Electric series- Raven Investigations BoxSet

by Stacey Brutger

  Then she noticed the odd angles of the body, his frame contorted in a way that wasn’t physically possible … not if he had bones.

  Bits of white bones poked through the flesh.

  All broken.

  She’d seen these injuries before.

  In the labs.

  It was what happened when they were finished with their test subjects. They took what they wanted from the body and threw out the remains like trash.

  Her chest hurt.

  Her lungs screamed for air.

  No matter how much she wanted to run, she couldn’t seem to move. She frantically scanned the surroundings, waiting for the sadistic doctors to emerge like spiders crawling out of the darkness. Taggert and Durant spread out and searched for the threat, and she wanted to scream at them to run, but couldn’t seem to get her mouth to work.

  Jackson knelt by her side, and she remembered he had some medical training. He didn’t touch the body, just poked and prodded a bit. Without skin, even the lightest touch of air had to be agony. “If you want him to survive, he’ll need a lot of blood and fast. We’ll need to jumpstart the healing process or the blood will leak out of him as fast as we put it in him.”

  “What?” Raven’s head whipped up, and she fell on her backside. “He’s still alive?”

  “Vampires are by definition dead. They didn’t remove his head or heart.” His face turned grim. “They wanted you to find him like this.”

  Raven swallowed hard at the nasty task before her. “I can cauterize his wounds.”

  Her magic would basically burn him alive.

  If she messed up, she could literally turn him to ash.

  At Jackson’s nod, she pulled all the current toward her and carefully wrapped the strands around the body and cooked him until the skin scabbed over.

  The smell of charred flesh stuck in her nose, coated her mouth, and she barely resisted the urge to vomit. Sweat gathered between her shoulder blades, and her whole body protested the prolonged use of magic, but Raven refused to drop her hold, not until he was whole.

  Then the corpse moved.

  His hand clamped on her arm, blood squished between its fingers and dripped down her arm. Raven sucked in a sharp breath, swallowing her scream, the energy fizzling and soaking harmlessly into the ground with a nasty snap of electricity to her hands that left her whole arms tingling and numb.

  “Rylan? Can you hear me? I’m here. You’re going to be okay.”

  “They took him.” The words emerged almost unintelligible without lips and his tongue shredded to ribbons.

  Everything inside her stilled.

  It wasn’t Rylan.

  The blood and lack of skin had obscured the scent and all recognizable features.

  It took her brain a few seconds to recognize a certain tenor in the voice. “Nicholas?”

  Nicholas had gotten on the bad side of his master, and he’d come to her for help. He’d shown her his loyalty by risking his life to help save her pack. In return, Raven had vouched for him, and brought him home with her on the excuse that she needed him to guard Rylan’s back.

  It was supposed to keep him safe, not get him killed.

  “Who?”

  “Humans.” Blood drippled down the side of his face, coughed up from his lungs, revealing one of his fangs was chipped.

  No humans could take two vampires without training.

  Her whole body chilled as the truth became starkly clear.

  The labs had finally produced viable paranormal soldiers and they were coming after her.

  Their original soldier.

  The world stopped spinning as the dragon roared in fury, ready to hunt and tear the world apart and kill everyone who threatened her pack.

  She messed up, got noticed, and they tracked her back here.

  She couldn’t help but wonder if the humans were the threat that Greggory sensed.

  Most shifters believed they were invincible, the top of the food chain. More than a few shifters would never believe they could be taken down by humans.

  They would be very wrong.

  She met Jackson’s concerned gaze, her lips numb as she spoke. “The people from the labs found us.”

  Durant placed his hand on her shoulder, offering comfort and support. Then his grip tightened, as if he alone could keep her safe within his arms. “And they set the perfect trap to lure you out.”

  ~ The End ~

  Electric Night

  Raven Investigations Novel Book 5

  Stacey Brutger

  AN INSIDIOUS EVIL ENDANGERS THE FRAGILE PEACE BETWEEN THE HUMANS AND PARANORMALS. IF WAR ERUPTS, NEITHER SIDE WILL EMERGE UNSCATHED.

  Raven will go to any extreme to locate the missing member of her pack, even confront her murky past that still has the power to haunt her. A wild hunt leads her to an isolated mountaintop, where she and her pack are taken captive, and she learns that her nightmares are all-to real and more dangerous than ever. Every minute is a struggle to stay alive against the humans who would use her kind as nothing more than test subjects in their fanatical search to create the ultimate weapon against paranormals.

  EVERY MINUTE IS A STRUGGLE TO STAY ALIVE…

  Determined no one else should suffer the tortures she endured as a child, Raven risks everything to destroy the labs, even bringing her pack to the brink of annihilation. If she can’t make peace with her past, she will not only lose her pack, but incite an all-out war between humans and paranormals.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations for articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials.

