They only had one chance at this.
Raven took a deep shuddering breath, the weight of her decision nearly suffocating. Then she dropped the shields she’d been holding, and allowed the storm to find her.
Thunder shook the ground, and seconds later, lightning forked across the sky. One. Two. Four bolts of lightning joined together until the whole sky lit up.
That was when it located her.
Static built until raw current hummed in the air. The smell of ozone swept around them. Her hair swayed from an invisible wind. Then, in one powerful motion, the energy arced toward her.
She forced her muscles to relax, knowing the jolt could snap her spine if she struggled. The jagged bolt struck the ground less than a foot from her. It tunneled through the earth, up her feet and snaked into her body, hitting her system like lava.
The animals scampered out of her way. The men halted, almost confused as to what was happening. Awareness shone in their eyes as the energy cooked the air, but the siren’s spell lingered. Persistent. They struggled to move, but their feet remained pinned in place.
Then the world dissolved in a combination of pain and pleasure as the storm wreaked havoc on her body. It raced through her veins. Her skin grew heated, scorching to the touch, and the need to let all the power loose became a compulsion.
Only, it was too much power for Taggert to process.
Determined to protect him, the dragon burst from hiding, unfurrowing in her body until her skin became so tight it felt ready to split. The current surrounded the dragon like a boa constrictor, wrapping around them and squeezed tight.
Her ears popped under the pressure.
Energy seeped from her skin, snapping through the air.
The dragon lifted its claws, and sank her talons into the raw current and shoved it into its mouth. The pressure eased as the beast gorged. Just when her brain felt ready to boil, Raven dropped to her knees and slammed her hands into the ground.
It took only seconds for the current to fork its way through the black dirt toward its intended target.
Taggert roared when the current hit, his back arching until his whole body bowed under the strain. She could see the current eat its way into his body. His wolf snapped at the cords, then paused and lifted his head as he caught her scent.
Their eyes connected across the distance and recognition flashed between them. His wolf tipped his head toward her and stopped fighting the sudden influx of power.
Horror sank into her as the wolf, ever so slowly, dissolved until it was nothing more than a ball of energy.
Stealing the last bit of his soul.
“Taggert!”
As if her words were a command, the energy exploded outward, soaking into his flesh. His skin rippled, bones snapped, fur erupting all over him. He grew until his clothes shredded from his body.
Hope blossomed painfully in her chest.
He was still alive.
But instead of landing on all fours, he rose on two legs. A muzzle shaped his face, two-inch fangs erupted from his jaws, while two long ears sprouted and swiveled around to catch every sound. Inch-long claws tipped his feet and hands. His chest deepened, his spine stretched, arms lengthening and corded with muscles.
The world fell silent as his beast finally burst free.
He stood at least seven feet tall, muscles built upon muscles, a fighting machine from ages gone by—she would say a werewolf, only they had gone extinct over a thousand years ago.
Raven pushed to her feet, so close to burning out that she swayed and struggled to remain standing. “Taggert?”
Chapter Twenty-seven
“Lycan.” The whisper rose through the crowd, the word tinged with awe and a healthy dose of fear.
The sound set off the creature. He tipped back his head and let out a roar, the deep bass reverberating in the air, raising the hair on the back of Raven’s neck. The instinctive need to run and hide flittered through her.
His eyes glowed with madness as he pinned her to the spot with his gaze.
Nothing remotely Taggert remained.
Anguish threatened to take over, but Raven shoved it back. To give in meant that there was no hope, and she refused to believe Taggert was lost to her.
She reached for the pack bindings, nearly sagging in relief when she found them still connected and stronger than ever. But when she tried to reach him, all she felt was the wolf’s pain and raging anger.
Like he’d gone feral.
Her fingers shook at the realization.
No one ever came back … at least not whole.
Veronica backed away, which only succeeded to draw the creature’s attention. She immediately stopped. Smart woman. The beast inhaled, glanced around as if trying to catch a scent.
Then Veronica made a fatal mistake, she began to hum, probably trying to call the men to her for protection.
The siren’s magic floated on the air, barely noticeable.
But it was enough.
Taggert’s big head swung in the fish’s direction, his teeth bared. In a single bound, he jumped the ten foot distance between them. With a slash of his claws, blood splattered and he continued to rip the woman apart.
Veronica didn’t even have time to lift an arm to protect herself.
Whatever power held the men vanished with the first blow.
The men began to back away, and Taggert stilled. He slowly turned his head, his wild green eyes almost yellow, a low growl rumbling in his chest.
Looking for prey.
Everyone froze again.
“The pain of the change must have driven him mad.” Durant edged toward her as he spoke, Jackson copying his move, but they were too far away to do any good.
Taggert’s eyes narrowed, his complete attention focused on them like a threat that needed to be eliminated. The body in his grip dropped to the ground with a juicy squish, already forgotten. His muscles tensed in preparation to attack, and her heart nearly ruptured.
