Fury poured off him, and she knew nothing she said would appease him.
She stuck her hands under the water, but only succeeded in spreading the oil over both hands.
The prisoner laughed, a low chuckle that wasn’t the least bit muffled by the gag. She first thought it was in her head until Durant stiffened at her side and slowly rose to his full height.
Then he was moving.
She flipped off the water, barely managing to insert herself between them in time.
“You touch him, and he’ll gain control of you. That’s what he wants. Don’t let him win.” Raven wanted to wrap him up in her arms and ease his distress, and cursed the poison that coated her hands. She didn’t mention that she could burn away the poison. They needed to learn what was coming for them, even if she had to crawl into this creep’s head to do it. “You wanted me to test out my powers and see how it affects other shifters. This is the perfect opportunity.”
Durant grunted in reply, but she suspected that instead of signaling agreement, it had more to do with his beast being in charge and unable to speak.
“She’s right.” Rylan shrugged when everyone glared at him. He might fool others, but Raven knew that he hadn’t forgiven her for acting so rashly.
While part of her felt bad for disobeying, she would do it again if it meant keeping them safe. “I want everyone to leave the basement.”
No one so much as twitched at her command, a few even going so far as to settle more firmly into their spots, and she heaved a frustrated sigh. “Look, this basement was built specifically as a blast zone to contain my powers. You can watch on the monitors, but it’s too dangerous for everyone to be in the same room in case he turns me.”
The room was constructed of cinder blocks, and relatively free of the black electrical burns, a testament to her previous loss of control.
None of them appeared the least bit frightened at the prospect, and she could only stomp her feet in frustration, unable to physically force them to move without infecting them, too.
“If you’re going to do this, you’ll do it with us.” Durant wasn’t going to budge, and she conceded to the inevitable.
“Randolph and Taggert need to leave. We don’t know how long the poison lasts, and they might still be susceptible.” A spark of anger flickered in the Master’s eyes, and she knew she was right. “If they can’t hear him, they can’t obey.”
Both men scowled before reluctantly doing as told.
“Take Dina and Gavin with you.” Dina didn’t have to be asked twice. “Digger—”
“He stays.” Jackson’s voice brooked no argument. “If anything goes wrong, I want him close enough to help.”
She gave him a reluctant nod, and Digger all but squirmed with excitement, as if he was going on some damn field trip, needlessly fluttering around his equipment.
When she went to grab another chair, Rylan followed her, politely picking it up despite his desire to strangle her. He lifted an eyebrow, and she nervously cleared her throat. “Set it down in front of him.”
The vampire obeyed…but set it more than ten feet away.
She sighed deeply, rolling her eyes, then dragged her chair forward until only a foot separated her from the prisoner. She sat gingerly, uncomfortable at being so close to the psychotic male.
Knowing flashed in his eyes, clearly taking pleasure at her discomfort. He spoke, but the sound was muffled behind the gag.
It didn’t matter.
She heard him clearly in her head.
“Remove the gag.”
As his voice rolled over her, Raven didn’t even try to fight him…not yet. She dutifully did as instructed, lowering the towel so it rested around his throat.
He worked his jaw back and forth, never removing his soulless eyes from hers. “Untie me.”
His voice was a low rasp that scratched at the back of her mind. When she didn’t immediately comply, voices began to dig into her brain, the sounds of the room fading as they rose in volume. His anger reverberated in her skull, her whole head throbbing in pain, and she curled her hands into fists to keep from reaching for the bindings.
Raven let the voices roll over her and dug deeper, concentrating on just one voice.
That’s when she felt it.
Magic.
It brushed against her skin like cobwebs. She carefully grasped it, then began to wind the magic between her fingers, pulling more and more of it out of him. A vein began to throb in his forehead, the process leaving him pale and sweaty, the voices gradually fading.
To others it looked like they were just staring at each other.
She carefully followed the magic, sneaking past his shields, slipping inside his head.
Images of the dead and dying bombarded her, past victims, what he made them do to their families, kids, their pets—whatever would cause the most pain.
As if sensing her in his mind, he flashed images of what he wanted to do to her, what he wanted her to do to her men, and what he planned to do to her body afterward.
He loved leaving a couple of his prey alive, their brains destroyed until they were nothing more than babbling idiots.
He got off on his power over others, enjoyed it more when his targets fought back.
With each image, he became stronger, and she lost more of her foothold in his mind. He burrowed through her memories, his presence a black tar as he dug into her brain, the dark substance spreading like a stain.
The voices were back and stronger than ever. She grabbed the arms of her chair to stop herself from scratching the flesh off her arms. The room began to twist and sway, her eyeballs burned like someone had blown pepper spray into them, and she fought the urge to gouge them out.
Metal groaned under her hands, and she grabbed for her magic as raw power surged into the room, her hair moved as if in an invisible wind. Instead of being afraid, greed gave his eyes a hard sheen.
Dread turned her guts inside out.
She would not be ruled, would not become a puppet forced to dance to the tune of another master.
