Electric series- Raven Investigations BoxSet

by Stacey Brutger

  Raven shook her head, her thoughts fuzzy, the sense of something not quite right niggling at the back of her mind. “We need to go back.”

  Her body sluggishly began to knit itself together, while agony like a giant charley horse seized her muscles.

  Mack didn’t slow, didn’t even hesitate as he continued to travel down the hall.

  Raven breathed through the pain, and the unanswered questions bothering her began to come together.

  Shock rippled through her.

  She was being kidnapped.

  “My pack will come after me.” She wiggled, but barely managed to move under his unbreakable grip.

  “Then they will be buried alive when the bomb explodes. When you don’t show up, they will assume you’ve died.”

  Raven snorted a laugh, ignoring the way her cracked ribs threatened to puncture her lungs. “You’ve made a slight miscalculation. We’re pack. They’ll know I’m still alive.”

  “By then, you will be buried in another lab. They will never find you.” Mack shrugged, his hands tightening possessively, his voice growing softer. “You are the next step in our evolution, and will ultimately help us win the war against the humans.”

  Dread slammed into her skull as understanding dawned.

  Shifters had their own labs, hunting their own kind, torturing them in order to create the ultimate monsters. “You’re a spy.”

  Mack lifted his chin in pride. “I’ve been here months, surviving whatever they threw at me, waiting for the special one who would make it all worth it.” His fingers bit into her hips. “You.”

  Dread swelled through her in an ever increasing wave, threatening to drown her in panic—she would never be able to survive and escape a third time.

  She would not go back.

  Raven elbowed him in the back of the head, the shock of it reverberating up her arm, the movement succeeding in loosening his grip for just a second. The freedom was an illusion. His hold immediately began to tighten, squeezing the air out of her lungs.

  She wrapped her legs around his middle, trying to use the leverage to break his grip. It was like swatting at a swarm of gnats. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t get away, and she had no juice left to fry his ass.

  Her head began to swim when a roar echoed down the hall, so vicious and full of vengeance that Mack’s stride hitched. Raven’s gaze shot down the tunnel to see Taggert, in all his seven-foot werewolf glory, charging toward her on all fours in a ground-eating, gangling lope.

  He didn’t even slow down as he leapt, knocking into both of them.

  Raven went flying, hitting the ground hard, and she slid across the floor, struggling to tuck herself into a roll. Taggert circled Mack, his inch-long claws clicking on the floor, putting himself between her and the threat.

  For the first time, she saw a reaction from Mack.

  Raw terror.

  Raven dragged herself to her feet, limping toward Taggert, then ran her hand gently up his back to rest on his shoulder. His great head swung toward her, the snarl on his lips fading, and his large hand gently curled over hers. “We need to leave. They’re going to detonate a bomb any second.”

  She could feel it ticking away in the back of her mind.

  If they didn’t leave now, it would be too late.

  Mack used the distraction and bolted.

  Taggert growled, turning to give chase, and Raven tightened her grip. “If you go, I’ll follow, and we’ll both be caught in the blast.”

  His snout wrinkled in denial, those brilliant green eyes of his turning fierce as he gazed down at her. Then he snatched her arm, dragging her through a series of tunnels. Minutes later, they burst into the bunker where the witches used their magic to create weapons.

  The few shifters who spotted them darted out of the way, staring in wide-eyed terror at Taggert. When he didn’t turn into a berserker and tear them apart, they scrambled toward the exit with renewed urgency.

  As she surveyed the small group disappearing through the elevator shaft, she saw no signs of her pack, and anxiety rippled through her. They wouldn’t have left without her. No matter how hard she tried to reach the others through their connections, her senses were too overwhelmed.

  “I have to go back. I don’t see the others.” She struggled against Taggert’s unbreakable grip, using the last of her strength to dig in her feet and drag them to a stop. Taggert scowled, then manipulated his giant, furry hand and pointed upward.

