Undead Or Alive (Bad Things #3)
Cynthia Eden
Prologue
“I need you to find someone for me.”
Cassius “Cass” Garvan gave a low, rumbling laugh. “Sorry, but you’ll have to get in line.” He kept his legs braced apart and his hands remained loose at his sides. Maybe other paranormals would have been quaking in their boots as they stood before the big, bad Lord of the Dark…but Cass wasn’t one of those lesser paranormals. And he didn’t fear Luke Thorne.
Why should he?
Luke slowly turned away from the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked his island paradise. Paradise, prison—whatever. To Cass, it was pretty much the same thing. He’d gotten orders to show up for this little one-on-one chat with Luke, and Cass had appeared more out of curiosity than anything else.
It had been a very, very long time since Luke had spoken to him. When you were mortal—or even immortal—enemies with someone, you didn’t call the other person up for a little casual chit-chat every day.
“You’re working for my brother.” Luke’s face tightened when he said that one word…brother. As if it were a curse. Probably because to him, it was.
Cass knew the old stories about Luke and his twin brother Leo. One brother was the Lord of the Dark, the master of all the dark paranormal beings that walked—or flew—on earth. The other was the Lord of the Light, the powerhouse behind all of the so-called “good” creatures out there.
Cass didn’t believe in good. Some days, he didn’t believe in evil, either.
He just believed in death—death was kind of his thing.
“Leo has you chasing the fallen angel, doesn’t he?” Luke stalked toward him.
Cass considered the matter for a moment. “Now that you mention it, I believe that acquiring her may be on my to-do list.” He flashed a smile at Luke. “When you’re the best hunter to ever live, well, let’s just say that word gets around. You want someone found…you call me. I mean, sure, the shifters out there tend to have pretty good noses, but we both know they are nothing compared to me.”
“Arrogant *.”
“It’s not arrogance if it’s true.” He’d never bothered much with modesty. Cass understood exactly what he was, and what he was not. “We both know I have a very particular skill set.”
A muscle jerked in Luke’s jaw. The Lord of the Dark was getting pissed—Cass could feel the air around them starting to heat up.
“The angel is taken care of,” Luke gritted out. “And Leo will not be getting her back.”
Cass gave a low whistle. “I hate to break it to you, but I think you’re wrong. That guy is dead set on getting back his girl—”
“She isn’t his.”
When the angry voice spoke from behind him, Cass stiffened. Dammit. He hadn’t heard the other guy approach. Cass glanced over his shoulder and saw the big, currently glaring werewolf—Rayce—standing in the doorway. “So…you are as powerful as they say,” he murmured to Rayce. He’d heard the rumors, but…he didn’t tend to believe rumors, not until he’d checked things out first-hand.
The tales about Luke and Leo? All true. Every blood-stained detail.
The rumors about Rayce being the most powerful werewolf to ever live? Still debatable, but the fact that he’d just snuck up on Cass…I’ll be watching you, wolf.
“The angel is taken care of,” Luke said again. “You don’t need to waste your valuable talents on her now.” His eyes gleamed. “Rayce has her in his sights.”
“Damn right I do,” the werewolf growled.
Cass rolled back his shoulders. “Why do I feel like this is an ambush?” Because it sure seemed that way. Luke was right in front of him. Rayce was at his back. “Did you invite me here so you could try to rip out my heart?” He waited a beat, then added, “Again?”
Luke laughed—not a good sign. “Don’t tempt me.”
Cass eased out a slow breath. “If you think you’re bad enough…”
Luke’s eyes began to glow. “We both know I am.”
For just a moment, Cass could have sworn he saw the shadow of wings behind Luke’s back. But when he blinked, the wings were gone. Luke had gotten himself back in control.
“I need you to find someone for me. Someone very, very important.”
More important than a fallen angel? Curiosity had always been his weak spot and Luke was making him curious. But… “Before we say anything else, I want the wolf to move from behind me. I don’t like having an enemy lurking at my back. Makes me…twitchy. And when I get twitchy, people get hurt.” Cass thought that was a fair warning.
Luke inclined his head. Immediately, Rayce moved to the Lord of the Dark’s side.
“I need to know you won’t be in my way,” Rayce fired at him. “I don’t want to be tripping over the Reaper while I’m on my hunt.”
The Reaper. Some titles just stuck. Cass raised his eyebrows. “Can’t handle a little friendly competition?”
“Enough.” Power hung in that one word from Luke—so much power that heat lanced over Cass’s skin, but he didn’t so much as flinch. He’d learned at a very young age never to show his pain.