Free Dawnbreaker by Jocelynn Drake

with the promise that they would start the tests later that morning. I slid into one of the hard plastic chairs, resting my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. It felt like my entire body was shaking from exhaustion. So many minds infiltrated and altered throughout the night, so many memories tweaked so that the carnage was blurred and the horror dulled. I wished I could forget about it all as well.
    Six lycans and one nightwalker killed. A second nightwalker missing. Tristan wounded. It was only from a call from Knox while I was looking over the park that I discovered Kevin had made it the Dark Room, but there were still questions as to whether he would survive the next few hours.
    “Mira, it’s late. You can go home. I’ll keep things under control here,” Archie said as he eased into a cushioned chair behind the battered desk to my right. He sighed heavily and then began shuffling around different sets of papers. The coroner would run the blood tests himself, using human blood he had in stock already so that no one would discover the true identity of the vampire and lycanthropes within his custody. As soon as it was possible, all seven of the bodies would go into the oven and be cremated.
    “I wish I could,” I muttered. I still had one more meeting that night, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. In fact, he was already there, and I could sense his temperament before he even entered the basement. “It would be best if you left here for a little while.”
    “I need to start these tests,” Archie argued.
    I lifted my head and frowned at him. We were both exhausted and I could understand his desire to start what was going to be a long list of doctored tests just to protect the identity of my people and those of the lycanthropes. However, I knew it would be best if he was not around at the moment. “Barrett is here to identify the victims. You need to leave.”
    “Oh,” he whispered, then pushed to his feet. Just before Archie could escape, the double doors exploded open and Barrett entered the room, his face a mask of barely contained fury. And I couldn’t blame him. During the past month, four members of his pack had been slaughtered by the naturi, including one of his own family members. And after tonight’s massacre, their numbers had been decimated.
    “M-Mira will take the names,” Archie said in a low voice as he slid around Barrett and out the door.
    Normally, Barrett was a calm, even-tempered werewolf. He was a good, strong leader, a steady protector of his people. But the recent deaths had shattered his control and left him snarling at anything that moved. I had called him on the ride over to the morgue. The conversation was brief simply because I knew we would have a longer one when he arrived.
    Barrett walked from table to table, pulling back the bloodstained white sheets that covered each body. His fist grew tighter with each death he was forced to look in the face, their sightless eyes closed but still seeming to stare through us both. A low growl rumbled from his throat as he reached the final body. I had expected it. It was Will, the youngest of his three brothers and the second brother to die in the past two months.
    I remained silent, watching him, wishing I could remain unnoticed while he inwardly grieved for his dead brother and the other members of his pack. He shoved both hands through his chocolate brown hair and sucked in a deep breath in an effort to regain control of his emotions. Reluctantly, he moved toward a covered table that was somewhat off to the side.
    “That one doesn’t belong to you,” I said in a low voice, drawing his narrowed gaze to my face for the first time. I barely suppressed a shiver.
    “So, you’ve finally lost one of your own,” he growled.
    “One is dead, another lays dying, a third was severely injured, and still another was kidnapped and is most likely being tortured as we speak,” I replied, hating myself for being drawn into the argument. He was