Free Half a Dose of Fury by Zenina Masters Page B

jaw and cheeks.”
    “In that case, I had better get to the ladies room. Please excuse me. I will rejoin you for the debriefing.”
    She made her way down the hall and to the ladies room to wash her face. Her jaw, neck and cheeks were streaked with blood. Yval opened her vest and grimaced at the blood in her cleavage.
    Wet paper towels took care of the worst of it, but the rest would have to wait for a proper shower. The half-form gave her an inability to clean herself properly, and it was really annoying. Her mouth didn’t produce enough saliva to have it cling to her fur and it made grooming impossible.
    When she was presentable, Yval headed to the debriefing room where her team was already working through their impressions of the evening’s events.
    Yval sat back with a cup of coffee and listened to the description of her attack on Stealik.
    The recorder looked up from her notes. “Hunter Yval, do you have any new information to add to this?”
    “Yes, I could have gutted him completely; he got off lucky. I let him keep all his body parts.” She sipped at her coffee and smiled brightly.
    The group of hunters chuckled and the recorder kept working. When Yval got to her portion of the events, she explained scenting the hidden folk and working to sooth them. Assessment of the situation and those that couldn’t be moved was described and duly recorded.
    “Hunter Yval, was there a reason for your remaining in a form that made communicating with your team difficult?” Hunter Veeran raised one eyebrow.
    “Yes, I ran out of shifts. I had been flicking back and forth frequently, and I could feel that I only had one shift left. I had to save it for this meeting and final communication. Until I was sure that the site was clear, I could not be in a position where I was unable to defend myself or those in my charge.”
    “Hunter Yval, please meet with me after this debriefing.” Hunter Veeran smiled.
    They continued through until all details had been recorded for the archives. The fey witness to the debriefing nodded in agreement to the printed statement.
    It was all over and Yval wanted a shower, but first, her meeting.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    “Yval, the fey observer here today wasn’t just here to sign off on the joint taskforce.”
    Yval yawned and burrowed back into her coffee cup. The cartoon Tasmanian devil on the side marked it as unmistakably hers. “Do tell.”
    “First, I need to tell you that you have been working yourself to the fine edge of control. On two different operations, you got wedged into your own body and could not shift to defend yourself or others.”
    Yval nodded. “I know, but I did manage to get a weapon and defend myself and those with me.”
    “Understood, but we feel that you have been burning the candle at both ends. You need to take some time off, and the fey have an offer for you.”
    She was so taken aback by the first part of his sentence that she nearly missed the second. “Wait...what?”
    “You are on leave, and the fey would like you to take that leave at the Crossroads.” He looked a little uncomfortable.
    Confusion took over and she blurted, “Why?”
    “They have seers working to find matches for available fey, and they pull them up by animal. They had to ask several of us when they described your devil, but it is the only beast that matched.”
    Yval grimaced. “They are probably mistaking me for some kind of weasel.”
    “You are some kind of weasel, but they were very specific about the sound that you make. Apparently, it is described as a ravenous zombie feasting.” Veeran looked sheepish.
    She was going to refute it, but it was a pretty accurate assessment of the noises her beast used to make.
    “Do they know that I am no longer an active shapeshifter?”
    Veeran nodded. “They know and do not care. You are the one that was seen; you are the one that is a likely candidate. From what I have heard, personal energy has to match, and the seers are using every