Moon Sworn (Riley Jenson Guardian 9)

"I can't see a goddamn thing through the blood," he muttered.

He carefully pressed the tweezers into the wound anyway, driving them down into my flesh.

"You're going to have to tell me when I hit the bullet.">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.

As I reached for the door handle, the vamp hit me telepathically, the blow fierce and hard. I froze in my tracks for the barest of seconds, then threw all the energy I had to my shields, clenching my fists as I battled blow after mental blow.

Damn it, I'd had enough of people messing around with my thoughts! This bastard wasn't going to get in.

But he didn't seem to want to quit, either.

Sweat began trickling down my face and, in the pit of my stomach, fear swelled. I had strong shields, and this vamp was pushing me to my limits. What hope did Harris - and whoever else was in there with him - have?

They'd only had nanowires to protect them, and against a telepath this strong the wires were next to useless.

Then his telepathic attack ceased as suddenly as it had began. I took a deep, somewhat trembling breath and pushed the door open. Darkness greeted me, thick and silent. I flared my nostrils, drawing in the scents. Harris didn't seem to be close, but the other wolf stood in the shadows just behind the door.

He was barely even breathing. I reached out telepathically to assess the state of his mind and hit the electronic buzz of the nanowire. I could break past its protection - I'd done it often enough in the past - but it took time and effort, and I didn't want to risk it with another powerful telepath nearby. He might just use my concentration to get underneath my own shields.

I flexed my fingers, took a deep breath, then dove through the doorway, hitting the floor with my back, rolling neatly to my feet and spinning around.

To find the barrel of a gun pointing straight at my head.

Chapter 13

He didn't hesitate, just pulled the trigger.

I dove out of the way, but as fast as I was, it just wasn't enough. The bullet ripped through the fleshy part of my thigh and wedged somewhere inside. Pain welled, thick and hard.

Not because I'd been shot. Because the bullet was silver.

Fuck.

I hit the ground hard, felt rather than saw his movement, and knew he was already aiming again. I shifted position and swept my good leg around with all the force I could muster. The vamp in control of the cop's mind was too focused on shooting me to notice the blow coming, and I hit the young cop's legs just as he pulled the trigger. The shot aimed at my head hit the ceiling instead and the cop's butt hit the floor so hard air exploded from his lungs and the gun went flying. I didn't give him - or the vamp - time to recover, just lunged forward and smashed my fist against his nose and mouth. Which was a dirty thing to do given the young cop wasn't at fault, but with silver burning in my body, I had no time for niceties.

As he fell to the floor, I pulled myself to my feet, hauled him onto his side so he wouldn't choke on his own blood, then grabbed the gun from where it had fallen and half hobbled, half hopped around the reception desk. The door leading to the back rooms was open, and I could see the blood heat of three others. All of them were in the back area, in what looked like separate rooms. Cells, obviously.

But why would Harris be in a cell?