Raven Investigation 04 - Electric Legend (10 page)

Raven took his silence as acceptance. With a deep breath,
she braced herself for a world of pain.

“This is going to hurt.” Not waiting for his reaction, she fed
power into the metal. A tumbling mix of caustic energy rose from her bones, so
strong it was like pure bleach burning in her veins for a few seconds before
she grabbed control.

Everything went as planned for a few seconds, the blue
current pooling in her hands, and she welcomed the cool tingle. Then it
changed, turned darker, red twisting through the blue current like vines. The soothing
burn changed until if felt like someone was filleting flesh from bone. Without
her core or her beast to funnel the magic, it hurt like a bitch, but she didn’t
stop.

The blue and red current quickly ate up the length of the
chain, heating the metal to scalding, before splashing back into her body like
molten lava. Her body jerked, trying to make her drop the chain and escape the agony.

Stubborn to her core, Raven tightened her grip and refused
to let go. She funneled the excess energy back into her body so the others
wouldn’t sense what she was doing. When the pain became unbearable, tiny plates
under her skin clicked into place, the armor shielding her from the worst of
it. Without her gloves, she saw faint lines of silver bubble up on her hands, a
liquid metal scoring across her skin, leaving a delicate filigree behind as it
cooled.

It took her seconds to recognize the tiny pattern.

Scales.

She curbed as much energy as she could away from Leo, but could
smell singed fur as it continued to burn up the metal. A low grumble vibrated
from the beast’s chest, his hide rippling as static bit and snapped along his
body.

Her muscles tensed as she waited for his fangs to sink into
her flesh, but those pale brown eyes met her own with a grim determination to
hold out as long as possible. She directed a fraction of the energy to his aura
and encountered a silvery static film wrapped around his beast.

A shield of some kind.

She’d never looked at the aura of an animal, surprised to
learn they even had one.

The energy was animalistic.

Wild and primitive.

Nothing like a human, more of a shield, and she wasn’t sure
how her energy would affect it.

She needed to connect to his human side or all their plans
would all be for nothing. She pushed through the silver curtain, the static crackling
along her mind like icepicks being jammed into her skull. Acid crawled up her
throat just as she poked through the shield and slammed into his beast.

Stuck between the two layers, energy rose like a cloud of
fireflies as his shield steadily fed off his aura.

There was no balance and without it, one part of his soul
would wither and die.

His beast was stronger, fighting to live. He staved off the
inevitable for as long as possible, but if he didn’t shift soon, his beast
would consume his human self completely. 

Once the human side of him vanished completely, he would
turn feral.

There was no coming back from that.

Ignoring those troubling thoughts, she focused on his aura.
Darkness slashed through it in spots, the muted colors all faded. The only
thing that burned bright was the deep-seated need for vengeance.

She could work with that.

She stitched tiny strands of current together, weaving a
safety net around him, enough to cover his scent.

Colors became more vibrant, almost glowing as she planted the
false aura.

When he turned human, this new aura would take over. Unfortunately,
without a steady stream of energy, he would burn through it fast.

Just when her brain felt ready to boil, the metal turned to
taffy. She grabbed his collar and pulled down as hard as she could.

And fell on her ass when it tore in half in her hands.

“It worked.” She stared at the collar dumbly before turning
toward him. “You need to change into your human form as soon as you can. They
won’t expect it. I managed to alter your scent, so it will be harder for them
to track you, but it won’t last long before it fades. An hour tops.”

Without waiting for his reply, she grabbed the weakened pack
bonds and drew down hard. The strands snapped like a rubber band, the
reverberation felt by everyone in the pack.

Awe and a painful hope brightened the big beast’s eyes. The
lion took one last look at her and hesitated as if he didn’t want to leave her
behind to face the consequences, the human and beast in him at war.

If he stayed, they’d both be caught and punished.

“Run.” The word scraped painful against her throat.

Understanding darkened his eyes. He leaned toward her, then
lowered his massive head. She expected to feel teeth and claws, but the
majestic beast remained perfectly still.

Bowing.

A show of submissiveness to her.

She tentatively reached out and ran her hand down his nose then
drew back and closed her fingers into a fist. The armor was gone, leaving
behind a deep ache. “Go.”

He lifted his head high, a tall, proud king of the jungle, then
leapt out the door in a powerful display of muscles.

Raven watched him lope toward freedom, then tore her eyes
away to see if anyone had noticed. The lax guards consisted of nothing more than
a group of dissolute circus workers, greasy hair slicked back, smoking
cigarettes as they played cards.

