Evin jerked away the minute the wire was loose enough and quickly rubbed his raw neck. “Fuck, that stuff burns.”
I chucked the wire out the door then slammed it shut. “I gather you’ve never had an encounter with silver before?”
“No. But I take it you have?”
“I’ve been shot by the stuff so many times I’m now super-sensitive to it.” I flicked open the switchblade and studied the point. It was certainly sharp enough to do the job. After a moment, I became aware of Evin’s heated stare. “What?”
“Did you even hear what you just said?”
I smiled. “Yes. And no, I can’t explain it, beyond the fact that I’m involved on some level with the Directorate.”
“Then whoever is behind all this is playing a mighty dangerous game. Even I know you don’t fuck around with Directorate people. Not if you value your life.”
“Which is probably why he gave me another identity. Then he could kill me without raising any alarms.”
“As I said before, this whole situation is fucked.” He gave the knife point a somewhat dubious look. “I take it you want me to take the earrings out of your ears.”
“I tried taking them off the first time I had a shower. They wouldn’t budge. Cutting them out seems to be my only option.”
He took the knife somewhat gingerly. “It’ll hurt.”
I shrugged. “I’m tough.”
“I’m beginning to realize that,” he muttered, then motioned me to turn around.
I did so, reaching across with one hand and sweeping the short strands of my hair out of the way. His touch on my ear was light and firm.
“It does feel like they’re embedded,” he commented. “Don’t jerk away when I cut or I might just tear your lobe off.”
“I won’t.”
Cold metal touched my ear, slicing into my flesh. Evin’s touch was surprisingly delicate, and the cut didn’t hurt all that much. After a few seconds, the blade was gone and his fingers were pulling at my ear. Something dropped onto the seat between us and bounced onto the floor of the truck.
“Other one,” Evin said.
I resisted the impulse to reach down and grab whatever had fallen out and twisted around on the seat, so that he could reach my right ear. He repeated the process, but this time, he had to pry the thing out of my ear. It felt like it was being pulled out of my ear canal rather than my lobe, a sensation that had my stomach rising and my head spinning.
“Fuck,” I said, jerking away the minute it was free and rubbing my ear fiercely. “That one hurt.”
And other than the pain, I didn’t really feel any different with the earrings gone. For some reason, I thought I would.
But maybe I needed to do something—like shape-shift—to see if removing them had actually improved my situation. Right now, we didn’t have that time. West would be close to the whaling station by now. We really needed to get moving, just in case he came back. I took the brake off and hit the gas. Dirt and stones sprayed the underneath of the truck as the tires skidded then gripped, and the big truck surged forward once more.“It looks like a battery,” Evin said, examining the earring. “Only it’s got a tail.”
I held out a hand and he dropped it into my palm. It was small and round, and the silk-fine tail was about two and a half inches long.
Evin reached down and picked up the remains of the other earring. It was also small, but without the tail.
“I have no idea what they are,” he said. “Do you?”
I shook my head. “But when I tried to shift shape, I was hit by an intense pain—it felt like my brain was on fire. Maybe this is the reason why.”
“How the hell can something that small stop a shifter from taking their other shape?”
“Nanotechnology means the smallest devices can be extremely powerful.”
“Granted, but that doesn’t explain how it manages to stop a shape-shift.”
I shrugged. “From what I’ve read, the electrical activity emanating from the brain increases exponentially when we shift. Maybe the device somehow disrupts that surge and prevents the shift process.”
So why hadn’t it prevented the seagull shift? I frowned down at the thing in my hand. Maybe it could be programmed. Maybe shifting into different shapes resulted in different energy signatures, and if these things could be programmed, then it was here to prevent the wolf shift.
Because he doesn’t know about your alternate form, that internal voice whispered. He doesn’t know about your other skills.
If only I could figure out who he was, my life would be a whole lot easier.
I dropped the metal mouse back into Evin’s hand. “Keep them safe for me.”
He looked surprised but pleased. “I will, trust me.”
