More Than Life (Arcane Crossbreeds) (23 page)

Raife was hurt.

The fire of an unbelievable hunger licked at the edges of her mind, and she’d barely been able to maintain enough control to keep her mind on their task. Now those flames poured over her entire being, incinerating her control.

She shimmered to Raife. She didn’t know how she knew where to go, but her instincts were a howling in her skull that left little room for anything, including doubt. There was only the urge to act. Her mate was in danger, and everything in her was driven to protect him.

She materialized in a room—a kitchen—and moonlight shafted over the bodies struggling on the floor. The scent of Raife’s blood slammed into her, and her fangs dropped into her mouth. An inhuman snarl rattled up through her body and slid past her lips.

“Get the hell out of here, Katya.”

Katya barely registered the sound of the rest of her team slamming through the kitchen door behind her as she turned toward the waning flow of Raife’s energy. His order was a dull roar through her mind, the words barely discernible. A Guardian had him on the ground, and there was blood – so much blood. Her nostrils flared, and her vision flickered as fury clawed through her.

Raife’s blood.

“Get the damn girl.”

Another snarl moved through her chest, and she shimmered to the Guardian who was leaning over Raife. The heat of the Guardian’s body was solid between her thighs as she rematerialized and straddled him. One of her arms locked around his head, and a frenzied roar was torn from her as she ripped his throat out with the claws of her free hand.

She could feel Raife’s energy waning. He was dying. She tossed the now dead Guardian off his body. The smell of blood was suffocating, maddening, and she struggled against the rage that tried to engulf her. The violent energy in the room sparked through her, driving spikes into her mind.

She pushed it back and reached for Raife’s.

His eyes fluttered open when she pulled him to her lap and pressed a hand over the gunshot that seeped his crimson essence over his broad chest. The loss of it sent a sense of indignation cartwheeling painfully through her. It belonged to her.
He
belonged to her. She wouldn’t give him up. His mind reached weakly for hers, and his heartbeat stuttered beneath the hard press of her palm.

Denial roared through her.

Behind her the fight raged between the other Guardians and the rest of the team, but she ignored them, focused on pulling Raife to her, anchoring his mind to hers.

Lifting her arm to her mouth, she used her fangs to tear open her wrist and pressed the wound to his lips, forcing her blood into him. He tried to struggle against her, his mental whispers consumed by the inferno of her fury before she could attempt to understand them. All that mattered was Raife. She felt his energy strengthen as he finally accepted her blood. The room contracted around her, and she pressed it back.

These assholes would pay for the loss of his blood.

With
theirs
.

Gently setting his big body aside, she came to her feet as the thirst for revenge rolled destructively through her, feeding the flames that engulfed her mind.

It must have shown in her face as she turned to attack the other Guardians.

“Holy shit, tranq the bitch.”

Katya disappeared, instinct a deafening hum as she held herself in a state of suspended materialization. She could see the room as though she was looking through a fogged glass, but she was all but invisible to those hunting her. It left her flesh tingling.

She could see Kel and Gideon fighting, grossly outnumbered. The room was massive, but the amount of struggling bodies ate up the space, making it difficult to maneuver. The Guardians had come en masse, but Katya was the hunter this time. She studied the Guardians in the room through the narrow scope of the fury controlling her. Two were standing off to the side, holding handguns out in front of them, black eyes carefully scanning the room. Waiting for her.

They would have to go first.

Two steps had her standing next to one of her prey, and she rematerialized, pulling the closest Guardian in front of her as the other squeezed off a shot. The tranq dart protruded from his chest, and she released him to shimmer behind the shooter. Sinking the claws of her left hand into the curve of his shoulder to anchor him against her, she rammed the claws of her right hand into his side. The warmth of his blood gushing out over her hand soothed something in her. Energy snapped and sizzled over her skin, and she instinctively drew it to her, inhaled it, let it infuse her.

Dropping the Guardian to the ground, she focused her attention on the one struggling against the effects of the tranquilizer dart. Energy gathered in her bloody palms, and she let the weight of it pool in her hands until they crackled with light. His inky eyes flared with fear, and she let him drown in it before she violently pushed the energy from her hands, focusing it to a small point where she could hear the frantic beat of his heart.

