Electric Heat (4 page)

The witch raised a brow, all surprised and innocent. “I have
no idea what you mean. I came to let you into the compound.”

Raven didn’t believe it for a second.

“If you’ve finished with your threats, I’ll show you where
you’ll be staying.” The witch turned and…there was no other word for
it…sashayed down the main trail as if nothing had happened.

Raven glared, only sheer will holding her back from throttling
the woman. As they came around a bend in the road, the small coven she had
expected spread out before them like a college campus. Large buildings were
strewn about the grounds, a dozen cabins scattered throughout. The trees were
groomed, the lawn manicured. “It’s a school.”

“You seem surprised.” Her amused tone said she enjoyed exposing
Raven’s ignorance.

What really surprised her was the size of the place. “I
thought I was supposed to help your coven.”

“My coven runs this center.” Pride gave her eyes a certain
gleam, and she led them to the middle of the campus, where a group of small
cabins huddled. She pushed open the door to one and stepped back. “You’ll stay
here while we conduct our business. Your tiger can stay in the barracks with
the other shifters.”

Durant stiffened, his hands curling into fists at the
prospect of being separated. Raven halted, not even bothering to inspect the
one-room cabin. She scanned the school grounds, then nodded to a row of cabins
almost a mile away and off the beaten path. “One of those will work better.”

The smile on the witch’s face became hard. “That will not be
possible.”

The thought of being surrounded, constantly watched and
studied like a specimen raised the hairs on the back of her neck. She would not
be used as a petri dish. Even now, their invasive stares frayed her composure
and left her feeling exposed. Magic dusted the air, and she resisted the urge
to sneeze and clear her head. 

Then she narrowed her eyes when she located the source.

The cabin was wrapped in a tangle of spells, so subtle they
were almost undetectable, no doubt set there to spy on them.

Raven grinned and was rewarded when the pleased expression
dropped off the woman’s face. “I have no intention of being parted from my
guards. I’m sure you can see why having a vampire in the middle of your campus
might not be the best choice.”

Calculation danced in the witch’s eyes until the offer was
grudgingly accepted. “Fine.”

They were almost across the grounds when a bell tolled in
the distance. In under a minute, smiling teenagers flooded the quad. A babble
of voices filled the air, punctuated by shrieks of laughter. A few kids glanced
at them. They quickly dismissed her, but Durant earned a number of admiring
stares. That alone didn’t surprise her, he was a handsome man, but the
calculation behind some of the looks did take her aback.

Those kids saw him as a commodity, not a person.

She resisted the urge to step in front of him.

“I’m fine.” Humor lurked in Durant’s voice, and he nudged
her forward, urging her to catch up with the witch.

Raven flushed, then did as bided, practically running to
escape his too-pleased expression, but the bastard easily kept pace. She felt
him staring at her and shivered under his heated gaze. “Stop it.”

His cat gave a pleased hum. “Stop what?”

His damned hypnotic voice rubbed up against her skin, urging
her to linger and flirt with him. Raven sighed in relief when the witch pulled
open a door. Not waiting for an invitation, she launched herself inside the
cabin, determined to keep her distance from the cat before he drove her insane.
She couldn’t afford to bind him tighter to her, not until she could control her
creature and make it abundantly clear that the pack was hers alone, not
something she was willing to share.

Durant followed relentlessly, as if sensing her pulling
away, determined not to let her escape.

“I assume this will suit your needs?” The witch trailed
after them, her ire forgotten, seemingly fascinated by the interplay between Raven
and Durant.

Thankfully, Durant wandered away to inspect the small cabin,
giving her room to breathe. The cabin had two rooms in addition to the main living
area. To the right was a single room where a large bed stood front and center,
taking up most of the cramped space…or maybe it was all she saw. The other room
was a tiny bathroom. With the three of them, the place would be quite cozy.

Though small, the space was adequate. She didn’t plan to
spend any more time there than absolutely necessary. More importantly, the
cabin was the farthest from the kids, and partially concealed by the tree line.
The campus appeared as if it had been carved out of the wilderness, the
woodland encroaching, determined to take it back. “It will do. But why do you
have cabins in the first place when you have so many other buildings?”

“Teachers bring a few of the more advanced students here for
lessons. These buildings are used to study the more dangerous magic, the
distance providing added protection for the other students in case the spells go
awry.”

“A way to prevent inflicting damage on others.” Which
explained why the kitchen was be the largest room…a place where they could
create their spells or be torn apart if they failed.

The witch nodded, not volunteering anything further on the
subject. “After those lessons, the wizards use this place to charge their
charms. They usually stay until all the magic has either been used or faded
beyond their grasp.”

The witch was chatting in a friendly matter, but revealing nothing
important. “Why don’t you tell me the real reason you wanted me here?”

The witch hesitated, her head tipped as if listening to
something only she could hear. “Dinner will take place in an hour in the main
hall. We can discuss it afterwards. I want your take on what you see before I
go into any details.”

Raven stared off into space long after the witch had left,
only becoming aware of her surroundings again when Durant silently came up
behind her, and the delicious heat of him seeped into her chilled body.
“Something about Heloise bothers you.”

“So that’s her name.” Raven avoided his question, refusing
to say more, not until she pinned down what troubled her. “We should go.”

She didn’t care that they’d be early; she wanted to avoid
being alone with Durant as much as possible. He was breaking down the barriers
between them faster than she could erect new ones, and she couldn’t afford anyone
getting too close. If she lost control and had to do the unthinkable, she
couldn’t risk that they might guess the truth and try to stop her. If it was
just her, she could lock herself away, but she refused to risk harming the pack
she’d come to love.

Durant didn’t protest. He dropped his bag on the bed and
followed her out the door. Only a few students were about, less than a handful,
all heading in the same direction.

