Ravenheart (Crossbreed Series Book 2)

by Dannika Dark

  Gem studied the opalescent polish on her short nails with a vacant look in her eyes. “Feeling all those emotions from that little boy brought back memories I’ve spent my life trying to forget. Children shouldn’t have to feel that kind of terror. Ever.” Her voice cracked, and she gripped the quartz pendant around her neck. “I must look like one of Wyatt’s ghosts. I barely slept at all last night.”

  “No. You look angelic without makeup on. I’m the one who looks like a troll that crawled out from the mire. Do you see this hair?” I asked, pointing at my head. “There are probably squirrels building nests in there as we speak.”

  Gem laughed, and the sparkle returned to her violet eyes. “After I fainted, I was expecting to see Claude at my side when I woke up.”

  “He was upset. I think he was afraid of flipping his switch around a crowd.”

  “Niko was real sweet about the whole thing. I woke up crying, so he told me an ancient story from his clan about a little bird caught in a thunderstorm. He just kept talking until I calmed down. Now I feel awful about putting that pink shirt in his wardrobe.”

  “I got her! She’s in here!” Wyatt exclaimed from the doorway.

  Before I could turn around, he hooked his arms beneath mine and dragged me backward.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I shouted, watching my coffee thermos tip over. “Let go of me!”

  “Grab her legs so I can cover her mouth,” Wyatt said.

  Shepherd lifted my legs, and before I could protest, Wyatt made good on his promise and put his hand over my mouth.

  “Be quiet, and this’ll all be over with,” he said with a sinister smile.

  I stared wide-eyed to my left and noticed Christian was holding my body to keep me from squirming. We were moving downstairs, and I writhed and grunted like an animal caught in a trap.

  “I want to watch!” Gem whispered, dashing past us down the stairs.

  That left me even more stunned than the unexpected abduction.

  Wyatt had a firm grip on my jaw to keep me from biting his fingers. Christian had my arms pinned, so my only chance was for someone to drop me. I thrust my legs out, and Shepherd almost lost his hold.

  “Hurry up!” Wyatt hissed when they reached the main floor. I jostled in their arms as they jogged down a hall behind the stairs.

  My fangs punched out, and I bit through Wyatt’s palm.

  He yelped, wrenching his hand away. “She bit me!”

  I sucked in a deep breath, but before I could shout, Christian’s hand clamped over my mouth.

  “Jaysus wept. Keep it quiet, or I’ll drain you.”

  My heart thundered in my chest, and blood pulsed in my ears, dulling the sound of their footfalls across the mansion floor. I tried to sink my teeth into Christian’s hand, but then I had second thoughts about consuming more of his blood.

  He’d love nothing more than that.

  Bastard.

  He probably drugged my coffee.

  We moved into the medical supply room, and Shepherd kicked the door shut. Everyone except Viktor was present.

  Christian set me on the table and loomed. “I’m going to take my hand off your mouth, and you’re not going to scream.”

  I screamed a profanity into his hand.

  “Now that’s not very ladylike,” he said. “Do you want to be an official member of Keystone or not?”

  I flicked my eyes between everyone. Even Niko was there, and when I saw his mouth curved up in a smile, I nodded.

  As soon as his hand came away, I flew up. “You have thirty seconds to explain.”

  “Remember that little tattoo on my ass?” Wyatt asked.

  Shepherd folded his arms. “What was Raven doing looking at your ass?”

  “Who wouldn’t want to admire this fine piece of art?” he asked, bending over and showing his ass to Shepherd.

  I flipped back my unkempt hair and retracted my fangs. “Will someone tell me what’s going on here?”

  Christian placed his palms on the table and leaned forward. “You’re not a member until you complete your first official case. Darius didn’t count because you weren’t part of the team yet. Everyone has the same mark in a hidden place; it’s not something we advertise. Viktor doesn’t know about them, so mum’s the word.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “How do I know you’re not getting back at me for the tattoo on your neck? I’m not going to end up with a permanent unicorn as part of some elaborate prank.”

  “I assure you, it’s not a prank.”

