Read Online Unbinding by Eileen Wilks - Free Book Online Page A

right about what he’d heard, he hadn’t been watching the ladies’ room the whole time, had he?
    He hadn’t been looking directly at it, no.
    Then he couldn’t be sure both occupants hadn’t both left the usual way.
    Yes, he could. He’d been guarding Kai and Dell.
    Naturally they didn’t consider that proof of anything. They had no idea what it meant when a Hound set himself to guard. At least Ackleford decided to check out Nathan’s claim instead of dismissing it altogether. He raised his voice. “Anyone here aware of someone who isn’t accounted for?”
    That generated a lot of uneasy looks and an uneasy silence. Kai opened her Gift up a bit . . . she couldn’t be sure, not with so many people whose colors all crowded each other, most of them agitated, but . . .
    —
hungry!
    Kai glanced at Dell, who stood next to the ladies’ room door. The chameleon’s hunger was becoming a problem if she made the effort to send a word. The crowded conditions were bugging her, too. Crowds were never Dell’s favorite thing, but when she was hungry they were more of a strain. If she’d been in her other form, her tail would’ve been lashing.
Okay
, Kai sent, along with a wave of reassurance. She spoke quickly to Ackleford. “See that dark-haired young man in the blue shirt standing near the serving counter? I think he’s missing someone.”
    Ackleford’s brows drew down. “I thought you didn’t really read minds.”
    “I don’t. I’m interpreting what I see. When you asked about someone being missing, first he was alarmed, then this big, gray doubt oozed over the alarm, trying to smother it. He doesn’t want to think what he’s thinking.”
    “What’s he thinking?”
    “I don’t know. Talk to him, okay?” She looked around for Nathan—ah, there he was, talking to Benedict. Kai moved closer so she could keep her voice down. Arjenie was sitting next to the two men, but she had her laptop out and was working away at something. “Nathan, Dell’s getting seriously hungry.”
    “Eh.” He glanced around. “It’s crowded here. That doesn’t help. I guess we can use the men’s room.”
    “Wait a minute,” Arjenie said, looking up. “
You’re
going to feed her? Is that safe?”
    “Sure. She won’t take more blood than I can afford. It won’t make a full meal for her, but it should help her settle.”
    Benedict rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “She’s got good control, then, if she’s that hungry.”
    “Nathan has given her blood before,” Kai explained. “Once Dell accepts blood-gift from someone, he or she isn’t prey. Ever.”
    “I make blood pretty fast,” Benedict said. “I could donate some. My men could, too.”
    “That’s, um, generous, but . . .” Kai dwindled to an embarrassed halt.
    Nathan rescued her. “What Kai’s uncomfortable saying is that Dell prefers not to permanently shrink her possibilities for prey if she doesn’t have to. It’s not that she intends to hunt you or the others—just that she prefers to keep her options open.”
    Benedict nodded. “Makes sense.” He looked over at Dell, who still stood next to the ladies’ room, as far from everyone else as she could manage. He raised his voice slightly. “Keep it in mind, though, if the need arises.”
    Dell’s face didn’t show any reaction, but Kai felt her heightened interest and what felt like . . . utility? Pragmatism, maybe. “She’s thinking about it. She’s, ah, she’s been curious about you lupi.”
    Benedict’s eyebrows lifted a fraction. “Wonders what our blood tastes like?”
    “Well, yes.”
    Benedict just nodded. It was not the reaction she’d expected from either his human side or the wolf. Predators don’t usually like being seen as prey. “Something you should know,” she went on. “I would’ve told you before you made your offer, but I didn’t know you were going to. Blood-gift goes both ways. Neither of you can be prey to the other, so you have to taste her blood,