Free Huntbound (Moonfate Serial Book 2) by Sylvia Frost Page A

isn’t the mate being taken like I was. She is clearly the one doing the taking.
     
    Cal. As in, his best friend. As in, the other FBSI agent.
     
    “So, are you going to thank me or not?” Cal gives me a fierce smile. Even her human teeth are still stained with red. The woman’s blood.
     
    “ You’re Cal. You work with Orion at the FBSI?”
     
    “Give the girl a cookie, ’Rion.”
     
    I shudder, staring at the broken body of the woman behind her. “You killed her. You didn’t have to kill her.”
     
    Her sneer widens and coupled with the blood on her teeth, it makes her whole mouth look like a violent gash across her face. “Just because I’m a mutant doesn’t mean I’m fucking Batman, and this isn’t some stupid video game. You don’t get any points for not killing the bad guys, human.”
     
    “My name is Artemis,” I say. I try to cross my arms, but Orion’s hands fly to my wrists, rendering me immobile. He’s treating me like a child.
     
    Cal rolls her eyes and with the back of her hand wipes off the blood still staining her lips. “You and every other girl in the county. Jesus. You’d think the name would’ve gone out of style after the whole Artemis Williams fiasco, but humans are fucking sheep.”
     
    I flinch at hearing my name, but Orion doesn’t. I can feel his every muscle, so either he really does have no idea who I am, or he’s got very good control over his body. Probably both.
     
    “And I’d appreciate you not staring at me like I’m a mutant, human.” She leans down and licks the back of her hand, as if that will clean up the blood.
     
    God, they’re monsters, they really are. All of them. Behind Cal is the bike, one wheel digging into the dirt, surrounded by a confetti of black fabric. Of course. “You were on the motorcycle.”
     
    Cal hisses and bares her teeth. “You’ve got your own little private eye. You should have your own buddy cop TV show. Arrogant bastard tracker and his intellectually stunted mate.”
    “Cal,” Orion says sharply. “You can insult me all you like, but you will be polite to Artemis.”
    Cal recoils, and if it weren’t for the fact that I’m trying my best not to look at the body behind her, I might try to parse out her reaction and wonder if they had a history. As it is, I’m just wondering if I’m going to throw up.
     
    “It was just a joke, ’Rion,” she says. “You know how I am.”
     
    Orion’s hands snake around my middle, pushing me against him. The possessiveness should be attractive, as should his already hardening cock against my thigh. But all I can feel is fear.
     
    “Did Stephania decode the phone?” he asks.
     
    “Not yet. She’s working on it,” says Cal.
     
    “How about O’Mailey? Has he found any leads on the werebeast herd moving south? Do we think they’re related?”
     
    “Nope. But give him a couple more hours with the computer crew and he’ll start swearing at them in Gaelic. Then they’ll get some shit done.”
 
    “So what you’re telling me is that we’re no closer to finding the vampire than we were seven hours ago.”
     
    “Wait. I found a bit of Lawrence’s t-shirt in the van. Can we use that?” I open up my left hand enough to show the scrap of cloth, but not enough to let it fall.
     
    Orion steals it from my grasp and brings it to his nose, inhaling. “This has been doused in silver nitrate. Probably all of Lawrence’s clothing was, along with the coyote’s weremate. It’s useless.”
     
    “Well, you have him.” Cal nods at the limp body of the coyote only a few feet away from us. Then she gives a wicked smile. “Do you want to question him or should I?”
     
    “I’ll be doing it. You’re going to be taking Artemis back to headquarters.”
     
    “What?” I squawk.
     
    Orion tightens his grip. “She might try to run. She has an irritating tendency to do that.”
     
    “I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “I have to find Lawrence.”
     
    “Shut up,