Leopard's Kiss (Shadow Guardians) (Shadows Guardians Book 1) by Stephanie Rowe Page A

Julia really was okay. Anya's legs almost collapsed under her with relief. "Where are you going? To hide?"
    "I'm going to disappear." The woman pulled a baseball cap on her head. "I lost everything by being seen talking to you. I'm not risking any more."
    "If you lost everything, then what else is there to lose? Why won't you help?"
    The woman walked over to the window, balled her first, and then slammed her hand through the glass. Anya jumped back as glass exploded from the force of the blow, raining down over the tile floor "Walk away, Anya."
    I'm coming in. Slade's voice brushed over her mind.
    No! Give me one more minute! She grabbed the woman's arm as she was about to climb out. "My mother was murdered, and Julia is all I have left. I can't leave her alone out there. I won't stop until I find her. If you were Julia, wouldn't you want someone to care? Wouldn't you want someone to find you?"
    The woman looked at her, then back at the window. "They will kill you, Anya. Don't you understand? You need to disappear."
    "I can't. Not as long as Julia is alive." She jutted her jaw out. "Everyone I love has been murdered or kidnapped. I don't have a lot left to lose. I'm going to find her."
    The woman paused, searching Anya's face intently, as if she were trying to see the truth behind the words. Finally, she nodded. "Okay, then. My name is Beckett Harper," she said finally. "If they get to me, you and the Black Swan have to find me, the way you're looking for Julia. That's the deal. You find me if they find me first."
    Anya realized suddenly that she'd touched a chord. Beckett was as alone as she was. She wanted someone to care if she went missing. Anya knew what that was like. No wonder Beckett was afraid. It was hard to go it alone. "I promise," she said. "Where is she?"
    Beckett leaned forward and lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper. "There's a warehouse on the corner of Hartford Boulevard and Parker Street in West Bucknell, Connecticut. Go there after midnight tonight. Don't be early. That's all I can tell you." She grabbed the window frame, apparently oblivious to the shards of broken glass, and hoisted herself up.
    "Wait! If you're going to disappear, how will I know if they're the ones that got you?"
    Beckett paused, her blue eyes wide. "If they take me, they'll want others to know. They'll want me to be an example, just like you were supposed to be. You'll hear about it." Her eyes glittered. "You break your promise, and I will make sure they hunt you down. Do you understand?"
    "I swear. I'll be there if you need me."
    Beckett nodded, then hesitated. "Just so you know, I didn't know who I was working for. I didn't know what I was doing, and who I was hurting." Her voice broke, and her eyes were suddenly shiny with tears. "I'm sorry. Please know that."
    Anya frowned. "Sorry for what? What did you do?"
    But Beckett didn't answer. She just slipped out the window. There was the sound of her feet hitting the ground outside, and then she was gone.

    * * *
    S lade walked into the woman's bathroom just as Beckett dropped out of sight through the broken window. He listened to her footsteps scurry down the alley, and he tracked her as she fled down the street, moving quickly, with an innate grace that was beyond human.
    He suspected he knew what she was.
    Anya was gathering up Beckett's abandoned clothing. "Don't burn these," she instructed with a glare.
    He almost grinned at the fierceness of her scowl. No one ever dared to order him around, and he kind of liked the fact that she treated him like there was a chance he was a decent human being instead of a relentless killing machine. She made him feel almost normal, and he wasn't sure he'd ever felt like that before.
    "I won't burn them, but it's because I don't need to," he clarified. He appreciated her, but at the same time, she needed to understand that self-preservation came first, every time. If he had needed to infuse them with his psychic energy to track Beckett, he