London was on his feet, blood trickling down his face from a nasty cut near his hairline. The last time she saw Taggert, he was knocked in the opposite direction, his body flying into the trees. The fool had been running toward her when the blast went off. Jackson was peeling himself off the ground, moving slowly, clearly injured. To her horror, Durant remained down and wasn’t moving.
The only thing that kept her from losing her shit was he was still breathing, the pack connection to him remained strong and steady.
Her rage burned so hot it felt like her blood was boiling. She swung her head around and searched the clearing, locating her target in seconds—Laura.
The bitch stepped out from behind a tree where she had taken refuge from the turmoil around them, not a scratch on her. When their eyes connected, she smirked. “The pit was filled with concussion grenades, not the silver dust I wanted.”
Raven reached back and tore out a piece of metal that scrapped against her ribs, grunting at the burst of pain, conscious of the gush of blood down her side. She lifted the metal, realizing that she’d been hit by what appeared to be part of a twisted and mangled spoon. Raven raised her brow…no silver, her ass.
“Well, mostly.” Laura’s smile turned nasty. “I might have had my friends bury a couple pieces of silver into the ground. For fun. Too bad you don’t suffer the effects the same as the others. The guns are loaded with silver ammunition, so think twice before trying anything, skank.”
London and Jackson stood over Durant, protecting him, and she was suddenly worried about how much silver they took in the blast. More worrying was Taggert’s continued absence.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tuck was on the ground next to George, both men pinned to the ground by soldiers.
“What do you think I’m doing?” Her face softened when she looked at her teammates. “We’re going to find a cure. They’re going to turn us back.”
“You know that’s not possible.” George tried to rise to his feet, only to have a rifle butt crack into his face.
“Lies!” Laura spat, her face hardening. “Shackle them. I want them with us. I’ll prove to you that your precious savior lied about everything.”
The woman was completely insane, so terrified and revolted by the thought of becoming a monster that she refused to see the truth.
That she already was one.
When Raven shoved herself to her feet, Laura leapt the small distance to the commander. She removed a small syringe from her pocket and shoved it into the man’s neck, her thumb hovering over the plunger. The old warrior came to consciousness slowly and froze, immediately taking in the situation.
“One move and we’ll see how much the commander likes being turned into a freak.”
Chapter Twenty-four
“You three,” Laura gestured to a trio of soldiers. “Find the one who went missing. The rest of you, shackle these freaks.”
Raven took a step forward to stop them when Laura roughly gripped the commander’s jacket and hauled him none-to-gently to his feet. “Hold out your arms.”
Everything inside Raven rebelled at obeying, and she struggled to hold her shit together when a soldier approached with the shackles, her every instinct urging her to rip their captors apart while they still had a chance.
But they couldn’t risk a fight and lose the commander. Their plan revolved around keeping him alive. If he was infected, there was a fifty percent chance of him dying.
There were at least thirty soldiers in the clearing, the smell marking them all as hybrids of some sort. The shackles were clamped onto her wrists, the heavy abrading her skin, and she swallowed down her bile as she watched the same being done to her men. While her blood gave them a small immunity to silver, their skin still reddened on contact. The longer the metal remained in contact with their skin, the weaker they would become.
They dragged an unconscious Durant to the center of the clearing, prodding the others after him with their guns. Jackson and London kept their eyes on her, waiting for her signal, and her heart cracked at the danger she was putting them in.
The three soldiers who disappeared were quick to return. “Carlisle says he went over the edge of the cliff.”
Raven’s heart stopped for a second, her world tilting as she fought to keep her feet under her. Thanks to Taggert’s new form, the fall wouldn’t have killed him, but it would hurt like a bitch.
Laura scowled, her finger tightening on the trigger of the gun she held, looking ready to take off their heads. “You’re sure?”
The soldier nodded, cautiously backing away. “The blast threw him across the road and he slid over the edge. Carlisle checked the cliffs and couldn’t see any sign of him. He’s at the bottom of the ravine.”
To her surprise, Laura didn’t look pleased at the news. “We need them alive.”
The hair rose on the back of Raven’s neck at the bitch’s tone.
“We might need the leverage.” Laura gave Raven a nasty smile, and everything inside her went cold. “Load ‘em up.”
Laura shoved the commander forward, taking wicked pleasure at the way he awkwardly clutched his right arm to his chest. Though Raven’s men were stronger and faster, Laura would still be able to inject him before her people could reach them.
They were forced to march single file through the trees. Less than a mile away a truck was waiting on an abandoned service road. She thought it resembled an armored delivery truck until she noticed the live charges around the door.
Laura smirked at her when she noticed where Raven was looking. “Touch the door in any way and the charges will blow, filling the back of the truck with silver dust. I bet even your pets can’t survive inhaling silver.”
The two soldiers were hauled in first, their shackles bolted to the floor by a thick chain. Durant was thrown in like a bag of trash, and Raven barely resisted snapping the chain holding her so she could do the same thing to the soldiers’ necks.
Jackson and London were next, each leaping into the vehicle without assistance. Raven went next, quickly followed by the commander. “You would’ve died if she hadn’t gotten in the way. You don’t deserve to be spared.”