  “Oh? Then show me yours.”

  He stepped back and leaned against the wall, arms folded. “’Fraid not.”

  Gem pulled off her shoe and put her right foot on the table. On the sole of her foot, right along the arch, was a silhouetted tattoo of what looked like an eagle.

  “What’s that supposed to be?” I asked.

  “A heraldic eagle,” she said. “And I don’t recommend you getting one there.”

  Shepherd cleared his throat. “Gem wanted butterflies. That wasn’t happening.”

  She put her foot back on the floor. “Well, it was better than your idea of a Spartan helmet.”

  Blue sat down in one of the chairs in the corner. “The eagle was the only thing we could all agree on. It’s a symbol for a protector—someone with courage. We also needed a simple design.”

  Gem picked up her shoe. “The guys wanted one of those dragons with wings and fire. Do I look like a girl who puts scary reptiles on my body?”

  “Nothing wrong with a good snake,” Wyatt quipped.

  Niko stepped forward with an ink gun in hand. “Are you ready?”

  I stared in horror.

  He suddenly busted out laughing, Wyatt and Claude joining in. “I’m only teasing, Raven.” Niko handed the device over to Wyatt.

  Which didn’t instill that much more confidence.

  “Don’t worry,” Wyatt said, holding it like a pistol and blowing on the tip. “I used to draw a lot when I was a kid.”

  “That’s reassuring. Is this necessary?”

  “Viktor has his blood-chalice ritual, but we wanted something else that links us together. We thought about matching pendants or rings, but jewelry gets lost, and it’s not discreet enough. You can hide tats, and most people don’t pay much attention to them. Viktor would have a fit if he found out, and that’s why we decided on a symbol that wasn’t as ubiquitous as a butterfly or rare as some made-up symbol.”

  “That’s a big word,” Shepherd said. “Ubiquitous.”

  Wyatt glared at him. “It’s my word for the day. Tomorrow’s word is asshole, so be sure to swing by my office and help me use it.” He turned around and fumbled with something on the counter. “So where do you want the tattoo?”

  “She’ll be having it on her forehead,” Christian offered.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “I thought you didn’t believe in tattoos?”

  Wyatt swiveled around with a regular pen in hand. “He was drunk, and I wasn’t drunk enough.”

  A tattoo seemed awfully permanent, but if I was serious about this job, then what was the big deal?

  “Well?” Wyatt asked, twirling the ink pen between his fingers. “I have to draw it first.”

  “My labia.”

  The pen flipped out of his hand and fell to the floor. “Your whatia?”

  Gem giggled and tapped Claude on the arm. He lifted her up and set her on one of the cabinets to the right, giving her a better view. It was a small room, not unlike an examining room at the hospital or doctor’s office.

  “Is everyone going to watch?” I asked.

  Claude’s brows arched. “That depends on where you put it. If it’s private, then every male will leave this room.”

  “Except Wyatt,” I pointed out.

  Shepherd cracked his knuckles. “He doesn’t count.”

  Wyatt tucked some of his hair into his hat. He still had on the kilt and T-shirt from the night before. “I’ll wear a blindfold.”

  When he bent ov
er to pick up the pen, I spotted a bottle of liquid fire on the counter.

  “If you want the tat in a visible place, it’s no big deal,” Wyatt said. “But just pick a spot where you normally wear clothes. So if you like tank tops, don’t put it on your shoulder. If you wear shorts, don’t put it on your thigh. That kind of thing.”

  “I guess here,” I said, tapping my right hip.

  “Lie down.”

  The cold metal table chilled my arms as I lay there and let Wyatt pull down my pants.

  Claude quickly left the room.

  “Do you want it above your panties or…”

  “Depends on the panties,” I said, grinning at Christian. “Beneath.”

  Wyatt scratched his cheek. “You’ll have to pull them down.”

  Claude reentered the room with a blanket. He draped it over my legs and flicked a glance between Christian and Wyatt, who flanked either side of me.

  I lifted my hips and pulled down my pants and underwear to my knees. Then I adjusted the blanket so it covered half my body, leaving the right side exposed to give Wyatt full access.

