Marked by an Assassin (Eternal Mates, #8)
by Felicity Heaton
Published October 31st 2015
Man that was one great book. I love the Eternal Mates series.
This book is about Harbin, Cavanaugh's Brothers story. Who
we get to see in this book too. Harbin was exiled for leading
Archangel to his pride. Now twenty years later he is hunting
a snow leopard marked for assassination. Aya has a
contract out on her life, but is she aware it is? But Harbin
is not sure what to do about this contract, as he is having
strange feelings for her. And he does not know what they
mean. Aya dose though she is his mate, and she is having
a hard time with that. As she believes he is responsible for
all that has happened to her. Wait till they both discover who
is really to blame. This book answered some questions from
a previous book too were they all land in underworld. Now
before I ruin this you I will leave off here. I hope you enjoy
this book as much as
I did. I can not wait for the next book.
If you do like this book, please consider leaving a review.
The Authors really like it when you
do,
they value your opinions too.
A snow leopard shifter exiled from his pride twenty
years ago, Harbin treads the dark path of life as an
assassin, driven by a hunger for vengeance,
mercilessly hunting the Archangel members who
attacked his kin, murdering his mother and sister.
When a new contract comes in and the mark is a
snow leopard shifter, he can’t resist venturing into the
mortal world on a personal mission to find out why
one from a normally peaceful species now has a price
on their head. What he finds in a rundown nightclub
isn’t quite what he expects—a beautiful snow leopard
female that awakens a fierce hunger inside him.
Aya has spent seventeen years living in London,
immersed in the underbelly of the fae world, keeping
her head down and her tail out of trouble. But when
trouble walks right into her life in the form of a sinfully
handsome, dangerous assassin, she is pulled into a
whirlwind of events that stir up the nightmares of her
past but might just give her a shot at putting those
ghosts to rest—if she can resist the dark allure of a
male she knows is her fated mate.
Can Harbin and Aya resist the passionate fire that
blazes between them as they chase the vengeance
they both crave? Or will they surrender to their
deepest desires?
Books in the Eternal Mates paranormal romance series:
Eternal Mates (8 books)
- Author webpage:Book 1: Kissed by a Dark Prince
- Goodreads: Kissed by a Dark Prince (Eternal Mates, #1)
- Author webpage: Book 2: Claimed by a Demon King
- Goodreads:Claimed by a Demon King (Eternal Mates, #2)
- Author webpage: Book 3: Tempted by a Rogue Prince
- Goodreads:Tempted by a Rogue Prince (Eternal Mates, #3)
- Author webpage: Book 4: Hunted by a Jaguar
- Goodreads: Hunted by a Jaguar (Eternal Mates #4)
- Author webpage: Book 5: Craved by an Alpha
- Goodreads: Craved by an Alpha (Eternal Mates, #5)
- Author webpage: Book 6: Bitten by a Hellcat
- Goodreads: Bitten by a Hellcat (Eternal Mates, #6)
- Author webpage: Book 7: Taken by a Dragon
- Goodreads: Taken by a Dragon (Eternal Mates, #7)
- Author webpage: Book 8: Marked by an Assassin
- Goodreads: Marked by an Assassin (Eternal Mates, #8)
- Book 9: Possessed by a Dark Warrior – coming soon!
Aya bent forwards and
ploughed her fingers through her damp black hair, pulling the jaw-length
strands back. She clutched the sides of her head and tried to focus on her
breathing as memories surged to the surface again. Her throat closed and her
heart thundered against her ribs, a sickening rhythm that echoed in her ears
together with distant screams and pleas for mercy.
She shook her head in
an attempt to dislodge those memories and growled.
She wanted to forget
again.
She needed to immerse
herself in the tangled fae and mortal world, losing herself in it and
surrounding herself with people, or she would only sink deeper into her
memories, her instincts forcing her to seek out the familiar faces of her past
so she would no longer feel alone. She needed to escape that past, and that
meant returning to the club. It had become her sanctuary over the past few
years, a place she returned to nightly to talk with the people she knew there,
fulfilling the deep need to be part of a group that had been formed in her
decades at the bustling pride village where she had grown up. Now, she sought
crowds whenever she woke, escaping the emptiness of her apartment, hurling
herself into the fray and dancing or drinking the night away.
