Hunting Moon (Decorah Security Series, Book #11): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novel by REBECCA YORK Page A

up, but he didn’t think so. The story was too crazy for her to have invented it on the spot—and too detailed. “I’m sorry.”
    “Not your fault—unless they sent you in here to get me to cooperate. I meant like June—trying to convince me we’re friends.”
    The despair in her voice was like a knife blade slicing at his soul.
    He cupped his hands around her shoulders. “Look at me.”
    When she did, he went on, “I’m not like June.” He said it softly, but he tried to project every ounce of sincerity he could muster.
    She searched his face. “I want to believe you. Maybe that’s a mistake.”
    “No.”
    “You could prove it by helping me get out of here.”
    He gave the only answer he could. “I want to, but I can’t do it tonight.”
    Panic and disappointment claimed her expression. “Oh Christ. The longer I stay here, the more likely it is that he’ll turn my brain to cottage cheese. I mean—with his drugs and the games he’s playing.”
    The way she said it made his stomach clench. “No he won’t. You’re stronger than he is.”
    “How do you know?”
    “You already tried to escape twice, and you attacked me when I came in here.”
    She winced.
    “You aren’t giving in. You were fighting him, even when you didn’t know what you were up against.” He dragged in a breath and let it out. “But I can’t get you out of here tonight.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I’m not prepared. I stumbled on this place by accident, and I didn’t bring any equipment with me. We have to do it tomorrow night.”
    “Fate brought you here to me.”
    He’d been thinking something similar. Fate or the ancient gods who had turned the males in his family into more than men.
    “I know it’s hard, but try to stay cool for a little while longer. Don’t act like you’re fighting the doctor. Pretend you’re cooperating with him.”
    “Okay.”
    “I’ll be back for you tomorrow. I promise.”
    She slung her arms around his neck and hung on tight, and he felt her tension, sensing that she was fighting not to sob.
    “I know,” he whispered.
    “You can’t know.”
    “I can understand desperation.”
    He ran his hands up and down her back, teetering on the brink, knowing that if he didn’t get away now, he’d do something he’d regret.
    Before he could change his mind, he stood up quickly and walked to the door.

Chapter Ten
    Brand pressed his ear to the door and listened. When he heard nothing, he stepped into the hall, knowing that if he looked back at Tory again, he could never leave. But if he tried to spring her now, he could get her killed. That thought was the only thing that could make him keep his resolve.
    As he stood in the hallway, the idea of locking her in again made him almost physically sick, but he had to do it. Everything had to be just as he’d found it.
    He had just finished when he heard footsteps coming from the direction of the stairs.
    He sprinted in the other direction, slipping into one of the empty rooms. The steps stopped at Tory’s door, and he knew he had been just in time.
    Holding the door open a crack, he looked into the hall.
    A slimly built older man was looking around, his expression suspicious, and Brand suspected he might have heard someone up here.
    Brand tensed, ready to flatten the guy if he came into the room where he was hiding.
    To his relief, the man stayed where he was and tried the lock on Tory’s door, then looked through a peephole at her.
    Was it Dr. Raymond or someone else?
    The man stayed where he was for long moments. Then he finally turned and left.
    Brand waited for several minutes before checking the hall again and making sure it was empty. He didn’t know the time, but he was hoping that a lot of the people here would already have turned in. Or maybe they were relaxing in front of a television set in some common room.
    That still left him to decide how to get away. He’d come in as a wolf, and only a wolf could slip back under the fence. But