Claiming His Unexpected Baby (Assassins Guild #2) - Michelle Howard Page 0,3

did she have a choice? A glimmer of hope begin to grow. Maybe this would work after all. She’d be safe from Roan, her baby would be welcomed in a community full of support and Amelie could stop being afraid to live.

“Alright. What do we need to do?”

“You need a mark now. A scar forms after Gerelins bond to their mates.”

That sounded painful. “A scar?”

Scarlett was already digging through a drawer on a multi-cabinet. She held up a thin surgical blade and ripped off the protective sealant. “It has to be on your neck. The man bites the woman there and secretes the hormone through his teeth into her bloodstream.”

What an odd and painful sounding custom. The glint of the blade weakened her knees. Amelie bit her inner cheek. “I don’t know about this.”

“Sit back down.” Scarlett waved her back to the exam table and despite her misgivings, Amelie hopped up on it, taking her prior seat.

Scarlett’s breath whispered across her neck as she leaned over Amelie to make two small incisions. “I’m not making them too deep. This probably won’t hold up under scrutiny but you could always wear scarves. No one will think anything of it. Some women consider the marks an intimate sign of love from their men and cover the mating marks in public.”

The two cuts were made swiftly though it did hurt. Scarlett handed her a pad to press over the bleeding wound. “What next?”

Scarlett immediately started wiping things down and cleaning up. “I’ll show you how to process the papers for the request to be a permanent resident instead of your current visitor status.”

It seemed too easy. Amelie tossed the bloody pad into the biobin. “Won’t they ask about my...mate?”

The term was different but she liked it. It implied a deeper connection. On her farming home world marriages were an antiquated dull union and usually based on advantageous matches around a family farm with little thoughts to love.

“We’ll keep your story simple. Your mate’s name for one and we’ll say he’s gone a lot for work. That way, there aren’t a lot of details for you to remember and get tripped up in a lie.”

Amelie tried one last protest. “What about the guy? Won’t he know what we’ve done?”

Scarlett grimaced and rocked her hand back and forth. “From what I understand, there’s a connection of some sort that grows but since he’s not here and this was done via an injection, I don’t think that will be an issue. This is fake. Don’t let guilt weigh you down. You’ll come across as mated to any Gerelin around you, which is what we need. This guy is long gone and probably won’t be back. He’s only missing a small sample of his hormone and didn’t notice.”

Amelie raised her hand and studied the tender spot. She didn’t feel any different. “You’re right. Maybe everything will be okay.”

They stared at one another with doubt on their faces. Amelie had a feeling neither of them believed that.

Chapter 2

Crouched at the corner of the building that was home to one of the biggest criminals residing on Quantoon, Sulen glanced over at his fellow assassin. “You know I don’t owe you any favors any more.”

Hunkering down lower to the ground, Garik barely looked in his direction. “Mmm.”

“It’s only because of your pretty mate that I agreed to help,” Sulen added, hiding a smirk.

Garik’s head snapped around and Sulen held in his snort of laughter at the glare aimed his way. If there was one thing guaranteed to get his peer’s attention, it was mention of the woman he’d taken as his mate three months ago.

“Saedra isn’t pretty to you.”

Sulen almost laughed aloud. He never thought he’d see the day. Garik Denison, loner and exceptional assazi, was completely in love with his bond mate.

As Gerelins, it was in their nature to be protective of the one they bonded to but Garik was beyond possessive of the petite Saedra who’d rescued him from imprisonment and the very man they were here to eliminate.

Sulen was about to tease him more when a light in one of the upper rooms they’d been watching went out. All humor vanished and Sulen donned the veneer of ruthless hunter. “Go time.”

Garik matched him step for step as they entered Maurin’s massive estate, slipping past guards and alarms with the disrupters they wore in their pockets. When they reached the bedroom of their target, Sulen stepped back to let Garik enter first. Neither of them partnered much when