Unfortunately, one happened to look up at that exact moment.
The lion only reached the halfway mark to the forest when the first shout rose.
The men scattered, the table tipped and crashed over. Drinks went flying, cards
fluttered in the air before drifting to the ground like confetti.

Three men ran to get help, while the fourth grabbed a gun he
had stashed under one of the trailers. She recognized him from the first
night—the coward who lingered in the shadows as the three werebeasts took her
captive.

He was calm, no rush to his movement.

He must be head of security.

He was a tad overweight with thin, shaggy hair, just this
side of forty-ish, but still in good shape. His hazel eyes observed everything.
He had a hard edge, nothing penetrating his Zen-like calm. The way he caressed
his gun like a prized pet, but his brutish features indicated he wasn’t opposed
to getting dirty.

Humans were beneath him.

He felt apart and distant from them.

Better.

He jogged in her direction, searching for the perfect shot,
his eyes locked on the lion. The man knelt, lifted the rifle to his shoulder, the
movement smooth with the ease of long practice.

A soldier of some type.

Possibly a mercenary if working here.

Spit dried out of her mouth as he took aim. She couldn’t
watch someone be killed in cold blood. Jumping to her feet, Raven hurtled
herself from the cage. The dragon gave her a boost of pure energy. For one
second, she defied gravity and glided effortlessly through the air as she
cleared the ten-foot gap in a single bound. Wind rippled in her hair and tugged
at her clothes as she smashed into the man, and they crashed into the
hard-packed earth.

Raven rolled and landed face-first in the dirt, her breath
knocked out of her.

The gun discharged harmlessly in the air.

With shaky arms, Raven pushed herself upright and saw the
lion disappear into the thicket.

“You stupid bitch. Your little stunt just cost us a fortune.”

Raven didn’t point out to him that killing the shifter
would’ve done the same. When she turned and glanced up, she met the clear,
thunderous gaze of a sociopath. The butt of the rifle slammed into her face,
much too late for her to dodge.

Pain cracked across her temple.

She didn’t even feel her head bounce against the ground.

She told herself to move, but her body no longer obeyed her
commands. Buzzing filled her ears, and she focused on just staying conscious.

People gathered … more soldiers.

Raven very much doubted the man gave a shit about the money.
He was pissed she messed up his hunt and allowed his prey to escape. Even now,
his heart raced with the thrill of the chase, the chance to stalk something bigger
and deadlier. It didn’t matter he used guns and a veritable army against one
shifter who had nothing more than teeth and claws to defend himself.

“You think you’ve helped him. You only made it worse. We’re
going to hunt him down.” The man who hit her grabbed her hair and wrenched her
head back. He leaned forward, his caustic breath working like smelling salts.
She twisted to get away until she feared she was going to be scalped. “When we bring
back with his corpse, I’m going to enjoy taking the cost of losing him out of
your hide.”

Raven couldn’t help it, she smiled. “Good luck with that.”

He shoved her away so suddenly, Raven fell backward. Before
she could rise, a kick to her ribs took her by surprise, and she lost the
ability to breathe. Another kick hit her low in the back, the stunning pain
wrapping around her body.

A giant roar reverberated in the air.

Durant.

She saw him charge the cage, his claws hooking into one of
the bystanders, shredding flesh as he slowly reeled the man toward his open maw
full of inch-long teeth. A terrible scream rippled in the air. The man writhed
on the claws, trying to get loose before he finally managed to yank himself
away, tearing the flesh of his shoulder to ribbons in the process.

His actions probably saved his life.

It all happened in seconds.

Energy gathered around Durant in waves as he prepared to
shift, and she gave a short shake of her head.

He couldn’t change, or they’d lose their ace in the hole.

He wanted to ignore her, fight to save her. Only when his
great head dropped to hang between his shoulders did her heart break at his
defeated posture.

So distracted by the action, she missed the chance to block
the third kick to her stomach.

It took all her control not to grab his leg and rip it off.

She had to appear human.

Weak.

A small rumble of protest filled her chest, and she
swallowed it back without giving it voice.

Her hair fell forward and covered her face. More
importantly, covering the glow in her eyes as the dragon tried to peer out at
their tormentor.

 Flashes of the labs came back to her with the force of a
freight train. The frequent beatings, the torture—it was all too easy to
remember how to act. She curled into a ball and shouted to be heard above the
screaming man in the background. “The chain broke while I was working in the
cage. I couldn’t stop him. All I could do was get out of the way.”