  Raven grabbed his arm, dragging him down until they were eye-to-eye. “You promise?”

  Taggert nodded, nudging her toward the open elevator shaft. The rickety old elevator was ripped apart, shifters pushing and shoving at each other as they clawed their way up the shaft, anxiety sweeping through them like a crushing wave ready to drag them back down into the unknown depths of the tunnels.

  Taggert presented her with his back, then knelt, putting them nearly at the same height.

  Raven accepted his invitation, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He stood like she weighed nothing. In a single bound, he leapt ten feet in the air, then casually reached out and began to climb.

  Dust rained down on them. Tremors deep in the earth began to race toward them, and a gnawing pit opened in her stomach for all those they couldn’t save. “The first bomb detonated.”

  Taggert clawed his way over the top of the elevator shaft, pulling them both to safety. He collapsed on his side, his werewolf form shrinking down until he lay before her in his human form, barely conscious after the strain of shifting. The dimmed security lights flickered briefly, revealing the narrow basement packed with shifters. Bare pipes ticked overhead as steam and heat crowded the concrete space.

  There was no way they would be able to evacuate in time.

  Raven knelt, and scanned below the surface for the building energy. The blast blossomed through the earth, almost seemed like it would fade and reabsorbed back into the ground.

  Then the world fell silent, slowing to a crawl as the energy was sucked downward.

  A heartbeat later a second, third, and fourth bomb detonated, the full destructive force of that energy growing in strength with each explosion.

  The earth below them trembled in warning, a wave going through the solid rock as if it were a tsunami, and more dirt began to rain down on them. Everyone froze, and Raven slowly straightened.

  The bombs were too much energy for her to absorb.

  She would be incinerated.

  But if she did nothing, everyone in the tunnels behind her would die, including her pack.

  The best she could hope for was to contain the worst of the blast before it burned past her shields.

  Her gaze connected with Durant’s over the sea of people.

  Something in her expression caused his eyes to burn a deep gold, and he violently began to shove his way through the crowd to reach her side.

  Heat from the blast funneled up the tunnel like a furnace, snaking around her as if welcoming her to hell. The dragon surged toward the surface, using the last of its strength, determined to protect her, and tiny scales hardened all over her until she was encased in an impenetrable suit of armor. Raven had no reserves, nothing to call upon but the destructive force heading straight for them.

  Raw power surged up below her. Raven grabbed for the energy, feeling like she jumped into a vat of molten lava when the current slowly began to corrode her insides. The pain was relentless, her body screaming for mercy, and it was all she could do to expel the energy fast enough to create a shield.

  Just in time.

  What appeared to be a ball of molten fire burst from the elevator shaft, swirling in the air, seeking a way past her shields. The force of the explosion slid her backwards, the flames pounding against her, the heat incinerating the rock.

  Small projectiles swirled in the vengeful mass.

  Smoke began to leak and billow into the tunnels as tiny fissures cracked along the barrier.

  Her body couldn’t funnel enough energy to keep th
e shields strong enough, and the barrier began to weaken.

  Her lungs screamed for air, filling with smoke, the pressure like a car had been parked on top of her. Her arms shook under the strain, her legs quivering to remain upright, her world narrowing down to the mass of destruction determined to consume her.

  Voices shouted in the distance as small rocks began to punch through the shield and pelt her. A nasty blow to the head nearly knocked her off her feet, and her vision dimmed, blood trickling down her face.

  Chanting whispered at the back of her mind, and magic flared around her, strengthening her shields, just as she staggered and dropped to her knees under the pressure.

  Then everything went dark as she pitched forward.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  DAY NINE: SURVIVAL

  Raven inhaled deeply when she woke, then clutched her ribs when a sharp, unrelenting pain shot through her from head to toe. When she pried open her eyes, she recognized the small cell that had been her room, and for a panicked moment, she wondered if she’d dreamed everything.

