“Wild magic only consumes magic.” Luca’s face was earnest. “Since I don’t carry a lick of magic, I’m immune.”
“You don’t know that.” Angry that he would take such a risk speared her chest. “While the wild magic might not try to consume you, my powers can still kill.”
All facial expression dropped away from him, his eyes going dead. “I learned when I was very young to gauge threat levels from those around me. You don’t want to hurt me, your magic knows that, and it will obey. Trust me.”
Her heart ached for him. He seemed like such a well-adjusted kid that at times she forgot what kind of life he’d lived—one step up from a slave. He’d jumped at a chance to be free, even if it meant betraying his people…for her. He was giving her the opportunity to believe in him.
Raven closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. He trusted her with his future, the least she could do was trust he knew what he was doing.
“Call up your magic again and hold it.” Though his expression thawed slightly, he issued the command with the snap of a drill sergeant.
She did as Luca instructed, praying that he knew what he was doing. Magic crackled along her skin, the blue and red sparks blending faster this time. Disappointment and fear sent her stomach plummeting. “My magic is being consumed by the curse.”
When she went to drop the magic, Luca lifted his hand. “Wait. Let it continue.”
Raven hesitated, terrified what might happen if she lost her magic completely. “You’re sure?”
Luca met her look squarely. “You have the choice of watching the change in a controlled environment or not leaving the house until the curse has run its course. The decision is yours.”
She blew out a heavy breath, but he was right. She was a danger to everyone until she learned to use her magic properly. She’d just been too terrified to face the consequences. It was better to learn now if she couldn’t protect her pack, not later when they were relying on her.
“Fine, but step back.” She refused to hurt anyone else if she imploded.
The snap of magic along her skin steadily changed color, slowly eating away the blue strands as they blended together. The current gradually moved from the tips of her fingers, trailing up her arms, then along her shoulders and slammed into her chest. The pain of using magic eased into a pleasant tingle that rushed through her body. Then it wormed its way under her skin, the tingle turning into a burning pain as it sped along her veins.
She fell to her knees, the agony threatening to steal the last of her thoughts.
She closed her eyes, shutting out the world. Her lungs billowed as she struggled to suck in enough oxygen while the magic fused together. Her bones felt like they were wrapped in barbed wire, the sharp edges clawing deeper and deeper as the red and blue lines finally converged and the lava in her bones became bearable.
She opened her eyes, but instead of familiar sparks, her hands were engulfed in purple flames, the heat turning cool, almost like a soothing balm. She glanced up at Luca to see his mouth had fallen open. There was no fear on his face, only awe.
She closed her fists, dousing the flame, but no one said a word. She struggled to her feet, then Taggert was there, helping her stand. “You okay?”
She watched his hand on her arm, but her magic didn’t try to surge out of her and kill him. It didn’t react to him at all. She gave him a brilliant smile, her insides still shaky, but she felt better than she had in a long time.
Touching her didn’t hurt him.
Taggert edged closer, his eyes warming as he scanned her face, and she ducked away from his attention, uncomfortably aware of their audience. “What are you doing?”
He tipped up her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “We’re here to push your endurance and test to determine how much you can handle.”
Her heart trembled, and she fought not to retreat, her thoughts getting tangled up when his mouth crashed down on hers. While her power remained dormant, the mating heat didn’t, and she gave into the urge to kiss him back, trying to remember why this was such a bad idea.
A wolf whistle pierced the air, and Raven jerked away. She should be embarrassed, but the kiss felt too good to regret it. She breathed deeply, humming when she caught his fresh woodlands scent.
“We’re going to run a series of tests,” Luca interrupted, and her attention swung to him. His eyes went wide, and he swallowed heavily. “Uh…”
“Never run from a shifter.” She muttered the words, which should already be his mantra after living with shifters for the past few months.
“Right.” His head bobbed up and down repeatedly, and he tugged at his collar as he cleared his throat. Kyle and Brant took pity on him, and walked up to stand on either side of him, which gave him courage. He stood straighter and met her eyes. “How do you feel?”
She checked herself, then again, surprised when she didn’t feel any echoes of pain. “I’m good,” she murmured, almost not sure she believed it.
The churning magic in her lay calm for the first time in her life.
“Does it feel like it’s consuming you?”
Raven thought about it, but the magic was stable, no longer trying to worm through her like acid trying to eat its way out of her. She lifted her hands and stared down at them in awe. “The magic is calm.”
She wasn’t sure she trusted it, but hope flickered to life in her soul for the first time in ages.
“We’re going to throw balls at you, and we want you to stop them with magic.”
Raven jerked her attention back to Luca and studied him more closely, thinking he was pulling her leg, but seconds later each of the three wolves pulled out a bucket of tennis balls. Their smiles were tentative at first, as if fearing a reprimand, but she glanced at Luca and shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
She stepped away from the ledge, not wanting to be knocked over the side if she was hit with a fastball. She would survive the fall, but she wasn’t sure the kids would survive a full pack of enraged males descending on them.