It was a risk,
because she knew the male might be there too.
A flash of silver
shot across the darkness of her closed eyes. It drifted back and split, forming
into two piercing orbs and a messy tuft atop them. The male. She had felt the
intensity of his gaze the moment he had entered. It had sent an electric shiver
through her, a bolt of awareness that had shattered everything around her,
leaving only him behind. She shivered again beneath the covers, her heart
beating harder for a different reason as heat swept through her as it had last
night when his gaze had drifted over her, taking her in from head to toe.
He shimmered into
being in her mind and she snapped her eyes open, breaking the illusion.
Aya shoved the covers
off her bare legs, shifted them over the right edge of the double mattress and
rose from the bed. She stretched, moaning as she arched her back. There was
nothing quite as enjoyable as a good stretch when she woke up.
She lowered her arms
and checked the clock on her bedside table. The numbers cast a green hue across
her small bedroom, providing the only light. It was already growing late. She
had managed to sleep through the day before her nightmare had begun.
Hopefully tomorrow
she could do the same again without the nightmare.
She padded across the
narrow span of wooden floor to the bathroom opposite her and flicked on the
light, flinching as the white tiles reflected the brightness and seemingly
magnified it, hurting her sensitive eyes.
Aya gave them a
moment to adjust before opening them again. Her reflection in the mirror above
the grey vanity greeted her. Or possibly mocked. She looked awful. Her
silver-gold eyes were bloodshot, last night’s make-up smeared like black ash
all around them, emphasising how tired they looked. She tugged her fingers
through her messy black hair, trying to smooth the wild short strands that
stuck out in all directions at jaw level. Silver threaded her hair, turning her
stomach. She would need to dye it again soon. She hadn’t been able to face
herself with her natural hair colour since starting her new life. It was a reminder
of her past, another thorn that only tore at her and left her bleeding inside.
She had loved her
silver hair once, back when life had been carefree and simple, and she had
lived at the pride village.
Back when she’d had a
pride.
She turned her cheek
to the gaunt female in the mirror and headed towards the double shower cubicle
that took up the entire right side of the room. A shower would help clear her
head and set her back on track.
Aya slid the door
open and stepped into the cubicle. The water was cold as she lifted the lever
to start the flow, but soon warmed to her preferred temperature. She turned
beneath the spray, closed her eyes and sighed as the hot water pounded down on
her back. The effect was immediate, easing her muscles and washing away her bad
memories. She focused on showering, using the routine to empty her mind. Once
she had rinsed the conditioner out of her hair, she switched off the water,
slid the door open again and grabbed a towel from the rack.
Her mind drifted as
she dried off, thoughts of who would be at the club tonight keeping her
occupied. She shut out any about the male and scrubbed the towel across her
hair. Satisfied that she wouldn’t leave a trail of water across the pale floor
tiles, she stepped out of the shower and moved to the next step of her routine.
When her hair was
tamed, the fine black strands styled to lay flat on top but flick outwards and
upwards at the ends in a cute way, she applied her standard black make-up
around her eyes, a dash of lip-gloss, and a quick spray of perfume.
Aya padded out into
the bedroom, grabbed her white strapless bra from the floor where she had
tossed it last night before falling into bed, and put it on. She followed it
with a matching pair of knickers from her chest of drawers at the foot of the
bed and then sidestepped to her wardrobe and pulled the doors open.
Jeans.
She grabbed a pair of
black ones from the pile at the bottom of the wardrobe and tugged them on. They
were tighter than she remembered. She growled as she wriggled into them,
muttering beneath her breath about cutting back on the sweet treats whenever
she visited a coffee shop or hit the grocery store.
She had always been
average, not a woman blessed with a stick-thin figure and never one to want to
look that way either, but she was holding a little more winter padding than
normal. Back at the pride, she had gotten away with indulging in her love of
food, needing the fuel to keep her warm. Old habits died the hardest. She never
had managed to shake her constant craving for food, even in the warmer weather
of London.