She was in charge of her own fate.
“Release me.” Though he barely whispered the words, they thundered in her head like a lion’s roar.
Blood trickled from her nose and splattered her pants.
She distantly heard swearing, but what caught her attention was the way the very air became sweltering, almost like it was angry.
The instant her blood hit the air, every drop of power in the room gathered around her, searching for a threat. She was conscious of the others stepping away. Power coalesced in front of her, a living thing that swirled around her like a lover’s caress, then it whirled away to slam into the sick fucker in front of her, rocking his chair back with the force of the blow.
His sneering excitement faded when the power smashed into him, horror widening his eyes, as if realizing for the first time that he was in real danger.
Raven knew if he ever escaped he would continue his murdering rampage. He enjoyed raping people’s minds too much to stop. And he took a particular sick sort of pleasure in breaking women until they obeyed him with or without the toxins affecting them.
He could never go free.
He needed to be put down.
Raven wasn’t sure if the magic prompted her thoughts or if her own thoughts were directing the magic. The power wormed its way into his flesh, swarming through his system, little sparks of electricity crackling against his skin, until it invaded his every cell.
And she recoiled when the magic pulled her in behind it.
Rot overwhelmed her mind, his body so decayed, it was all she could smell. Something was wrong with the cells. Instead of a bright red, his blood was a syrupy black sludge. She was surprised he was even able to function. She couldn’t help wondering if his condition rotted out his brain, making his behavior so depraved, but she doubted it.
The sensation of dry, scalding sand filled her head, but she couldn’t detect any type of animal…at least not a conscious
one, more like the empty skin of a carcass.
When they spliced his genes, they made an error. The magic in his blood wasn’t enough to sustain his abilities and fully form a beast. Once the magic burned out completely, he would die. Even if she wanted to help him, his damaged cells were too far gone to hold enough magic to sustain him.
Though he fought against her invasion, she could sense his thoughts.
He went through too much to earn his spot on the team to lose it all to this bitch.
He was one of the chosen.
Better and smarter than the rest who were selected for the hunt.
She must die.
The commander couldn’t get his hands on her, or everything he’d worked for would have been for nothing.
As if sensing her listening, he began screaming, the sound only heard in her head, but it was enough to knock her out of his thoughts. More blood trickled down her nose as she struggled to break his hold, her lungs leaden as she strained to breathe.
The pressure inside her head increased until her eyeballs felt gritty and ached.
Raven grabbed the power in him, both hers and his, and yanked it out as hard and fast as she could, gritting her teeth at the slimy, congealed-egg-yolk feel of his magic.
As soon as the magic hit the air, the overwhelming stench of rotten eggs filled the basement.
The man gave a guttural scream, and she opened her eyes to find him slumped over, panting like a fish out of water. His skin was chalky gray, his body emaciated, his bones so sharp and close to the surface they appeared to be forcing their way out of his body. He had to have lost thirty pounds in the past ten minutes.
The oily feeling she associated with him vanished.
“What did you do?” He sounded shattered, his voice broken, the sound barely rising above a whisper.
Raven wanted to be pleased, but felt like throwing up, still able to feel his diseased thoughts worming their way into her head. She gave him a cruel smile when she saw his devastated, hollowed eyes. “I took your magic and set it free.”
And killed him in the process.
If he managed to live through the procedure and, by some miracle, escaped the house, those he’d infected were now free. And she was sure they’d waste no time hunting him down.
Judging by the terrified look in his eyes, he knew it too.
Chapter Fifteen
Before Raven had a chance to stand, Durant scooped her out of the chair and headed for the stairs. His eyes were a bright, molten gold, and she didn’t bother trying to escape his possessive hold.
Not that she had the willpower to fight him. She needed his touch to keep herself from sliding back into the cesspool that was the Master’s mind.
Digger was gazing at her curiously, but it was Nicholas and Rylan who grabbed her attention. They tore the bindings free from what remained of the pitiful creature in the chair, and she resolutely turned away, not feeling even a hint of remorse at leaving him to his fate.
London and Jackson followed them up the stairs, only to find Taggert impatiently waiting for her, pacing the floors like a caged animal.
He came to an abrupt stop the second she appeared at the top of the steps. He studied her from head to toe before relaxing infinitesimally.
“Please have everyone meet in the library in an hour. I don’t think we have time to wait. More will be coming unless we find a way to stop them first.” Taggert nodded reluctantly, his eyes scanning her for injury, as if sensing she was wounded, and she couldn’t bear the scrutiny or questions. “Go. Please.”
While he headed toward the library, London switched directions and strode toward his command post without saying a word.
Durant had tightened his hold around her when she spoke, as if afraid she would ask to be set down. When she didn’t say anything more, he heaved out a breath that must have been trapped in his chest and made his way up the stairs, carrying her like she weighed nothing.
