“All right?” David asked, breaking into her concentration, his aquamarine eyes the same vivid color as hers, but cold and businesslike now. “You earn twenty-five thousand to terminate him.” His voice sounded indifferent as if she always received that much for a job. Maybe because he easily earned more and the high dollar amount didn’t mean anything to him.

  Rubbing her temple, she attempted to wipe away the image of Sutton kissing her breast. To her chagrin, the thought of the vampire touching her, forced her nipples to tighten. “Why’s the League offering me so much?”

  “You’ve wanted the higher paying jobs, now you have one.”

  The strange connection she felt to the targeted vampire sent a tingle streaking down her spine. She was certain she’d never seen him before, yet... why would she have such arousing images of them having been together? She dipped into the recesses of her memories, but couldn’t dredge up the elusive recollection of having met him.

  She ran her finger along the bottom edge of the photo. “This doesn’t feel right.” She glanced up at her cousin, his red hair the same color as her own, tied back in a tail. Though they were distant cousins, they looked so similar they were often mistaken for brother and sister. “Usually some newly trained hunter brings the assignment to me, not one as well thought of as you, David MacLeod, vampire hunter, extraordinaire. I’ve never seen you serve as a taskmaster.” Yet this task had to be the kind of job he usually took care of, if the League offered her that much money. “The rogue vampire has to be evil to the core.” But why assign the job to her?

  Refusing to comment, David still only listened to her in that way he did when secrets needed to be kept.

  “David, listen, the number of rogues has increased, what? Nearly tenfold every week for the past several weeks?”

  He nodded, his attitude one of boredom now.

  “Well, what’s the matter? Is it some kind of unusual mutation in their already mutated genes that’s creating the problem? Surely, the League is seeking other ways to deal with this.”

  David remained noncommittal, toying with the burgundy linen napkin wrapped around his utensils, the silverware he had no intention of using.

  “I know you don’t care about League politics because exterminating vampires remains your unrelenting focus, but surely you have some opinion about this.” She considered the photograph again, furrowing her brow. “Are you sure the League doesn’t know something about the increase in killings? You don’t think this could be the beginning of an all out war between the hunters and the bloodsuckers?”

  David raised a brow but his lips remained ambiguous. “He likes redheads.”

  Alena’s lower lip dropped.

  David shrugged a shoulder and sat up taller. He had the family’s aristocratic Scottish nose with a dusting of red freckles sprinkled across the bridge, tilted up in an arrogant manner.

  “The League feels you’re the best for the job,” he offered.

  Instantly, her blood heated and her voice elevated when she responded. “Not because I’ve eliminated five this spring alone—that I’m highly skilled, trained, and dedicated—but just because I’m a redhead?”

  A young couple at another booth in the Italian restaurant glanced in her direction.

  “I’ll leave in a moment to allow the two of you to get better acquainted,” David said, his tone cool.

  “What?” Her voice raised another few notches. “We never acquaint ourselves with the rogue. Never. It just isn’t done. We locate the renegade and terminate him or her. That’s it. No small talk, no getting to know them better, no fuss or muss. A quick thrust of a hunter’s ancient blade into the heart of the malevolent being, end of problem. Something is totally screwy about this case.”

  She couldn’t squelch the growing anxiety that sliced through her. Chewing on her bottom lip, she removed what remained of her peach lip gloss, when her cousin shoved the contract at her.

  He spoke softly, almost in a placating way—which was again uncharacteristic of him—but his words only increased the uneasiness she felt. “This assignment is slightly different. Sure, you’ll terminate him. But the League needs information about the project he’s working on first. You’re to slip into his lair and find out what you can. Work undercover, so to speak. And in this instance, you have no choice. The job is yours. Period.”

