Free Hearts of the Hunted by Storm Moon Press

man to tell the police what he had been doing with his
Saturday nights, and Jack's eyes bugged as he took the
confession.
    It turns out that our
'friend' had been attacking women for longer than we could have
known, but it wasn't until a few weeks before that he had
unknowingly raped a Transformed woman, and gained the ability to
take the fight out of anyone he chose. He hadn't even realized that
he'd been Transformed, preferring to think that some higher power
had blessed his actions.
    Hannah was drooping with
exhaustion by the time the police finished taking his confession,
and then our own statements. We had just happened to recognize him
and followed him home, we said, and Hannah had bravely confronted
him, daring him to test his supposed 'divine blessing' by
confessing what he'd done. No one really believed her, of course,
but he had confessed his crimes before 'going mad' and raging in
his cell, and the DNA evidence was there in the mattress
pad.
    Jack took us aside as we
were preparing to leave, and assured us that as soon as the DNA was
matched, they would have enough to put him away for a long time.
And based on his descriptions of his own activities and victims, he
would be charged for a handful of other unsolved rapes as well.
"He's going away, and he won't hurt anyone again" Jack
said.
    Hannah sagged against me,
too exhausted to react, and I squeezed her shoulders. "Thank you,
Jack. You gave us what we needed to hunt him down."
    "I'm sorry you had to," he
said, "but we'll do the rest."
    With that assurance
ringing in our ears, we were free to go. I called a cab, and then
went into the café next to the police station and bought a hot tea,
pulling the bag out and adding a squeeze of honey before bringing
it to Hannah. She took a cautious sip, and then smiled, thanking me
with her eyes. I called Sharon and Riley while we waited, and Riley
promised to pass the news to anyone else who needed to
know.
    We were all the way back
at the apartment before I realized that we had finally accomplished
what we had set out to do. I turned to Hannah, and her eyes shone
with the same bright light. We stood that way for a long moment,
and then she laughed and I couldn't help but laugh along. I threw
myself forward, and she did the same, and we tumbled onto the couch
in each other's arms, giggling like girls.
    "We did it!" I cried,
giddy with our success.
    "He's really gone for
good," she said at the same time. We burst into laughter again, and
it was a long time before we both managed to calm down. She curled
up against me and I rested my head on top of hers, inhaling the
sweet scent of her bright, beautiful hair; it was even longer
before either of us moved again.
    "What are you going to do
now?" she asked me.
    A chill moved through me
as I considered. Was she asking me to leave? "I don't know. I guess
I can go back to Janelle. We haven't needed to make many runs from
this area in a while," I said quietly. "You must be relieved that
you can get back to your life."
    "It will still be a while
before I can walk past a shadow downtown without my heart
pounding," she said. She turned her face into my chest, but I sat
back and reached for her.
    I took Hannah's face in my
hands and brought her eyes up to meet mine, holding her gaze for a
moment before I said, "He's gone. You caught him, and you gave him
to the police. Thanks to you, he will never hurt another girl
again. I know you hated being Changed; now no one else will go
through that shock because of him."
    Hannah's lovely green eyes
moistened. "I don't know," she said, "I wouldn't wish a surprise
Change on anyone, ever, but maybe it brought some blessings into my
life after all." Then, she kissed me, soft and sweet. I sighed into
her mouth as I returned the slow, gentle kiss.
    Hannah pulled back and
found my hands with hers. "Will you stay?"
    The words poured into me
like hot coffee into a cool mug, and I shivered with pleasure as
that warmth started somewhere deep inside of me and