As suddenly as it started, the beating stopped. Every inch
of her throbbed and burned, and she was too afraid to move and bring attention
to herself. She cautiously lifted her head a fraction and spotted the beast-like
trackers gathered around, crouched like well-behaved dogs, salivating and
waiting for the command to attack.

She wondered if he would set them on her just to watch them
tear her apart.

Petrifying fear held her frozen, and probably saved her life.
Any defiance and she didn’t doubt he would’ve continued beating her.

As if the screaming interrupted his enjoyment, the mercenary
bellowed over his shoulder, the fingers wrapping around the trigger of his gun.
“Shut that man up, or I will do it myself.”

He continued to watch her, enjoyed letting her stew in her
terror. He wanted to kill her, let them tear her apart, but he still needed her
as a hostage.

He spun away, his agitated movements revealing his deep
anger at being denied a second time. He tipped the rifle back to rest against his
shoulder and studied the ragtag group of men that surrounded him, eyes
narrowing in frustration. “Grab your weapons. I want that lion found.”

He left her pinned by the werebeasts, taking pleasure in
punishing her the only way he could without garnering retaliation for harming
her.

Little did he know that he tapped into one of her worst
nightmares.

She battled with the memories of her past.

The dragon hovered under her skin, waiting for her signal.

She couldn’t let herself fall apart.

Not yet.

The werebeasts staring at her might partially resemble
humans, but there was nothing but pure beast behind their eyes. Raven saw none
of the circus as memories of the cement walls of the labs rose in her mind. They’d
locked her in a room with the werebeasts, waiting for her to change and defend
herself from the half-formed monsters.

It never happened.

The animals tore into her flesh.

By the time the scientists realized their mistake, Raven had
bled out.

It was the first time she’d ever died.

R
aven had been ten the first time she died. Her
power had been in its infancy, growing slowly over time to protect her. She
idly wondered if no one had ever threatened her, if she had grown up with a normal
life, if her powers would’ve ever manifested at all.

The labs discovered her gift in the middle of one of her
daily tortured sessions. They thought she was a shifter and wanted her to
crest. When they discovered she was something else, they wanted to trigger her powers
again by repeating the torture over and over again.

To study it.

Nightmares of what they’d done to her had haunted her for
years, where the smallest sight of blood would cause her chest to tighten, her
pulse to pound. She thought she’d gotten over it, but seeing the werebeasts
waiting to attack brought it all back.

The dragon roared in her head, clawing up her insides with
the demand for freedom. Blind panic allowed her to block the beast, which only
infuriated the creature more. Her fear had transferred to the dragon, the
creature frantic to be free to protect her.

Rational thoughts returned slowly.

If she changed, she would be taken again.

Studied.

Not going to happen.

She was not prey.

The dragon eased back as her panic dissipated, but it didn’t
go back to her slumber. Raven uncurled, never removing her gaze from the werebeasts.
She heard people talking, planning the hunt, but no one paid her any attention.
Sweaty and shaken, she tucked the distinctive silver streaks away and faced the
beasts. One by one, the werebeasts gave a low whine and dropped their gazes,
cowing as the alpha in her rose to the surface.

The hunter stepped between them, casting her a glance of
pure displeasure when she didn’t melt into a ball of tears. “Throw her in the
kennel. If she likes them so well, she can live with them. I’ll deal with her
when I get back.”

* * *

They dragged her to the one cage she’d been avoiding.

The ghost of some shifter lingered in that cage.

Ghosts were just left over energy and usually faded in time.
Shifters didn’t normally turn into ghosts as they consumed their energy much
too fast to leave any of it behind when they died. Only very disturbed spirits
lingered in the human world. Uncaring of her struggle, the two men tossed her
inside and slammed the door shut behind her.

Rage vibrated in the air, swarming around her as if seeking
to infect her.

If she had been anyone else, it might have succeeded.
Instead, she grabbed the teeming energy and wrenched down on it, hard and fast.

The ghost gave a howl of denial and vanished.

Some type of wolf.

People who lingered around the cage to taunt her shifted
uneasily as their vitriol anger evaporated. Raven might have banished the ghost
for now, but it wasn’t gone completely. It lingered in the cage, more cautious
this time, waiting for the opportunity to cause trouble.

It wouldn’t leave without getting vengeance on those who
wronged him.

After an hour when the wolf ghost didn’t return, Raven
finally began to relax. The circus would open soon. So far, none of her pack except
Durant had learned of her predicament, which she could only be grateful. They
would rip apart the place if they saw her like this. Eve had passed by the
kennels to check on her work and paled to see her locked away. She kept her
distance, not wanting Raven’s stupidity to rub off on her.