  Copyright © 2017 Stacey Brutger

  Cover artist: Amanda Kelsey of Razzle Dazzle Design (www.razzdazzdesign.com)

  Editor: Faith Freewoman (www.demonfordetails.com)

  All rights reserved.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To my fans…thank you for all your support!

  It means the world to me.

  And to my husband —

  I couldn’t do this without you.

  Chapter One

  DAY ONE: THREE WEEKS AFTER RYLAN DISAPPEARED

  Static nipped painfully along her skin while Raven stared broodingly at the city glowing in the distance. Clouds brewed overhead, moisture heavy in the air as she gathered up all the delicious power and focused on the horizon.

  Her black hair swirled in an invisible wind, the silver streaks shimmering in the darkness. She concentrated on the energy coiling around her, drawing the current inward, and the strands of her hair gradually settled around her shoulders as she absorbed every ounce of energy.

  Closing her eyes, she unleashed everything she’d gathered in a brutal wave of pure electricity.

  The volatile charge rumbled through the clouds, growing, spreading, until lightning forked through the air.

  She followed the zap of energy when it hit the ground, followed while the earth soaked up the power, then studied everything she spotted in that one millisecond.

  Humans.

  Animals.

  A few shifters.

  A gaggle of witches.

  But no vampires.

  No sign of Rylan at all.

  Swallowing a frustrated growl, Raven opened her eyes, determined to start over again if that was what it took to find him. She gathered the seething current around her, ignoring the spikes of pain that slammed into her skull while she struggled to hold onto the burning strands in her grasp.

  The power was willing to obey, but she was just too weak from the continual abuse. She’d been at it for five hou
rs, and the city was at the edge of her limits. She had spent every night for the past three weeks on the rooftop of her house, searching for Rylan.

  Despite allowing the dragon to rise beneath her skin to boost her abilities, she’d found exactly nothing.

  As electricity whirled around her, she pulled it into her body again, refusing to give up, the voltage making her brain feel like it was being boiled in acid. Energy could go anywhere and everywhere, allowing her to slip into houses, subway stations, and even jump into airplanes flying overhead.

  But no matter where she searched, she found no signs of Rylan.

  He couldn’t have simply vanished.

  Frustration bubbled over, and the current she struggled to contain fizzled to nothing, leaving her battered body slightly singed. Panting to catch her breath, she thought about the first time she met Rylan, and the beginning of their unlikely friendship.

  Though she was only a teenager when they met, she’d spent her whole life as a prisoner. When her parents discovered she was more than human, they sold her to a medical laboratory without a qualm, not caring that she was only three years old at the time.

  She’d been going through a rebellious stage when Rylan entered the scene, and the doctors were getting frustrated at her defiance. They locked him in a room with her, granting him permission to feed.

  Becoming a chew toy was to be her punishment.

  Rylan refused.

  After a week of slow starvation, they’d became friends. Unable to bear seeing him suffer, she freely offered him her blood, not knowing the consequences would haunt them both for the rest of their lives. Some element in her blood bound them together, but worse, it gave Rylan, and any other vampire who tasted her blood, the illusion of life.

  Rylan quickly became addicted, which strained their friendship. If the doctors discovered the truth, they would torture her relentlessly in an effort to duplicate the effect. He vowed to never lay a hand on her again, and swore to protect her from that day forward.

  Even years later, he came whenever she asked for help. This time, instead of being able to enjoy an easy week doing nothing more strenuous than watching over her house, someone invaded her territory, injured one of her people, and took Rylan captive for his trouble.

  Every piece of evidence led back to the labs. She and Rylan barely escaped with their lives the first time. She wasn’t sure if she could find a way to get him out again.

  Though she could tell he was still alive, she had no clue where to find him.

  She’d searched everywhere, questioned everyone, but Rylan’s whereabouts remained elusive.

  At night, when her hope of finding him weakened, she’d swear she could hear his voice calling her for help. She would jerk awake in a heavy sweat, her breathing erratic, unable to distinguish whether his plea was reality or a nightmare.

  All she knew was that if she didn’t find him soon, Rylan would eventually succumb to the insanity of bloodlust, turning him into the very monster he feared most. She also knew he would hold out as long as possible, trusting that she would never give up searching for him.

  Crouched on the edge of the rooftop, she gripped the cold stone of the waist-high wall beneath her feet, and began the process all over again. Pure energy began to pool inside her, the power searing along her veins, her body too tired to control the burn anymore.

  Her dragon stretched under her skin, claws piercing the aching muscles along her spine, wanting to be free to hunt.

  Rylan was theirs.

  Only a few more grids remained to be search, but Raven was afraid she already knew the answer.

  Rylan was beyond her reach.

  If she wanted to find him, she would have to venture out beyond the safe life she’d built for herself. Her stomach churned at the thought of dangling herself out as bait. The brick beneath her hands crumbled under her brutal grip, and the need for vengeance swelled through her.

