Electric series- Raven Investigations BoxSet

by Stacey Brutger

  She very deliberately ran a suggestive finger over Durant’s bottom lip.

  Mine.

  The dragon hissed the one word, expanding under her skin, ready to take flight.

  Chapter Nine

  Every time Durant rebuffed her, the woman became more entrenched, digging in her heels, determined to make a conquest out of him. If the she-bitch hadn’t really wanted him before, she was certainly more determined to claim him now.

  Durant captured her wrists, then pushed her away. “I have no interest in a liaison with you, but if you want to petition my alpha, be my guest.” He bowed his head in Raven’s direction, a pleased-with-himself smile curling his lips.

  The woman straightened, the act dropping away as she whirled and searched the cave. When she saw no big, strapping man, her attention came to rest on Raven for the first time.

  She snorted, then laughed outright, only to stop abruptly when she saw Durant was dead serious. Then her eyes narrowed, her gaze assessing…then dismissive. “She’s weak and pathetic. However did she manage that feat?”

  Durant rose slowly, pulling his shirt over his head, no longer amused. “Appearances can be deceiving.”

  Without another word, as if the woman no longer existed, Durant turned away, and began helping London patch up a few of the more skittish wolves. He prowled like his tiger counterpart, his golden eyes pinning them in place, many too petrified to move until he finished with them.

  The dragon calmed at his easy dismissal of the conniving bitch, wrapping itself around her bones, although the urge to skin the female cat of her pelt and use it as a rug didn’t abate in the slightest.

  A heaviness hung in the air, the dirt nearly suffocating. She noted the exit—the single exit—and her lungs tightened further with the need to flee. Only the thought of rescuing Rylan calmed the beast, and it immediately went dormant, ripping away more than half her senses.

  It made her feel like she was under water, everything happening at a distance.

  The lack of any electricity left her even more unbalanced.

  “You can ignore Sheba. We all do. She wants power, and will sleep with anyone she thinks will give it to her. She has a vicious tongue, but she’s harmless.”

  Reed leaned against the wall, his arms crossed, calmly observing her. Something about his voice eased the relentless need to get out.

  “The cave is a series of tunnels, a veritable maze that we’re still mapping. For thousands of years, water has been trickling down from the mountain, slowly widening and expanding the cave system. If you close your eyes, you can smell a hint of freshness underneath the dirt, even feel a cool breeze when you stand in certain spots.”

  Raven found herself following his suggestions.

  Cool air snaked around her ankles, and she found herself turning, following the slight trail. When she opened her eyes, she saw an opening behind a large block of rock, cleverly hidden.

  “What is this place?” Raven noted how the wolves had been circling her since she entered the cavern, appearing more curious than threatening. A few others watched her from a distance, more than a little suspicious, waiting for her to make a move so they could rip her apart.

  The half dozen cats were a smidge friendlier, but they tended to linger in their group, not really mingling with the others.

  “It’s a sanctuary. Most of the shifters rescued from the labs vanished, but more than a few had no place to go. They were no longer wholly sane and wouldn’t be able to handle being surrounded by humans. They would snap.”

  “So the wolves here—”

  “The labs destroyed their psyche long ago, trying to discover what made us tick. Some of them escaped with us, and many are alive only because the labs never bothered to kill them when they finished with their experiments. More than a few of them were released to run wild in the woods. They staked their claim on this area, and would hunt shifters who tried to escape.”

  Lab rats had an appalling existence. Not only were they regularly used in excruciating and degrading experiments, but were often tortured for the amusement of the scientists.

  None of the lab rats were fit for human society. The council would have them banished or killed outright, seeing them as a threat to the civilized creatures they wanted to project to the humans.

  “Why did you and Nadia stay? You both could survive on your own.”

  Reed straightened away from the wall, his expression troubled. “They needed someone to look after them. They listen to us.”

  “But…” There was more that he wasn’t saying.

  “Nadia refused to leave, determined to wait for the people from the labs to return.”