Without hesitation, she jabbed the needle into his thigh and pressed the plunger.
“No.” Tuck and George threw themselves at the commander, only to be pulled up abruptly by their chains.
The air left Raven’s lungs in a rush, and she knew it was already too late to do anything to save the commander from what was to come. That left only one way to avoid a war…infiltrate the compound from within and take it down.
Laura beckoned for the guards to haul Rylan forward. Laura smirked, and Raven’s stomach dropped in pure dread. The soldier holding the door began to close it, but not before she saw Laura grab a stake she had hidden against her back. “Sorry, but we don’t need a vampire.”
Without hesitation, she drove the stake deep into Rylan’s gut with a single upward thrust.
The last thing she heard as the door clanged shut was Rylan’s grunt of pain. He twisted slightly as the stake entered his chest, then dropped heavily to the ground seconds later.
Raven stopped breathing, surging to her feet, snapping the chains in the process. Globs of metal dripped from her cuffs to sizzle against the floor in little pools, leaving her wrists free. She heard the others yelling but didn’t understand their words, tripping over their feet to get to the door. Shadows filled the cab, the air becoming so heavy with static it crackled as she moved.
“Raven.”
Durant’s pain-filled rasp stopped her cold, smashing the shell containing her heartbreak and fury. She couldn’t turn and face her pack, face that they were injured, all because she wanted to play the hero and save the world.
She wanted to stop a war no one else gave a damn about.
Maybe it was time to stop pretending to be human, stop playing their games.
She didn’t need the humans.
She didn’t need the shifters or witches or vampires.<
br />
She just needed to find the missing members of her pack and kill everyone who tried to take them away from her. She turned back toward the door to do exactly that when Durant spoke again.
“He’s alive.” Durant struggled against his chains, trying to get to her. Something about seeing him in chains disturbed her, kept her from leaving.
He was hers.
Only she was allowed to restrain him.
Only she was allowed to touch him.
“He’s alive.” Durant’s golden eyes whirled with desperation.
She cocked her head, trying to understand him.
She’d seen Rylan staked.
She’d seen him fall.
But Durant wouldn’t lie to her. Rage burned in her, craving vengeance against everyone who thought to hurt those who were hers.
“Listen.” He tipped his head to the side, closing his eyes, and she hesitantly followed suit. “They’re packing up and leaving his body out in the sun instead of beheading him. He’s alive.”
Even as she listened, the truck’s motor rumbled to life. When the vehicle shifted into gear, she barely noticed the jolt as they traveled over the service road.
Then the crackle of the speaker caught her attention. “We got them and are heading back now. The mission is a go.”
Mission?
A cold shiver went down her spine. Laura was a little too pleased with herself.
“Raven.” Durant lifted a bloody hand out to her, and her stomach twisted into knots…he was so badly hurt. She shuffled toward him, unable to leave him injured and vulnerable, not sure what to believe.
“They didn’t kill him?”
He shook his head, catching her hand and coaxing her closer. “She missed his heart. It will take a while for him to heal after he pulls out the stake, but he will live.”
He tugged her down next to him, and she allowed it, the shadows around her easing slightly at the scent of his blood. She gently lifted up his shirt to see a large gash in his side. The injury was clean, the sides healing slowly since the weapon was silver, but he was mending.
“There’s so much blood.” Raven frowned, peering up at him, not sure where it was coming from. “Where else are you injured?”
He tightened his hold and gave her a cheeky smile. “I’m not. We needed them to believe we were weak.”
Raven pulled back, the scales slotted along her skin fading as her brain began to function past the primitive drive to kill. “It was an act.”
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to strangle him or kiss him. “And Taggert going over the cliff?”
Durant grimaced. “That wasn’t an act.”
“Laura mentioned a mission.” Raven stood, too anxious to sit, working hard to figure out what seemed off. “I think they’re planning an attack.”
Jackson began swearing. “And we led her right to our home and the council.”
Fear tightened her gut, and she clenched her fists to keep from acting irrationally. Durant was right. They needed to be smart and plan. Cold metal warmed her hand, and she lifted her arm, studying the sword that came to her call.
“Shit, how’d you do that?” Tuck sounded suspicious, and Raven only realized her smile was more teeth than friendly when he flinched away.
“Things aren’t always what they seem.” Raven closed her eyes and tuned everyone out.
“Taggert?”
Instead of connecting with a human, she found him in his werewolf form, running alongside the road, tracking them. He lifted his head at her call, his ears twitched forward, and she knew he was listening.
“You need to stop. You have to go back.”
The big beast shook his massive head, forging ahead even faster, as if afraid she would force him to obey.
“They’re going to attack the mansion and the council.” She felt his pace slow as he hesitated. “You need to go back. Get Rylan. Find Randolph. You have to stop them.”
The beast resisted for another few yards before he skidded to a stop, lifted his head and let out a massive howl of pure frustration and rage. The roar traveled for miles, slamming into the box truck until it sounded like he was just outside.
