Raven didn’t protest as Taggert practically picked her up, the urge to leave like a tsunami. The threat built at her back, waiting to ensnare them. As much as she wanted to remain and help the trapped shifters, it was too dangerous.
She wouldn’t risk her people.
“Do you want to know your fortune?” A woman stepped in their path. Short and lithe, she was dressed as a typical gypsy with a loose blouse and a colorful layered skirt. She had a scarf wound through her long dark hair, but it did little to tame the wild curls. Large, dangling earrings completed the look. A string belt was looped about her waist, fake gold coins twinkling even in the darkness, and chimed with her every movement.
“No.” Taggert easily sidestepped, herding Raven behind him, but the woman persisted, grabbing his arm before he could pass.
Raven lurched forward to rip him away when Taggert stepped between them, and she somehow ended up tangled in Taggert’s arm instead.
The gypsy reared back but didn’t loosen her hold. “It will only take a minute. Free of charge for all those who paid for the freak show.”
Taggert shrugged off her hold, nearly pulling the poor woman off her feet. As the gypsy staggered to remain upright, Raven instinctually reached to steady her, not wishing to draw more attention. As soon as their skin touched, color leeched from the gypsy’s face. A sickly-sweet smell thickened the air, and things clicked into place.
A witch.
Desperation widened the gypsy’s eyes, and she clutched Raven’s hand. “Please. I will be punished if I don’t read your rogue’s future.”
Stark terror filled her eyes with tears, and Raven found herself nodding. Despite herself, a tinge of sympathy rose as she remembered what it felt like to be trapped. “That’s fine, but he’s not—”
Taggert plucked her hand from the woman’s grasp, and brought it to his lips, then nibbled on her fingertips. “They know I’m a shifter and you’re human. There is no need to hide that I’m not human here.”
She had been going to say he wasn’t a rogue but followed Taggert’s lead. Shifters were allowed to intermix with humans, take lovers, but anything more was frowned upon.
No serious relationships between the species.
Duty to the pack must always come first.
The gypsy smiled, her relief palpable as she reached for Taggert’s hand. The sight of another woman touching him, especially after the mermaid, left her fingertips aching as claws threatened to erupt. Her gums tingled, her fangs ready to descend and tear into the woman. The beast stretched under her skin, growing restless.
Taggert stared at her over the gypsy’s head, his eyes widening at the sight of her ready to lose her cool. He shook his head once in panic, tensing to shove the poor girl away.
The comical sight calmed Raven faster than anything else could.
Cobwebs brushed against her skin as the witch began to cast. Without a coven, the witch was weak, the spell small. Raven tensed, ready to suck the magic down at the first sign of a threat.
Reacting to her disquiet, the wild magic flared dark red at being so close to a practicing witch. It wanted out, wanted to infect and consume.
As if it sensed her attention, the tainted magic faded, still alert but no longer desperate to break free.
It understood that as soon as it left her body, it would die.
Raven would personally kill it before it could spread.
Then the woman began to speak. “You’ve been on your own for a while, but you found someone special.”
Only rogues would visit the circus, so there was nothing extraordinary about her prediction, but there was something eerie in the way she spoke that raised the hairs on the back of Raven’s neck.
The reading was real.
She smiled at Raven, guessing correctly that she was the someone special, then focused back on her reading. She ran her fingers along his palm, and then a frown marred her brow. “But you’ve changed recently.”
As if she solved the puzzle, her face cleared. “She made you stronger. You would do anything for her.”
“Yes.” Taggert didn’t look away from Raven, emotions splintering the color of his eyes from whiskey brown to the neon green of his wolf.
The gypsy released him and smiled at them both, looking more troubled than pleased. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
She scampered away, disappearing in the crowd, and Raven had no doubt to report her findings. “We need to leave.”
No one else tried to stop them as they passed under the grand banner at the entrance. The parking lot remained half-full, but she didn’t see their vehicle at all. Worry gnawed at her. Something was wrong. “Let’s circle around back. They should’ve been waiting for us. I don’t want to risk doing another search if I can avoid it.”
