Jade (The Kings of Guardian Book 9) Read online

  Jade

  Kings of Guardian, Book Nine

  by

  Kris Michaels

  Jade

  Kings of Guardian, Book Nine

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted, or distributed in any form or by any means without permission.

  Cover Art by: Digitally Imagined

  Interior Formatting by: Digitally Imagined

  Copyright © 2017 Kris Michaels

  Published by Kris Michaels

  Acknowledgements:

  I’d like to thank my Beta readers, Rebecca, Allison, and Liv for putting up with my insanity. My editor and proofreader, Patricia and Allison, you are saints. Thank you for making my words shine. To my ever patient and long-suffering VA, cover artist, and formatter, Nikki… girl, thank you so much for everything. Special thanks to the wonderful people in my Facebook reader’s group. I’m hugging y’all!

  As always, to the love of my life, the cop… I couldn’t do this without you.

  Blurb:

  Jade King lives life at full speed. After over a year undercover for the DEA, she’s back in play and wants what any hot-blooded woman who’s gone a year without sex would want: an alpha bad boy who is convenient, delicious anddisposable. A fun one-night stand, multiple orgasms, and absolutely no strings attached. Right? If only.

  Nicolas DeMarco has a library stocked with little black books, and his bedpost is nothing but notches. His love ‘em and leave ‘em mentality served him well… until it didn’t. Now, forty years old and in charge of Guardian’s Domestic Security, he’s done with the biological catch and release game that used to thrill him… until Jade King let herself into his office and made him an offer. One he couldn’t refuse… but man, could he screw it up.

  When one of the Guardian’s family members is targeted for death, Jade is pulled from her much deserved vacation and into Nicolas DeMarco’s world—a world complete with strings, attachments, feelings, and danger. When the elusive head of the Triad maliciously plans and executes an event that devastates an entire city, it catapults Jade and Nic into a Guardian sanctioned operation. An operation that they may not survive.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Epilogue

  About Kris

  Other Books by Kris Michaels

  Chapter One

  Fuck, fuck, fuck! Jade King froze and pushed back into the shadows. She sucked in a harsh breath. Damn it! From the darkened corner of the massive multi-purpose room, she witnessed a three hundred pound guard crush a frail woman into the cement floor of commune's primary gathering place. He pinned her to the ground with one hand while he ripped the tattered dress from her body with the other.

  The nation's largest meth manufacturing plant was hidden three stories underneath her and covered at least 10,000 square feet. As of tonight, Jade had accumulated the evidence the DEA needed. The scene she was witnessing prevented her from escaping the fucking hellhole where she'd worked alongside 150 other women, all controlled by the "Fathers". Controlled, hell… forced to work too damn hard; they were neglected, starved to keep them weak, and abused both physically and mentally.

  Her DEA handlers wanted the information she had at all costs. Jade gripped her worn dress's pocket and felt the small camera where she had the evidence. Saving the woman could jeopardize their case, but god damn it! She had to live with herself, and she couldn't let the bastard rape a woman who'd already been victimized enough.

  "Get away from her!" Jade stepped from safe concealment and grabbed the first thing she could convert to a weapon, an old wooden broom propped against the wall, and rushed toward the piece of shit grinding his victim into the concrete.

  His head shot up at Jade's shout, and a sneer crossed his puffy, red face. The woman under him used Jade's distraction to score bloody furrows across his cheeks with her fingernails. The bastard backhanded the woman. She fell limp and still.

  The man rose, and Jade drew a ragged breath. She stopped her forward movement and centered her body weight, dropping into her ready position. Cautiously she spun the handle to get a feel for the heft and length as she waited for the fucker to head toward her. Jade glanced at the door not twenty feet away. It led to freedom and hopefully to her partner and fellow agent, Garett, but there was no way she would leave the poor woman to that fucking bastard.

  "You think you can take me on, missy?" Three bloody claw marks striped the bastard's face making him even more butt-ugly than usual.

  "I don't think it. I know it, you fat fuck," she taunted. She baited him closer, and away from the woman on the floor. Jade choked back the overwhelming desire to whip her leg up in a roundhouse kick, knock the bastard's teeth out, and mop the floor with his face. However, she couldn't open herself up until she knew the man's capabilities. Control and determination seeped through every pore of her body as she prepared to take down a much larger opponent. The bastard finally lumbered close enough to engage. Her first strike would attempt to incapacitate the man. After years of specialized training such prioritizing was instinctive.

  "Woman, I will enjoy beating you with that rod and then taking you to the Fathers. You will pay for your disobedience."

  "Woman?" Jade sneered. "Is that all you see when you look at me?"

  The man's sneer matched hers. "Nah, bitch, I see my evening's activities, and I like it rough."

  Jade spun the broom handle and snapped it in the air. The man's eyes widened momentarily before he crouched farther and spread his stance. Jade smiled, this was what she was born to do.

