought her into focus, his gut clenching, an icy chill of dread in him at the sight of Evelyn pointing a gun at her head. “They’re real bullets,” Evelyn informed him. “She’s part human. If they don’t kill her, they’ll do plenty of damage. I’m sorry. Really, I am. I did come here to save her, but I’m not going to get out of here alive without killing her or taking her hostage—not now that Mike has arrived.”
    Her scent said she wasn’t bluffing, and Jareth would be damned if he was going to lose his mate. He didn’t hesitate, didn’t give himself time to doubt. He raised his weapon and planted a tranquilizer dart in Evelyn’s weapon hand. She stiffened and started falling. Amber gasped and eased her to the ground.
    â€œI won’t be so easy to get rid of.” It was Mike. In the doorway, holding a machine gun. He hadn’t bothered with a mask. The man had a reputation for believing he was invincible. “No tranqs in this baby,” he said, giving the gun a tiny lift. His chin motioned to Amber. “Amber, darlin’,” he said. “You’re going to be helping me get into your father’s lockbox.”
    â€œNever,” Amber hissed vehemently. “I won’t give you anything.”
    He grimaced, hatred in his face. “I killed your father for being so damn obstinate. I’ll damn sure kill your animal lover and do so while you watch.”
    â€œYou killed my father?” Amber gasped.
    Jareth almost doubled over from the rush of pain and anguish rolling off his mate. It was all he could do not to lunge forward. “You bastard,” he growled.
    â€œHow could you?” Amber demanded. “My father was like a brother to you.”
    â€œNo brother of mine would marry a filthy Yaguara,” he said. “And that’s what your mother was. Even she knew it. I read it in her letters. She was so damn afraid of her own kind, she wouldn’t go back to them for help with her pregnancy. After she died, your father was a killing machine. He hated your kind. Then, something changed. He started hiding secrets. And now I know it was because he went soft. Because you made him soft. He was protecting you. But your kind doesn’t want you any more than he did. You were a burden to him and an outcast to Yaguara.”
    â€œDon’t listen to him, Amber,” Jareth said. “He’s trying to manipulate you.”
    â€œLike your mother,” Mike added. “Shunned for marrying a human. Outcast, without help.”
    Jareth was about two seconds