If he attacked, the men would defend her and they would all end up dead.
She couldn’t allow that.
Taggert was still in there. She just needed to reach him.
She couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t at least try.
Ignoring Durant and Jackson, Raven scurried forward. “Taggert.”
He launched himself at her, his movements a blur. His fist swung toward her, and Raven caught his wrist … the one that carried a bite marking him as hers.
Everything about him stilled at the contact.
With each brush of her fingertips over the mark, Taggert rose closer and closer to the surface. His nostrils flared, and he pushed his snout closer as if trying to catch her scent. Raven tried to resist jerking back, battling the fear he was going to rip out her throat. He gave a deep rumble of displeasure and pulled her forward. The creature lowered his lips to hide his fangs, trying to look innocent.
Raven forced her pulse so slow, allowed herself to go pliant as he dragged her closer. But as the distance narrowed between them, the more his aggression eased. Confusion marked his face, and she could see her Taggert struggle to surface.
Her throat tightened painfully with hope.
She hadn’t realized how worried she’d been.
Greggory and her men crept forward, waiting for the opportunity to tackle them both to the ground. Taggert bared his fangs, growling possessively, and she waved them off. Her men instantly obeyed. Greggory paused, clearly displeased. Death darkened his eyes to black, danger thickening until the air grew heavy in her lungs.
If he decided to attack, she would lose the fragile connection to Taggert … possibly forever.
The only thing holding him to the present was her touch.
Taggert didn’t like that her attention had wandered, his grip clamped possessively around her wrist, pulling her close. He scanned the crowd and bared his fangs, getting lost again as the beast rose.
The need to touch him was so strong she could taste it.
She
reached out, only to have him catch her wrist, stopping her just an inch short.
But it was enough.
The grip closed the circuit, and electricity arched between them.
She waited for him to throw her off, but instead of snarling and ripping out her throat, he relaxed into her touch.
He appeared confused, noticing how he looked for the first time and ducked his head as if ashamed. His body slowly melted down, fur receded, bones reshaping until he stood naked and shivering before her.
He wobbled precariously before his legs finally gave way. Refusing to release him, they both dropped to the ground. He tried to twist out of her hold and push her away, but Raven refused to let him go. “Taggert—”
“I almost killed you.”
Raven cupped his face, forced him to meet her gaze and threw the same words back at him that he’d told her not too long ago. “And yet I’m unhurt. Your beast recognized me. He wouldn’t hurt me. If you wanted me dead, I would be dead.”
Doubt colored his eyes before his face crumbled in devastation. “I’m a monster.”
Greggory cleared his throat. “Actually, you’re royalty, an ancient warrior coded to protect the highest-ranking shifters. You’re a legendary lycan.” Amazement tinged his face, but Greggory wisely kept out of striking distance. “None of your kind has been located for hundreds of years.”
Raven had never heard of any such thing. She brushed all the nonsense away and focused on one thing … if anyone would be coming for him. “And the rest of the royalty?”
“Gone. None have been located for over a thousand years, not since the last war between royals. Rumor has it they wiped each other out.” His eyed her queerly, and Raven knew why he called her little queen. He believed she was one of them.
Other people began to creep closer out of curiosity, and Raven resisted the urge to shield Taggert from view. Eve neared and carefully set down a pair of sweats, and Raven nodded in thanks.
Taggert still appeared shaky but functioning. After he was dressed, she glanced at Greggory. “How is this even possible?”
“He must have recessive genes that were triggered by the attack.”
Not the attack.
Her.
When she flooded him with power, the current must have activated the dormant genes, pulling them to the surface to help him survive.
Things began to click into place.
Taggert was the one who was going to die in her premonition.
It explained why the dragon wanted them to stay at the circus. It had known that Taggert was near cresting, that he needed the extra boost to shift, and that Raven wouldn’t have voluntarily given him more energy, not after she nearly killed him last time.
But that did leave a very important question. “What does this mean for him?”
“Werewolves are like berserkers, revered and worshipped in the old days for their prowess. Deadly killing machines, not known for stopping once they’d start killing.”
Until now.
The implications landed on her like a ton of bricks. Taggert had just become the most sought-after shifter in the world. Humans would want to kill him or experiment on him, while the shifters would want to challenge her for ownership.
Taggert could literally kill a whole pack and no one would be able to rein him in until the deed was done. “Explain why he can’t stop.”
“Once they change, they can’t shift back until after the battle. It’s a defense mechanism. Only when the threat is over do they usually fall unconscious from exhaustion. It’s their only weakness. Humans discovered their existence, saw them as monsters, and hunted them to extinction. Those who escaped were tracked down by the shifters and eradicated. They couldn’t afford for humans to find out the truth, not even back then. They were supposed to have all been slaughtered.”
Taggert swayed, complexly wrung out from exhaustion. A touch of pride tipped his chin up before his face quickly crumbled in worry. “You’ll never have any peace with me around.”