  "Oh baby, you have no idea how rough I can make it." Her senses hyper aware and ready for action, she heard soft footfalls behind her. Hopefully, it was the woman leaving, but she wouldn't bet on it.

  "The Fathers will end you. You have no idea the pain their hired dogs can inflict. You will scream and beg. Your death could take… days. You want that, sweetheart?" He palmed his groin. "Or do you want some of this. Like it rough? Maybe that's why you didn't mind your own business. Tell ya what… spread those legs willingly, and I'll forget all about this little indiscretion."

  "Put up or shut up, mother fucker." Jade shifted her weight as the man approached. He easily weighed a hundred and fifty pounds more than she did, and his bulk wasn't all fat. The man circled and Jade tracked him, always keeping him in front of her. She didn't dare glance past the bastard to see where h
is victim had gone. Balancing her weight on the balls of her feet, she waited. She knew how to take the man out of commission. If the son of a bitch fought as well as he talked, she'd have one hell of a fight on her hands. One she'd relish.

  It had been over a month since the Fathers had escorted her from Garret's quarters to this side of the camp. She'd perfected the role of insipid mindless drone over the last year as Garett worked to become one of the inner circle. Not any longer. That persona melted away tonight when she pocketed the mini-camera that documented the evidence the Justice Department would need to take down this cult. She'd gathered enough evidence in the last month to bring the bastards who ran this camp to their knees.

  The big fucker in front of her feigned a lunge to his right, and Jade followed his dance. Even this small engagement taught her about the man. He wasn't skilled; he was a bruiser. Jade hesitated on purpose. The asshole noticed and a sinister chuckle ripped from his butt-ugly face.Welcome to my web, motherfucker. Jade acted as if she almost missed his fake to the left, but sprang forward and effectively parried his next lunge. She hit him hard on the shoulder with her staff and backed away, centering her weight again.

  Sweat rolled down his forehead. A drop hung off his mop of hair. Jade lifted an eyebrow at him and laughed. He lunged again, and she sidestepped. A set of arms clamped around her from the back, and without thought, Jade whipped the staff around and rammed the blunt end into her unseen attacker's ribs. The arms released her. She turned and swung hard and fast. A sickening crack sounded when her staff connected to the would-be rapist's forearm. Unfortunately, it wasn't the assailant's arm that broke. It was the broom handle. Jade held tight to the shorter end still in her hands. The shard of wood was as deadly as a knife, and she wielded it at her two attackers.

  "Come on, honey. You're going to make your punishment worse." The new man tried to coax her with words, and he made a fatal mistake. He favored his left side where she'd driven the broomstick into his ribs.

  Jade dragged needed air into her lungs and waited. The first man lunged and the second man followed. Jade sidestepped the injured man, and with all the strength she could gather, plunged the splintered end of the wood into the fat gut of the would-be rapist. The bull rush he'd started propelled both of them toward the ground. Jade twisted so his weight would land on what remained of the broomstick. The unmistakable sound of flesh tearing filled her ears as she rolled away. She glimpsed the other half of the staff to her right, dragged herself up and pitched forward.

  A hand grabbed her arm as she scrambled across the floor. Her free hand grasped for the broom handle. Jade clamped her jaws down on the wrist of the bastard who grabbed her and felt her teeth break through his skin. The tang of copper from his blood spread in her mouth. She bit down and pulled with all of her strength trying to tear skin from bone. The son of a bitch screamed and used his other hand to try to pry her head from his wrist. Her momentum forced him backwards. Jade reached out blindly and grabbed for the second half of the broken handle.

  Her assailant swung his fist at her face. Grabbing the broken handle from the floor, Jade speared the shaft of jagged wood forward as the son-of-a-bitch lunged at her. Her inability to aim didn't matter, hitting the fucker was her only goal. The man kicked her and the blow turned her as she thrust the wood upward. The shard ripped through the bottom of the man's chin, and a spray of blood splattered across her hand and arm. The son of a bitch gargled a scream and grabbed at her hand. Jade kneed the asshole and pain blazed through her leg. Instinctively she fought through the excruciating pain. With both hands, she shoved the stake up through the flesh behind his jaw and into his brain until the back of his skull stopped its forward progress. Her opponent folded in on himself; in death, his hand clenched the blood-soaked skewer.

  Jade rolled away and tried to stand. Her leg crumbled beneath her. When he'd kicked her, her attacker had seriously screwed up her knee. Bad. Fuck, the bastard may have dislocated it. At least she hoped it was only a dislocation. Forced to crawl to the side of the room, she pulled herself up into a wooden chair. The fat bastard lay on the floor moaning. His victim still hadn't moved, whether alive or dead, she didn't know, but there was no way she could get herself and the woman to safety. Not now, not with the injury to her leg. She needed to get the evidence out and get help for all the people enslaved here. At least that was the plan. She winced and sucked a hard pull of air when she tried to move her leg. Her knee was three kinds of fucked up.

