Free Bound by the Vampire Queen by Joey W. Hill

style.”
    She consulted the handheld again. “There are about seven businesses and four medians we’ve not yet visited that might have trees that fit the description. I also have about thirty other possibilities, but those eleven are my first choices.”
    “Well, read them out then, and we'll see what we can find.”
    None of the locations held the tree. Though they found several willows, when Lyssa laid her hand upon them, nothing happened other than the disruption of some ant trails along the trunk. They discussed the possibility that she might not have the power Keldwyn had intimated was necessary to release the spirit, but Jacob thought it more likely that they hadn’t found the tree. Something didn’t feel quite right about the ones they approached. His intuition, or what Lyssa called his psychic sense or his precognition, was attuned to certain situations, and this was one of them. It was like radar, and he could tell practically before they got out of their car each time that the targeted tree wasn’t the right one.
    However, since they’d never freed a dryad before, he didn’t dissuade Lyssa from touching each one, just to be sure.
    By three-thirty in the morning, they were running out of night, and trees that fit the parameters. “Now I’ve
really
seen far more of this section of the city than I ever wanted to see,” Lyssa commented, sitting on the car hood.
    Jacob handed her a coffee he’d bought from a convenience store and propped his hips next to her.
    The convenience store had a locked entrance and a pickup window, heavy bars on it and the doors.
    Graffiti was scrawled on the wall's of the buildings along the side street where they’d parked. Since their search had been limited to the lower-income area of downtown Atlanta, each night they’d gotten their share of sidelong, calculating looks from human predators, but direct stares from both male vampire and queen had made those gazes avert fairly quickly, the petty criminals recognizing far bigger threats.
    “I’ve got an idea,” Jacob said abruptly. “Hell, it’s worth a shot.”
    Straightening, he studied their surroundings, then turned, listening. His nostrils flared, taking in a scent.
    Lyssa watched that extraordinary still ness settle over him, something that happened when a vampire was focusing all his senses, reaching out far beyond mortal abilities. It not only underscored the fact he was no longer fully human, but how dangerous a predator he could be. She supposed it was one of those vagaries of female nature, that such a thing could stir her loins as well as her blood. Picking up on it instantly, he gave her a sidelong glance. “A fine time to distract me, my lady,” he murmured. “And such an image. Right here on the hood?”
    “I trust you can enjoy the fantasy and exercise some self-control,” she returned evenly. “What are you about?”
    “When computers and garden clubs fail, there’s a better source of information, the kind that only a former drifter and vampire hunter would know.” He held out a hand. “Care to take a little walk with me?
    A female presence might be useful, even one as intimidating as yours.”
    “As long as I can bring my coffee.”
    “I wouldn’t be brave enough to pry it from you, my lady.”
    She gave him a narrow look, but slipped her fingers in the crook of his arm, letting him escort her down the side street. Despite his teasing, he liked seeing her enjoy the coffee. Since becoming more Fae than vampire, she’d been able to actually eat, versus frugal sampling. Though his reserved lady would never be accused of gluttony, she had discovered some things were more addictive than others.
    One night, on an earlier trip to Atlanta, she’d made herself sick on a one-pound box of buttercream chocolates she’d polished off herself. She’d been curled up in her favorite chair, reading. With Kane sleeping in a nest of pillows nearby, he’d stretched out on his stomach on the floor with his