Her silvery gaze
roamed over the hangers filled with a range of camisoles, t-shirts and
long-sleeved tops. The weather was cooler now, but she found herself picking a
silver halter-top with a plunging neckline, one she hadn’t worn in months.
It had nothing to do
with the male.
She just wanted to
feel good about herself tonight and dressing to impress would certainly boost
her mood. She wasn’t planning to catch his eye if he was there again tonight,
definitely wasn’t interested in sending any signals to him. She planned to
avoid him and catch the eye of another male.
Any other male.
Hell, maybe she would
flirt with a few of them.
The attention from
them would definitely make her feel fabulous.
She might even do
more than flirt.
It had been a long
time since she had been with a male, and she needed a little physical contact,
a little craziness to blow off some steam. It might even change her outlook for
the better, making her forget her worries and see some good in the world again.
Aya pulled the silver
top on, tugging the triangular cups beneath her breasts and smoothing the
material over her stomach. It barely reached the belt of her jeans and it would
flash her belly if she raised her arms above her head, but she didn’t care.
Tonight was about
feeling good and forgetting, not about worrying what others made of her figure.
Their opinion didn’t matter. She was happy as she was and she refused to change
herself to suit anyone’s tastes.
This was her life and
she was going to live it.
She blew out her
breath, closed the wardrobe doors and gave herself a quick once over in the
mirror on the left door. She brushed her fingers through her hair, fixed a
smile on her face to shove her nerves away, and turned away from her
reflection. She found her favourite black ankle boots with their short square
heels perfect for adding a little height but not making her ache as she danced,
or compromising her balance, and put them on.
There. Ready to face
the world.
Aya walked into the
small living room adjoining her bedroom and grabbed her keys and small purse
off the sideboard to her left near the main door. She resisted the temptation
to check her reflection again in the oval mirror above the sideboard, heading
straight to the door instead. She made fast work of the locks, opened it and
stepped out into the brightly-lit cream corridor. The locks clicked back into
place as she closed the door and she pocketed her keys and hurried along the
corridor towards the stairs that would take her down to the main entrance hall
several floor below. Her heels clicked on the steps, punctuating the silence,
and the pace of them picked up as she crossed the entrance hall.
The night air was
even cooler now as she pushed the glass double doors open and she breathed deep
of it. The scents hit her hard, a myriad of smells that had her instincts
sharpening as they awakened a desire to identify each one and map her
neighbourhood. The nearby restaurants provided the strongest range of smells,
tempting her into taking a detour. She resisted the call of food and hailed a
taxi instead. The black cab slowed and pulled over, and she made her way
between two parked cars to reach it.
The journey to the
club passed in silence, her gaze fixed on the outside world as it whizzed by in
a blur of coloured lights and black shadows, her animal side shifting
restlessly beneath her skin. She wanted to be out in the darkness, prowling the
parks in her snow leopard form and marking everything with her scent so all
shifters in the area would know this was her patch. How long had it been since
she had shifted?
Too long.
Years at best.
She put it off for as
long as she could, but the need to shift steadily built inside her, growing
stronger with each day that passed, until it grew impossible to ignore, even
when she wanted to avoid the reminder of what she was.
The male had brought
the need from a growl to a deafening roar in her blood.
Now, she itched with
a hunger to let her snow leopard side out, her fingers twisting the silver
material of her halter-top into her palms as she fought that urge. Maybe when
she got back tomorrow morning, she would look into booking a short break up
north. Over the years she had been away from the mountains of her homeland, the
rugged valleys of Scotland had become her favourite place to get lost in the
wilderness and spend days roaming in her animal form.
The cab ground to a
halt, jerking her away from a fantasy about drifting through the heather with
only nature for company and basking on the rocks. The bright neon sign of
Switch blazed off to her right, the bouncer outside it nodding as he noticed
her. He stepped away from the open doors of the back-street nightclub and she
smiled as he pulled the cab door open for her.