  She glanced down at the photo again. Sutton’s rugged jaw, his black hair that fell to his shoulders, and his sensual lips that turned up so slightly—the smile appeared almost imperceptible—all seemed so oddly familiar. The black tux he wore fit perfectly over broad shoulders, the lapels as satiny as his hair. His ice-white shirt stood out sharply against his skin, almost making it appear tanned in contrast. But none of these held her attention like his eyes, forcing her to consider them again.

  What was it about the pools of dark chocolate that melted her heart? A distant memory she couldn’t recapture lurked half hidden in the shadowy recesses of her mind. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

  The fragrance of freshly mowed grass came to her as her naked back rested against a soft bed of green hay. Cold air circulated around her, but Sutton’s body working against hers in the throes of passion warmed her. His lips pressed against hers with bruising kisses, their tongues tangled, then his extended canines grazed her exposed throat. They pricked her skin, and…

  She gasped and opened her eyes.

  “He’s going to be here momentarily.” David motioned to a table situated across from them.

  The image of Sutton making love to her instantly vanished. She cursed inwardly, wanting to see more of the picture, like watching a movie clip, not knowing where it began or how it ended. Except she played a prominent role, not as a spectator, but a participant. A very willing participant.

  “He sits there every Friday night at this time. He’ll have a perfect view of you. When he gets an eyeful of that red hair of yours, he’ll want to make your acquaintance.”

  Glancing at the table, Alena still fumed she’d been set up to take the job only because she had red hair. She shoved the paper at David. “I don’t make friends with bloodsuckers then kill them. I’m not an undercover spy. Have the League find some other hunter for the assignment.”

  David shook his head. “They said you might say this. You have no choice, Alena. I already told you so. If you can’t accomplish the mission, through no fault of your own, you’re off the hook.”

  She cocked a brow. “You mean if he kills me first.”

  David’s mouth twitched up, then he turned serious. His brow furrowing, he leaned forward in his seat. “If you choose not to do the job, you’re blacklisted. Depending upon the severity of the infraction, if you become a maverick hunter, the League has every right to set a contract out on you.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “As you know, family gets called on first to perform cleansing when a hunter or huntress gets out of line. Of course, I’m only referring to worst-case scenarios here.”

  “Yeah, like Tanya. You were only too eager to do your duty.” Sarcasm dripped from her words, and she gave him one of her best glowers.

  David’s harsh look slipped, and he cleared his throat. “Hell, Tanya not only refused to terminate the serial-killer vampire, but lured human victims to him. What were we supposed to do?”

  Alena understood that, damn it. “Did you have to be the one to kill her? Our own cousin?”

  A slice of anger still cut into her heart concerning her feelings toward David. He had quickly become the family enforcer. Strictly adhering to League rules, the job took priority over family ties. Woe to the woman who ever lost her heart to such an unfeeling hunter.

  Unexpectedly, David’s expression softened. “Like you this time, the League didn’t give me a choice.”

  She stared at him. Her heart tried to sift through his words while her brain held onto the old facts as she knew them. “You didn’t tell me this before.”

  “Would it have mattered? You’ve been angry with me since I finished the task. I couldn’t have gone against the League, nor would I have considered such an act of treason. I did the deed. For that, I fear, you’ll always hold a grudge against me.”

  Surprised he’d care, she parted her lips to speak, then closed them again. She wasn’t certain how she felt. Since he’d been given no choice...

  She shook her head. Why couldn’t he have declined the job?

  Right. Like she’d tried to refuse this one.

  Alena considered Sutton’s photo again. She suspected she would have a devil of a time getting close to him, then killing him. Just his picture—well, not his photo specifically, but his eyes totally entranced her—drew her in like a thirsty desert soaked up a spring rain.

  David rose from the booth. “The ferris wheel is already in motion. If you want to get off, you have to complete the ride. Call me with the details of the case as soon as you learn something. But if I don’t hear from you by this time next week, I’ll be in touch with you.”

  “What’s the project Sutton’s working on?”

  “I don’t know. The League wouldn’t say, though I did inquire.”