His mouth opened on a silent scream as his body seized, and he crumpled to the ground, his eyes sightless. Deep inside her, a tiny spark of reason frantically tried to push to the surface, but the scent of the blood flooded it, extinguished it, leaving only fury and instinct to guide her.

Turning on her heel, she stepped over a body and slid gracefully into the battle still raging. Life slowed; the bodies that had been moving at blurring speeds appeared to nearly stop as she eased into the fray. Distantly she was aware of the warm feel of blood dampening her neck and chest as her claws raked through the vulnerable flesh of her enemies.

Fire seared her palms, and the faraway shrieks of pain sounded in the room as a Guardian erupted in flames, the flash of it heating the side of her face. And still she moved. It felt like she was flowing through the room. Dancing. Spinning. Until not one Guardian was standing. Until she no longer felt threatened or hunted. Until Raife was safe.

Standing amid the bodies and the heavy scent of blood and burned flesh that filled her nose, she slowly became aware of the faint, frantic beat of a heart and the quick gasps for air.

Blinking her eyes into focus, she saw Gideon standing several feet from her, his hands in front of him, palms out. His lips were moving, and yet she couldn’t hear his words. Confusion slid like ice water over her skin as her awareness expanded to cover the entire room. The blood.

“It’s okay, baby. Come back to me. It’s okay. It’s over now.”

A low voice was droning softly to her, and she realized it was inside her head. It felt clean and strong against the raw walls of her mind. She swallowed and glanced to where Kel was helping Raife to a sitting position, his gaze trying to pull hers in. She couldn’t seem to get past the flowering stain on his chest. The dark crimson that was the only color in the room.

A low sound rattled deep in her chest, and a coldness swept over her mind.

“Look in my eyes, baby. Just look at me.”

The voice compelled her, but the bright splash of blood drew her attention.

It coated everything. Drenched the bodies that littered the floor. Lifting her hands, she looked down at them with dawning horror. Oh God, she’d killed. The evidence of her depravity clung to her body in bright accusation. It lay at her feet in a gruesome testimony. She’d been right. They’d created a freak in that lab.

Breath hissing through her chest, she stumbled back. She couldn’t get any air, couldn’t breathe.

“Damn it, Kat. Stay with me.”

Heat drained from her body, and she began to shake so hard her knees buckled, and she dropped to them. Even the pain that shot up her legs was dulled.

She heard feet pounding on the floor, felt the vibrations of them. Hands grabbed at her, but she felt too distant. Sensation eased away from her.

“Katya! Look at me!”

Frantic words floated around her as her eyes sought out Raife’s, clung to them. Blackness swelled at the edges of her vision until only those eyes remained. Slowly the room started to tilt and darken.

“Stay with me, baby. Stay with me.”

“She’s crashing…”

“Shimmer her to Incog now…”

“I’m calling it in…”

“She’s not breathing…”

“Katya!”

Then darkness.

Chapter Seventeen

Katya kept perfectly still as she took stock of her surroundings. She was on a gurney, the hard cushion an all too familiar feeling. There were voices around her. The sound of beeping. Familiar smells.

A low buzzing was thick in her head, a sound like the fluorescent lights made at the research lab. Afraid she would open her eyes and realize she was back in that nightmarish place, her escape no more than a cruel dream, Katya felt her heart pound. It echoed loudly in the room.

With a frown, she forced her eyes open and looked around. The rapid beeps were the sound of her heart on a monitor. She
was
in a state-of-the-art lab, machines hummed and whirled, but it wasn’t the place of her nightmares. In this lab there were computers on every gleaming surface and an unfamiliar petite redheaded who appraised her with a clinical intensity that reminded her of Dr. Rupple. Unsettled by her rapt attention, Katya tried to push herself to a sitting position. Hands immediately restrained her, and a deep, heavy pain surged through her chest.

Her heart gave a little jump, and she could clearly hear the beeping accelerate in tandem. She tensed to fight, but her legs and arms didn’t cooperate. God, she was so weak, and her chest hurt like hell. What the hell happened to her?