  “She wants revenge.”

  “No.” Reed rubbed a hand along his jaw, then let out a long sigh. “Yes. She needed a project to keep her busy, or she would’ve drove herself crazy re-living the past. Not everyone we rescued is equipped to fight, but they just don’t have anywhere else to go. They need us.” Raven suspected there was more to his story, but didn’t push him. One of the wolves crept forward, crouched close to the ground, almost as if trying to sneak up on Reed.

  Raven stooped, putting them on eye level, and the creature froze. Fear dilated his pupils, and he hunched lower, as if preparing for a blow. Bruises and minor cuts from the earlier fight lingered on his face and body. “He’s not healing.”

  Reed shook his head. “They don’t have enough shifter DNA to provide them with even that small comfort.”

  The man couldn’t be more than a few years older than herself, but he looked thin, never bulking up with muscles the way a lot of dominant shifters had a tendency to do. Though she knew she needed to conserve her energy, she reached out to the cowering wolf.

  As if lured closer by her gesture, the creature inched forward, and very tentatively nudged his head under her hand. She allowed the current to seep out from her touch as gently as possible. There was a wildness to him, a simpleness to his mind that reminded her of a child. Gathering the energy, she focused on his wounds, forcing the injuries to heal.

  The wolf quivered at the unusual sensation, but didn’t pull away. His splintered green and brown eyes stared up at her so trustingly, it was hard to remember he’d been trying to tear her men to shreds not too long ago. When she lifted her hand, the wolf gave it a hesitant lick before he scampered off on all fours, and jumped up on a nearby boulder, keeping her in view the whole time, before he gradually lowered his head and fell asleep.

  “What did you do?” Nadia’s strident voice echoed in the cave, and people stopped to gawk.

  Raven slowly straightened, not in the least bit intimidated. “I helped him heal. He’ll be tired for an hour or so, but he’ll wake up without a scratch on him.”

  Nadia’s lips puckered in a moue of distaste. “They need to learn to heal themselves.”

  Though Raven wanted to agree, they both knew it would never happen. They were just too weak, and no amount of time would change that fact. “I was only trying to help.”

  Nadia scoffed, her eyes narrowing dangerously. “And what would you know about shifters? You’re not even one of us.”

  Some of the other shifters began to crowd closer, whether responding to Nadia’s aggression or out of curiosity, Raven wasn’t sure.

  Then Dominick was there, edging between them. Raven got the impression he wasn’t coming to her defense, more like he was protecting Nadia. “Raven wasn’t raised in a pack, but she is, nevertheless, one of us.”

  “Prove it.” Nadia surged forward, until only inches separated her from Dominick, then leaned around him to issue her challenge. “Prove you’re one of us, or leave.”

  “They did something to me in the labs that triggered a dormant strand of DNA. I’m not a full shifter. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to change into my beast.” Her heart stuttered at the terrifying thought. “What would you want as proof? Claws?”

  Raven lifted her hand, allowing the nails to slip free from her fingertips. She’d become so used to the
pain, she almost didn’t feel it anymore.

  “You want to see my fangs?” Raven felt very exposed when she smiled at them, but this was harder than simply presenting her claws. She’d never consciously forced her fangs to lower. Her gums began to tingle, then ache, before her fangs descended and sliced into her bottom lip. They weren’t normal fangs, more like a cross between a vampire and a shifter.

  Most of the shifters had gathered closer to witness the spectacle she was making of herself. She’d always tried to blend into the crowd, never draw attention to herself…it was one of the rules that kept her alive in the labs.

  She noted that many of the shifters had scars around their necks and wrists where silver cuffs had been used to keep them chained. She had none of that. She lifted the delicate chain of her necklace from around her neck. “I don’t have your scars, because I built up an immunity to silver. The many marks I acquired over the years have since healed.”

  Some of the shifters gaped at her in awe, leaving her uneasy, while a few others just stared at her like she was some sort of freak.