  “Raven.”

  She whirled, ready to leap at the intruder. It took her brain precious seconds to recognize her visitor, and she blinked in confusion. “Griffin?”

  Raven fought the dragon’s instinctive urge to attack. When she took a deep breath to calm her raging emotions, the smell of fresh-cut cedar she associated with him seeped into her, easing the compulsion to kill.

  The man hadn’t changed since the first time she saw him, when he was locked inside a cage by a serial killer they’d both been tracking. Working together to escape had forged a reluctant bond between them.

  He was lean, his dark hair a mess, his eyes splintered a vivid green that pierced her anger. Everything about him screamed rogue, intense and fierce and ready for action, but he kept the wild energy tightly leashed. Though he’d gained weight, he retained his scruffy appearance—of an outlaw, which was funny, considering he worked with the police as a consultant.

  “What are you doing here?” Raven dropped from her perch, watching him closely. She was disturbed that she’d been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t even noticed when he arrived.

  “I was told I could find you up here.” He didn’t say anything more, continuing to study her, as if deciding on how to approach her.

  Or maybe he stared because she looked so horrible, since she’d only been able to sleep in fits and starts for the past few weeks.

  She’d been on the rooftop for hours, her clothes were damp from the mist saturating the air, or maybe she looked different because he hadn’t seen her since her dragon awakened.

  Other shifters watched her with fear or awe.

  Both reactions left her decidedly uncomfortable.

  All she ever wanted was to remain invisible, but since she was one of the few female alphas in the paranormal world, it was no longer an option.

  Raven released the energy whirling around them, gritting her teeth at the shock of pain. The dragon dragged its claws along the insides of her ribs, not wanting to be tucked away.

  When she had herself under control, she narrowed her eyes. “Tell me.”

  He smirked, his body relaxing, as if he’d come to a decision. “The council sent me.”

  She stalked forward, barely resisting the urge to growl. “You came here to spy for your father.”

  Instead of anger, Griffin grinned. “No, and it’s driving the old man crazy that he no longer has the power to control me. One of the few perks of being a rogue.” His amusement dropped away. “The council is uneasy about the weather; the pack and clans are getting nervous at the show of power.”

  Raven snorted. “They sent you because of a tiny storm?”

  Griffin moved for the first time since he stepped onto the roof, slowly leaning against the waist-high wall, his dual-tone eyes a bit unnerving while they studied her. “A massive storm that hasn’t let up for three weeks. A storm that reeks of power.”

  Raven squirmed a little at the accusation, then went on the defensive. “I’m not challenging them. I’m just trying to find one of my own.”

  Griffin shook his head. “That’s not good enough. Lots of people have gone missing over the years. It’s never a good thing when the paranormals are on edge. It leads to fights, and eventually war.”

  Unable to stand still, Raven began to pace, her movements short and abrupt as she strode back and forth. “You can’t ask me to just forget about Rylan. I won’t stop searching for him.”

  Griffin shoved away from the wall, stepping right into her path. “You’re not the only one with people missing. Grow up. You’re an alpha now. You’re not allowed to do whatever you want without consequences. Being a Region, working with the police to solve paranormal cases, protected you from the repercussions of your rash actions, but you’re retired.”

  The words were like a slap in the face. “Then what do you suggest I do? I won’t leave Rylan to rot.”

  Tension eased from Griffin when she didn’t go for his throat. “Treat it like a case. People will respect your need to fight for your pack, but not at the cost of upsetting the delicate balance among the parano
rmals in the process.”

  Raven stilled at his words, sensing a hidden undercurrent. “What do you know?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck, lines of strain bracketing his mouth. “There are a lot more missing paranormals than what’s warranted. We always expect a few people to disappear or die, but some of the missing shifters are pack members.”

  Shifters never left their pack without notifying their alpha where they were going. Position in the pack was too hard-won and prestigious to simply walk away from, especially since it would condemn them to become a rogue or worse, they would revert back to slave status.

  Dark suspicions began to brew at the back of her mind. “Only shifters?”

  Griffin shook his head. “Every paranormal sect has lost people. They’ve just vanished.”

  The situation sounded all too familiar…the labs. Humans had grown fearful when the paranormals emerged from the shadows. War erupted, and too many people died on both sides in a senseless war. An unsteady truce between the races had been forged, held together by nothing stronger than a gossamer web.

  Humans wanted to possess their own monsters, and secretly began to create an army of specially bred paranormals. She’d seen the results of their experiments, the hybrids they created, abominations who lived for the kill. She had destroyed the lab that held her prisoner for most of her life, but not without cost. Many people died, their deaths staining her soul so black no one would consider her innocent.

  Unfortunately, there were more labs out there.

  There were always more.

  Her rebellion only forced them to become more secretive.