Aya slipped the
driver his money, plus a generous tip, and stepped out of the car.
“Rocky,” she said as
the big shaven-headed bouncer grinned down at her before giving the car door a
gentle push.
It slammed shut with
enough force to rock the cab.
Bear shifters didn’t
know their own strength, and Rocky was no exception. Aya had taken to calling
him Rocky a few years ago when she had started frequenting the club and they
had spent a quiet night talking. He came from a small pride of bear shifters in
Canada, near the mountains she had named him for. His circumstances were
similar to hers, so she understood why he had wanted to keep his name to
himself, using the boring alias of Tom instead.
He had taken to the
name she had given him and now everyone called him Rocky.
Aya glanced towards
the dark entrance of the club, her heart beating a little quicker and her palms
sweating as she struggled to keep her breathing even and convince herself to go
inside.
Rocky clapped a meaty
hand down on her bare shoulder. “He ain’t here.”
Relief swept through
her, and she tried to hide it from Rocky, but realised she had failed when his
grin stretched wider, tugging at a vicious scar that ran across his lips on the
right side and down to his square jaw. He was as rugged as the mountains he
hailed from too, but handsome nonetheless, especially when he wasn’t playing
his role of bouncer, scowling at customers and keeping watch over the club he
called home.
His rich brown eyes
sparkled with mischief.
Aya held her hand up
to silence him before he could talk about the male shifter she wanted to avoid.
“Here’s hoping he
buggers off to Underworld,” she muttered and amusement joined the mischief in
Rocky’s eyes.
They had bonded over
a dislike of that nightclub too, and it wasn’t only because it was a competitor
for Switch, the club she favoured and he worked for. It was because that club
employed two males from a species both of them wanted to keep their distance
from—a bear and a snow leopard shifter.
Distant sirens made
her lift her head and peer along the dark street in their direction. It wasn’t
the safest neighbourhood in London, but that didn’t bother her. Life had taught
her how to handle herself, how to fight and survive, and she wasn’t afraid to
deal with anyone who got too familiar with her when she didn’t want their
attention.
She wasn’t afraid to
kill someone.
The male snow leopard
included.
He was stronger than
her, but that wouldn’t stop her from making him familiar with her claws if he
tried anything.
Rocky trudged across
the narrow strip of pavement to the door of the club and resumed his position
beside it, pressing his back against the red brick wall and folding his arms
across his broad chest. His muscles bulged beneath his tight black t-shirt and
all humour fled from his face, the hardened expression he wore turning him into
a daunting male with a dangerous edge.
Anyone roaming the
street looking for a fight would think twice before bothering him or trying to
gain entrance to the club.
Aya hoped that went
for the male snow leopard too.
She flicked a glance
at Rocky, toyed with the idea of asking him to stop the male from entering the
club if he did show up, and then walked into the dark entrance without saying a
word. This was her turf and she wasn’t going to let anyone see her scared when
she was on it.
If the male showed
up, she would deal with him.
She wanted him to
walk right through the doors at her back.
She wanted him to
dare to set foot in her territory again.
Because she wasn’t
the sort of female who would let a male walk all over her.
Not anymore.
Find a fantastic 4 chapter
downloadable sample of the book at:
Marked by an Assassin, the eighth book in New York Times
best-seller Felicity Heaton’s hot paranormal romance series,
Eternal Mates, is now available in ebook and paperback.
To celebrate the release, she’s holding a FANTASTIC
GIVEAWAY at her website and sharing sneak peeks of the book.
Find out how to enter the Marked by an Assassin
international giveaway (ends November 15th) and be in
with a shot of winning a $75, $50 or $25 gift certificate at
her website, where you can also download a 4 chapter
sample of the novel:
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Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today
international best-selling author writing passionate
paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates
detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense
emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that
vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and
wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If
you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian,
J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine
Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the
best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong,
powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm
series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books.
If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful,
passionate and erotic then try the best-selling
Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge
detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every
species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and
angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:
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Thanks for reviewing! :)
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