Page 64 of Hunted

I look down in the vision, expecting Lyra’s wide dark eyes lifted in reluctant surrender.

Instead—

Ash-blonde. Winged brows full of defiance. Plump lips daring me closer.

Eira.

The image snaps like bone. I surge to my feet so abruptly the chair skids back and slams into the wall.

Unacceptable.

I will not allow her to infiltrate thoughts meant for another.

How fucking dare she?

I tap into Malachi’s mind again, this time without subtlety, ignoring his flinch as I growl.

Report.

A pause.

Then: The bounty hunter has found something.

Irritation flares, sharp and welcome. A distraction from the more dangerous impulses threading through me.

I could be in the database room in a single breath. Could stand before her and assess her expression for lies.

Something in me knows that would be unwise.

Instead, I reach for my phone.

My fangs throb as if I haven’t fed in days instead of hours. My cock aches like a motherfucker and my hands itch to correct, dominate, impose clarity through force.

It is better I remain here. I press the call button.

She answers on the third ring. ‘Yes?’ Neutral. Controlled.

‘You have something to report?’

The briefest hesitation. ‘I have a lead,’ she replies. ‘It needs to be chased in person.’

‘That is not your call. I will determine what needs further investigation. Tell me what you’ve found.’

Another pause. Then a sigh I recognise as entirely manufactured.

‘It’s preliminary,’ she says evenly. ‘Umbra funded a municipal redevelopment grant in a rural Louisiana parish six years ago. Three nights’ worth of occupancy records were manually archived instead of digitised. The paper trail fractures at the intake transfer. That fracture is deliberate.’

‘This is not speculation?’

‘I have it right here in black and white. I can get your dude to take a snapshot and you can rifle through his mind for a look-see?’

The confidence in her voice unsettles me more than hesitation would have.

‘And how exactly does that mean Lyra Hannigan was there?’

‘Because her middle name was Eleanor. And one of the names is Ellen R. Hart. The birth date she put down on her intake form is 11 June. Lyra’s birthday is 1 June.’

‘A little on the nose, is it not?’