Raven Investigation 04 - Electric Legend (25 page)

DAY FIVE: AN HOUR BEFORE SUNRISE

M
ore and more people gathered around to stare, many
of them still wearing blood and gore from the people they had just slaughtered.
Their clothes were soaked with blood, their mouth and teeth caked it like some
horror movie.

She thought they would be happy to be free.

Instead, fear brewed in the air, their focus on both her and
Taggert. They appeared undecided if they should run or attack, an angry mob in
the making.

Her breath hitched at the prospect of another fight, her
muscles shaking at even the thought of trying to defend herself. Taggert was
stretched to his limits already, while Durant’s body needed more time to heal,
not to mention that the constant shifting and fighting had pushed Jackson
nearly beyond his endurance.

Not good odds.

The need to extract her pack flooded her, and she scrambled
to come up with a plan to get them out of there alive without harming more
people.

Much to her surprise, Greggory, the man who just tried to
kill her, came to her aid. He strode forward and offered her his hand.
Taggert’s eyes glowed as the other male neared, his body tensing to attack, his
muscles shaking under the strain.

He would protect her even if it killed him.

Raven touched his arm. His gaze dropped to follow as her fingertips
traced over his skin, then he closed his eyes, relishing the intimate contact.

At what they had so nearly lost.

When she lifted her head again, Greggory hadn’t moved. Raven
wished to hell that she could read him, but his granite face revealed nothing.

Taking a chance, wondering if she could expect to be gutted
at any second, she accepted his hand.

He pulled her to her feet, then stepped back a respectable
distance … well, for a shifter anyway.

That meant she had a foot of space between them.

Damned touchy-feely shifters.

She didn’t get the vibe that he wanted to harm her, more
like keeping within striking distance in case it was needed, whether to kill
her or protect her, she wasn’t sure.

A scrawny kid hovered over his shoulder, sticking near Greggory,
but couldn’t seem to take his gaze away from her and Taggert.

She flinched and glanced away from the painful awe in his expression.

The kid was so close to cresting that she could all but see
his beast hovering around him, the creature nearly feral after being imprisoned
for so long. He’d been pushed to his breaking point. That he could still control
his bear after what he endured spoke of his strength. He had lots of potential.
If guided by the right person, he could be a powerhouse.

Greggory stepped between them, breaking the eye contract,
drawing her attention away from the boy as if he thought she would try to steal
him or something. “Why don’t we look over your injuries?”

Raven opened her mouth to protest she wasn’t hurt, then
slowly closed it again. He was giving her time. “Thank you.”

The whole crew followed them to his trailer, Durant, Jackson
and Taggert guarding her back. Jackson seemed almost too ready for a fight,
while Durant practically carried Taggert. The first change usually left a shifter
unconscious for days. That Taggert was even awake was a miracle.

Greggory opened the door to his trailer and vanished inside,
leaving the decision to follow up to her. Taking a deep breath, she entered the
confined space with a man who was stronger and faster than any shifter she’d
ever seen.

They were so close to being free she was hyperaware of
everything that could go wrong.

When the guys moved to follow, she waved them off. If they
all packed inside the tin can, they would be nothing more than sardines, no one
able to even breathe.

Too easy to slaughter.

She needed the extra space to maneuver in case he tried
something, and she wanted her men safe. “Stay out here and keep watch.”

Raven turned toward the trailer, implicitly trusting her
pack to guard her back.

Danger thickened in the air, and she hated not knowing what
to expect. Greggory didn’t ask her to his trailer to be nice.

He wanted something.

She took a deep breath, winced when her ribs protested, and
entered the trailer. The small click of the door behind her sounded like the
slam of a jail cell.

Run.

Trap.

Kill.

She battled with her dragon for control, and Greggory just
stared at her with knowing eyes, waiting to see what she decided.

Trust me.

The dragon hesitated, then reluctantly curled around her and
waited. She rubbed her fingers together, marveling at the tiny scales, evidence
of the dragon’s determination to protect her no matter what. The texture
should’ve been cold and hard, but all she felt was a comforting warmth … as if
she were stroking the dragon and not metal.