  The room where the fight had taken place was a wide-open bay adjacent to the kitchens. It was just before dawn. As soon as someone arrived to make the crap they fed the women, they'd see the bodies. She couldn't be here. The sound of opening and closing doors in the corridor spurred her into action. She hopped across the open expanse toward the doorway. Making her way back to Garret, her partner, so they could get out and complete their mission was her only focus. She needed to find the fastest way out and put out the signal to Garret. The voices sounded nearer… Shit.

  Jade winced at the throbbing pain radiating down her leg. She couldn't make the distance to the door, not to mention the long trek down the corridor to exit the building in time to hide herself from whoever was coming. She regarded the window three feet away and almost laughed at her stupidity. Of course! She hopped to the window, opened it and pushed the screen out at the bottom. The drop out of the window jarred her knee again. She gave the pain time to recede while she leaned against the building. Wiping her face with the sleeve of her faded blue dress, she shivered. The threadbare garment had seen better days. The night sky was starting to lighten which meant the complex would begin to wake soon.

  Jade steadied herself and used the building as a support. She made slow but steady progress. When she finally reached the fence line, she tore a strip of cloth off the bottom of her tattered skirt and tied it to the bottom rail of a fence that ran in front of the warehouse. It wasn't big enough to draw attention, but it signaled Garett to call in reinforcements. Jade surveyed the out buildings and chose the closest one. It was bigger and more frequented than the smaller structure next to it-the one she really wanted to hide in, but there wasn't time. She needed to get off her leg and find a hiding place until the cavalry arrived.

  A muffled shout from the main building sent a ripple of fear up her spine. She used the fence railing as a crutch and moved as quickly as she could to the building she'd chosen. She leaned against the vinyl siding for a second to catch her breath. More shouting could be heard through the open windows of the main building. She lurched around the corner but instead of a closed door, the solid chest of a guard blocked her way. He grabbed at her, but Jade lurched back on her injured knee falling to the ground. She crab walked backward looking for anything she could use as a weapon. He walked forward and grabbed her hair close to her skull as she writhed and fought in his hold. He drew back his arm; his hard meaty fist flew forward, and Jade closed her eyes.

  The snap of air and spray of warmth across her face stilled her struggle. The man who'd caught her fell backward taking her with him. Released from his grip, Jade lurched through the door and closed it. Someone had shot the bastard. His blood and brains spattered her dress but she had no way of knowing if the bullet was intended for him or her. She hunkered down and made herself as small as possible.

  Chapter Two

  " Jade," a low, gravelly voice rasped. Jade froze. Had she imagined the sound?

  "God damn it, Jade, open the fucking door."

  Jason ? Jason was here? Fuck, she was hallucinating. Jade reached up and slowly turned the knob. The door creaked open a crack. She held it for a few seconds trying to see if she'd finally lost it. No, it was Jason, complete with tactical gear and an M-4. She threw the wooden door wide at the sight of her big brother, not two feet in front of her. Jade lurched out of the building and Jason wrapped her in his arms. "How bad are you hurt?"

>   "My knee. I think it's dislocated. Are you here with the DEA?" Jade pulled away from him and took in the armed force deployed outside the building. Fuck, at least two full Guardian teams that she could see.

  "No, but we'll get into that later. Let's get you out of here." Jason started to move back away from the building.

  "What about the meth complex?"

  "The what?" Jason shot back at her.

  Jade held up a hand, her eyes opened as wide as saucers. She gestured wildly around her. "Dude, these fuckers have like a 10,000 square foot meth lab three stories below us. I have all the evidence the DEA needs, but we better get going now because I…" A long slow wail erupted from the loud speakers around the camp, and lights blinked on in every building. Jade's voice barely carried above the din of the klaxon, "…may have killed some assholes that were trying to kill me."

  "Fuck." Jason's epithet rang loud and clear despite the deafening alarm. "Dixon, Drake, get her the fuck out of here. Zane, you got their six." Jason's voice rose distinctly. "Jacob, you've got operational control. Let's mop up this bitch and take the fuckers down."

  Jade gaped at her brother, "Wait, all of you are here? Why?" She barely got the words out before Drake grabbed Jade and unceremoniously tossed her over his shoulder.

  "Holy Shit! Watch my fucking knee!" Jade scrambled trying to find purchase on the man's tactical vest. "Mother fucker, install a handle on this bitch if you're going to play fireman." She finally found purchase and bent damn near in half to look at the man who hefted her as if she was a bag of flour. "Hey, big boy! Going my way?" Jade slapped the back of his bulletproof vest when he hitched her a little further over his shoulder. "Don't be like that, man. Who taught you how to treat a lady?"

  "Girl, when you find a lady, let me know. Until then, shut up and hang on." A huge shit-eating grin stretched across his face.