  “How will I know—”

  “They said it would be obvious. Truthfully, and you never heard me say this, I think they’re not quite sure themselves.”

  “So it’s more of a fishing expedition?”

  He answered with an impersonal nod.

  “Are they certain he’s a rogue?”

  “If they’ve targeted him, you know he is. They don’t make mistakes about a thing like that.”

  A familiar redhead caught Alena’s attention and she looked past David and saw his older brother, Jared, headed their way. Four years David’s senior, Jared had always resented being the head of the household when their parents were killed by a pair of renegades. Now, he resented being the elder brother who was not half as well thought of in his hunter career as David. And because David had always been protective of Alena since her mother had died and her father was too busy running League business, Jared treated Alena with low regard. He cast her an annoyed look, and she smiled in her most amiable way.

  “I need a word with you,” Jared said to David.

  David glanced at his watch, then without another word, rose from his seat and headed with Jared for the back door of the restaurant, looking like a man with a new mission. David wouldn’t tell her to take care or offer her other words of encouragement. Serving as a professional hunter, he hid his feelings well. Although he had not always been so hard. Had a vampire not killed his little brother…

  Alena shook her head.

  The incident was not David’s fault but his incorrigible younger brother’s. Maybe even Jared’s for partying with his friends instead of being around more when David and Bobby needed a parent figure. But it didn’t matter. She doubted David would ever give up the guilt he felt that he hadn’t supervised his little brother better. He would never give up searching for the vampire renegade who had murdered Bobby either.

  As soon as David and Jared disappeared, the restaurant seemed to grow colder.

  Italian music drifted overhead, the sweet sounds of amore’, though it took on a more ominous tone to her ear. Hushed voices spoke all around her in the booths and tables filled with couples, families, and friends.

  For an instant, she wished she was just sharing a meal with a hunter friend. Instead, she’d acquired a mission tonight, one she feared she was bound to regret.

  The fragrance of garlic and basil scented the air. She took a deep breath. The aroma tantalized her. Her stomach growled in anticipation of spicy Italian sausage coated in marinara sauce over a bed of tomato, spinach and regular noodles, long overdue.

  But then the table setting across from her drew her attention.

  In the center of the white cloth covered table, a crystal vase sported a single red rose. No other table was adorned in such a fashion. Was Sutton entertaining another redhead tonight?

  Glancing down at the photo, Alena squirmed slightly to get comfortable on the burgundy, cushioned bench, trying to relax the tension in her back.

  Footsteps approached her from behind. She tensed and glanced over her shoulder. A perky waitress with a head full of springy blond curls gave her a broad smile and handed her a menu. “I’m Kitty, your server. The gentleman you were with said you wished to order now.”

  “I’ll have a glass of cabernet sauvignon, first.” Although Alena didn’t often imbibe, tonight she needed a drink.

  When the waitress left, Alena opened her menu and considered the offerings. Deciding on the spicy sausage spaghetti, she snapped the menu shut, then looked back at Sutton’s reserved table.

  How could the League believe Alena’s red hair would entice a vampire? According to fatality statistics, renegade vampires preferred vivacious blondes or sensuous brunettes. Besides, it wouldn’t take him long to figure out she was a huntress as soon as he tried to control her mind, and she boldly prevented it. Then what?

  Normally, then, she’d kill the rogue vampire. But noooo. She had to worm information out of him. The League had never trained her for that kind of task. How did they think she could manage this mission?

  She tapped her peach polished nails on the burgundy table. Didn’t Sutton know redheads could have a quick temper? He could easily lose his head over her.

  She smiled at her own dark humor. She’d gotten quite good at decapitating rogue vampires, if she caught them off-guard.

  Maybe he liked quick-tempered women. Maybe he pushed them to the limit, just before he ripped out their throats. Her stomach soured with the notion he was a rogue.

  The steward walked over to her table, then poured a glass of red wine for her. The full-bodied bouquet reached her, and she took a deep breath to enjoy the fragrance. When he finished, she sipped the wine and nodded. The right flavor, weight, aftertaste of perfectly crushed grapes. “This is fine.”