Raven sat in the middle of the cage, using the time to
strengthen her shields, knowing she wasn’t going to enjoy what was to come. She
needed to keep up pretenses, and fought her body’s natural inclination to heal,
but the most she could do was slow the effects and hope no one looked too
closely.

The flashbacks of the labs left her deeply disturbed.

She thought she’d put that life behind her when she’d
destroyed the labs.

Apparently not.

With no rush to his steps, the same mystery man who had
taken her from the cage when she first woke that morning walked toward the guy
Durant had speared with his claws. Possibly a doctor of some sort. Greggory
tore away the shirt with brisk movements, studied the injury, then heaved the
man to his feet with no regard to the pain he inflicted.

The injured man bellowed in agony, barely managing to stay upright.
The doctor cast her an indiscernible look as she sat behind the bars of the
cage, and she felt like she’d disappointed him in some way by getting caught.

Time passed on pins and needles as she waited for something
to happen. Two hours had gone by since a small army of ten men and six beasts
had disappeared into the forest.

None had returned.

No shots had been fired.

It worked. The shifter got away.

Raven should be ecstatic, but a seed of doubt lingered. She
just hoped that she hadn’t set a wild beast loose on the human population. When
she broke the bonds, the lion had been more beast than man. Reverberations of
breaking the bonds could be devastating. The pack might have been the only
thing keeping him sane. It had been a gamble, and she prayed he listened and changed
into his human form at the first opportunity. If he waited, his beast would
take over completely.

Another ten minutes passed before she saw movement at the
tree line.

The hunters had returned.

No one spoke.

The small victory sent a ripple of pleasure through her, and
she allowed herself to stretch bonelessly, relaxing for the first time since
they’d disappeared. Raven wasn’t sure how the lion did it, but he’d eluded
capture and escaped.

The mercenary paused outside her cage, repressed fury
vibrating from him. He wasn’t a shifter, but there was something not quite stable
about him, which made him almost more dangerous. Just your friendly
neighborhood sociopath. “Gather everyone and get Clancy.”

Raven grabbed the cage bars and pulled herself to her feet,
ignoring the agony as her stiff muscles screamed for mercy.

She would not show weakness to this man.

No one moved as they stared each other down. A snarl curled
his lips at the silent challenge. That she wasn’t broken only seemed to infuriate
him all the more. A vein throbbed in his forehead, and he barked out a command.
“Now!”

Only when everyone scattered did he march off, his stride
stiff.

Raven feared she had made a mistake, nothing she could
pinpoint, but the hunter knew something was off. He would keep digging until he
found a way to destroy her. Her timetable just shrank if they wanted to get out
of this alive.

In minutes, the whole circus had gathered around the cage. Half
the audience laughed and joked, taking pleasure in her predicament. A few
rogues joined laughed nervously, afraid of retaliation if they didn’t join in
the heckling, but they couldn’t stop staring at Leo’s empty cage, painful hope
in their eyes. The shifters in the crowd avoided looking at her, knowing that
in other circumstances it could’ve been them. They shuffled their feet, but
none dared protest and that only deepened their shame.

Their silence was worse.

Oppressive.

A movement in the crowd drew her attention, and Raven didn’t
see anyone but Jackson and Taggert as they pushed their way toward the front.
When they reached the cage, she gave a tiny shake of her head.

Both men halted on the spot.

Jackson stood at rigid attention, his anger all contained,
his mind working on solutions. Energy crackled around Taggert, waiting to erupt,
the emotions so violent people nervously backing away from him.

The crowd parted, falling silent as Clancy strode forward. A
fierce scowl twisted his meaty lips. He studied her in the cage, then slowly
shook his head, his face drooping in pity. “My rules are simple to follow. I
don’t want to punish you, but you left me with no choice.”

Funny enough, Raven believed him. Not that he felt anything
toward her, but she suspected it had more to do with control. To keep it, he
had to prove he was the alpha.

All eyes landed on her, and she raised her chin.

Whatever he did to her, she could handle it.

It had been worth it.

The malicious gleam in his eyes didn’t bode well, and she rubbed
her fingers together, trying to ease the ache of claws pressing against her
fingertips. “You must select one of your men to spend a week in the pit.”

Raven stiffened, not expecting the guys to face the brunt of
her defiance, but she should’ve guessed it from what Eve had said. “What is the
pit?”