She shifted side to side on her feet, watching while the three young shifters took up positions around her. Taggert leaned against the wall, his face impassive, but she could tell by the way his muscles were standing out in his arms that he was barely holding himself back.
When he caught her looking, he gave her a nod. He would do anything for her, even if it meant torture for him. When she hesitated, he gave her a gentle smile that set her heart fluttering against her ribs.
She turned away, struggling to get her emotions under control. “How does this work?”
“Instinct.” Luca gave her a wicked grin, then whipped a tennis ball directly at her.
Before she could form a thought, she ducked, and the ball went whizzing over her head.
“Not like that.” Luca scowled.
Raven repressed her urge to smile. “Instinct said duck.”
He rolled his eyes, then strode toward her. When he walked around behind her, she spun to keep him in sight, but he simply stopped, stood there, and shrugged. “The next time you duck the ball, I get whacked. Don’t duck.”
“No pressure.” She turned to face three very young and very eager shifters.
Kyle looked a little too pleased, Brant looked pained, while Jase looked resigned.
“Until she can get a hold of her talent, we’ll treat this just like skeet shooting. I’ll yell, and one of you throw until she gets the hang of it.” Taggert gave each of the young wolves a hard glare, and they immediately settled down. Jase stepped forward, willing to take the punishment if something went wrong.
“Pull.”
Jase was so fast, she didn’t even see him wind up before the ball was zipping toward her. Instinct took over again, but instead of ducking, she reached up, barely catching the ball before it wacked her in the face. The ball smacked her hand with an audible thwack, and her palm smarted from the impact.
Jase wasn’t paying any attention to her, his sole focus on Taggert.
“Pu
ll.”
She barely had time to drop the ball before the next one whizzed toward her. She stood her ground, fighting not to fling herself out of the way, and called on her power. It flamed down her arms, but she didn’t have time to do anything more when the ball thumped heavily against her chest.
Taggert let loose a vicious growl, his eyes splintering more, the green almost neon.
“I’m fine.”
Jase paled, swallowed visibly, and she smiled to give him courage. “Do it again.”
It was like she’d asked him to walk to his death. He brought back his arm, wincing as he did so, and tossed the ball lightly, where it thumped weakly on the ground and rolled toward her, stopping a foot before it reached her.
Taggert snorted, and a fraction of his aggression eased. “Pull.”
Jase took a deep breath, grabbed another ball, and tossed it at her. It sailed gently through the air, slow enough for her to track. She pulled up her magic, lifted her arm, and the current shot out of her without conscious thought. The movement was natural, the magic surging through her with a wave that left a cool tingle wherever the flame touched, kind of like peppermint. The flames incinerated the ball, but the blast continued, knocking all three shifters back and sweeping them off their feet as they tumbled across the roof.
“Shit.” Raven pulled back, already running toward them. When they sat up, guilt sawed painfully along her conscience. “I’m so sorry.”
Kyle bounded to his feet, shrugging off her worry. “We’ve been hit harder.”
That didn’t make her feel any better, but then he turned toward her, mischief sparking in his eyes. “My turn.”
Raven shook her head, amazed that they still wanted to continue. “You’re insane.”
She watched while the three of them collected their dropped buckets and scattered tennis balls, laughing and elbowing each other as they lined up to take shots at her.
“Come.” Taggert grabbed her arm.
She expected him to go all caveman and drag her to safety, but he planted her back in her old spot like nothing had happened. Instead, he appeared more relaxed now he knew she could protect herself.
Luca took a position next to Taggert. “Now you know how to call up your magic, we’re going to throw the balls faster. You need to learn how to focus your powers on just the ball, and not let it get past you.”
Raven rolled her shoulders, bent her neck from side to side, then blew out a breath, and faced her firing squad.
After three hours of practice, and watching the men pick themselves up, she had marginal control over her ability. The guys were bruised and battered but laughing their asses off at each other’s expense. She wasn’t in much better condition, her body covered in tennis-ball sized bruises after they teamed up and flung so many balls, she had a hard time keeping track of them. Small tremors ran through her, her skin almost icy under the strain of using her powers for so long, her endurance at an end.
Instead of calling it quits, she pushed for more.
She needed to learn her limits.
It could mean life or death.
“That’s enough.” Luca strode up to her, then thrust out his hand. “Transfer the fire to me.”
She recoiled from him like he’d asked her to gut him.
Instead of escaping, Luca resolutely followed her. “It’s not tainted magic. I think you’ve more than proven that point.”
She smacked into something warm and hard—Taggert.
No matter how much she tried to pull away from him, her legs refused to obey.
“We’ve tested your endurance and ability to call your magic,” Taggert murmured in her ear. “We need to find out if you’re a threat to people under your care and plan accordingly.”
She breathed heavily through her nose. Though what he said made complete sense, it scared her shitless. “And if he’s incinerated?” She shook her head. “I won’t risk it.”
Luca lifted his hands up to her, as if trying to calm a wild animal. “How about a small test?”
She eyed him suspiciously, not sure she trusted his easy capitulation, but he had helped her a lot so far, pushed her a lot farther than she would ever have gotten on her own. He deserved her trust for a little bit longer. “What do you have in mind?”