He was going to leave the pack. She could see it in his eyes. Panic swelled, threatening to crush her with the truth.
A decision needed to be made.
Keep her secrets or lose Taggert.
The decision was easy.
She made no move to stop the dragon as the creature shifted under her skin. The beast rose until she knew her eyes glowed a brilliant blue. She scanned the crowd, searching for threats, letting them feel the danger. Taggert was going nowhere without her. “I’m sorry, but you’re just small potatoes when people find out what kind of shifter I am.”
Taggert lunged at her, trying to stop her from saying more, but she easily evaded him. “We’re both ancient, but I think I still have a leg up from you. Dragons have been gone from this world a lot longer than simple lycans. I guess we’ll just have to work through it and face the threats together.”
Raven lifted her shirt, revealing the tattoo on her stomach. The silver blob had sharpened, the image now distinctly dragon-like in shape. The small beast was the size of her fist, the silver and black colors appeared metallic. It shimmered in the darkness as if alive, the tiny details like delicate filigree, stamped into her flesh but it was tougher than any metal she’d ever encountered.
People gasped, some backed away, recognizing them as the greater predators and offering their throats, while others froze, too afraid to move lest they draw attention to themselves.
The ones old enough to remember the legends.
Who remembered that the dragons were monsters that nearly devoured them all.
Raven ignored the threat, her sole focus remaining on her men.
Waiting for their judgment.
They’d been patient with her while she fumbled around in the supernatural world. Ignorance was one thing, but keeping this secret from them was something else.
With her words, she’d invited a whole shit-load of trouble to their door. She essentially ruined their lives. She wouldn’t blame them if they walked out on her. If they asked it of her, she would release them, even if it destroyed her.
A desperate hope prickled along her spine that they’d at least give her a chance to plead her case before they abandoned her.
Jackson and Durant didn’t even appear fazed by the news. Durant raised a brow, as if amused by her revelation. “We knew you were something special, something different. We just didn’t know what until now.”
That was it.
Nothing more.
Like it didn’t matter.
Their acceptance brought tears to her eyes.
“You told everyone your secret to save me.” Wonder widened Taggert’s eyes, and for the first time, she saw belonging there. A small smile tugged at his lips. “I know what you’re thinking, worrying how you’re going to protect me. We feel the same way about you. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
A wave of inevitableness swept over her, shoving her toward a fate she didn’t know she was ready to handle.
From this moment forward, her life would never be the same.
She hated the helplessness that threatened to drown her, and couldn’t help wonder how she was going to keep her people safe now that the cat was out of the bag. But when she glanced at her small pack, she knew that she’d made the right decision.
Her secret wasn’t worth their lives, even if it would only lead them to more trouble.
The storm gave a last rumble, the tempest dissipating but fighting it every step of the way. She should’ve been unconscious, burned out by the raw current, but the dragon siphoned off the worst of it. It could have taken over control when she’d been vulnerable, but the creature worked with her to keep her pack safe.
Raven couldn’t help feel grateful despite knowing the bindings between them only grew stronger, tightening like a noose that would one day take everything she held dear if she ever gave into the urge and used the tainted magic.
“We’re strong enough to handle what’s to come.” Taggert hesitantly touched her arm, as if
uncertain of his welcome, and she leaned into him. The pack connection wrapped her in a layer of warmth, banishing the chill of her dark thoughts.
Raven dearly hoped what he said was true.
Chapter Twenty-eight – Day 5
DAY FIVE: AN HOUR BEFORE SUNRISE
More and more people gathered around to stare, many of them still wearing blood and gore from the people they had just slaughtered. Their clothes were soaked with blood, their mouth and teeth caked it like some horror movie.
She thought they would be happy to be free.
Instead, fear brewed in the air, their focus on both her and Taggert. They appeared undecided if they should run or attack, an angry mob in the making.
Her breath hitched at the prospect of another fight, her muscles shaking at even the thought of trying to defend herself. Taggert was stretched to his limits already, while Durant’s body needed more time to heal, not to mention that the constant shifting and fighting had pushed Jackson nearly beyond his endurance.
Not good odds.
The need to extract her pack flooded her, and she scrambled to come up with a plan to get them out of there alive without harming more people.
Much to her surprise, Greggory, the man who just tried to kill her, came to her aid. He strode forward and offered her his hand. Taggert’s eyes glowed as the other male neared, his body tensing to attack, his muscles shaking under the strain.
He would protect her even if it killed him.
Raven touched his arm. His gaze dropped to follow as her fingertips traced over his skin, then he closed his eyes, relishing the intimate contact.
At what they had so nearly lost.
When she lifted her head again, Greggory hadn’t moved. Raven wished to hell that she could read him, but his granite face revealed nothing.
Taking a chance, wondering if she could expect to be gutted at any second, she accepted his hand.
He pulled her to her feet, then stepped back a respectable distance … well, for a shifter anyway.
Raven Investigation 04 - Electric Legend Page 25