Greggory nodded and handed her a wet cloth. “You have some
blood on you.”

It had been a test, watching to see if she could control
herself. Her mouth went dry with the knowledge that if she’d failed, he
would’ve killed her. “Most of it’s not mine.”

That wasn’t the complete truth.

Strips of her skin from her back felt missing, shredded down
to the bone where he’d tried to rip out her spine, but she wasn’t quite ready
to present him with her back again.

Besides the motley of bruises dotting her body, her hips
throbbed where Jackson’s claws had pierced her them.

So no, she wasn’t dropping her pants for him, not when she
might need to fight for her life.

She grabbed the peace offering, her waxy, melted hands stinging
from the chemicals. She scrubbed her face and hands, glad to do something with
her shaky fingers. Things didn’t add up about Greggory. Shifters were trained
to fight since birth, but he had something more than training, something that couldn’t
be taught. His speed, his strength, even his partial shifts could be explained
by being an alpha.

Those bindings, they were still active.

He was working for more than just the kid.

Oh, she didn’t doubt his story, but there was more to it
than that. He’d been sent to investigate. Observe. But by whom and why?

He didn’t lie. She would’ve sensed it, but he didn’t tell
her the whole truth either. She relied so heavily on her gift that she took him
at face value and failed to dig deeper.

If she bothered to push harder, she would’ve noticed that he
conducted himself like some kind of spy.

And he was now focused on her and her men.

As her agitation rose, the current swelled in the air
between them, ready to rip him apart if he dared move against her pack. The
power reacted too swiftly, too ready to her call … and she felt the storm begin
to gather overhead again. Wind gusted and rocked the trailer, wanting to pry it
open to get at her. The burst of energy pushed her sore body to its breaking
point, even her hair hurt, but she didn’t care. She would protect her men. “Why
did you help me? Dragons were like a plague across the land.”

A faint whiff of fear burned in the air between them,
quickly snuffed out as his resolve rose. “If you believe the myths, then you
also know that it didn’t start out that way. You are not infected. Not
completely. You’re fighting it. If you were like the dragons of old, you
would’ve destroyed us instead of trying to help.”

“The dragon is waking.” He flinched at her words, and her
lips tightened in bitterness. “It’s only a matter of time. If the infection
ever takes over, it’ll be too late to stop.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Or maybe your pack will continue to
keep you in check.”

He knew.

Her eyes darted around the small trailer, looking for
anything that she could use as a weapon. She was in a weakened state. If he
came at her, she couldn’t be sure that she could win. Before she could work
herself up into a full panic, he lifted his hands. “Don’t you think it’s really
coincidental that there is not one, but two royals in this time and place when
there had been none for centuries?”

It took her brain a few seconds to process that he wasn’t
trying to think of ways to dispose of her body. Then another two as she
realized what he said. “You think royalty is being reborn for a reason.”

“The world is changing. Things are shifting in the
paranormal world. Hundreds of years ago, the royals kept us safe. Their beasts were
more primal and stronger, their bloodlines not diluted by years of inbreeding
and human taint.” He lowered his hands, his face intense. “Some danger,
something big, woke your dragon from its slumber. You chose Taggert for a
reason. My guess is you sensed his dormant genes. A queen collecting her guard.
I choose to believe that you’re our salvation, not our destruction. I think
we’re going to need your assistance before too long if we have any hope of
surviving.”

Raven swallowed hard at the faith he placed in her. “That’s
a hell of a gamble.”

He lifted a brow, completely confident. “Is it?”

Her gut clenched in dread at his surety. He knew something.
“What have you heard?”

His mouth tightened, his face growing grim. “Just rumors.”

But the look in his eyes said more.

He was afraid and that chilled her more than anything. “You’re
more than a bodyguard.”

His eyes darkened, turning almost black as his animal rose.
He didn’t deny it. “I came for the kid.”

Again, not a lie, but not the complete truth. He was so good
at hiding that she barely caught the slight altering of his scent. “And?”