“Call your flames.” Eagerness gleamed in his eyes.
Raven hesitated, but then held out her hands. A flame licked across her skin, the tiny spark dancing in her palm. She didn’t have the strength to call more. After half a day of work, she was exhausted and starving. If she didn’t get food soon, she knew she was going to crash hard. When the magic didn’t leap from her palm and try to consume him, she relaxed infinitesimally.
“Can you change the temperature?”
Raven stared at him blankly. She pulled on the flame, but that only reduced the size, not the color or heat.
“Okay, I’ll take that as a no.” Luca smiled at her reassuringly. “I’m going to run my hand over the flame.”
She jerked her hand back, but Taggert caught her shoulders, forcing her to hold her ground.
“I don’t want to get burned, so I’ll pull back when I feel the heat, okay?”
Luca held out his hand without an ounce of fear.
The idiot.
“We need to know,” Luca said reasonably, and she disliked him a tiny bit for his rational tone. Worse, she hated that he was right.
Very reluctantly, she held out her hand and watched the flame burst into life with a whoosh, as if it erupted from gasoline fumes, the deadly flames dancing innocently in her palm. Luca kept his eyes on her face as he held out his hand.
When he came within inches of the flame, he withdrew with a grimace, but didn’t drop his arm. Before she could banish the flame and demand to see his hand, he spoke again.
“I want you to concentrate on me being a friend. Think of me as part of your pack.” The reckless kid resolutely thrust out his hand forward again, determination hardening his face.
“Luca—”
“Do it.”
The drill sergeant was back, and Raven obeyed with a small grumble. The magic didn’t change, everything felt the same, but she watched his hand pass cleanly through the flame.
“Good.” He smiled up at her, as if he’d known all along what would happen. “Now I want to see if I’m able to grab hold of it.”
Everything inside her seized up at his calm tone, and she clenched her fist, dousing the flames, letting her hand drop to her side. “No, not happening.”
His brows rose in surprise. “Raven, be reasonable. I’m a wizard. My skill is in borrowing and wielding magic from others.”
Excitement gleamed in his eyes at the chance to throw flames, but his body wasn’t conditioned to hold her magic. It would tear him apart, burn through him from the inside out and consume everything in the process. She shook her head and backed away. “It’s too dangerous.”
When he opened his mouth to protest, Taggert nudged her aside. “Enough.”
“Sure.” Luca immediately backed down, his big blue eyes wide as Taggert towered over him. “Whatever you say.”
Raven released a heavy sigh, then leaned against Taggert’s arm. “Thank you.”
He nuzzled the top of her head, and she turned toward him, but when he grabbed her hands, placing them on his chest, she stiffened, not liking the mutinous look in his eyes.
“Call your magic.”
She shook her head, suddenly mute.
“We need to assess the threat level. You can’t live in fear anymore. Your magic tasted me before and I survived. It won’t hurt me.” He hunched down until he could look her in the eye. “You would never hurt me.”
Not intentionally, never intentionally, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen.
“What happens if you lose control while in bed with one of us?” The blunt question threw her off guard, and burning heat flooded her face.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have an answer.
Jackson said shifters often
lost their hold over their animals during sex, which could be dangerous, but usually not life-threatening.
If she lost control, she wouldn’t turn furry, she would literally set their world on fire.
“You’ve been learning to cast magic all day. I can withstand your powers more than the others. My body is conditioned for it. It recognizes me. You can’t go back to living in fear of touching anyone. You’re the type of woman who needs to be touched, and often.”
She shuddered at the thought of having to wear gloves again for the rest of her life. As if sensing that she was weakening, he pushed home his point. “Luca touched the flame and wasn’t harmed. Nothing will happen to me.”
Taking a deep breath, Raven gingerly placed her hands on his chest, watching his expression closely. Very slowly she called her magic forward, observing the flames as they licked at her fingers. Tiny sparks danced over his clothes, but nothing smoldered or caught fire.
“Push the magic deeper.”
She jerked her attention up to his face at his husky tone, and nearly drowned in his eyes. His wolf rose to the surface, brushing against her mind, but for the first time in a long time there was no response from her animals.
Actually, since the magic merged, she hadn’t sensed any of them. She pushed down the sharp panic churning in her gut to explore later, when she was alone. She lifted her hands off his chest, moving them to rest on his bare arms. Magic jolted into him, his body jerking, and a low growl vibrated in his chest.
She waited for him to turn berserker—all fur, teeth and claws. Instead, lust burned in his eyes, and she quickly yanked her hands away.
She’d worried before that her touch was addicting to him, and now she knew for sure.
She opened her mouth to speak when a loud retort echoed around them. Sharp pain tore along her upper arm, and she watched in horror as the flesh along Taggert’s ribs tore open and blood gushed down his side. Raven whirled and leapt toward Luca, tackling him to the ground. Though young, the other three shifters recognized the sound from their time on the street and hit the deck.
Except Taggert.
He let out a roar, his body partly shifting to his two-legged form, and he charged toward the edge of the roof and leapt into nothing.
Electric series- Raven Investigations BoxSet Page 70