He headed directly toward their room, but instead of releasing her, he carried her into the bathroom, somehow knowing that she needed to be clean after touching that slimy troglodyte. The longer she remained in his arms, the more her splintered mind began to knit back together, expelling the horror she’d been forced to witness. She tightened her hold on him, more than a little worried it would all come rushing back when let go.
Without stopping, Durant skipped the shower and headed straight toward the bathtub he had installed, stepping into the mini pool, fully clothed, shoes and all, as if sensing her need to be held tight. Though she never physically touched the toad, she still felt violated.
The monster had been in her mind, touched her more deeply than any physical blow, and she shuddered, still able to feel his depraved, rotting presence.
Durant dragged them both to the middle of the pool, loosening his hold only enough to allow her to float. After a few minutes he released her, but didn’t go far as he began to methodically separate each individual strand of her hair, massaging her scalp in a way that drained the tension out of her spine.
When she would’ve sunk under the water, his hand slid under her back and held her afloat.
“Close your eyes.”
Raven shut them without hesitation, taking comfort from his warm touch, the darkness in her mind gradually fading, until heat began to penetrate the ice that had invaded her soul. After five minutes of making her feel like she was floating on air, Durant’s hands left her.
“Sit.”
Raven blinked sleepily, allowing Durant to drag her toward the edge of the tub, snuggling into him when he pulled her onto his lap. When his lips met hers, she didn’t even hesitate to kiss him back, the scent of leather intoxicating.
She stroked his shoulders and chest, wanting to be closer, and pulled back with a scowl when cloth met her fingertips.
“Off.” She plucked at his shirt.
To her surprise, he obeyed instantly, the shirt hitting the bathroom tiles behind him with a heavy splotch, but she was completely distracted by the muscular expanse of his naked torso.
He tugged at her shirt and raised a brow. “Turnabout is fair play.”
A slow heat built in her gut at his teasing smile, but it was the desire in his eyes that slayed her.
She loved him.
Had probably loved him since the first time she met his arrogant self at his club.
He would never betray her, never let her down.
Her emotions weren’t warm and bubbly like the poets describe, but darker and more menacing. She repeatedly risked her life to keep him and the rest of her pack safe, and would do so again without hesitation.
She would kill for him.
She would die for him.
She’d believed her feelings were because he was a member of her pack, and was only now beginning to understand how wrong she’d been.
And she wanted more…more for her pack, more for their future.
To her surprise, she felt no doubts or reservations at the admission.
They belonged together.
Excitement and interest hummed along her nerve endings, and for a wild second she felt the dragon stir sluggishly, the beast signaling her approval before it sank back down into slumber once more.
When Raven pulled away from Durant to stand in the water, he let her go without complaint, his fisted hands sinking below the water.
But never once did he protest.
He expected her to pull away.
While he appeared content with her decision, like a cat patiently waiting for his prey, there was a tightening around his eyes, a slight flinch that made her heart clench, and Raven realized that with every rejection she was hurting her men, even if unintentionally.
By not meeting their needs, she was pushing them to the limits of their control.
No wonder their animals were so anxious.
They couldn’t survive off scraps of her affections, and Raven felt her face warm when she realized that she’d been a fool.
She loved them.
/> Wildly.
Madly.
The only reason she’d been holding back was to save them…from herself.
But maybe they didn’t need saving…didn’t want to be saved.
The idea rocked her to her core, and Raven lifted her shaky hands and began to drag her wet shirt up her body.
Durant stopped moving.
Stopped breathing.
His eyes were locked on the bare flesh she exposed, his expression so full of hunger he looked more feral than she’d ever seen him.
Yanking the shirt over her head, she followed his example and flung it across the room, then slowly inched closer to him, cupping his jaw in her hands. “Breathe.”
Her words snapped him out of his daze, and he sucked in a harsh breath. “Little one, if you don’t back away, I’m not sure…I don’t think…” He swallowed audibly. “I won’t be able to control myself.”
The rough growl of his words should’ve frightened her, not shoot her desire for him even higher. She ran her fingers along his jaw, then sank them into his wild hair, tugging until his head was tipped back, leaving his throat exposed and vulnerable.
She leaned forward, stopping when her lips were just shy of touching his.
She noticed with amusement that he’d stopped breathing again, but then her own body’s demands were screaming at her to take possession of him. “How much control do you have?”
Her lips brushed his with every word.
He growled, but held his ground, raw desire making the angles of his face harsh. “Not much.”
Raven drew back and gave him a teasing smile. “Then I suggest you grab the rim of the tub.”
Durant’s golden eyes swirled, water splashing in his haste to comply, his breathing ragged. Lust scented the air, and she barely resisted the urge to rub up against him. No, she wanted to make this memorable for him, make amends for all the torment she put him through.
She slowly straightened and stepped back, the water swirling just above her hips, hiding as much as revealing, the warm liquid giving her courage. She reached for the closures of her pants, watching Durant twitch when she opened the top button, then smiling in amusement as he leaned forward when she slowly lowered the zipper.
Electric series- Raven Investigations BoxSet Page 73