Almost reluctantly, he sighed and placed his hands on the
countertop. Claws raked the surface, his fingers snapped, elongated … a partial
shift, as if he were battling a compulsion to even speak. “And found something
more. It has nothing to do with you. That’s all I can say.”

Nothing to do with her … this time.

He wouldn’t say more … or couldn’t.

Someone bound him against speaking about his real mission.

Raven didn’t like it, but didn’t push for more, suspecting
that his pain would only increase with each question. The wounds she’d
inflicted with the blade had stopped bleeding, but hadn’t healed completely despite
having shifted. “You should stitch your injuries.”

The tension eased out of his shoulders at the change of
subject, his hands melted back into normal fingers, and he glanced at her over
his shoulder, raising a brow. “A few cuts. I consider myself lucky to have come
out alive.”

He brushed away her concerns as unimportant, turning to face
her, curiosity brewing in his eyes. “You promised to tell me about yourself.”

Damn him for remembering.

Everything inside her protested the thought of sharing
anything more with this man. “I think you already know enough, don’t you?”

He shrugged and didn’t deny it, the closed-mouth, grumpy ass
bear back in charge. He gathered a few supplies around the trailer with
no-nonsense, efficient moves.

He set a few butterfly bandages on the table and pointed to
her hairline. “You might want to tape that up so the bleeding slows before you
go back outside.”

Then he was gone.

R
aven carefully folded the rag, her gut
clenched with worry that she wasn’t going to be strong enough to save them all
like he believed.

And the consequences if she failed.

No pressure.

Though she couldn’t see them, the tiny scales covering her
hands were like Braille dotting her skin. They felt like soft metal, cool and
warm to the touch. She flexed her fingers, the metal impenetrable but flexible.

Without thought, the scales melted away. Her skin tingled,
leaving her feeling vulnerable without the shield. She should be glad they were
gone, so why did she immediately feel uncomfortable … so human and weak?

When she opened the door to follow Greggory, she froze with
her hand on the knob, her foot partially lowered to the ground. Everyone stared
at her as if she’d committed some sort of faux pas, put on display like some
freak. “Durant?”

“They’re waiting for you to decide what’s going to be
happening next.” Though Durant remained a bit weak, his swagger had returned.
What attracted her to him in the first place was his complete confidence in his
place in the world. And though she didn’t understand it, he had the same
unshakable confidence in her as well.

It was intimidating.

And sexy as hell.

Even after everything they’d been through, nearly getting
him killed more than once, he trusted her implicitly, and she warmed with the
knowledge. Her hands tingled with the need to touch him, reassure herself that
they would be all right. He gave her a knowing smile, guessing where her
thoughts went, and she jerked her attention away to see everyone still gazing
at her.

“Next?” Raven blinked in confusion, fighting a blush,
struggling to keep her eyes from straying back to his very nice, very naked
chest on display. “We’ve stayed too long. We need to get back home.”

Stunned silence descended, everyone shuffling uncomfortably
as unease spread through the crowd. Eve stepped forward, her son’s hand tightly
gripped in her own. “What about us?”

Raven stepped down to give herself room to fight if it came
to it and carefully closed the door behind her. “You’re free. You can go
anywhere you want. I’m not going to stop you.”

No one moved.

Instead of being happy, they all appeared more uneasy. Eve
cleared her throat, patting her son’s hand and gazing at her beseechingly. “We
have nowhere else to go. Veronica wasn’t wrong. We are the weakest in the
paranormal world. We belong nowhere. We have a measure of safety here. Out there,
we’ll be defenseless again. Don’t take us away from here. Please.”

Jackson stepped to her side and nudged her arm. “You challenged
the alpha and won. What you decide here will change all our fates. If you
leave, you will be giving up standing, the carnival and the pack. This is an
invaluable opportunity … unheard of not to claim.”

Raven was floored.

They expected her to take over the pack, not because she
deserved it, but because she challenged Clancy’s rule. Jackson kept his face
neutral, no inflection in his voice to even hint at what he felt.

Everything inside her rebelled at the thought of keeping
them prisoner, and she was beyond tired. She wanted to go home, find a bed and
pile in with her pack and not think for a month. “You don’t need me. You killed
him all on your own. You’re already a pack, and I have my own.”