  “Then you got off lucky,” Nadia snarled, unconsciously rubbing her own wrists, her distrust still evident.

  Raven had enough of Nadia’s insolence. She didn’t need the woman’s trust, but she did need her cooperation if she wanted their help to find Rylan. “Some might consider it a blessing, but we all know what happens when the labs find those who are different. They are removed from the rest of the pack, allowed to stay in their own luxury suite.”

  Nadia flinched at the sarcasm.

  To be singled out meant a death sentence.

  “But like you said, I was lucky. They found me valuable.”

  This time, Nadia lowered her eyes, staring at her feet.

  Valuable meant torture.

  Valuable meant experiments.

  “They pamper us with daily, if not hourly, visits, slicing and poking and prodding, taking us apart to find out what makes us unique, so they can figure out how to duplicate the effect.” Images of her concrete cell, equipped with its own medical table and chains, flashed in her mind.

  “I escaped at the earliest opportunity. I wish I had been more conscious of my surroundings at the time, because I would’ve tried to help more people, but I had lost control of my beast. I’m not sure how we made it out alive, but I do know if I stayed, we all would have died.”

  The rest of her men gathered around her, ready for an attack, when Reed grabbed Nadia’s arm and steered her away. “If you’ll excuse us, I need to help Nadia remove her foot from her mouth.”

  Griffin shook his head, then got down to business. “This place is a mess. There is no true alpha to lead them. Nadia is doing her best, but she doesn’t have the power to keep the wolves stable for any length of time. The other woman—”

  “Sheba.” Raven provided with a slight snarl.

  Griffin lifted a brow at her tone. “Sheba has tried to pull a coup numerous times, but never managed to wrest away the leadership. No one wants to follow her.”

  Raven snorted, not really surprised. “She wants what’s best for her; she doesn’t care about the rest of the pack.”

  He gave a negligent shrug. His eyes kept darting around the cave, searching for hidden threats. “That’s what I’ve gathered. They treat the women as queens. Their need to protect the females is the only thing that’s kept the males from self-destructing and attacking each other. That they managed to stay together this long is a miracle.” Most shifters went motionless when unnerved by something, but Griffin couldn’t seem to keep still.

  Raven nodded. “Dawn is only a few hours away. Get some rest. Maybe see what else you can learn. Check if they’ve had frequent visitors to this area…anything suspicious we can use as a lead. Tomorrow morning, we’ll head down into the lab and see what we can find.”

  Going back to the lab that had been a prison for much of her life was the last thing she wanted to do, but she saw no other way to get answers. She didn’t want to involve her pack in the horrors of her past, but hell would freeze over before they allowed her to go alone.

  “We needed a guide.” Raven studied the group, wondering if any of them would be strong enough to enter the labs again without going feral. “If Nadia and her group were trapped down there for any length of time, they will know the layout, exits, and dead ends, and can save us valuable time.” The faint cord connecting her to Rylan warned they didn’t have any to spare.

  “She won’t be pleased.” Dominick frowned, clearly unhappy that they would ask his new lady friend to put herself in danger.

  “Let’s not forget the fact that she despises me.” Raven ran her fingers over her brow to ease the headache pounding inside of her skull. “Asking a favor from her will not be easy. She could outright tell me to go to hell.”

  The tense set to Dominick’s shoulders said he didn’t disagree, and a muscle jumped in his jaw as he stared at Nadia from across the room. “If there is even the smallest chance that another lab is operating, she’ll do it.”

  Blowing out a deep breath, Raven nodded, then set out across the cavern.

  No sense in delaying the inevitable.

  At seeing Raven head in her direction, Nadia tore her attention away from gaping at Dominick and stalked toward them. “What do you want?”

  Despite herself, Nadia’s eyes flickered betrayingly toward Dominick. Aggression pored off the little wolf, and Raven bet it hurt to keep her beast in line. “Dominick, give me your shirt.”