“Easy, Kat.” That was Kel’s voice. She recognized it, could almost let herself trust it. “You’re at Incog. You’re safe.” She turned and blinked at the tiny woman. Blood stained the front of Kel’s light gray shirt, darkening the red letters that read, “my boyfriend sucks.” Behind her there was a tall man, his long hair tied back; strange green and gold eyes stared back at her. The sight of the two blades strapped to his thighs had her struggling to a sitting position again.

Kel pushed at her shoulder. “Take it easy. He’s my bloodmate. He helped us out back at the Defoes’.”

Katya lay back on the gurney but couldn’t make her body relax. She hurt like hell, and that buzzing made it hard to think. The sterile smell around her left her on edge and wanting to escape. A low rumble of sound rolled up in her chest, and she coughed to dislodge it. It sounded and felt like a growl.

“Don’t go getting all grumbly on us, little sister.”

Katya rolled her head to the side to see Tag leaning back against a shiny metal table, his large body looking relaxed, but his dark eyes were alert. She licked her lips. Damn, they were dry, and her throat felt like paper. “What happened?”

The redheaded woman in the long white lab coat moved in close to her side, and Katya twisted into a defensive position in a panic. The heart monitor screeched, and she felt her eyes flicker into heat vision. Blackness edged her vision, and her head swam as unconsciousness licked at the corners of her mind, waiting. Ravenous. Pain shot mercilessly through her chest, and she gasped.

“Take it easy, Kat. This is just the doc. She’s not going to hurt you.” Kel had moved in close to her, her bloodmate shadowing closely behind her. “You’re at Incog,” she repeated.

Air sawed painfully through her lungs as she forced the blackness away, her gaze scanning the room again. The redheaded woman was pushing Tag out of her way as she cursed softly in a foreign language. The large Drachon had moved into a defensive position to protect the woman. Kel was obviously positioned to restrain her, her bloodmate hovering protectively. Did they think she was a threat? Did
she
?

Flashes of memory stabbed at her. The feel of blood oozing up through her fingers as she ripped into a body with her own two hands…and the satisfaction. Had she drunk from any of them? Was she finally going into blood dementia? She’d killed so mindlessly, without regret. She remembered that much. And the blood—

“Raife,” Katya croaked and tried to push up off the bed.

She remembered the overwhelming sense of danger to him. There had been so much blood. Her pulse surged into a faster beat. The accelerated sound of the heart monitor filled the room. Dr. Mahoney looked back at it, and her lips thinned.

“Raife is fine,” Kel reassured her, coaxing her to lie back. “Your blood healed him right up. It works real nice like that. If it works anything like it did with us, Raife will get to keep that nifty skill.”

“I need to take your blood pressure.” The doctor’s voice was soft with just a hint of an accent.
Irish?
She had long, pale fingers, and she waved them at Tag in irritation. Katya frowned up at the doctor when she lifted the blood pressure cuff so Katya could see it, her expression never changing. Katya flicked a glance to it, but instinct had her gaze returning to Tag. There was something in his body language that indicated he considered her a threat, and with the way he hovered over the doctor, it wasn’t difficult to figure out who he was most concerned with protecting.

“Step back, dipshit.” Kel pushed at Tag’s chest, but he didn’t budge. “You’re making Kat nervous.”

Did he know about what she’d done in the Defoe house tonight? He must think she was going to hurt them. She understood—she did—but it still ached. She and Tag had worked together for days. She’d come to treasure their friendship and his humor. He wasn’t looking at her with humor now. He was looking at her like the monster she feared becoming.

She was going to have to leave Incog, and then what? She had nowhere else to go.

“Seriously, Taggart.” The doctor spun on her heel and braced a fist against her hip. Impatience lined the stiffness of her back as she berated the big Drachon. “Don’t you have some files to uncover for me? While you’re here pounding your chest like some primate, I’m working blind.”

“Raife is en route as we speak.” Tag’s weighted gaze cut back to Katya, and he smiled boyishly, but she didn’t feel it. His gaze was still hard. “I think I’ll just keep an eye on my little sis here until the big guy gets back.”