A slim man stood in the more dominant position on top the pile of bodies watching her. There was an ungroomed quality to him. A rogue, the missing alpha, if the power he threw off was any indication.
Wild shots rained down on them.
The rogue didn’t even flinch.
“Stop or you’ll hit her. It’s too dark to get an adequate shot.” A small scuffle from above ensured, but she trusted Jackson to keep her safe.
Training took over.
Raven shifted to take a defensive position. The rogue bared his teeth in a maniacal smile, reveling in the thrill of the battle to come, and charged.
His movements were much faster than she’d expected.
Seconds before he slammed into her, she smelled what was becoming a familiar odor.
Overdose.
The man was hyped on the drug.
Then he was on her.
Her mind shut off as he launched her into the air. She slammed into the side of the pit. The black dirt softened the impact. Musty earth spilled over her head, invading her eyes and mouth.
A bright burst of pain slashed her side, and she glanced down to see a large femur had torn the flesh along her ribs.
“Raven, hold on. We’ll be right down.” Jackson’s reassuring voice called down to her.
Raven struggled to keep her feet under her as bones crunched and bodies collapsed. She spit the dirt out of her mouth. “No. You’ll only get in the way. He’ll use us against each other.”
She pulled herself free of the bone pinning her to the wall like some insect on a board, and clutched the bloodied spear in her fist.
“If you don’t join us, you’ll enjoy the special show of me ripping your girlfriend apart, piece by lovely piece.” The rogue didn’t twitch, didn’t move, salivating as he stared at her.
But she didn’t need help. The last blow might have knocked the stuffing out of her, but it also gave a jolt to her creature. It slowly uncoiled and calmly observed the rogue through her eyes.
The cold encasing vanished.
When he moved, she countered and the grace and speed of her creature took over. She was almost clumsy, not used to having her body respond so swiftly.
“You should have minded your own business.” The rogue hunched over, arms dangling loosely at his side. His fingers twitched, those sharp nails of his clicking in excitement.
Half insane by the drug, there was no reasoning with him. But maybe she could use that to her advantage. “What did you expect would happen when you started killing people for money?”
“We’re saving lives.”
She noted his word choice and instantly knew he wasn’t the one behind the whole scheme. He said the words, but he wasn’t a true believer. He might like the money, but revenge motivated him more.
Revenge on the pack that had rejected him and forced him rogue.
“What? Weren’t you good enough? Do you think this drug will really change anything?” The taunt had the desired effect.
He charged.
He moved so incredibly fast she had no way to evade him. Raven threw herself to the left, protecting her injured side. She took a hit to her hip that sent her crashing to her knees. A half decomposed face of a kid no more than fifteen peered up at her.
Something was off about the boy, but she couldn’t place what bothered her. She rose to her feet, careful to keep her grip on her only weapon.
The rogue watched her, showing no rush in finishing her off.
He’d been sent to delay them.
“I’m going to enjoy killing you slowly.”
Raven snorted. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”
Raven had a habit of not staying dead. There was only a small problem with that. With her power currently on the fritz, she wasn’t sure there was enough juice left to bring her back if she lost this fight.
She nodded to the bodies. “He’s using you as a cleanup crew.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.” A sly smile curled his lips. He circled her, having no trouble traversing the field of corpses. “Nothing you can do will push me over the edge like these fools.”
That’s when she realized what was wrong with the bodies.
More than half of them were whole.
“These people didn’t die from overdosing, did they? Too many bodies remained whole. They didn’t disintegrate like those under the influence. They died fighting for their lives.”
The man shrugged. “Dominance is the way of pack life.”
“And you’re still weak, still taking orders, pretending that you’re important. We both know that’s a lie. You’re just like them.”
The cheerfulness drained from his expression. “My pack—”
Raven laughed. “Do you mean the rogues? Where are your people now? They’re supposed to be here, aren’t they?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He glared at her, pacing in agitation.
Raven tightened her grip on the bone, slowly lowering it at her side. “Did you know that Griffin didn’t die? That Jamie didn’t die? You wanted them both removed, didn’t you? They were challenging you and you knew you wouldn’t be able to fight either of them and win.”
“Shut up.” His pacing increased.
Raven shifted over to stand in a two-foot section of earth and firmly planted her feet. Blood trickled down her ribs. Her shirt stuck to her torso. The wound in her leg wasn’t in much better condition, her thigh having long since gone numb.
What the hell happened to her creature? The damned thing wasn’t content to steal her animals and power. No, it wanted everything, sitting back on its haunches and observed while her life hung in the balance.
Looked like she was on her own on this one.
“You know where they are now, don’t you?”
“No.” The man repeatedly scratched the back of his head as if bugs were crawling inside of his skull.
“Why your pack isn’t here? Because they found someone else to follow. Someone stronger.”
“No.” The man roared and launched himself at her.
Raven dropped to her knees, and brought up the bone shard.