  He smiled, then returned to the bar.

  Turning, she nearly gasped when Sutton Bastrop walked toward her, accompanied by a redheaded woman. Annoyed with feeling anything but a huntress’s professional interest, she attempted to study him with clinical objectiveness.

  Wearing an expensive black suit in person, Sutton appeared even more handsome than in the photo. And taller, more broad shouldered, and closer… and much more real. Alena swallowed the lump in her throat, unable to shut off the strange feelings racing through her at the sight of him. Then she glanced down at the table to gather her composure, and her heart nearly stopped. His photo boldly stared back at her. Seizing it, she shoved his picture and the contract into her purse, her huntress self-control once again shattered.

  Sutton glanced in Alena’s direction, his mouth parting suddenly, his eyes darkening in an instant. Maybe the League was right in thinking he’d let down his defenses at the sight of seeing a redhead. Guiding his date to their table, his hand rested on the small of her bare back. Then he and his date took their seats, and he nobly diverted his attention to the woman, and for an instant, she respected him for doing so. Alena had been only a minor intriguing side note, but his date was all that truly mattered. She liked that in a man.

  But had he influenced the woman through his vampiric charms? Or was she here of her own free will?

  Alena’s gaze shifted to the top of the woman’s dress, cut provocatively low, exposing enough skin for the vampire to have an unhampered evening feast after dinner. Alena clenched her stomach and a shiver trickled through her.

  She’d only caught a rogue vampire feeding off a human once—the vision etched forever in her mind—his bloodstained teeth, the look of terror on the poor victim’s face. The girl couldn’t have been any older than ten, playing alone in her backyard that fateful night, dressed in shorts and a heart-embroidered T-shirt. The rogue vampire paid for his crime, but Alena had been too late to save the young girl’s life.

  Alena swallowed hard, trying to block the horrifying image from her mind. Fisting her hands in her lap, she had to remember that’s why she killed vampires. The League hired hunters to terminate the rogues. And if they said so, Sutton Bastrop was a renegade.

  She glanced at his date’s red hair piled on top of her head, but her dark roots indicated she’d colored it. So he went for faux redheads, too.

  When the hostess handed Sutton a menu, Alena switched her attention to him. His mesmerizing eyes weren’t focused on the waitress or the menu, but on Alena instead. Instantly, her cheeks burned, and a flush of heat crept through the rest of her body.

  Jeez, would he think she was interested in him because she ogled him like an awestruck fan of a popular movie star?

  But wasn’t that her job? Intrigue him, learn his secrets, then... kill him?

  Sutton ordered two glasses of merlot from the steward, though he could barely keep from staring at the red-haired woman seated at the booth across from his table. Unmistakably, she resembled his beloved Elizabeth. Could she possibly be another reincarnation? It was all he could do to keep his seat and not force his attentions upon her, compelling her to remember him, inducing her to agree to bond with him, and love him eternally like he wished to love her.

  A sprinkling of tiny freckles bridged her nose, and her thick red hair hung about her shoulders in curls, natural as the day she was born. But it was the way her cheeks grew red when she caught his eye that intrigued him even more. Did she recognize him then? Just an inkling? Even her naked neck showed a tinge of color, and he imagined she’d blushed all the way to her toes strapped into black high-heeled sandals.

  Her black chiffon skirt reached below her knees, outlining the rest of her shapely legs. The neckline of her dress scooped low enough to make him want to see further, but was modestly sensual, fitting nicely over well-rounded breasts.

  He leaned back against his chair.

  The lady in the booth across from him sat quietly wringing her hands in her lap. Somehow, he had to discover if what he suspected was true—she was Elizabeth, all over again.

  If so, the coincidence that she would be here at this day of the week, this particular time, this place, sitting across from him, was fate. Maybe this time, he’d get it right.