A man nearly seven feet tall stepped forward, a giant who
had to weigh over three hundred pounds, and all of it muscle. He carried little
power, but it wasn’t needed with his massive form. He carried shifter blood,
but it was so diluted that she suspected he couldn’t actually shift.  

He stood hunched over, his arms so long that they hung down close
to his knees, giving him an extra-long reach. Those meaty fists of his could
kill with a single blow. Stringy hair sprouted from his knuckles, hell from
every surface of his body. His large forehead and pronounced brows only
emphasized her impression.

If she didn’t know better, she’d swear he carried gorilla
blood.

“Goliath here is our champion fighter. Every night after
closing, we put on a show for those who are willing to pay. One of your men
will be his new opponent for the next week.”

If the giant didn’t kill them outright.

Shifters could take a beating and survive, but there had to
be enough of them left to heal. She clenched her hands on the bars to keep from
doing something stupid … like reaching through them and killing Clancy.

The only thing that stopped her was the bastard stood too
close to both Taggert and Jackson, the threat clear. She wouldn’t be able to
reach him in time before he could slaughter one, if not both.

“You know your men best.” He circled the boys. “I’m being
generous and allowing you to select the one who will face off with him.
Choose.”

“No.” Raven couldn’t condemn one of them to that fate.

People gasped, and Clancy’s face darkened.

Then in a move that weakened her knees, he pulled out a gun
and pointed the gun directly at Taggert then Jackson. “You will choose one, or
I will take the choice away from you.”

She had no doubt he would kill one of them just out of spite
for challenging him. Impotent rage slashed through her, spreading acid in its
wake. Danger thickened the air, her fingers tightening on the bars until the
metal began to bend.

Her hand tingled painfully. As her anger grew, the prickling
sensation increased. Red magic settled into her palms, as if her flesh were
being held over a fire and slowly roasted.

She’d felt it only once before.

She flexed her hands and swore she could almost touch the
cool metal of her sword just out of her reach.

If she called for the blade, it would come.

It wanted to taste blood, wanted vengeance for those who
would take what was theirs.

She probed the ancient magic and realized it wanted to show
her it could help. It wasn’t completely sentient anymore, but it hadn’t died out
as she’d hoped. There was an awareness to the magic, a need to do her bidding.
Every time she called upon it, it would feed and grow stronger, and fully
cement their bond.

Despite the danger, the promise of freedom beckoned.

A gentle wind swept through the cage, the ghost gathering in
the corner as if drawn by her strong emotions. The wolf was more aware,
watching instead of reacting, waiting for the perfect opening.

Waiting to see if she would start a war.

The dragon coiled around her, and Raven gritted her teeth,
not willing to be swayed.

Instead, the creature opened their connection and a
smothering fear threatened to consume her.

If they left, one of her pack would die.

The knowledge hit her with the force of a two-by-four, and
her legs threatened to give out.

Raven wasn’t sure if it was a premonition, but the dragon
was so certain that all thoughts of fighting vanished. She shook her fingers and
banished the urge to call for the blade before she accidently summoned it.

The wolf heaved a sigh, knowing the opportunity had passed,
and winked out of existence.

The mercenary watched her, knowledge gleaming in his eyes.
He suspected she was more than human. If she wasn’t careful, he would learn the
truth and come after her next.

The loud click of the hammer being pulled back slammed into
her like a hurricane, tearing her composure until she was left exposed like a
raw nerve.

She had to choose.

Eagerness hovered around Taggert. Though he didn’t move, he practically
bounced on his feet. He craved the fight, his temper on simmer as he noted
every bruise, every one of her injuries. His emotions were too wild, his need for
vengeance overshadowing everything else. His impotent anger wrapped around her
like a delicious aroma that called to her beast.

Jackson, on the other hand, stood without moving, repressed energy
hovering under his skin, ever the enforcer. He had more than brute strength and
speed, but years of battles and strategy to fall back on.

He dipped his head, volunteering for the job.

It didn’t make it easier to choose him, but he had the best
chance for survival, and they both knew it.

“Jackson.”

With one word, it felt like she reached into her chest and gouged
out her heart.

A snarl twisted Taggert’s face at not being selected, his
eyes glimmering brighter with no way to vent his rage. His lack of control
trickled along her nerves, the hair on the back of her neck rising, and her heart
trembled with the knowledge that he’d snap soon if something wasn’t done.

“Take him and get him ready for tonight.” The ringmaster
turned and gave her a smile. “I’m so glad you’ve seen things my way. I hope we
can continue to work together.”