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

screaming and laughing.” Emmett drew a crumpled sheet of folded paper from his vest pocket. “I did a sketch, but it wasn’t until I made a trip back to headquarters and was going through the archives that I recognized the face.”
    Diana leaned forward, unable to help her need to see the face, just in case. But the simple, unsmiling sketch evoked nothing—no fear, and no memories. “Who is it?”
    “Joe Felder,” Emmett told her quietly. “He’s listed on the rosters as killed in action, not turned out, but his modifications match the traits Ephraim found in the hound who attacked you. Could be the same man.”
    Could be —and closer to closure than anything else she’d ever had. “And he’s the same one who’s been in Eternity?”
    “I’ve been tracking him, and that’s what my source tells me.”
    She squared her shoulders. “What do I need to do?”
    Nate turned on Emmett, and Diana had never seen such rage in the inventor’s eyes—cold, vicious rage. “You happen to have been in contact with Ephraim, a man we all thought dead. And you decide to bring it up now, when it happens to be the one scrap of proof that might offer her a bit of vengeance—but only if she walks into a suicidal trap for you. How perfectly convenient.”
    The words surprised Diana with their breathtaking sting. “You think I’m a fool on top of everything else, don’t you?” As if she couldn’t recognize a dangled carrot, the desperate promise of a man determined to stop a predator. “I’ll do it, Emmett, no matter who he is. Because he needs to be stopped.”
    Nate opened his mouth again, but Satira spoke from the doorway before he could. “Nate, the doctor’s asking for you. Hunter told him you had some experience with Victoria’s situation.”
    “We’re not done discussing this.” He jabbed his finger in Emmett’s direction to emphasize the words, then strode toward the door with such temper that Satira ducked out of his way and stared after him as his heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway.
    When they’d faded, Satira turned to Diana. “I’m not sure if I should apologize for him or offer to knock some sense into him.”
    “Neither. It’s none of his business.” Diana poured two glasses of whiskey and handed one to Emmett and the other to Wilder. “Tell me what’s going on.”
    “Seconded,” Wilder said as he settled on the love seat with Satira beside him.
    “Victoria’s father was one of us, God rest him. A bloodhound.” Emmett drained half his liquor in a single swallow. “I’m pretty sure that’s why she was sold—as a kind of exotic delicacy.”
    Diana read between the lines. “If a hound’s daughter is considered exotic, what does that make me?”
    “Unheard of.” He leaned forward. “It’ll be dangerous. If we send you out there, it’ll be exactly what Nate called it. A trap, with you as the bait.”
    Her numbness began to give way to a thrumming in her veins. Excitement. Anticipation of a hunt. “Wilder?”
    He shook his head. “She can’t sell herself, Emmett.”
    “Course not, but another hound could. Act like he found her out in Crystal Springs and would rather make a quick buck than turn her over to the Guild.”
    Which might work—even better if Felder recognized her. “And if it is the hound who attacked me, he’ll have a vested interest in making sure the Guild doesn’t have proof of such a thing.”
    “Exactly.”
    Diana braced herself for a fight and turned to Wilder. “If you can spare me—”
    He held up a hand. “You’re a bloodhound, honey. This is what you do.”
    The words sparked a fresh round of anticipation, along with the clear ring of truth. In spite of the personal danger or the potential cost…
    This is what you do.
    She rose. “I’ll pack.”
    Wilder and Emmett exchanged a look, and the former spoke. “We’ll make plans.”
     
     
    Nate stalked the halls in search of Emmett, more than ready to start the fight that could end a