I did. And not just because he wanted my help to rescue his soul mate. There was no cunning in his gaze, no artifice in his actions. Granted, he may have spent the last few days doing nothing but lying to me, but that wasn’t his nature. Wasn’t his soul.
Evin was honest. I’d stake my life on it.
And given the situation, I probably was.
“So what’s our plan of action?” he asked.
I hesitated. “As I said earlier, I think the first thing we need to do is talk to Harris. What happens after that very much depends on whether he believes us or not.”
“If he doesn’t, we’re stuck. I can’t leave Dunedan until I’m told to, because if I don’t report in every night, they’ll kill Lyndal.”
“So they’ve told you to call from that phone only?”
“Yes. They gave me the location and number, and said if I use any other phone, Lyndal will pay.”
“Meaning they’re using caller ID—and there are ways around that.” Not that I could actually recall any of them at the moment. “Is the number you call local or interstate?”
“Interstate. The calls are killing my credit card.”
I snorted. “They’re making you pay for the calls?”
“And the villa. The bastards aren’t exactly free with the cash.”
“I guess it’s one way to avoid a paper—or credit—trail.”
“And if they were planning to kill us at the end of it, I guess it’s probably easier to waste my cash than theirs.”
“Probably. If Harris can trace the phone number for us, that’ll at least give us a starting location.” Though I very much doubted the phone number would relate to wherever they were keeping Lyndal. That would be a dumb move, and whoever was behind this wasn’t dumb. Arrogant, yes, overconfident, probably, but not dumb.
“We’ve still got to get her out of there without them suspecting.”
“We will.”
“I don’t think you and I have enough firepower to stop them.”
“I don’t intend for it to be just you and me.”
He glanced at me. “Your brother?”
“If I can remember him, and find him, trust me, we won’t need a fucking army.”
He didn’t say anything to that, but the sliver of fear whisked through the darkness again. Silence fell. I kept the truck thundering through the night, but it was well after one before we got back into Dunedan.
I swung the truck down a side street and drove straight to the police station. I expected the place to be lit up, but it was as dark as a grave.
Trepidation slithered through me. I pulled up by the curb rather than the driveway and threw the gears into neutral.
“He’s not there by the look of it,” Evin said.
“But he should be. He had two captives that needed to be locked up. One of them was a vamp.” And Harris, despite his extraordinary abilities, wasn’t used to dealing with vamps. I shouldn’t have left him alone.
And yet if I hadn’t, Evin might now be dead and I wouldn’t be one step closer to much-needed answers.
I peered through the side window, scanning the building’s windows and doors. There were no broken windows, no smashed locks or doors. Everything looked in order.
And yet every instinct I had said something was wrong.
“Stay here,” I said, reaching for the door handle.
“Hanna—”
“No arguments, Evin,” I cut in. “This is what I do. Lock the doors and keep the engine running. If anyone but me or Harris comes out of that place, run for it.”
He was staring at me again. “Only guardians hunt vamps. Werewolves aren’t—can’t—be guardians.”
“They can if they possess special talents or mixed blood. I’m a dhampire, Evin. I can do what vampires do, without the drawbacks.” And as a werewolf who not only had vampire skills but who could shift into bird form, I certainly fit both those conditions. Even if I couldn’t remember it. I climbed out of the cab. “Keep safe. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Like come after you?” He snorted. “Sorry, Hanna, but I didn’t willingly sign onto this gig, and I have a pregnant mate to consider. If there’s a vamp loose in there, he’s all yours.”
“Then make sure you stay safe for her.”
I closed the door, watched him lock both, then walked around the truck and headed toward the police station. I blinked to switch to infrared and scanned the inside of the building. The body heat of four people shimmered inside, meaning Harris had called in help.
I was barely four steps away from the door when energy brushed across my mind. It was a light, probing touch—inquisitive, and not yet dangerous. My shields were up enough that he couldn’t read my thoughts, but I still felt the power surging under the surface of that touch, and it was very strong indeed.Then I realized what I was doing, what I was feeling. That vamp might be telepathic, but so was I. Obviously, removing the earrings had worked.