He couldn’t take her head off while she held him.
They were at a draw.
The Prime looked a little gray around the edges as her power continued to eat away at him. As if knowing he was losing, he brought back his foot, and slammed it against her side.
Her ribs cracked. Bones caved.
Breathing became impossible, and she lost her hold on her power, watching helplessly as it evaporated. Metal sparked against the armor of her hands as the blade dropped back down to her throat.
The Prime gave a triumphant laugh. “You’re just a baby, not nearly strong enough to fight me and win.”
Durant barreled into the Prime, tackling the man, the sword just nicking her neck before the Prime was flattened. A trickle of blood dribbled down her throat.
Both men hit the ground with a thud, skidded against grass and went sprawling.
Raven rolled to her side, clutching her ribs as she tried to get her lungs to work again.
The wards on Durant’s back flared to life, protecting him from the magic, but nothing could keep him safe from the sword. Durant evaded the first swing, grabbed the Primes arm, and landed a few rapid punches to his injured ribs.
And received an elbow to his temple for his trouble.
He staggered back, his feet clumsy as he danced away, and she realized the drugs were still affecting him. Even with his fast shifter metabolism, he still needed time to recover.
Raven wheezed, and the first blessed taste of air trickled down her throat. When she tried to stand, she couldn’t get any further than on her hands and knees before the world started to spin. Each movement was agony against her ribs. Seconds passed and another precious breath of air filled her lungs.
Durant dodged and landed blows, growing slower and slower with each hit and terror took root in her heart.
She had to do something.
She reached for her sword, dragging it closer, stabbing the tip into the ground and using it to pull herself upright. The effort exhausted her. She glanced up to see Durant barely block the blade in time, and her heart dropped and shattered at her feet to see so many thin lines of blood staining his shirt where he’d been nicked.
The damned fool was going to get himself killed.
Her heart chilled to realize what his good-bye kiss had really meant.
It wasn’t because he thought she would die, but because he had planned to sacrifice himself if it meant keeping her alive.
Raven lurched forward, panic making her trip over her own feet as she charged toward the two men.
The Prime brought down his sword.
Time slowed, the air thickened to molasses as she struggled to reach them. Her heart thudded against her ribs as she watched helplessly while the blade plunged into Durant’s chest. “Noooo!”
Chapter Twenty-six
Something inside Raven snapped, and her scream turned into a roar that shook the earth. Crippling pain tore through her side as her beast ripped free from the last of its bindings. Power suffused her in one agony-inducing wave as the creature fully awoke. The sword in her hand blazed to life, and the insatiable hunger for vengeance thrummed through them both.
There was no more pretense of control. Raven no longer gave a damn.
All fighting stopped.
The world fell silent and held its breath.
The creature concentrated on a space before the Prime. Her bones grew lighter, almost insubstantial as they seemed to dissolve. Then, without even moving, she was teleported a short distance away, exactly where she wanted to be most—face to face with the Prime.
He stumbled back in shock, leaving his sword still wedged in Durant’s chest.
Power poured through her as the creature took over, and Raven conceded to the beast’s demands without a struggle. She couldn’t allow herself to think or feel or she’d drown in the avalanche of pain.
Wanting him to suffer, she backhanded the Prime, nearly knocking him off his feet.
When he looked up, she saw four slashes had split open his face where her claws had landed.
He lifted his hands in the sign of surrender, his fear a stench fouling the air. “You don’t want to do this.”
Raven smiled and fangs sliced her lips, filling her mouth with the taste of blood. “I can assure you I very much do.”
She stalked him as he stumbled away. The wild urge to give chase roared through her. He must have seen it and forced himself to stop. “Spare me, and you’ll never see me again.”
“No.” She landed a couple more strikes, laying open his arm when he raised it to block the blow meant for his throat. The next slice slid across his chest, her diamond-hard nails scraping against his ribs.
“I can teach you how to rid yourself of the beast.” He stumbled and fell on his ass, scuttling backwards to get away from her. “Permanently.”
The temptation to listen lingered, just out of reach. The beast grew quiet, letting her decide, its grip tightened as if to deny any thought of separation.
His shrewd eyes sharpened. “Or I can show your creature how to gain freedom from the prison of your body.”
Raven lifted the sword.
“Kill me and you’ll never learn the truth. Neither of you will ever be free.”
The creature protected her from feeling the pain, kept her from shattering at the debilitating loss of Durant. The last thing she wanted was to give that up…she wouldn’t survive. “We will never be free.”
The sword descended. There was a slight tug on the blade, and she watched dispassionately as the Prime’s head hit the ground with a thud.
The creature hummed with pleasure at the victory, but Raven felt none of it. She buried herself deep inside the creature, desperate to escape the wave of loss that threatened to drown her.
There was no cheering at the end of this battle.
People stared at her in shock, too frightened to move.
Breathing heavily, Raven watched the corpse, unable to turn and face Durant’s lifeless body.
It would make it too real.
Steam rose when the Prime’s blood met open air.