The rogue looked startled and began to flail. There was nothing to grab but air as momentum propelled him forward.
Directly onto the bone of one of his victims.
He gaped at her, shock written all over his face.
Warm blood poured down over her hands as his own weight was used to slowly impale himself.
He grabbed for her, his nails digging grooves along her forearm. “Bitch.”
Blood bubbled out of his mouth as air rattled in his chest.
Hatred darkened his face as the last of the life drained from him.
“Raven?” Jackson’s voice came out as a frustrated shout.
“Get me the hell out of here.”
* * *
The soft sides of the pit made extraction difficult. Jackson had eventually dropped down into the pit. She took a running start, stepped on Jackson’s waiting hand, using him as a springboard to launch her up into the air.
Taggert easily caught her wrist and hauled her up.
The injuries on her side screamed in agony, but she refused to let out a sound. She needed to find the real killer, and that wouldn’t happen if they found out the severity of her injuries.
“I’ll get a crew out here—”
Raven shook her head. “This was too easy. He was a decoy. The person who created the drug wouldn’t risk his life by taking it until he had a chance to perfect it. That man doesn’t have the brains to organize this operation.”
Scott’s ran a shaky hand over his face, taking in her bloodied clothes. “That was easy?”
“We need to keep searching.”
“If that was the damage one shifter could do, we’ll need the SWAT. We are too unmanned to continue further.”
“No.” Raven whirled on Scotts, ignoring the pale hue to his normal cocoa complexion. “The noise alone probably alerted the real kil
ler. We need to push toward the cabin now if it’s not too late already.”
Scotts stormed toward her, standing toe-to-toe. She waved away Jackson when he would’ve intervened. “I will not risk my men. Some of those people in that pit were in pieces. We don’t stand a chance against that.”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen. You’re treating them as human, applying human laws to them. If we wait, more lives will be lost. This is our only lead. Even now, they could be eradicating every trace.”
“What you say may be true, but we need to apprehend them using the right tools. We just don’t have the manpower.”
Raven reached into her pocket and pulled out the badge she’d only just received. It seemed like such a long time ago.
She fingered the cold metal, the symbol of all the hope and promise between two races, and held out her arm. It felt like she was choosing sides and handing over her humanity. She just hoped she made the right decision, one that would keep her pack safe. “I can’t accept that.”
Scotts made no move to accept the badge. “You said the laws need to be changed. We need people like you to do that.”
“Not at the cost of lives.” She nodded toward the graveyard a few yards away. “When you saw the bodies, you saw tortured people first, not shifters. For the first time, you saw them as people, not monsters.”
Scotts glanced away. “We’re too vulnerable.”
“Not all of us.”
A fierce frown marred his face. “We need you here.”
Raven reached out, turned over his hand and placed the badge in his palm. “I can’t be your Region, your symbol of justice, and be restricted by the laws. I can be of more help on the inside.” She held up her hand when he would’ve spoken. “You even said it yourself. I was more valuable to you as a consultant.
“But we both know someone who would make the perfect candidate. He has no allegiances. You’ve worked with him before. He’s devoted to saving shifters. The job will keep him safe. He’s handsome enough for the humans to forget about his background and has enough control that he would never slip. He’ll have my nomination and yours. Push Griffin through the system.”
Then she very firmly stepped back from him. She knew she made the right decision when he didn’t protest. She turned and entered the woods with her men, doing her best not to limp. She’d swear she heard the moans of the dead urging her to take vengeance.
Chapter Thirty-four
They followed Griffin’s directions this time and circled the ravine. When the few remaining insects in the woods fell silent, Raven knew they were nearing the location of the cabin.
Death clung to the air almost like a presence pressing against her, warning them away. She slowed her step and everyone instantly followed her lead. After two more yards, a building took shape in the trees, the shadows clinging to it like a shroud.
The station wasn’t any larger than a one-room cabin. The emptiness of the place echoed around her even across the distance and frustration struck.
They were too late.
Boards echoed hollowly as they crossed the porch. Rays from the full moon filtered into the one window, illuminating a lab of some sort. And from the equipment, they had interrupted them before they could box up everything and vanish.
A sheet of plastic lay on the far counter, the thin film of liquid pooled on top, set out to dry.
Randolph and Jackson entered behind her. They ate up the oxygen in the room, turning the one small room into the size of a glorified outhouse.
“He’s near.”
Randolph nodded, but it was Jackson who spoke. “Are you able to sense him?”
Ever since her creature had wakened, Raven had been reluctant to call her power for fear of discovering she had nothing left. “I’ll give it a try.”
She sank her fingers into the electricity hovering under her skin. The creature clenched her talons, resisting the pull. Raven pushed harder until her stomach rebelled under the strain. The air became thick in the cabin, movements slowed as if through molasses, the creature fighting her every step of the way.
It was hording the power for itself.