  Shepherd rubbed his eye with one finger and averted his gaze.

  “What’s that?” Wyatt asked, adjusting the height of his stool as he peered at my hip.

  “Scars.”

  Everyone craned their necks for a closer look.

  “Can you cover them up?” I asked. “That’ll make it bigger than Gem’s, but those are from an old Chitah bite, and I’d rather get rid of the reminder.”

  “No problem. Size doesn’t matter.”

  Shepherd smoothed out his buzz cut. “Says you.”

  Christian leaned over to look at them, as did Claude, who looked ashamed by the fact that a Chitah had bitten me. I let them get a gander since it would be the last time they’d be visible. I expected a barrage of questions that never came. Keystone didn’t pry, and that was what I liked about them.

  I laced my fingers behind my head while Wyatt drew out the design with a pen. That wasn’t how most tattoo artists did it, but Wyatt wasn’t exactly a professional. Claude and Gem were talking quietly and playing rock-paper-scissors while Shepherd puffed on a cigarette.

  “So, let’s get this straight,” Shepherd began. As he spoke, smoke poured of his mouth like a dragon. “You’re immune to impalement wood, stunners, and Chitah bites?”

  “Yep.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Viktor?” Blue asked.

  “A girl has to have a little mystery.”

  Christian sat in the chair to my left. “You’re not a mystery. You’re the fecking Bermuda Triangle.”

  “Word spreads fast around here,” I said, giving him an icy stare. I didn’t remember anyone overhearing our conversation at Patrick’s house, so Christian must have filled everyone in.

  “That’s an important piece of information,” he pointed out. “Had I known you were immune, I wouldn’t have wasted time sucking on your neck.”

  I quirked a brow. “Are you sure about that?”

  Blue hopped up on the counter beside Gem. She reached in her cargo pants and pulled out an elastic hair tie. “We’ve never known a crossbreed. It’s amazing what you can do,” she said, wrapping her hair in a bun. “The more you trust us with your gifts, the better we can protect each other. You’re immune to practically everything that knocks the rest of us down. You have no idea how lucky you are.”

  Wyatt licked his finger and rubbed at my skin.

  Oh, this is real professional, I mused.

  “Did anyone go to Glass’s house?” I asked. “Did the Regulators find all those shoes?”

  Wyatt turned on his ink gun, and I winced when he started poking me with it.

  “Aye,” Christian said. “But that’s not all we found. Viktor secured permission for Shepherd and me to search the house before the Regulators got there.”

  I eased up on my elbows. “What did you find?”

  He pinched his bottom lip but didn’t answer.

  Shepherd put out his cigarette in a paper cup. “There was a table like this in the basement. No ropes or straps to secure his victims. He didn’t need to. There wasn’t any blood in his car, so he either attacked them in his house or quickly licked their wounds before putting them in his car. There isn’t anyone better to plan a murder than a detective.”

  “What was he doing with them?”

  Shepherd tossed his cup into a small wastebasket. “Maybe some things are better left unknown.”

  “We can only guess,” Christian said. “Perhaps he lectured them on why he’s a catch and they’re trite little whores, but something tells me otherwise. He coveted those women, and they rejected him. I wager he was more insulted by a Mage rejecting him than a Chitah. He probably tormented them during their last moments of life. If the higher authority hires a Vampire to charm him, they’ll get all the sordid details.”

  I lay back and shivered. I really didn’t want to know. Ever. Penny Burns was too real to me now, and I needed to believe that her spirit was at peace and she had no memories of her death. If ghosts were real, maybe she and Lachlan were together now. I’d never thought much about the afterlife, but I supposed spirits deserved as much peace as the living.

  “Stay still,” Wyatt complained, “or this is going to end up looking like a Picasso.”

  Shepherd folded his arms. “We found the shoes. Fucking bastard was collecting them like little trophies. A total of a hundred and twenty-seven.”

  “Don’t forget Marlene,” I said. “He didn’t take her shoe, but he took her life.”

  “I’d like to know how he managed that one,” Christian murmured.