The commander looked startled, his eyes wide, then gave a hacking cough. Fever gleamed in his eyes, and she knew the transition was upon him. He would either come through the fever forever changed, or fall into a coma and never wake.
“Sir—”
“Call me Roger, please.” He gave her a wry smile. “The least I could do after you saved my life.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t spare you that.” She should’ve known Laura would infect him out of spite.
The old man waved away her apology. “Not your fault. I can fight this more easily than I could the bullet in my head she no doubt had planned for me.”
“Will he survive?” Tuck asked, his jaw clenched so tightly she wondered that his teeth didn’t grind to dust.
Raven moved toward the commander, stopping when Tuck and George stiffened. She lifted her hand and released the sword. The three men watched it drop, then vanish in a wisp of smoke. “The sword is a magical weapon. It chose me for some reason, and answers my call when it senses danger.”
“It chose you the same way we chose you.” London flexed his arms, and the chains holding him stretched, then shattered, a section of metal pinging off the floor. “It senses your honorable intentions. You have no greed or hatred. You would never use the weapon against innocents, just like you would never sacrifice us.”
Raven could see the bear chafe at having the cuffs still on his wrists. When she reached out to him, he promptly held out his arms. She was tempted to call back the sword and cut through the thick shackles, but she didn’t think it was needed. Instead, she summoned a spark of magic, slowly feeding the small current until it flickered into a tiny wisp of flame.
She carefully drew her finger across the shackle, watching the flame soften the metal. When London nodded, she curled her hand into a fist and snuffed out the fire. Without missing a beat, London bent the cuffs, the soft metal peeling away like toffee. The metal dropped to the floor with a clank, revealing his red, irritated wrists.
Then he flexed his massive arms, clearly pleased at his freedom.
The commander coughed again, and Raven turned to see knowledge gleaming in his eyes. “You know what’s happening,” she said.
“And the likely outcome.” He gave her a half smile. “My only regret was that I didn’t live long enough to help you prevent this foolish war. Idiots.” He shook his head, wincing when the movement jostled his arm. A ragged cough racked him, his glassy eyes even more feverish. The change was fully upon him.
“Can you help?” Tuck asked again, ever persistent.
“I’m…not sure.” Even if she wanted to take him into her pack, she feared there was nothing she could do would help him now the transition had begun.
“You said magic was the missing key. You said it might keep us alive. Can it do anything for him?” Tuck didn’t back down, his sharp green eyes hard…and desperate.
“I’m not sure how the transition decides who lives and who dies. I only know that the percentage of those who live is extremely low.” She turned and faced Jackson. “Have you seen many transitions?”
Jackson shrugged. “I’ve seen desperate men come to the packs after they’ve been bitten, but the alpha has always turned them away. The transition is brutal. The few I’ve witnessed…it would’ve been a kindness to kill them.”
Tuck bent forward, gripping his hair in his hands, and she recognized his utter devastation. He knew Jackson spoke the truth.
“May I?” Raven crouched and reached toward the commander’s mangled arm.
The old man grunted as he pushed away from the wall. “Go ahead.”
Raven noted he was watchful, though not fearful. She carefully brushed her fingers along his arm and allowed a small current of energy to sink beneath his skin. The two bones in his forearm were clean breaks, and she focused the energy on the angr
y tissue around the injury. To her surprise, the blood appeared almost black, as if it contained poison. The infected blood absorbed the magic quickly, consumed it like a starved animal, and she gently fed it more, then more as the blood began to brighten.
The shivers raking the commander’s body eased, the fever ebbing.
Very faintly, she could smell something wild underneath the stench of death, something struggling to survive. She called the beast forward gently, watching as the creature bit and clawed his way toward the surface. To her surprise, a mangy coyote crept forward, half-starved, his ribs clearly visible. He hunkered down, curling his tail around himself, the poor thing shaking like a leaf. Thinking he was afraid, she retreated, lifting her hand off the commander, only to see the coyote begin to fade, too weak to fight.
Raven resumed her hold on the commander’s arm, and she finally understood when the coyote returned gradually, scrambling for purchase once again. If the coyote couldn’t remain in the body, the poisoned blood would kill off the host, and they would both die.
“Commander, close your eyes and clear your mind.” Raven carefully lit a flame for him to see, and he sucked in a shocked breath. “I want you to focus on the flame. Follow it.”
She carefully led the flame through the darkness, the tiny light barely illuminating the huddled coyote. “Do you see him?”
“Is he real?” The commander spoke softly, as if not wanting to spook the animal.
“Very much. This little guy is the only thing keeping you alive, but he’s as weak as a newborn. If he dies, you die. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.” The commander’s form began to take shape in the darkness, and he boldly walked out of the shadows. “What do you need me to do?”
“Keep him alive.” She nudged him forward, and the commander crouched low, coaxing the little critter closer. “Hold him tight. If you let him go and he runs off, I’m not sure I’ll be able to call him back.”
“Understood.” The commander picked the coyote up by the scruff of his neck, then pulled the beast into his lap, petting him gently while keeping his grip firm.
Electric series- Raven Investigations BoxSet Page 84
