Electric Storm (14 page)

She wasn’t a doctor; she didn’t know what the hell to do to help. But she could scan the body to find the source of injury. Logically, she knew calling more power tonight would be foolish. The storms wreaked havoc with her system, not to mention her body ached from the abuse she’d just put it through.

Each time she overreached, she risked burning out or frying herself completely. Vulnerable while she healed. Her gaze came to rest on Durant. Loneliness clung to him in a way that felt so familiar her throat ached, convincing her to act when self-preservation said run. “I need to touch her.”

Durant released his hold, gently folding Cassie’s hands over her stomach before retreating. Raven reluctantly removed her gloves and placed her hands on Cassie’s arm, very aware of all eyes on her, studying her as she reached for her gift.

A spark pulsed through her, answering sluggishly to her call. A twinge of nausea squeezed the breath from her lungs. Her skin tingled as the spark burned along her arms and pooled into her palms.

Cassie’s body bowed as current swept through her system, speeding along her veins and muscles, seeping into her flesh. All except for her upper shoulder and the blackness eating away her flesh like bacteria.

Raven retreated, balling her hands into fists to hide the way they shook. She’d seen that bacteria before. She swallowed hard, dousing the current seething under her skin. “Roll her on her side.”

Durant immediately complied. Then froze. His shoulders drooped and a huge shudder swept through him.

Raven caught a glimpse and swallowed around the grapefruit-sized lump in her throat. The bite looked like something tried to strip the flesh from her back by using teeth.

Vampire teeth.

Crimson streaks blazed against her pale skin.

“Dominic, take Mr. Durant and the boys to the kitchen. Bring me the med kit.”

Durant snarled with such ferocity when Dominic neared, Raven tensed to step between them. Hopefully, they’d leave enough of her in one piece to heal.

“Mr. Durant.” His gaze swung toward her, all parts human stripped away. “I need to examine Cassie without you in the way. She wouldn’t want you to be here while I fix her up. It will be painful for her. How will your beast react to her agony? I can’t watch my back and help her at the same time.”

He didn’t blink, and Raven softened her voice. “You came to me for help. You must have trusted me for some reason. Trust me a little more.”

A great shudder passed through him. “There is no coming back from a vampire bite once infected.”

“She’s the same girl you adore. She’s dying, going through severe transition sickness. Most don’t survive without large amounts of blood.” Doubt dug its mitts into her, but she couldn’t repress her next words. “I can’t stop it, but I might be able to make sure she wakes up again.” She met his gaze. “Can you live with that, if she was one of the undead?”

When he didn’t answer, her heart dropped. She didn’t know the man, so she didn’t know why his lack of response disappointed her. Shifters and vampires were complete opposites. One vividly alive, the other craving life by drinking blood. Their opposite natures put them at odds.

“Try.” The scratchy sound of his voice broke through her chaotic thoughts. Durant’s eyes had partially turned back to human, the green splinters quelling her doubts. “Do what you can for her. Whatever happens, I won’t forget what you’ve tried to do.”

He loomed over her and the solemn, bleak expression gave her emotions another vicious twist. He turned, his shoulders back, his posture brittle. She sensed he let very few people close to him. If she let this wisp of a girl die, there would be even fewer.

Dominic followed the large cat at a cautious distance. Taggert and Jackson lingered, but she waved them off. “Go. I’ll call you if I need anything.”

Taggert nodded, but Jackson’s brows lowered ominously. To forestall any protest, she turned her back on them and offered the only incentive she had. “We’ll finish our conversation later.” If she lived long enough.

After three hours, she admitted defeat, struggling to fit her gloves on fingers shaky from overexertion. The pounding on the door had long since ceased. The wound had mostly healed into a rough scar, but no amount of energy she poured into the girl could animate her dying flesh. If Raven pushed harder, Cassie would not come back as a vampire, but a mindless zombie instead. Raven couldn’t risk that.

Exhaustion pressed heavily on her shoulders, the current burning her from the inside out. As she opened the door, she braced herself to face the men in the hall. 

Without a word, Raven shook her head.

Durant swallowed hard, his throat working. He slipped by her into the study, avoiding her eyes. He collected Cassie’s body, cradling her against his chest, his devastation a private thing hard to witness.

“How long?” The gravelly words were barely audible. The tiger in him prowled its confines, searching for something to fight.

Raven bit her lip, indecision battling what was right. “There might be another way.”

Darkness had fallen an hour ago. If there was a hope for survival, Cassie’s transition should’ve started on its own. Instead, her condition grew increasingly worse. She was dying. Durant’s golden gaze locked on hers, the grief consuming him.

“There’s a man I met a few years ago who might be willing to help.”

Dominic’s brow wrinkled, and Raven swallowed hard at the can of worms she was about to spring on them.

“Who.” The tension in the room escalated at the terse demand.

“Rylan.”

“Hell, no.” Dominic shot away from the wall, crossing the floor in a blur. Jackson and Taggert stepped in front of her, their broad backs a wall blocking the enraged wolf prowling toward her.

“Do it.” Durant’s red-rimmed eyes didn’t hold any hope.

“You don’t understand.” Dominic swiveled to him, shaking his dark head.

“I don’t care.”

“He’s demented.” A vampire driven insane from bloodlust.