  “He was a lawman,” I pointed out. “You’re either afraid of them, or you trust them. But most people will do what they’re told.”

  Claude stretched and moved toward the door. “Let me make sure Viktor’s not around.”

  When he opened the door, it bumped Niko and made him lose his balance. He fell across Gem, his face in her chest and his hand on Blue’s leg. Gem jerked her head back and smacked it against the overhead cabinet.

  “Ow!” she squeaked.

  He pulled away, cheeks flaming. “Apologies,” he bit out. “I’ll see if Claude needs help.”

  Blue hopped down and examined Wyatt’s design. “You’re getting better at this. It looks a lot sharper than mine.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who insisted we put liquid fire on it and get it over with. I was willing to wait a few days and start over again.”

  She snickered and stepped back. “No, thanks. Once was enough.”

  “Why didn’t you pick an original design?” I asked. “Anyone can get one of these at a tattoo shop.”

  “Not quite,” Wyatt said. “Take a look.”

  I eased up on my elbows.

  “Usually there’s a crown there over the head, but if you look closely, I put a backward K for Keystone. It’s just a small detail, but that’s what makes ours unique.”

  “Clever. Now we just need a secret handshake.” I fell back and covered my eyes with my hands. The hip pain was tolerable, but not what I’d had in mind first thing in the morning. I didn’t have enough java in my system for stripping naked on a metal table and having someone poke me with a needle.

  Suddenly everyone’s phones vibrated.

  Gem hopped off the counter. “I don’t need to look to know that’s Viktor calling a family meeting.”

  Wyatt switched off his needle. “Now? I was in a zone.”

  Blue snatched his hat off his head and put it on her own before following everyone out. Once alone with Christian, I sat up and looked at my incomplete tattoo.

  “It’s a good look for you,” he said. “Although… the labia was a better suggestion.”

  I hitched up my pants and swung my legs over the edge of the table. “Thanks for the coffee.”

  “So what’s this favor that I owe you?” he asked.

  I thought about our bet and what I intended to do with that favor: talking to my father one las
t time and having Christian scrub his memory. “I’ll let you know when the time is right.”

  He made a sweeping bow. “After you, Precious.”

  We gathered in the dining room, where Viktor served us a light breakfast. Christian sipped his water and then put his sunglasses on when the sun broke through a cloud for a fleeting moment. The rest of us filled our plates with a casserole consisting of eggs, sausages, peppers, and something unidentifiable.

  Viktor must have gotten up early and trimmed his beard. Unlike Christian, he kept it nicely groomed along the jaw, his goatee peppered with silver and dark grey whiskers. Viktor was a dapper guy who always combed back his wavy hair and never dressed in sneakers. Today he had on a charcoal turtleneck, which must have been itchy since he kept tugging at the collar.

  “Just as quickly as one case ends, another will begin,” he said. “We’ve provided the higher authority with sufficient evidence to convict Willard Glass. He will be sentenced to death.”

  “Amen,” Shepherd murmured.

  Viktor steepled his fingers. “They are doing their best to locate the records for the previous victims and try to piece together what they can. Wyatt believes some of Glass’s victims corresponded with him on the dating website, but I do not think that is where he began. We’ll never know them all.”

  “I doubt it matters,” I said. When I felt the heat of their judgmental stares, I continued. “What I mean is, I doubt any of these women had family. He might try for a plea bargain, exchanging names for his life, but you should tell the higher authority it wouldn’t be worth extending his sentence. That monster deserves to die. We should have killed him ourselves.”

  “I’m with Raven,” Shepherd agreed. “Any bastard who tosses a kid over a banister deserves a slow, painful death.”

  “And it was fortunate you caught him,” Viktor added. “The fates placed you there for a reason. Not to take a life but to save one. Each one of you I want to commend for closing this case. The higher authority is embarrassed it’s one of their own, but they are grateful and including a bonus.” He leaned forward and pulled something out of his back pocket. “On another note—Niko, Blue, I have information that might be linked to a job I sent you on.”

  “Which one?” Blue asked.