Page 28 of Bind Me

Exhaling, I pick up Chowder, snuggling and kissing his head. “You’re amazing at detective work,” I murmur, walking him back into the house.

“Hey, don’t just leave me out here,” Belu’s yelling behind me. “I told ya what you wanted to know.”

“Hold your horses,” I call over my shoulder.

Chowder snuggles against me, then asks, “Why do ropes smell of a different sea?”

I blink at his question. He sniffed them on Belu; that’s for sure. And as much as I know Belu is a merman, Chowder’s smelled something else on Belu. More like someone else, like Kaden perhaps, who also carries the scent of the ocean.

Setting Chowder down on the couch, I grab my taser from the dining table, figuring I might need to employ a bit of intimidation to get Belu into my car and to my workplace. There, I can officially check him in and close this case.

There’s something satisfying about proving to my boss that I can complete a mission, though part of me feels disgruntled, as if it’s cheating. Then again, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I march outside, taser in hand, and approach Belu with a newfound determination.

“Time to get moving,” I say firmly, lifting my taser and wriggling it in my hand for him to see.

He squirms in response.

“Now, are you going to play nice when I remove the ropes?”

“On one promise,” he blurts out. “I don’t want those two fuckers anywhere near me ever again!”

“Deal. Now, don’t make a run for it, don’t mention them to anyone, and you won’t ever see them.” Last thing I need is for my new boss to ask me about the two hunters who tortured Belu all night.

“Fine, fucking fine, just untie me. The ropes hurt like a bitch.”

I get him in the passenger seat, ankles and wrists tied and secured to the door by rope, then jump into the driver’s seat. And we’re off, despite his constant murmuring to himself. What the heck did Kaden do to this man last night?

My thoughts remain on Kaden because I have no doubt he’s involved. He has that intensity about him where he’d keep his word when he commits to something, no matter the consequence.

I focus on the road ahead, ready to deliver Belu to the authorities.

Looks like this morning is already turning out to be anything but ordinary, and somehow, I have a feeling it’s only going to get crazier from here.

Evidently, bringing in Belu earned me brownie points because my boss just handed me an urgent case. The last bounty hunter got roughed up, and now it’s my turn to bring in the offender—a selkie shifter named Moore. My boss suggested backup, but after how badly things turned out with Scout, I insisted on going solo.

So, here I am, skulking around the back of a seedy motel, the kind that makes me check my belongings in my back pocket every so often. The hallway reeks of garbage and something sharply chemical with a spark of magic—probably drugs—but I’m not cleaning up anyone’s crap. I just need to find Moore.

The number of water supernaturals popping up around this city by the sea is intriguing.

Like moths to a flame or selkies to a shore.

I grin at my own joke.

Finally reaching his apartment door on the ground floor, heart thumping, I take a deep breath. Taser in one hand, bounty hunter badge in the other, I rap sharply on the door with my knuckles. Hands hanging by my sides, hiding the taser for now, I plaster my best friendly neighborhood smile.

Two knocks later, the door swings open to reveal a woman, maybe nineteen or twenty years old, in nothing but pink underwear and a thin white tank top that hides nothing. Her eyes are glazed, her body swaying like she’s about to fall over. She’s definitely high on something.

Behind her, the room is a disaster. Clothes strewn all over, a mattress on the floor that’s seen better days, and rubbish.

“Is Moore inside?” I ask quickly.

The girl squints at me, suspicion etched on her face as she yawns. “Who the fuck wants to know? You better not be another of those girls he’s fucking because?—”

I cut her off by lifting my badge, and instantly, her eyes widen. As if finding a sudden reserve of energy, she yells out over her shoulder while shoving the door in my face, “Moore, they found you.”

Fuck!

I shove my shoulder into the door, driving it open, to see the woman backing away, her face as pale as milk. Just then, a thin man in nothing more than pants bolts deeper into the apartment from the kitchen. My pulse kicks up a notch as I dart after him, adrenaline fueling my chase.

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