  Every ounce of her magic was spent, the dragon quiet, and Raven patted herself down, surprised to discover herself whole.

  A familiar arm was wrapped around her waist, and she glanced over her shoulder to find Taggert, in his human form, nestled against her back, his fresh woodsy scent a welcome change from the endless dirt that had clogged her senses over the past few days. It was all she could do to resist the urge to snuggle into his warm hold and go back to sleep…but the open door beckoned.

  When she pushed herself upright, the room spun, the sunlight dazzling to her eyes after so long in the darkness of the tunnels. When she could see again, she spotted Rylan stretched out on a cot on the floor.

  Raven blinked twice, then cursed, wrenching the blanket from around her, ready to throw it over him, when her brain caught up with her.

  No smoke.

  The strong midafternoon sunlight didn’t burn him to ash, and a deep foreboding twisted in her gut.

  Her blood was changing him again, and he was becoming a daywalker, something only an ancient could achieve for a few hours a day. When the rest of the clan discovered what he could do, they wouldn’t stop until they learned how he achieved the miracle, many craving the touch of the sun on their skin again after centuries of darkness.

  She pushed him to this in her attempt to heal him from the insanity of bloodlust, and she desperately hoped her meddling hadn’t cursed him worse.

  Afraid of what changes were taking place inside him, Raven reached for their connection, only to be confronted by a black void. She could tell he was alive, but his body had shut down in stasis that vampires fell into during the day. She curled her fingers into fists to stop the compulsion to check for a pulse, despite knowing that she wouldn’t find one.

  Anxious to find out what happened after the blast, Raven forced herself to her feet, then clutched at the wall when the room spun again, and her knees threatened to buckle. She automatically reached for any hint of current, shocked to find nothing.

  It was one thing to be off the grid, but she should have been able to pick up even a small trace of energy. She had burned out using so much power, and until she could heal, she would be as defenseless as a human.

  She didn’t appreciate the feeling, but refused to cower in her room.

  She needed to assure herself that the rest of the team had survived.

  Using the wall for support, she shuffled toward the door. By the time she stepped into the hall, she was already panting with effort, and she braced her legs to keep from sprawling across the floor. An arm snaked around her waist, delicious heat sinking into her skin, easing some of her body’s aches, the comforting leather scent inviting her to lean into him. “Durant.”

  She turned in his arms, unconsciously shuffling closer. She didn’t even pretend to be subtle as she ran his hands over him, searching for injuries, mourning the shirt covering all those lovely muscles.

  “I’m fine.” Durant captured her wandering hands, pressing them flat against his chest, maneuvering her until she was sandwiched between him and the wall.

  Delight went through her when his near-silent purr vibrated beneath her palms.

  He captured her chin, forcing her head back, a scowl darkening his face when he caught sight of the gash on her forehead. “You took a foolish risk.”

  His golden eyes darkened, but something half-hidden shuddered in the back of his eyes when he gazed down at her.

  “Everyone would have died.” Raven refused to be cowed. “You would have died.”

  He pushed closer, his hard body pressed against hers, doing a fantastic job of distracting her. “You terrify me.”

  His hoarse voice broke, and Raven wrapped her arms around him. “I don’t mean to.”

  A bark of laugher escaped him, his hold tightening to the point of pain. “You never do. That’s what’s so frightening. Your courage amazes me nearly as much.”

  Raven stiffened, not caring for the turn of the conversation, but he refused to release her. “I knew you were raised in the labs, but I had no idea how horrible things were until now. That you would willingly return humbles me. I saw some of the tests they ran, the injections of acids in our veins to see how fast we could heal, the thousands of cuts to see how long before they drove us insane…” he shuddered, memories haunting his eyes. “I can’t imagine being subjected to those horrors for years on end. I’m strong, but I would never have survived years in such a place.”

  Raven ducked her head, and quickly changed the subject. “How many people did we manage to save?”