Only it smelled sour.
Wild magic soared out of the blood like a swarm of enraged wasps, the red tint to the cloud giving it an ominous appearance. With no body to corral it, the magic swirled like a tornado, seeking a new host. It needed to quickly bind to either a body or an object or it wouldn’t survive.
The pulsing red mist circled the small clearing like a predator, hovering above everyone in its search for the perfect candidate. People froze, shrank away to avoid detection. The rot of dying magic filled the air as it slowly condensed over her head.
Even as she stepped back, the symbols on her blade flared to life.
She tried to drop the sword, but her hand wouldn’t obey her command. The creature thickened the armor around her, but Raven didn’t know if it would be enough.
Magic fell from the sky like rain.
Or more like acid rain.
The glow around the sword increased, the magic sizzling when it hit the metal. Power surged through the sword but there was just too much for it to absorb. The overflow spilled into her hand and raced up her arm. Unbridled power scorched her insides until her flesh felt like it was being peeled from bone.
What the sword didn’t consume landed on her like drops of pestilence. Unfiltered by the sword, each drop blistered her skin, burrowing to get through her armor, and she was quickly overwhelmed. Like wiggling maggots, they tunneled into her flesh. The creature shredded the foul-tasting magic as fast as it could, but it wasn’t able to keep up with the tide.
Wild magic infected her system
The agony lasted for what felt like hours, but could only have been minutes. The wild magic was like sandpaper against her bones as it clashed with her own natural energy. As if realizing they were killing her, the two volatile magics came to an uneasy truce. The red magic tainted the edges of the blue electricity that was hers, and the tips throbbed like an angry wound.
<
br /> The symbols on the sword faded, its hunger fed for now.
The world quieted around her.
Wildness licked through her. She was finally free and whole for the first time. Her heart thudded against her chest, like she’d lost something important. Not wanting to remember the unrelenting pain of loss, Raven retreated further into the beast.
Bloodied bodies were strewn about the small clearing.
The trees were stripped of leaves, the branches as barren and lonely as she felt.
The shifters darted back and forth, gathering their injured, all the while keeping an eye on her, ready to run if she so much as twitched. The witches were huddled together, preparing to strike as if she was the enemy. Luca ignored them, scurrying from body to body, checking survivors before dragging them back to Paige and their fellow students for healing.
Randolph stepped toward her, his arm at an odd angle, blood dribbled down his face, but he didn’t seem to notice as he studied her. He seemed pleased at the changes, and showed no sign of fear.
Each familiar face shaved away a layer of the blessed numbness. Memories of things she wanted to forget rose, and misery tightened around her chest.
She needed to run and disappear.
To forget they’d ever existed.
“Raven.”
She turned to see Rylan standing three feet from her. He didn’t move, didn’t breathe, laying his soul bare for her to see. The depth of his loneliness echoed inside her, but it was the compassion in his eyes that nearly broke her.
Then he spoke.
“You’ll never forgive yourself if you run. Trust me. I know.”
Anguish slashed through her chest at his heartfelt plea, cracking open the door she so desperately needed to keep shut. Her insides felt raw and bleeding, and she was devastated by the thought of never being able to touch Durant again. Never kiss him. Never laugh with him.
There would be no more dates. No more purring from his tiger when he was pleased. Or rumbles of displeasure when he thought she was being foolish.
No more handcuffs.
Her heart slowly fractured, and she curled her arms to her chest when the avalanche of pain threatened to crush her. Tears crowded her eyes, her throat tightened, and the loss of his love was just more than she could bear. “Stop. No more. Please.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Dominic strode forward, shoving his face into hers. “Damn it, snap out of it. If you don’t do something, Durant will die.”
The words rang in her ears for one uncomprehending moment, then all the blood rushed from her head until she felt faint.
“He’s alive?” Her lips felt so numb, she wasn’t sure she even spoke aloud.
Raven whirled and stumbled toward Durant’s prone figure. He lay where he’d fallen, still pinned to the ground by the damned sword.
Blood surrounded him in an ever-increasing circle, so much blood that her throat closed, trapping the scream clawing to get out. As she approached, his eyes flickered open. The color was a pale yellow instead of his usual vivid gold, his tiger doing everything it could to keep him alive.
And dying for it.
She grabbed for the hated sword.
“Don’t. It’s all that’s keeping him from bleeding to death.”
Raven ignored Rylan’s warning. Durant was dying anyway. She grabbed the sword and excruciating pain rocketed through her hand, the metal singeing her fingertips black, and she jerked away.
“Come here.”
Her eyes slid closed at the acceptance in Durant’s raspy voice.
He was giving up.
A howl of denial burned in her chest, her insides shredding at the thought of losing him.
She couldn’t go through it again.
She narrowed her eyes when a vague idea formed. Armor plated together under her skin, and she flexed her fingers.
She reached for the sword again.
Braced for the pain, she wrapped her hands around the hilt and shoved the weapon full of power. It automatically tried to absorb it, but not fast enough.
