Moon Sworn

“I can’t see a goddamn thing through the blood,” he muttered.

He carefully pressed the tweezers into the wound anyway, driving them down into my flesh.

“You’re going to have to tell me when I hit the bullet.”

He dug deeper and hit it. Only gently, but it felt like he was driving a red-hot poker deeper into my flesh. I just about jumped through the roof, and sweat popped out across my forehead as my breathing became short, sharp gasps.

So much for the wound being numb.

“Meaning I’ve hit it,” he commented. “Hang on hard to something and try not to move.”

If I gripped the arms of the chair any tighter, I’d fucking shatter them. And the damn things were metal.

The bullet moved again. Heat flashed, white hot, through my muscles and nausea rose thick and fast. I swallowed heavily and closed my eyes, hoping that not watching would make me less aware.

It didn’t.

I felt every inch of the bullet’s journey upward. Felt it when his grip slipped and the bullet fell back into my flesh. Sweat dripped from my forehead and ran in rivers down my back, and bile rose so fast it took all of my control not to vomit on his shoes.

Then the heat was gone and Harris was holding up the tweezers with the bloody bullet clamped firmly between its jaws.

“Done,” he said. “But you need to change to stop the bleeding.”

“Thanks.” I rolled out of the chair and reached for the shifting magic, instinctively calling to my wolf rather than the seagull.

There was no hesitation, no pain, this time. Just a surge of power that swept through my body, numbing and reshaping my body, until what stood there was wolf rather than human. I stayed in her form for several seconds, simply enjoying the feel of her, then, somewhat reluctantly, shifted back. The wound was nowhere near healed, but at least the bleeding had stopped.

Harris closed the first aid kit then put the bloody tweezers and scissors into a plastic bag. “What now?”

“Well, the vamp has proven capable of getting past the nanowire and controlling Be

He raised an eyebrow. “Why is he outside?”

“Because I knew something was wrong the minute we pulled up. I’m used to dealing with vamps. He’s not.” I shrugged. “I was simply keeping him safe.”

“Given the vamp is injured but telepathically unrestrained, how safe would it be to bring him within range?”

“With the silver out of my leg, I’ll be able to protect him.”

I said it with more assurance than I felt, but Harris didn’t seem to notice. He pushed away from the bench and moved toward the front door.

“I thought you suspected him of being a fake brother and co

“He is a fake, but he’s not willingly co

“Meaning you’ve unraveled more clues?”

“I certainly have.” And some of them he wasn’t going to like.

He opened the front door and waved Evin in, then walked across to Be

There wasn’t much I could say to that, so I didn’t say anything.

He glanced around as the door opened and Evin stepped inside. His gaze quickly swept Harris, Be

“Long story,” Harris said. “Grab Be

Evin did as ordered, and the two lifted the young man with ease. “He looks as if he needs a doctor, not a cell.”

“He’s susceptible to vampire suggestion, so he goes into the cell,” I said, co

“Oh.”

For someone who didn’t have much to do with either cops or vampires, Evin seemed to be handling it all amazingly calmly. The two men disappeared through the door. A few seconds later, the cell door slammed shut and footsteps echoed as they returned.

“So why are you two here?” Harris asked as he walked into the reception area. Evin followed him out and propped his butt on the reception desk.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the intervention,” Harris continued, “but I ordered you to stay away.”

“And we know how well ordering me to stay away in the past has worked, don’t we?” He rolled his eyes. I smiled and added, “I needed to ask you some questions.”

“Then fire away.” He strolled across to a percolator and flicked a switch. The rich aroma of brewing coffee soon filled the air, making my taste buds water.

I crossed my arms and said, “How well do you know Mike West?”

He gave me what I could only call a “cop look” and said, voice flat, “Mike West isn’t involved in any nefarious plot against you.”

“Then do you know why he was driving toward the whaling station just over an hour ago?”

Harris shrugged. “Why is that even important?”

I sidestepped the question with another. “Then do you know what De

“No. Not only have I been out of contact with Mike, De

“Then no one has reported anything to you?” I persisted.

“No. And if anyone had reported it to Mike, I would have heard it. Emergency calls get routed to both cell phones when we’re out of the office.” He glanced at Evin. “How do you take your coffee?”

“White and one.”

Harris nodded, made the coffee, then carried over three cups, handing one to Evin and one to me before sitting on the chair I’d propped my foot on earlier. “What are you getting at, Ha

“I’m not Ha

“Well, until you remember your name, I need to call you something. Now answer the damn question.”

“While you and I were hunting your prisoners, De

“What?” He glanced sharply at Evin, eyebrow raised in query.

“It’s true,” Evin said. “I have the bruises and rope and silver burns to prove it.”

“And I have the ransom note.” I took the piece of plastic out of my pocket and handed it over. He read it silently and shook his head.

“Why would the damn fool do something this stupid?”

It was a rhetorical question, but I answered it anyway. “It was a ploy to get me out to the whaling station alone, where dearest De

Harris raised an eyebrow. “Did De

He didn’t actually sound like he’d mind if they hadn’t. “Of course they did.”

“Good.” His tone wasn’t convincing. “But I’m not seeing the co

“When we were driving back, we saw West coming in the opposite direction. He was almost at the old whaling station, and the only way he could have gotten there so fast would be by leaving soon after I did.”

“Which means someone told him what was happening.”

“Or he was watching my place, saw me leave, and maybe even saw one of De

He digested this for a moment, then simply said, “No.”

“Someone else—someone other than Evin—has been reporting back to the people behind all this. I can think of no better person than a cop who is dissatisfied with where he is and what he is doing.”