Free Private Dicks by Samantha M. Derr

phone and a flash drive.
    I can do this. And before I know it, I'm in my room, taking in Deepine's—Donovan's—scent, wrapping it around me like a blanket. I strip off my clothes and head straight for the shower. Have to get Silverlight's scent off me, get rid of the stench of blood and fear. He's going to kill me, I know he will. I've disobeyed him for the last time.
    I take a break from pulling on clothes over my still-damp body to laugh until I'm coughing, and then I have to sit on my bed for a few seconds so I don't fall over. I very carefully don't let myself feel all the aches and broken bones and where Ian had punched me with a silver necklace wrapped around his knuckles. Ingenuity, part of being an enforcer.
    I pick up the bag and start walking to the enrollment room. The bag is even heavier now with the files I'd collected and printed. I haven't known where my loyalties lay for a lot longer than I'd thought, going by those files. But I just need a few more and then this whole mess will be over. I can go back to finding kittens and dogs and lost scarves and others of that ilk.
    Annie, the enrollment officer on duty, almost screams when she sees me. I barely repress the urge to give her a comforting smile—I know my mouth is bloody again.
    "Please," I say as I drop into a seat. The room is cramped and dimly-lit with at least ten computers lining three walls.
    "Noelle needs to take a look at you!" she says, her hands fluttering over the places where I'm obviously still bleeding.
    "No," I say firmly. I dig the flash drive out of the bag. "This first." She stares at the flash drive like she's never seen one in her life. "Please." My voice breaks embarrassingly, but I push the flash drive at her. "It's for the pack."
    She's sitting in her chair, fingers flying over the keyboard, and I think I'm losing patches of time. I watch her from where I'm slowly sliding out of my chair, and she gasps.
    "Reese, where did you get this information? How did you know about the wolfsbane?"
    I smile, forgetting for a second, and she recoils a little. "Do you collate and bind?"
    *~*~*
    "Reese!"
    "Wake up, damn you!"
    I glare at Noelle, then look down at the phone clenched in my hand. I smile. "Anybody got my reports?" I force the words out past sandpaper and blood.
    Annie shoves the bag into my lap. "Collated and bound," she whispers. "You called someone—you told me to tell you when you woke up."
    "Good," I slur. "They'll be here …"
    *~*~*
    "He shouldn't be moved so soon!"
    "I'm sorry, ma'am, but the fact of the matter is, this situation needs to be taken care of quickly, and he's the only one who can make sense of these reports. And you said yourself he's increased his own healing rate."
    "At the expense of draining his body of energy it needs!" Noelle screeches. "He needs rest!"
    I open my eyes. Still in the enrollment room. The dragon's out-bullying Noelle, who looks ready to commit murder. I shove myself into a seated position and wince at the pain, though it's considerably less than before.
    "Reese!"
    "I'm fine," I say brusquely. "I just needed to rest a little." I turn to the dragon, and see Annie forcibly restraining Noelle in my peripheral vision. "Get Donovan and Dorian," I say, and he nods.
    Half an hour has me inside the same interrogation room as before, the dragon leaning against the opposite wall. He's staring at me hard, and I avoid his gaze as much as possible, waiting impatiently. There's a commotion in the hallway, and the dragon straightens.
    "So Reese," he says as the door opens, "who are you actually working for?"
    I ignore the question as Donovan and Dorian burst into the room behind another damn dragon. Donovan sees me after half a second and lunges towards me. "Reese! What the hell happened?"
    "I'll kindly thank you to unhand our consultant," Teinen says curtly, and Donovan lets my arms go as if he was burned.
    "What's going on?" Dorian asks. He puts a hand on Donovan's shoulder for a second, and they retreat