Electric Storm (44 page)

Things were becoming heart-wrenchingly clear.

“You got your wolf back.” Rylan’s voice emerged from the darkness, his face unemotional as he tucked away everything that made him Rylan and her friend. She mentally reached out for him in the shadows, seeking reassurance. And met a cold wall.

Sorrow crept over her at the distance he was putting between them. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“We’re friends!” That hurt, not to mention that his attitude pissed her off. “I had a right to know what kind of life I condemned you to suffer every time you fed.”

“Damn it anyway.” He rushed across the room in a blur, slamming his fists down on her desk. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. You think everything’s your fault. This has nothing to do with you.”

“It has everything to do with me. If not for my blood, none of this would’ve happened.” Just as furious, she stood and planted her palms on the desk, mimicking his posture.

Rylan didn’t say a word as he turned and walked toward the door. Her breath hiccupped in her chest.

“Don’t leave.”

He reached for the knob then paused, keeping his back to her. “You’re partially right.”

A bubble of pain grew under her ribs. She lifted her chin and pulled back her shoulders, bracing herself against his words.

“If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve died in the labs years ago.”

The door shut quietly, deflating her. When he left the house, the hum in the air slowly dissipated. But damn it, between the choice of him being dead or alive, she’d choose alive every time.

Taking a deep breath to deal with another vampire, she dialed the number Lester left for her. He answered on the first ring. “I believe I know what happened to your son.”

“You have my attention.” Her skin tightened uncomfortably. That was not something you ever wanted to hear from a vampire.

“You’re son dated a girl named Sarah Wilson. She was involved in a hit and run, leaving her in a coma that no one expected her to survive.” Raven paged through her notes.

“They were going to remove her from life support. Her pack was going to claim her body, so he bit her.”

“You’re sure?” The displeasure in his voice made her speak faster.

 “Yes, but nothing happened. They took her off life support that afternoon. What happened next is foggy. I believe he thought there was still a way to bring her back. He went to the morgue later that evening.” An image of the broken morgue fridge flashed through her mind. “Something went wrong with the transfusion. She had enough human DNA to wake, but the few drops of her shifter blood prevented a full transition.” She grew quiet. “I think he recognized what she was in the end.”

“A ghoul.” The disgust in his voice was obvious.

“He must have found her when she woke, starved and confused. He tried to stop her.”

“And died. Thank you for your assistance. I’m sure you understand that this stays between—”

“You misunderstand. He succeeded. While distracted trying to contain her, Jason was murdered. Ghouls are rare. The chance to enslave one is even more so. It was a possibility the killer couldn’t pass up.”

“They’re an abomination.” The controlled emotion in his voice boomed in her mind like a bullhorn, the power coming to him automatically. Mind games. She doubted he was aware of using it this time.

“Be that as it may, your son died trying to save her life.” Prolonged silence filled the phone, leaving her uneasy. Smart people knew better than to disagree with a Vampire. You’d think she’d learn sooner rather than later to keep her opinions to herself and just report the facts.

“The killers name?”

“Dr. Patrick Ross. Dr. Ross ran into an unfortunate accident earlier this evening.”

Another pause, this one fraught with danger. “I thought we had an understanding.”

She had to tread carefully. The last thing she needed was a new enemy. “Our agreement stood until he kidnapped one of mine. I’m sure you understand.”

A disgruntled sigh crossed the line. “At least tell me he suffered.”

“Yes.” She thought back to Ross, his dying mother, his life and knew it was true. Until his mind snapped. “But not nearly enough.” Especially when images of the bloody lab haunted her, the glaringly empty cages, the near skeletal survivors that somehow managed to live.

“And the police?”

“Have no knowledge of your son or his connection to Sarah’s resurrection. As far as they know, she’s dead.”

“You’ll keep it that way.” It was a command.

“Of course.” She debated whether to say anything about Sarah’s existence and decided against it. Wolves and vampires didn’t mix. He wouldn’t care that his son loved her or died for her. To him, she never existed.

“Thank you for your services. We owe you a debt.” A dial tone rang in her ear.

Raven pulled away the headset and looked at the phone, then slowly lowered it. His gratitude sounded like more trouble than it was worth. Sunrise would be here soon. Her body ached, her head pounded. A couple of hours sleep would do wonders for her body to heal.

The guys would be asleep up stairs. In an odd sort of way, she was glad Durant had stayed. Without Jackson, her room felt empty. If asked, she’d deny it, but she’d grown accustomed to Jackson’s presence. She didn’t think she’d be able to relax until she had him home.

Shadows shrouded the room when she turned off the last light. Half asleep, she slipped out to the hall. Her hand was on the railing when the floorboards groaned.

Her brain snapped to full awareness. Someone else was in the house.

“You stupid bitch. You ruined everything.”

 
Chapter Thirty-five

P
ure dread raked down Raven’s spine. She recognized that smooth, superior voice from the hellish tunnel deep within the bowels of the earth. The analytical observer was gone. There was a wealth of emotion in his voice now.

Grandpa had found her.