That was unacceptable, not when the life of her pack was at stake. Raven took every pathetic bit of power she could gather and threw it all at the creature.
Demanded a response.
With a huff, the creature finally relented, and the power broke free.
Current built under her skin, gaining momentum like a wave about to crest and drown her. Unable to hold it back, the energy broke free and shot out across the forest floor like a shockwave from a blast. The weak plywood floor of the cabin bucked under their feet. The strength of her power nearly knocked everyone in the cabin to their knees.
Raven ignored their stares, ignored the slight bitter taste of fear and awe, concentrating on the information feeding to her. She dismissed the hits she’d received from the group, followed the curl of energy, but something niggled at the back of her mind.
Then she knew.
There was one too many people.
“He’s outside.”
And coming up right behind Taggert.
Raven’s eyes widened in alarm, and she shot out of the doorway, her fear allowing her to move faster.
“Taggert!”
She ran and leapt off the porch, her injury throbbing in protest. Slowing her down. Taggert’s form was silhouetted against the stillness of the trees.
Safe.
But the tension riding her didn’t abate.
“Taggert–”
He straightened but too late. A man looped his arm around Taggert’s neck, shoving something that looked like a gun at his carotid.
No, not a pistol, a dart gun.
“Come any closer and I will inject your friend with the latest version of my serum.”
Raven skidded to a stop with less than ten feet separating them. “Professor.”
How could she not have made the connection sooner?
She only had her own stupidity to blame. She’d been so focused on her dislike of Vivian and fighting with the rogues, she was blinded to the true killer.
Though he issued the threat to everyone, he hadn’t removed his gaze from her as if she were the biggest threat.
Which made no sense to her at all.
Taggert didn’t appear concerned at the turn of events.
That was okay.
She was frightened enough for the both of them.
On edge, waiting for the slightest opening, she watched Professor’s thumb on the trigger. If he moved, she would fry him. Professor knew it, too.
“It seems we’re at a stand-off.” She circled to get a better angle.
His grip tightened, his finger tensing on the trigger. “Ah-ah. I wouldn’t do that. I would hate to have an accident.”
Going against instinct, Raven stilled. She kept her body lose and ready to react the instant he let down his guard. “You don’t seem too shocked to see me.”
Professor shook his head. “The rogues’ alpha hadn’t the skill to kill you. You’ve defied all his attempts. He was a fool and underestimated you.”
Implying that Professor wouldn’t.
“You used him to do your dirty work, turned him against his own kind.”
“No, I just gave him the opportunity. He did all the rest on his own.” He twisted, using his shoulder to push up the corner of his glasses. “I have the brains. Sadly, I lack the brawn to make people listen and obey.”
“So you promised him power and money in return for his cooperation.” Raven shuffled closer. “Did he decide that I must die on his own or did you give him a little help?”
The slight man shook his head. “That was him. All he cared about was not allowing anyone to stop his petty pursuit of revenge. He couldn’t see the bigger picture.”
Raven raised a brow, not believing him completely. “And it didn’t matter all the people you had to kill to perfect your drug. But it isn’t perfect, is it?”
“You sound like that fool at Pak Pharmaceuticals.”
Kevin.
Somehow, she wasn’t surprised.
“We were at the testing stage. A few people died, so he shut us down despite all that we could’ve gained. He thought he’d destroyed my research, but I had backups.”
Raven gritted her teeth knowing that all of this could’ve been avoided if protocols had been followed. “How do you think this will end after all the people you’ve murdered with your experiments?”
The bespectacled man smiled. “I’ll be a hero. And you’re going to help me. You burst into the shifter world, disdaining the old ways. You’re not like the others. You understand what I’m trying to do.”
Raven calculated a dozen ways to free Taggert while Professor babbled and dismissed them all. The percentages were too high.
Professor nodded to his lab, fervor lighting his eyes. “Together, we can create an equal world, no more rogues, no more alphas to rule us.”
He didn’t seem to realize that most of her actions had been made in ignorance to protect her pack. “There are rules in place for a reason. The way rogues are treated is atrocious, but there is dynamic in the pack beyond just control and power. An alpha keeps the pack in line and prevents them from falling into chaos.”
The man’s face fell. “They already got to you. Filled your head with their lies.”
She tracked Professor’s every gesture, shuffling closer. “You think drugging and killing shifters is the answer? You’re no better than the humans.”
“Only the weak,” he shouted, his face turning red from the insult. The barrel of the gun pressed brutally against Taggert’s neck until he winced.
Raven tensed at his outburst.
Taggert waited for her signal to run or duck. The complete faith in his eyes sent a sharp thrust of panic to her gut.
She couldn’t risk him.
A twist of fear sent her heart rattling against her ribs. Talons flexed in her chest, ripping up her insides in the need to act. She needed to distract Professor from his anger, or she’d loose Taggert. “A pack cannot function with all alphas.”
Electric Moon (A Raven Investigations Novel) Page 30