That wasn’t quite true. No one had ever stood up to Clancy
and lived to tell about it. Raven suspected that it wouldn’t have changed
either without her interference.

Interference that could land her in a boatload of trouble if
anyone else found out. Since the circus didn’t operate above board, they didn’t
have a standing, but other alphas would still look at her and wonder. To some,
it wouldn’t matter that the circus had taken her prisoner, that she had a right
to retaliate and protect her pack in any way she thought fit. To them, she was
so weak that she allowed her pack to be taken. That she deserved anything
Clancy dished out.

Eve gave her a tentative smile, hope lining her face for the
first time since they’d met. “We can run the carnival the way it was supposed
to be done … a safe haven for those in need.”

She wasn’t asking permission, more letting Raven know it was
no longer her concern, her stilted posture both warning and pleading with Raven
not to protest.

The crew cast nervous looks between the two women, creeping
closer to Eve to protect her even though she wasn’t a shifter.

They were family.

It was enough, and Raven found herself nodding. “I think
that would be a very good idea. The circus is a fairytale to most and holds a
certain place in the shifter world. It would be a shame for it to end. This
place can offer hope to those who need it. Far be it for me to take that away.”

Eve stared at her for a few more seconds as if waiting for
her to change her mind, then her face split into a wide grin. “We’ll make it
work. We’ll run the place the way it was intended.”

Earnestness and determination shone in her eyes.

Excited babble spread through the crowd.

Raven believed them, and her spirits lifted to know a place
like this existed. As they began to talk, Raven slipped away, glad not to have
the added responsibility of the circus and left them to plan for a future they
never expected.

Her three men waited for her, all so different and all so
captivating she couldn’t take her eyes off them. They were all bruised and
bloody, but she’d never seen anything so good in her life. Durant radiated
confidence and sexiness enough that she wanted to lean up close and lick him
just for a taste. He oozed so much charm that he made her feel things she’d
long ago given up hope of ever having. He had the sheer strength to hold his
own pack, but was confident enough to stand back and let her lead. He had his
freedom from all pack ties, and had given it up for her.

Jackson had more rough edges, completely hardcore, and
incredibly yummy in his determination to protect her. It was more than just a
job to him, and she adored his protectiveness. He made her feel special and not
because she was a rare female alpha. He looked deeper, saw her for who she was,
and wanted her anyway.

He left a powerful pack to be with her.

He could’ve stayed, but he chose her.

He always chose her first.

Taggert didn’t match the others upon first perusal, shorter
and slimmer and much less intimidating. Yet, even grubby and exhausted,
everything about him fascinated her. He had been a rogue all his life, recently
a slave until she’d rescued him. His submissiveness made her teeth ache, his
devotion to her leaving her uncomfortable at first, but now she found it sexy
as hell. Underneath, he had a will of iron, quickly taking over and running her
life behind the scenes as if he’d been born to it. He’d risked his life for
hers over and over, his silent strength earning her trust. She underestimated
him, thought him weak, but nothing could be further from the truth. When he
touched her, his feelings shone in his eyes. He held nothing back, making her
want to give him everything in return.

They’d all wormed their way into her life, forced her out of
her shell until she couldn’t imagine her life without them.

Raven vowed to do whatever it took to live up to their faith
in her.

“Raven, wait up.”

Eve caught up with her, her face uncertain for the first
time. “You’ve dealt with the council. Can you tell me what to expect?”

“From what I understand, the circus functions outside the
council. Inform them of the changes, that you are now the new spokeswoman, and
they will be dealing with you moving forward.”

“And that I’m not a shifter?” Eve lifted her chin, not
ashamed of her heritage.

“That’s a bit trickier. The council can be capricious, but
they won’t shoot themselves in the foot. The circus performs a function that
they can’t.” A mischievous smile kicked up her lips. “Remember, the council is
made up of more than just shifters. Open the circus up to all fractions of the
supernatural world. Things are changing, and the circus is needed now more than
ever. Help those you can, but be selective.”