The metal heated in seconds, steam rising from the sword.
Durant whitened and gave her a nod.
She yanked the blade free from the wound. He convulsed in agony, his bellow of pain locked behind his clenched teeth.
The sword fell to the ground, the weight too much for her ruined hands. Raven dropped to her knees at Durant’s side. She reached for the hem of his shirt, forcing the curled, charred mess of her fingers to open. They cracked, the skin splitting open and blood dripped onto his skin as she tried to shove up his shirt.
A tiny wound high on his shoulder marred his chest, no more than two inches. So innocent. He got paper cuts bigger than that.
The bleeding had stopped, cauterized by the sword when she slid it free of his flesh.
“Can you heal?” She gave him a sharp glance.
Durant shook his head, and a lump formed in her throat. She had to clear her throat twice to be able to speak. “You need to change into your beast.”
He reached for her wrists and drew her closer. “The tiger is nearly insane from the pain. If I set him free, he will kill.”
He wasn’t going to even try.
Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to blink.
If he wouldn’t do it, she would do it for him.
She shoved power into him, reached for his beast, but the damned ward on his back blocked her every attempt. Panic tore into her chest until every breath was agony.
“Fight, damn you!” She slammed her fists against him.
When he didn’t speak, she pressed her forehead against his chest, as if she could hold him there by sheer will alone. “Don’t leave me.”
Arms reached for her, and she fought them, clawing and scratching to get away.
“Watch!” Someone shook her until she stilled.
Durant was changing…or trying. The blood loss had weakened his animal to the point that he didn’t have any strength remaining.
Raven closed her eyes and reached for the fragile strings that tied him to the pack. The rope had worn to a thread, thin and faded, the magic between them only a faint glow. Any more strain, and that precious cord would snap.
Twirling a few small strands of raw electricity together, she wound it around the tiny thread over and over until it thickened, then steadily fed power to Durant, scraping together everything she had left.
The process gutted her.
When she would have reached for the last of her strength, a band tightened around her chest.
Rylan’s arms.
When he lowered his head next to hers, his spicy scent wrapped around her. “Open your eyes and look.”
She obeyed.
Durant all but glowed with power, his attention focused solely on her. Bones snapped, flesh rippled as he changed. His face revealed none of the agony he endured. Clothes shredded. Fur sprouted.
The torment was over in a moment.
In his place a large, beautiful tiger sat panting.
Wonder plowed through her at seeing such a majestic beast up close. The sheer size of him could intimidate lesser prey with just a look from those mesmerizing eyes.
Those golden eyes narrowed, his large fangs flashing as he locked on something behind her.
“I believe that’s my cue.” Rylan reluctantly released his hold on Raven after a final squeeze.
Raven dropped to her knees as the gorgeous cat prowled toward her. A heavy limp disturbed the smooth gait, a silent snarl curled his lips as he neared. His massive head lifted, his mouth opened and chest worked like bellows to catch her scent.
She gave in to the temptation to touch and lifted her hand. Her fingers had almost healed, although the waxy skin was now sensitive to even the slightest brush of air.
Hot breath hit her fingertips, and the big cat bumped into her hand, rubbing his jaw along her palm. He circled, brushing up against her with each step, until he was curled around her. Only then did he drop to his stomach, close
his eyes…and sleep.
Even wrapped in warmth, Raven didn’t dare allow herself to believe Durant had survived. Hope was a dangerous thing. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to remain sane if she found it had all been a cruel lie. With trembling fingers, she ran her hand along his spine, and he curled tighter around her. She slipped her arms around him and buried her face in his hide. Much to her surprise, a layer of soft fluffy fur was hidden underneath the top hair.
His reassuring heartbeat finally made her believe, and her throat burned with tears.
“Raven.”
Her arms tightened for a second, and she reluctant lifted her head. “What?”
Heloise approached. “We need the sword back.”
Raven’s gaze dropped toward the broadsword and revulsion curdled through her. “It’s yours.”
Heloise didn’t move. “We need them both.”
Unable to help herself, Raven stiffened. Power rose until her skin felt ready to crack. Claws pressed against her fingertips. Raven didn’t feel the creature any more. It was no longer separate, now melded so seamlessly with her she couldn’t tell where one began and the other ended.
Durant’s eyes cracked open, murder darkening them to a brilliant gold. Much to her surprise, Nicholas stepped between the sword and the witches.
The witch’s face hardened. “It’s not your place to keep it.”
“I beg to disagree. It chose me.” There was no way she could give the sword back, not when it was filled with wild magic.
It was too dangerous.
Heloise didn’t budge an inch. “It needs to be locked away.”
Raven agreed completely. “The temptation to use wild magic would be too much for your coven. You still have a number who are infected.”
“They will be bound.”
It was a huge concession, since the witches would be giving up their magic. “And it will all be for nothing if they get their hands on that sword. It needs to be placed somewhere inaccessible to them. Where better than a whole house full of shifters?”
Electric Heat (A Raven Investigations Novel Book 3) Page 28