  A vicious growl escaped Nadia’s throat, the sound halting abruptly when Dominick obeyed without hesitation.

  Raven grabbed the shirt, then tossed it at Nadia. Quick as a whip, the wolf lashed out and caught it. The girl looked at her, baffled, her fingers white from her brutal grip on the fabric. Raven had no doubt if anyone tried to take it from Nadia, they would soon find themselves missing a limb. “I have no claim on him. We are only friends.”

  Instead of replying, Nadia kept staring at the shirt, her brown eyes flashing to a vivid green, just seconds away from burying her face in the material.

  “Raven!” The sharp rebuke came from Dominick, his thunderous expression promising retribution. An adorable hint of red dusted along his cheeks.

  Raven hastily backed away when it looked like he was prepared to toss her over his knee. “She has the same symptoms I displayed not too long ago. I recognize them.”

  Dominick’s brows slammed down. “She’s sick?”

  The whole cave fell ominously silent at his pronouncement.

  Raven shook her head. “She’s aggressive whenever I’m nearby.”

  “That’s just normal dominance issues between two females,” Dominick protested.

  Raven shook her head again, enjoying herself more than she should.

  When Durant glanced at her, understanding dawned in his eyes. He began to chuckle, then turned toward Dominick and slapped him on the back. “Congratulations, old man. It looks like you’ve found your mate.”

  Durant might as well have cold-cocked him—nothing could’ve surprised Dominick more. He paled a few shades, then whirled to face Nadia, who looked just as shell-shocked. “What?”

  Most shifters never found their one true mate, many believing it was a myth. It was so rare that Raven didn’t know of one other couple. But according to everything she’d learned, the more time Dominick and Nadia spent in the same vicinity, the harder it would be to control their wolves, until they actually completed the ceremony, exchanging blood to cement the bond between them.

  A sharp whistle pierced the air, and Raven whirled to find a disheveled Randolph near the entrance.

  That couldn’t be good.

  Randolph was never ruffled. The world’s most dangerous assassin could handle anything…but it looked like he’d just discovered something bigger and badder.

  He scanned the cave, ignoring everyone until he located her, then launched himself off the entrance slab and jogged across the cavern. Everyone scrambled to get out of the way
, the air around him vibrating with menace.

  He spoke just as he reached her side. “A large force is heading this way.”

  Chapter Ten

  DAY FIVE: TWO HOURS BEFORE DAWN

  A split second passed in absolute silence. Then Nadia yelled, “Raid!”

  Everyone scattered.

  Raven pressed her back against the wall to get out of the way. “How many?”

  Randolph just shrugged while he examined the cave, assessing what they might be able to use in a fight. Not a whole hell of a lot. The nearly-spent stock of available supplies was being carted away while the shifters went through their obviously well-rehearsed evacuation procedures. “Choppers in the distance. I heard three of them. Thanks to the steep grade of the mountain and lack of clear entrance, they’ll have to hike the last few miles. A couple of sentries remained outside, but that won’t keep them out for long. They knew exactly where we would be.”

  “A trap?”

  He gave a grim nod.

  “Did you pick up anything else?”

  He hesitated, and the small pause was enough to strike terror in her heart. “Both humans and shifters.”

  Even if they escaped, they were going to be hunted down like a damned rabbit and run to ground.

  Raven shoved away from the wall, making her way to Nadia’s side. “We don’t have much time. We need to get out of here.”

  “My people know what they’re doing.” She didn’t even look up from her packing.

  “Fine, then tell us how we can help, so we can speed up the process.”

  A snarl curled her lips, flashing her fangs. “I think you’ve done enough.”

  Raven was taken aback by the accusations, then strode forward, not willing to take any more shit. “We didn’t bring them here, at least not directly. You were being watched. You’re not exactly keeping a low profile by killing anything that comes to the mountaintop. It’s the perfect trap to capture anyone who comes to investigate the old lab. When you didn’t kill us, they became curious. No one knows about the lab but those who were in it.”