She removed her foot from the bottom step, shuffled backwards and turned. Her back brushed lightly against the wall. One second was all it took. Power immediately flared along the wires, dancing behind the sheetrock like it had been waiting for her touch. Her body throbbed at the call, still oversensitive from all the abuse. She refused to absorb any of it for fear that at the first touch, her core would shut down again.

“I thought you and your friend would’ve been long gone by now.” She swallowed with difficulty and took a step closer to him and his silent companion, willing them away from the boys upstairs.

“Not without taking care of a little business first.” 

“To kill me.” The floor trembled beneath her. She resisted a shudder as energy forked its way under the floorboards, slowly snaking its way toward her.

“You were never meant to survive. You succeeded because you cheated. The others showed up to rescue you.” Disgust clouded his face, and he spit on the floor.

“You said if I escaped, I was free. You said nothing about rules.”

“I lied.” He raised the gun in his hand. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

Raven raised her hands and twisted sideways to make herself a smaller target. “I don’t understand. You didn’t care about the hunt. It was more of a means to an end. Why make it personal?”

“The boy was my grandson.”

“The pervert?”

He backhanded her, splitting her lip. Blood spilled across her tongue. She used the momentum to twist about, bringing her closer to the door. Then she noticed that the alarm was off.

She froze when she faced him. Those cold eyes latched onto her wound, his breathing erratic. He licked his lips, his tongue flickering like a reptile. His hands curled into fists as if unable to wait for the pleasure of hitting her again. “You created the hunt for him, didn’t you?”

“He had an aptitude for it.”

A sickening thought took root. “He started killing people, and you needed to find a way to protect him, so you orchestrated this whole thing.”

“And why not? There is a whole shifter population that everyone ignores. No one missed them. Hell, they kill their own kind.”

“But you found that you liked the hunt.”

A smile came to his face. “I find there is a certain justice to cleansing the world so others might live without the stink of your kind.” Spittle flew from his lips, his eyes overly bright. He waved to his henchman. “Go upstairs and handle the others.”

“No.” Raven prayed they heard her shout and got the hell out of there.

The man smirked and took the stairs two at a time, pulling a gun out of the waistband of his pants.

Raven halted her retreat, everything in her stilling. The air brushed over her, every inch soaked with power. And she couldn’t access any of it. Without a care for the consequences, she ripped open the vault holding the poisonous golden strands. Energy poured into her body, each pore sucking it in like water to desert sand as fury ripped away every ounce of self-preservation.

The gun cocked.

“Once I finish you, I’ll go back and skin those pets of yours and use their pelts on my floor.”

The deluge of power rippled over her, the pain nipping at her nerves. She lifted her hand to strike first when the door to the kitchen inched opened. A shape entered with a disjointed, awkward gait she recognized.

“Sarah?” Vengeance gleamed in the cloudy eyes when her gaze landed on Grandpa. She must have followed the men here. Raven instinctively took a step back, trying to pull back the swell of power. She nearly went sprawling on her ass when her foot caught on the rug she used to hide the scars etched in the floor.

Grandpa twisted, firing without hesitation. The first shot struck Sarah high in the shoulder. Her body jerked, then slowly toppled forward.

“No.” Raven ran forward to catch her, and the gun swung in her direction.

“Stay back.”

Sarah landed on her face with a sickening crunch. Her fingers twitched, her arms slowly moved as she pulled herself forward with her hands.

Grandpa laughed at her feeble attempt, lifted the gun, and shot her again. This time, the body lay still. That little flame of life sputtered then faded.

All the golden cords of power burst out of Raven, including the few remaining blue strands that had kept the lockbox sealed. They swarmed the body on the floor like ants. Drained by the total lack of power, she dropped to her knees with a painful crack. Not even the animals grumbled. Her body felt like someone had taken her out back and kicked the shit out of her.

A roar rang in her ears. A thump vibrated under her hands. She lifted her head to see the mauled body of the henchman two feet away, tossed over the railing like a paper airplane to land in a splatter of blood and bones.

Durant and Taggert loped down the stairs in a blurred speed, half-dressed but none the worse for wear. Blood rushed out of her head to see them healthy and whole. Durant didn’t even spare her a glance, his focus centered on the threat. Taggert ignored it all, his attention on her.

“I see your friends have decided to join us.” Grandpa waved the gun, the barrel pointed at her head. “Let’s keep your distance, now, shall we.”

Taggert grabbed Durant’s arm, muscles flexing when Durant resisted. Both men halted half way down the steps. Then Durant’s molten gold gaze met hers.

Eager to get the old man’s focus away from the guys, she tossed out the theory she suspected the first time she saw him. “I wonder what your friends would say if they knew you weren’t completely human. Like how you can pick out shifters from humans.”

His reaction was immediate. He lashed out with his boot. The blow caught her in the ribs, nearly picking her off the floor.

A roar reverberated in the room, and Durant leapt over the railing. A bullet cracked in the ceiling, halting all movement.

Grandpa lowered his arm and aimed the barrel at her head. “I’d rather not have any holes in my new pelts. Stand down.”

Grandpa walked to the other side of the room to keep them all in view and out of arm’s reach. Raven struggled to her feet. Without electricity to hold them back, the shadows at her core woke with a vengeance. Under their influence, the aches faded, and her emotions grew more volatile.