Diana's Hound: Bloodhounds, Book 4 Read Online Free PDF Page A

their experience by drugging their blood donors. She could have been given any number of concoctions by her master, and was undoubtedly told that she’d die if she tried to leave.”
    Diana rose and turned her back on the sofa, lowering her voice until she hoped Victoria couldn’t hear. “But it’s not true, right? She’s sick from going without the drugs.”
    Nate’s jaw clenched as he shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think one can bind a human life to a vampire’s…but I wouldn’t have considered my existence possible either.”
    If it was a possibility, it wasn’t one they could fight. They could only treat her as if she would be fine, and let the rest sort itself out. If she was dying, at least she’d be safe and comfortable.
    The doctor arrived, took a quick look at Victoria and enlisted Hunter’s help in moving her to a bedroom for further examination. She barely stirred, even when Hunter lifted her into his arms and edged through the parlor doors.
    As soon as the woman was out of earshot, Diana grasped Wilder’s arm. “She said a hound sold her.”
    “What?”
    “A bloodhound ,” Diana insisted. “She seemed certain. Lucid too.”
    Wilder shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
    But Emmett only sighed, his shoulders heaving under the weight of it. “Maybe more than you think, Harding. There’ve been rumors, and they ain’t just talk.”
    Nate seemed unusually still. Sometimes he pulsed with the feral energy of another hound, but now he was a statue. A cold, distant statue that spoke in a tone as heavy as granite. “Rumors of what, Emmett? Surely the Guild’s financial need has not become so great that they’ve taken to selling women across the border to put a little gold in the coffers.”
    “Course not.” The older man glanced at Diana, then looked away. “There’s a rogue hound operating over the border. Supposedly someone the Guild disavowed but let walk.”
    Nate’s gaze followed Emmett’s, but he didn’t look away. Diana felt the weight of his stare as he continued speaking. “Why hasn’t someone dealt with the bastard? Is he that difficult to hunt?”
    “Yes and no.”
    Diana barely heard the words. “A rogue hound.” Her lips had gone numb. “If you’re looking at me, that must mean—”
    “It’s him,” Emmett interrupted. “Ephraim—Doc—he did tests when you and your man were attacked. He gathered blood that must have belonged to the hound that did it, said it was…different.” He turned to Wilder and Nate. “He hadn’t been branded, but he did have some of the traits the Guild likes to add in, so he wasn’t made in the wild like Hunter or our girl here.”
    Nate blinked, his gaze finally jumping to Emmett. “You had contact with Ephraim after he disappeared?”
    “We don’t have time for this,” he growled in answer. “This hound makes trips through Eternity. There’s one coming up, and I don’t know when another chance will roll around. We need to lay a trap to catch him now.” Emmett took a deep breath. “We need Diana.”
    “Absolutely not ,” Nate snapped without giving her a chance to speak. “Out of the question.”
    He was still treating her like a delicate, endangered flower, but her protest hung in her throat. Instead, she focused on Emmett. “This hound—the one selling the women—could he be the one who made me?”
    “It’s likely,” he allowed. “Tobias and I ran across something a while back—a slaughter at an outpost nearer the border. At first, we thought it was ghouls or bloodsuckers, but it wasn’t. A hound had ripped through them all. A dozen folks in all.” He lowered his gaze. “Men and women. Even the young’uns.”
    Wilder swore under his breath. “Aside from hoping there isn’t more than one monster like that on the loose, what makes you think it’s the same hound?”
    “One of the victims survived long enough to describe him. He stayed in town after the massacre, walking the streets,