Electric Storm (36 page)

Rage like she’d never known shimmered up her spine. Energy flared under her skin, sizzled, burning away the drug, but it faded too fast to completely flush it out of her system. The trauma over the last few days had taken its toll. If she could just hold him off for a little while longer, then she’d show him what it meant to be part of a pack.

“Your Taggert hasn’t been harmed.” He glanced at her with calculating eyes. “I wouldn’t try anything. If I’m not at my laboratory to answer the phone at ten, they’ll release him, and the hunt will begin. Obey me and he might live.” He smiled slowly. “Who do you think will get him first? The hunters who’d paid for him, or the leashed shifter who craves the taste of flesh?”

Sickness lurched through her. The girl in the woods. The killer who eviscerated the bodies, then buried them to save to snack on later. Ross’s experiments must have pushed her past the limits of her sanity if she’d eat the flesh of her own kind.

A cough racked her again. Her ribs protested but each exhale expelled the powder from her lungs. “You hunt them in the woods.”

Ross pulled a shiny scalpel and small mallet out of his bag, so absorbed in his task that he didn’t bother to face her. “The hunters feel that it evens the odds to let the shifters run in their natural environment. It increases the danger and adds to the adrenaline rush.” He shook his head. “Fools.”

Raven let him talk. If she could remove her gloves, she’d be able to access the energy grid teaming below her. Her clumsy fingers made the task difficult. Frustrated at the lack of progress, she finally just used her teeth to tug the leather over her hand.

Cold cement seared her palm.

Nothing happened. The grid hummed but remained dormant under her demand. She gritted her teeth as panic threatened to overwhelm her. Power fluctuated wildly at her emotions. She pushed past the pain, dug deeper, only to watch helplessly as any power drain back into the floor. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t hold the charge worth a damn.

A kick to her ribs took her by surprise. Pain robbed her of breath, and she crashed to her side on the tarp. She glared at the man who caused this all. “Bastard.”

“Hmmm.” He glanced at her distractedly as he reached for his instruments.

It was now or never.

“You want to know what makes me different?” His eyes sharpened. She’d finally caught his attention. “This.”

She grabbed his ankle. His pant leg did nothing to protect him. She might not be able to give him the jolt he deserved, but she sure as hell could take every bit of energy that made him human.

He gasped as his essence dribbled out of him. His heart slowed. The blade he held clattered to the floor. The urge to keep taking grew, but if she wanted to find Taggert, she needed Ross alive.

And for that insult, the bastard would pay.

 
Chapter Twenty-eight

“
H
e sets up illegal hunts, using shifters as prey.” Raven had debated long or hard whether or not to go home and get reinforcements. The deciding factor was her promise to Jackson. Also, though it galled her to admit it, she needed help if she had any hope of getting Taggert back. “And I’m afraid if they notice Ross’s absence, they’ll pull up stakes and slaughter those still captive.” Her jaw clenched as she said those words.

“How do you know he’s behind it?” London finished securing the last tie, elbowing Ross in the back of the head when he rose. She understood his doubt. Ross was twenty pounds too skinny for his lanky frame, with thinning hair and an air of weakness around him. He didn’t look capable of capturing a fly let alone so many shifters.

“He bragged. Ross knew how packs ran, and avoided snatching anyone associated with them to avoid suspicion.” She didn’t go into how he tortured his captives for the information.

Dina walked in the room, not gazing at anyone as she paced, her cherry scent a little too sweet. Her words were slow in coming. “Jenkins isn’t ready.”

Raven didn’t say anything at first, swallowing hard. She was determined that this plan would work despite everything that could go wrong. That meant she needed Jenkins. “No one ever is.”

Dina sighed, a defeated slump to her shoulders. “He said he’d do it.”

Raven never expected anything less, well understanding the need for revenge. The cold stone in her chest dissipated a fraction knowing that her friends stood behind her. “And the others?”

“Dominic took Jackson to check Ross’s home as soon as you called.” London peered at her over Ross’s head; something in her expression had him narrowing his eyes. “They left you here to recover. They’ll be pissed if you dare move from this house.”

Relief nearly bent her double to learn that Jackson suffered no aftereffects from her. A large part of her was grateful to have him gone from the house when she’d returned. She didn’t know how to face him after what happened. After failing him. “Do you believe we can wait? If Ross isn’t there to answer that phone, Taggert will be the next body they pull from the water.”

The superior attitude Ross had exuded at the morgue had annoyed and scared the shit out of her. For an intelligent guy, he honestly didn’t understand the magnitude of his crimes. Or his punishment.

“What about him?” London nodded to Ross.

“Leave him here for Rylan. Dina can—”

“I’m going with you.” Her voice was adamant. “If any of my people are still alive, they’ll need me. You’ll be too busy tracking down Taggert.”

Raven tightened her lips at putting another defenseless shifter in danger. She ran the scenario through her head a thousand times, but couldn’t fault Dina’s logic. “Get Jenkins in here.”

A skinny ghost of a man slipped into the room on soundless feet. The paleness of his skin reminded her of the prison they called the labs, the lack of sun, the exhausting tests that left a person so weak that they often didn’t wake up for days, if at all. “Are you sure you’re strong enough for this?”

He was so emaciated, one good wind could knock him down.

