Free Fire Bound by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page B

wide and indicate a double row of teeth that could rip through muscle and snap bones.”
    Lovely . Evalle muttered, “Carnivorous Bigfoot with wings. And you want us to catch that before it eats something else?”
    She had no doubt that Tzader had heard her with his exceptional hearing, but he kept talking as if he hadn’t. “Here’s the plan.”
    Tzader explained the layout of the pasture, which backed up to the woods behind the abandoned gas station, then added, “The new herd was fed a few hours ago, and recon says they’re bedded down near the end of the pasture where we’ll exit the woods. That’s where we should find them. Since no humans are involved, everyone is authorized to use their powers tonight, but we need this thing alive . . . unless the decision comes down to your life or a team member’s.”
    Evalle would follow Tzader into any battle without question, but she didn’t get why they had to capture this thing. They destroyed demons and other dangerous dark creatures all the time, the point being to rid the world of supernatural predators.
    Before she could ask, power surged into Evalle’s mind when Tzader addressed all the Beladors telepathically. It’s time to link with Evalle so we’ll all have night vision.
    No reply was needed. Belador warriors followed the orders of a Maistir without question.
    Evalle lowered her mental shields and energy surged into her, feeling like a blast of adrenaline from all the powers linked, but it settled down just as quickly. She looked over at Casper. “We’re linked and using my vision.”
    He nodded, moving his fingers up to his monocular.
    Trailing behind Tzader, Evalle entered the woods, having forgotten how noisy crickets and frogs could be outside the city. She kept her thoughts to herself while she climbed over a rusty wire fence and pushed her way through thick underbrush, rattling branches in the wake of Tzader’s quieter moves.
    Something squawked and flapped, diving from somewhere above her.
    Evalle swung her hands up, prepared to use her kinetic power against an attack, but Tzader shouted in her head, Don’t! Just a couple turkeys.
    Close behind her, Casper muttered, “Never taking you hunting, that’s for sure.”
    She released a stream of air that came out as a hiss of frustration and put her hands down. Back when she’d first been brought into the Beladors, she’d had survival training in a frigid climate. Her experience in southern rural settings had been minimal.
    Catching up to Tzader, she asked him privately mind-to-mind, Hey, Z, what does VIPER expect to learn from taking this thing in alive?
    He had to turn sideways and lift his arms to squeeze through an opening in a patch of blackberry bushes that snagged Evalle’s jeans when she passed through behind him.
    Just another reason to stay out of the boondocks.
    Put her in the middle of any metropolitan landscape and she was pure stealth, but right now she was making more noise than Quinn, Trey and Casper together.
    Trey and Casper she could understand since they both had grown up in the country, but Quinn surprised her. She hadn’t expected him to be so fluid and silent out here.
    Tzader finally answered her. One of the people I know up the food chain in the government has reason to believe that someone has been doing secret testing on strange animals in a private facility. This attack fits their intel. They need to know if this creature is a result of someone’s experiments and where it came from.
    You mean they think someone created this thing we’re after in a lab?
    Maybe.
    Considering that implication, something more significant struck her. She’d always been told never to expose her powers to a human. But I thought the humans and the government aren’t supposed to know we exist.
    You know we have Beladors in national security positions . . . this is coming down from those offices. The concern in his voice said there was more at stake than a few cows.
    What do you mean, Z? They