She could pick out a few shifters lingering at the outskirts
of the campus, something in their stillness standing out. Despite not being
full shifters, there was a lick of wildness in the air around them, signaling
they were not quite human. The two she saw didn’t appeared injured in any way,
but then again, it took a lot to damage shifters beyond their ability to heal.
She inhaled to see if she could catch their scent, then jerked back in surprise
when a whiff of their curiosity reached her. “They aren’t allowed on campus,
are they? Kept away like wild animals who might attack at any moment.”

“They might not be wrong.” Durant stepped closer as if to
offer her comfort. “It’s for both the witches’ and shifters’ protection. The
witches need to guard their children and their secrets. The shifters are
stronger together, the pack offering its own protection.” He fell silent for a
heartbeat. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She quickened her pace, hating him a little for being so
perceptive. “Talk about what?”

He didn’t back down, easily keeping pace, and she cursed the
never ending shifter endurance. He wasn’t going to let her escape.

“Oh, I don’t know. How about what you sacrificed to rescue
the pack? That you killed a man and saw Taggert nearly die trying to save your
life?”

She shuddered, the memories of the near miss still too
recent. She felt Durant study her and avoided looking at him lest he realize
the devastating toll keeping Taggert alive had exacted. Raven didn’t regret her
choice, she’d do it again; she just wished she had a way to counter her
creature’s determination to wake.

Durant was too silent.

He wasn’t done with her yet. She could feel him crouching,
getting ready to pounce.

“Or we could discuss the fact that you’re changing and
running scared.”

She cringed, her shoulders tightening with each damning word.
“Why don’t we concentrate on the case instead?” She glanced around the campus. “Why
are we here? You’d think having us even in the vicinity of their children would
be the last thing they’d want.”

 Long seconds passed when she thought he would refuse the
change of subject. “Something has her rattled.”

As the cluster of buildings thinned, a large manicured lawn
spread out before them. At the end of the walkways stood an ancient mansion.
Age thickened the air around the grounds, until she could almost feel the
presence of something hovering over it.

It wasn’t magic or spells.

More like ghosts of those long dead.

“Raven?” Durant came to stand in front of her, and she realized
she must have stopped walking.

“This place doesn’t belong here.” It felt like it had been
pulled through time, a tear in existence where human world and the afterlife
occupied the same spot.

“It was Heloise’s childhood home. She brought the house with
her when she took over management of the coven.” He reached for her hand, and Raven
flinched away from his touch. Not taking no for an answer, Durant entwined
their fingers and tugged until she was forced to walk at his side or be dragged
behind him. “They say she took apart the house and had it reassembled here.”

“Childhood home?” Her face scrunched in confusion. “The place
is hundreds of years old.”

Durant shook his head. “I sometimes forget you didn’t grow
up around all of this. As witches grow older, they gain power. The more power
they accumulate, the less they age.”

“I know some of the lore, but knowing and seeing it are two
different things.” She studied the ancient mansion as they approached. “Is
there a limit to how much power they can accumulate?”

“That’s a more complicated answer.” He absently rubbed his
thumb along her fingers, and she stiffened when the innocent touch threatened
to scramble her brain.

But she couldn’t make herself pull away.

Despite knowing it could only lead to trouble, she craved
more.

Desperate for a distraction, she grabbed onto the threads of
the conversation. “Complicated?”

“They don’t have unlimited power. Their body can only process
so much magic at once.”

“Which is where familiars come into play.” He only nodded.
She gave him a look from the corner of her eyes. “Do I hear a but?”

“Most witches can only use as much power as they can harness.
There are a few who can reach beyond themselves. It’s dangerous, a skill that develops
over time, but only for a special few.”

“And your Heloise is one of them.”

“She’s not mine.” Durant showed a little fang when he replied,
revealing how much he disliked the claim, then he shrugged. “She’s the leader
of a coven. You don’t become the leader of one this size without being able to
wield a lot of power.”

As they approached the door, unease sent chills down her
spine. The place felt wrong. As soon as she crossed the threshold, all warmth
bled away and her breath billowed out in a cloud of frost. Sounds became
muffled, the room fading to black and white. Ghosts from all eras wandered
aimlessly through the house, and Raven was afraid to move and attract their
attention.

The creature uncurled through Raven, using her eyes to see
what had caught her attention. The past came alive as the world sharpened into
focus. Two women were in a fierce argument, one she easily recognized as
Heloise. She was the exact image of the woman she had just met, except for the
elaborate dress she wore was more than a hundred years old. The other woman was
older, possibly a sister if the similarities in their appearances were any
indication. The elaborate outfit she wore was the kind you’d find in an old voodoo
shop.

Authentic.

They gestured toward her…or more precisely, toward where she
was standing. When Raven glanced down, it was to see her feet were firmly
planted in the middle of a dead body. The man’s neck was twisted at an
impossible angle. Like a cat, Raven jumped straight up in the air and scuttled
to the side in a weird dance until she was sure she was clear of the man. Her
heart continued to slam in her chest for a bit longer.

The body was so lifelike it took her seconds to realize he
was a ghost. She rubbed her arms to get rid of the heebie-jeebies she got at
finding herself standing in the middle of a corpse.

The man had come to a stop some distance from the stairs. To
land so far away, someone had to have done more than push him, they had to have
sent him flying.

“Raven?”

“Huh?” She turned to see Durant’s alarmed face inches from
her own. The real world returned in a rush of sound and color, and she
staggered to keep her balance as she was dumped out of the vision. Now that she
was no longer touching the ghost, the past lost its grip on her. Humidity and a
hint of Magnolias hung in the air, as if she’d pulled it with her through time,
but the haunting scent disappeared as quickly as the vision.

Without the excitement, her creature rolled over and returned
to its slumber.