The room stilled. She doubted anyone even dared breathe. “That’s not fair. No one was sane while imprisoned.”

He whirled, but kept his distance when her two protectors tensed. “You heard his victims scream as he tore them apart just as I did. When they released him, he was covered in blood.” Bitterness tightened his face. “Shifter blood.”

Raven blanched, but stood her ground. “You would’ve done the same.”

“Never.” Dominic spit the word at her.

That enraged her. How dare he judge someone for what they had to do to survive in that place. She crossed her arms. “How long did they starve you?”

“What?”

“Vampires have to eat once a day. They can skip a few days, maybe a week at most, but only if they’re old and strong.”

Dominic scratched his jaw. “So?”

“They starved him, fed him sour blood once a week.”

“Shifter blood.”

“Damn it, you’re not listening.” Power stuttered at her core, flaring along her skin as she struggled with her emotions. She prayed for patience and took a steady breath. “For months on end, they starved him. The regimen they created was specifically designed to see how long it would take to drive him insane. They wanted to document its effects.”

Understanding darkened his eyes. “That doesn’t excuse what he did to our people.”

“You hardly know him. I was in a room with him for three days watching him pace and go insane with hunger. He was so weak he couldn’t break the chains that bound me.” A tremor took up in her muscles. “Even when I offered him blood, he refused.”

“Are you insane?”

A bitter smile crossed her face. “They had to drag his body out of the room when he collapsed from hunger.” The desolation in his eyes still haunted her at night. The program pushed them, found a specific sore spot with each occupant, and did everything they could to break them. Once they got what they wanted, their test subjects were the perfect puppets.

“What happens when you don’t have enough food?” She focused on Dominic, refusing to let him hide.

“We become more aggressive.”

Raven shook her head. “No, your wolf fights for dominance.” The next words thickened in her throat. “Now imagine what would happen to you and your control if you were starved for months with only a taste of rotten food every few days.”

He spoke through stiff lips. “It’s not the same.”

“Why not? The more primitive side of his vampire self was exposed. They pushed him too far.” Memories battled to surface. Panic beat its wings against the inside of her chest as she fought to forget. “They cut the victims and shoved him in the room. They nearly decapitated them.”

She rubbed her face. “What would you do to protect one of your pack?”

“Anything.” The one world held complete conviction.

“Even if it would destroy you?” She knew the answer. Everyone who survived the program answered the same. You protect the pack. “I’m going to call him. If you don’t want to see him, I suggest you leave.”

“What can he do that you can’t?” Jackson appeared curious instead of his normal, doubtful self.

“All I’m doing is keeping her alive, but the sickness is spreading. I can’t prevent her death. I can’t cure her. If he’s willing to finish bring her over, I think she has a good chance at survival.” She prayed no one asked for specifics. They might believe they understood her little peculiarity with electricity, but they didn’t understand the full effects it could have on others.

“Find another way.” Durant’s words cracked in the room. Decisions became harder when you had to agree to change someone into a vampire rather than just allow it to happen.

All her anger and frustration bubbled over. She pointed to Cassie. “Is your pride worth more than her life?”

When he didn’t answer, she rubbed her arms, static crackling as she did so. She couldn’t believe she’d so misjudged him that he’d let his prejudice claim the girl’s life. “If you don’t want my help, I suggest you take her and leave.”

Durant remained seated, unable to say no but unable to agree to a pact with the very creature he’d fought a war against. Vampires craved the powerful shifter blood, high octane compared to humans. The danger came in when some vampires ensnared their donors and forced them to obey.

“Call him.” Taggert handed her the phone. “You wouldn’t have suggested it if there were any other choice.”

Now that the decision was made, she hesitated. Vampires weren’t much better than shifters. Their hatred ran just as deep. Prophecies said the wolves were created to protect the vampires while they slept. Until they rebelled and killed those they were sworn to protect.

A few vampires still believed shifters should either be called to heel and put back into service or decommissioned. The shifters believed vampires should be made dead permanently before things reverted back to the dark ages.

“Your promise first.” She looked at each man, daring them to glance away from her. “I want your word that you’ll leave him in peace.”

“Raven–”

“No. We escaped the lab together. We promised to stick together for protection. But the first instant, you turn your back on him.” Anxiety tightened the muscles of her back. She had to find a way to make him understand. “He’s my pack. I won’t have him vulnerable to attack in my own home.”

“No, Raven.
You
pulled our asses out of that hellish hole. If not for you, we’d still be there.”

Taggert didn’t seem surprised, but Jackson’s all too curious gaze made her gulp. He’d demand answers she wasn’t ready to reveal, the horrible truth about her childhood that she tried to bury deep inside where it’d be lost.

Part of her knew she was only moving through the steps, trying to find a cure where there was none. But she couldn’t give up that slim hope. And she couldn’t not give Durant that same hope.

She picked up the phone and dialed the number she prayed she would never have to use. Rylan knew her fears. Before he disappeared, he’d promised that if she lost control, all she had to do was call and he’d come for her.

He answered immediately, the low, honey sound of his voice soothing after all this time. Fear beat a heavy rhythm in her chest and silence stretched as she fought to force words past the painful memories.

“Raven.” One word breathed a wealth of emotion.

“I need your help.”

 
Chapter
Eleven