  Durant took a deep breath, then pushed away from her, shadows still haunting his eyes, and she mourned that her past had forever tainted the way he looked at her. When she made to move away, he planted his hand against the wall, his fingers balled into fists, a small tremor running through him. “Don’t.”

  Something dangerous in his tone rooted her to the spot. She felt him lean down, his nose touching nape of her neck, and he inhaled deeply. Her body tingled at the contact, making her want to turn and rub herself against him, her breasts aching for his touch. “Durant—”

  “You can run from me, but I will always find you.”

  What should’ve been a threat was more like a caress. “Promise?”

  A growl worked up his throat, his teeth lightly grazing her neck, sending a wicked shiver down her spine, seconds before he straightened. “I suggest you haul your ass if you want to see the others, or I will take you back to your room, and we won’t leave for days.”

  Heat suffused her face, the awkwardness between them melting away.

  While they walked, Durant was never a foot away, his arm brushing hers with every step, as if he couldn’t not touch her. Needing to keep her brain occupied with something other than the way her fingers itched to strip him, she studied their surroundings. “What happened after I passed out?”

  “You contained most of the blast. When you collapsed, the witches were able to reinforce the barrier and maintain it for a few minutes longer, until the inferno dissipated.”

  As they went down the stairs, the few people they passed scurried out of the way, pressing their backs against the wall, acting like she carried the plague or something.

  Some peered at her in awe, but the majority of them, while clearly grateful to be rescued, still remained leery. Every door they passed stood open, the beds occupied, some of the inhabitants so malnourished, they were nothing more than skeletons. Others were so injured, not even an inch of unblemished skin was visible.

  “We weren’t able to rescue everyone.” Her thoughts immediately flashed to Felix, and it felt like she’d been sucker-punched. The shock of pain surprised her, and she looked away, speech beyond her. It took her a second to notice that Durant was still talking. “Most decided not to stay, not willing to risk being recaptured. The few who remained had nowhere else to go, or are just too injured to travel.”

  His calm voice eased the constrictio
n around her heart, allowing her brain to function again. “How on earth did Taggert get here?”

  Durant’s brows rose, humor lighting his expression, the worry that flashed in his eyes easing when she didn’t shut him out. “According to my best estimate, he left the moment you were captured, determined to find you.”

  Raven’s jaw dropped. “But we traveled hundreds of miles.”

  Durant nodded. “After the blast, he carried you upstairs. He practically fell out of his animal, ate the equivalent of a horse, then collapsed next to you in exhaustion. I don’t expect him to wake up for another day or two.”

  “And Rylan?”

  “Frankly, I’m surprised he came back. He spent the night outside hunting, only to return at dawn, crawling into your room before collapsing.”

  Raven didn’t like the ominous tone of his words. “He’s not okay, is he?”

  Durant ran his fingers through his hair, fidgeting a moment, but refused to lie to her. “No.”

  When they reached the main level, the carnage was more obvious. Furniture was destroyed, some of the railings from the banisters snapped off and missing. The paintings were shredded by claws, the frames smashed. Most of the windows were shattered.

  Just as she stepped off the last stair, Randolph walked into the entrance, stopping to peruse her from head to toe, not missing a detail. He was a little unkempt, covered in a colorful collection of bruises, but brimming with excitement. “You’re well.”

  It wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway.

  “A few of us are heading out to hunt.” Through the open front door, she could see members of the Delta Team preparing to head out. “Some of the creatures who escaped should never have been released.”

  “The Charlie Team.” Their monstrous forms did little to disguise the evil within. Imagining them free to inflict their horrors on the world sent a shiver down her spine. They would never be accepted, their beasts so savage they would leave dead bodies in their wake wherever they went. “How many?”

  “We believe a dozen escaped. So far, we’ve found three.” That would explain his battered appearance. He survived; they did not. “We’ll be heading out shortly to hunt the rest.”