Eve chewed her lip, and glanced over at the small crew
gathered behind her, the weight of leadership settling on her shoulders. The
constant worry. The second-guessing.

“You’ll be a good leader.”

Eve met her gaze squarely as if to read the truth of it
herself, a tinge of magic dusting the air. “You think so?”

“You care. It will make you both soft and ruthless. You know
what will happen if things go bad, and you won’t let it happen again.” Raven
let the words sink into her mind. It was a warning, and Eve took it as such. “You’ll
defend and fight for these people with your life. It’s enough.”

“Thank you.” Eve turned then paused, looking back over her
shoulder one last time. “If you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”

Not waiting for a response, Eve strode back toward her
people, confidence straightening her spine.

Raven turned, past ready to leave, when she saw Greggory standing
off to the side. “What do you plan to do next?”

He hesitated, uncertain for the first time since she’d met
him. “It’s still too dangerous for us to return home, not until the kid shifts
and learns how to defend himself. Here’s as good a place as any.”

Raven followed his gaze to see the kid shoveling food into
his mouth as fast as he could swallow, his bony shoulders and scrawny fame so
thin it looked painful. Another day or two in captivity and she doubted he
would’ve been able to recover.

When she glanced at Greggory again, she found him watching
Taggert speculatively. “He will not be able to control himself. He’ll cause you
trouble. Are you sure he’s worth it?”

A shiver ran down her spine at his not so innocent question,
and she couldn’t answer him past the lump of fear in her throat. She wasn’t
sure if he wanted Taggert for himself or destroyed altogether. Either way, it
wasn’t happening. Armor slotted together at the threat, becoming so second
nature that Raven barely paid it any attention as she waited for Greggory to
make his move.

At her silence, he continued. “I wouldn’t have hesitated to
kill him at the first opportunity just for the threat he posed, but you see
something else when you look at him, don’t you?”

Her hackles rose at his kill-first attitude. “He’s my
friend, my pack. He’s not a weapon to be used.”

“I never would’ve believed you could contain him if I hadn’t
seen it with my own eyes.” Greggory turned those deadly eyes on her and smiled
for the first time, transforming him into something even more dangerous, a charming
man who would do anything to fulfill his own agenda, and she suspected that he
was fully capable of shutting down the freak show without her help if it hadn’t
been for the boy. “He will guard you well.”

“He’s not some damned guard dog.” Raven’s fiery anger sizzled
through the petrifying fear that threated to encase her in stone. She refused
to back down and allow anyone to treat him as less than a full member of her
pack. “We protect each other.”

It was a warning.

If he went after her men, she would put him down.

He seemed amused by her threat.

“You and your pack appear to be perfectly suited to each
other. They’re all incredibly strong. Including you.” His casual tone set her
back up.

Too casual.

He wanted something.

She stiffened, more wary than if he’d just outright attacked
them. “Just say it.”

“Remember our conversation. Watch and keep on guard. I have
a feeling that you and your pack are going to be shaking up the paranormal
world soon.” He flashed her another smile, then offered her a formal bow. “It’s
been a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to learning what mischief you can
get yourselves into. Just be careful. Something out there is very determined that
we not survive, and they won’t fight fair. You and yours are the biggest
obstacle, which also makes you the biggest targets.”

Stunned by his pronouncement and that he’d actually been
trying to be nice, Raven did nothing as he turned on his heel and disappeared
into the darkness like a ghost.

He reminded her of Randolph, the pack assassin, but
worse—he’d slipped under her radar for days without her being aware of the
threat.

The idea chilled her to her bones, the sensation so strong
she could only describe it as a premonition.

It brought home that he was not her friend, that someone had
paid him to spy, and he’d had the whole week to assess her and her pack.

A niggle of worry grew at the back of her mind.

She was on someone else’s radar now.

She couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before she
could expect trouble.

Someone bigger, badder and possibly more dangerous than the
council.

The council at least followed a set of rules.

Something told her Greggory only followed his own.

She was tempted to call up a bit of current and tag him, but
held herself back, beginning to learn not to poke the beast.

Right now all she wanted was to gather her pack and go home.