Blood Diamond Read Free Page A

neck, taking hold of her scruff so I could pin her down. With my other hand, I searched for the exit wound, instead finding the lump of a bullet under her skin.
    Swallowing back my desire to curse—one simply didn’t spew vile epitaphs in front of a lady, Fenerec or otherwise—I said, “I’ll need to cut it out. I don’t know if it’s silver.”
    If she’d been shot by the Inquisition, the bullet was silver-forged, a hollow point with enough of the metal coating the jacket to ensure a struck Fenerec would eventually die. I’d done the final ammunitions check for the team since I was the only one who could touch them without being burned.
    She whined, her eyes widening.
    The pocketknife attached to my keys made a poor tool for surgery, but it was all I had. I hoped she’d forgive me and that I wasn’t about to give her an infection trying to save her. Mumbling to myself, I adjusted how I knelt, pressing one of my knees against her shoulders and neck so I could free my hand to work on her leg.
    “Please don’t bite me, ma’am.” Once I was certain I had her as pinned as possible without hurting her further, I took hold of her leg, clenched my teeth, and sliced my knife over the lump, hoping I wasn’t driving the silver deeper into the muscle in the process. Blood—too dark to be red—gushed from the cut. Tossing aside my keys, I considered the bullet. Digging it out would hurt her, and there was nothing I could do to ease her pain. If the Fenerec were like other animals, she’d be howling before I finished.
    The last thing I wanted was to attract unwanted attention, so I risked wrapping my fingers around her muzzle to keep her jaws closed. She thrashed beneath me, her yips and growls muffled by my hold on her.
    Focusing on her leg, I located the bullet with my index finger and thumb, pinching beneath the projectile to force it out of the muscle. Her muffled cries grew louder as I worked the silver out of the wound. Blood spurted as I forced the round out. It fell to the ground, disappearing into the fallen leaves.
    The Fenerec moaned, shuddering beneath me.
    “All done, ma’am,” I whispered as soothingly as I could. Stabbing a Fenerec in order to remove a silver bullet topped the list of crazy things I’d done in my life, most of which I had accomplished within the past twelve hours. Driving my brother’s Red Beast like a sports car came a close second, leaving my black market racket, all done on behalf of the Inquisition, for third place. At least my illegal business dealings paid well, considering the risks involved.
    While I didn’t want my hand anywhere near her teeth, something unavoidable if I wanted to let go of her muzzle, I loosened my grip, hoping I moved slow enough to avoid stirring her ire further.
    The Fenerec moved lightning fast, I had to give her that much. Before I was aware she had struck, her jaws closed around my left hand. Instead of biting, her silky tongue curled around my fingers, coating me with slobber.
    I stared at her, a lump in my throat choking off my breath. While her fangs didn’t penetrate my skin, I was aware of each and every one of them pressing into me. Maybe she didn’t weigh much, but I had no doubts she was warning me what she was capable of.
    When our staring contest began was a mystery, but I couldn’t force myself to look away, something I should’ve done. Fenerec didn’t like humans challenging them. My brother had made a point of mentioning that fact several times while surrendering the keys to his precious monstrosity of a truck. Don’t meet their gaze had been rule number one. Lower my head and look submissive had been rule number two. If I played their game as they wanted, I’d walk away intact, without so much as a scratch to show for my interactions with my volatile teammates.
    Her gold and green eyes held mine, drowning my awareness of anything besides the feel of her fur under my one hand and her fangs and tongue on the other. The need for air