“I’m ready. Like you said, I won’t be in any danger. I just have to answer the phone.” A fierce need to be useful entered his eyes, a need she recognized. “Let me do this for you.”

She flicked a glance at London, relaxing slightly at his subtle nod. He’d protect Jenkins if it came to it. “Thank you. What do you need to start the process?”

“I’ll need to touch him.” Distaste curled Jenkins’ lips.

She knew the feeling, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him not to bother. She needed the abilities of a full chameleon who could manipulate both his vocal cords and his body. But what else could he pick up by touching someone, even in passing? She decided she didn’t want to know.

“How long will it take? How long can you hold his form?”

“It usually takes twenty minutes to assimilate a shape. I can hold it for three hours before the integrity degrades. I won’t be able to try again for at least a day.” He appeared apologetic and spoke quickly. “But I’m getting stronger with each shift.”

“It’s a miracle you can do this for us at all. Thank you for being willing to even try.” A chameleon was a rare thing, one of the most endangered creatures alive. So much so that most people thought them myths.

It took closer to an hour for the transformation. Jenkins’ skin bubbled, melted and twisted into the new shape. Bile rose in Raven’s throat. She couldn’t imagine the pain and was thankful the doctors had never given her a transfusion of his blood.

Ross woke partway through the transition. Instead of panic, Ross calmly observed the process, cataloging everything in a way that sent her skin crawling. Her fist curled, and only her will prevented her from stalking over and cold-cocking him into oblivion. No matter what happened, she couldn’t allow him to leave, or Jenkins would never be safe.

London steadied Jenkins when he rose. The first thing she noticed was the height.

He saw her stare and shrugged. “Nothing I can do about the proportions. I can manipulate my flesh like any shifter, but I only have my weight and height to work with.”

Goosebumps crept over her to hear Ross’s voice come out of Jenkins.

“God. That’s uncanny.” Dina summed it up exactly.

Very few shifters were born with the genes to shrink or gain mass, and those few who did were highly prized. It was a trait they’d tried to breed in the labs.

Tingling swept along her arms, and she lifted her face to the ceiling. “Rylan’s awake.”

Now all she had to do was convince him to take Ross’s blood so they could find his lab.

She’d already searched the office at the morgue but to no end. She highly doubted the guys would find anything at his home. Ross was too smart for that. It could take her hours to pick up a paper trail, but that didn’t guarantee she’d find anything in time to be of any use. Ross didn’t strike her as a stupid man. He wouldn’t hold anything in his name.

“I hear you’ve been stirring up trouble again.” Rylan’s amused voice flowed over her in a soothing wave.

He sauntered into the room, his elegant clothing neatly pressed with a style that could easily pass for a man a century ago. Charm twinkled in his blue eyes, making her heart pitter-patter pathetically. Every time she saw him, she wanted to mess him up. He exuded competence that she could rely on. After she explained what she needed, he’d help her make things right.

“No, absolutely not.” Wounded betrayal darkened his eyes, and she didn’t understand.

“You were able to tell where Cassie had been by taking her blood. We need to know where Ross keeps his lab.”

His jaw stiffened with each word.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t take blood.”

Raven hesitated, but couldn’t let it rest, not when Taggert’s life was at risk. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t take blood from people. Ever.”

“But Cassie...”

“She was already dying. I only did it because you asked.” He glanced at Ross, his every thought completely hidden. “Don’t ask me again.”

Then Raven understood. Her blood had changed him. “You see into their minds when you take blood as any normal vampire, but there’s more, isn’t there?”

Those battle-wounded eyes of his gave the answer.

“Because of me.” Acid churned her stomach and nausea threatened. He’d lived with the affliction for years without a word of blame.

How many other lives had she ruined and just walked away from without a clue?

“Don’t look like that. It’s not your fault.”

She met his gaze steadily, her heart shredded. “Isn’t it?”

Dina broke the spell when she spoke. “What made Cassie so different?”

Rylan swallowed hard, never removing his focus from Raven. “Raven.”

The pure lust in his expression slammed into her so hard, she couldn’t catch her breath let alone her run-away thoughts. She’d always thought Rylan kept his distance because he didn’t care. That she’d destroyed things between them when she tried to get too close. Now she saw that he actually believed he was protecting her from himself. She was his addiction. He might care for her, but he feared his craving for her blood more.

“I never knew. I never understood.” She was stupid, blinded by her own problems. Shame heated her cheeks.

“I couldn’t let you see. I didn’t want you to know.” He ran a hand through his hair, dropping his gaze. But not before she saw the humiliation. They hadn’t broken her in the labs, not the way that one devastated look did now. 

“You should’ve told me.” She couldn’t prevent the way her lip trembled.

Sadness poured from him. “So that you would feel guilty and try to fix me?” He shook his head. “I’ve lived this way for years. I can manage my affliction.”

“Where does that leave us?” London bared his teeth at Ross, cracking his knuckles. “Would you like me to take a turn at him? I’m sure he’ll give up his secrets.”

Raven wasn’t so sure. The angle of Ross’s chin showed his stubbornness, and his complete conviction that he would get out of this alive.

She looked at the people in the room as Jackson’s words came back to haunt her. Shifters weren’t human, they didn’t think like them. She wasn’t either, not really. Maybe it was time to put away her dreams, face the fact that she’d never be normal, and embrace the other side of her soul that few people knew existed.