“Agreed.”
Raven allowed Taggert to take the lead, and they turned right. If they were going to be attacked, it would be from behind. She would drop them on their asses before they could get near. Taggert kept his distance in case they needed room to fight, and she missed the comfort of his hand in hers.
The closeness to him.
She stumbled over the lumpy and uneven ground.
The only thing that kept her uncoordinated ass on her feet was her budding shifter reflexes. Even suppressed, the creature continued to safeguard her.
As soon as they turned the corner, a ten-foot canvas outer wall separated the back of the circus from the public, blocking the meager lights, and they found themselves surrounded by shadows. She thought they were for privacy, but she couldn’t help wonder if it was for a reason a bit more sinister.
A boundary.
A warning.
Enter at your own risk.
Raven grabbed the tag on her wrist and pulled, watching it flutter to the ground. There was only twenty feet between the circus and the freedom of the forest.
She expected the ancient, gnarled trees to be more menacing, but it took all her nerves not to run into it and hide. Her skin prickled, imagining that they were being watched.
Chased.
She refused to be responsible for leading trouble back to her pack. She needed to find them quick and get the hell out of there.
As they neared the corner of the circus, Raven dropped her shields. Small threads of energy surged toward her from the surrounding area. She absorbed the strings of current until it sank under her skin, just enough to get a taste of it, taking comfort in the familiar ache.
Then she shifted through all the sources, concentrating on the potent energy that made shifters so powerful and gave them the ability to transform.
Careful not to disturb the shifters and alert them to her presence, she checked the source of each flare of energy, hoping to locate Jackson or Durant, but every source led back to one thing—the circus.
Taggert kept glancing at her as they walked, and she feared he’d smack into a tree. When she couldn’t absorb more energy without giving away their location, she finally cut off the stream. “I’m not able to locate any shifters outside the circus.”
“So you couldn’t find Durant and Jackson?”
Raven shook her head in defeat, pissed with herself at the failure. Without the help of her beast to either contact her men or consume the excess energy, she was basically useless. “I can’t continue the search without risking that they’ll find us. I don’t understand why the shifters continue to work at that horrible place.”
“They’re bound to their pack. Even if they wanted to fight, they wouldn’t be strong enough.”
She threw up her hands in the air, completely exasperated. “They could run.”
Taggert shook his head even before she finished. “As soon as they run, they’re marked as a rogue.”
Raven paled at the implications. “Giving everyone legal permission to hunt and kill them.”
The burnout rate must be extremely high. Her pulse raced as things began falling into place. “They must constantly need more shifters who can contribute, ones they can co
ntrol.”
Taggert gave her a pointed look. “Or ones who have something to lose.”
The meaning of the reading smacked her upside the head.
They wanted her men and planned to use her to get them.
Rave increased her stride, growing more anxious to find Durant and Jackson and put as much distance between them and the circus from hell.
Chapter Seven
As they reached to the backend of the circus, Raven stumbled to a stop and cursed. “What the devil?”
She expected a parking lot and a quick getaway.
Instead, they encountered a forest with cars parked haphazardly between the trees, no rhyme or reason to the chaos.
Taggert looked grim. “We need to search.”
Raven nodded, and they split up, keeping within ten feet of each other by silent agreement. The delay made her nervous. The farther the circus fell behind, the more the crippling jealousy faded. Without all the people surrounding them, her emotions normalized. She wished she could say the same for her embarrassment.
She’d acted like a possessive lover.
It didn’t seem to matter that she had no right.
As they wandered deeper into the dark forest, they stumbled upon more and more vehicles, but none of them their station wagon. The guys would’ve tried to keep out of the way, but these cars had purposefully been hidden, someone had gone to great lengths to ensure no one would find them.
Worry solidified like a ball of lead in her gut, and she couldn’t help be grateful to have Taggert at her side. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, her lips still tingling from his mind-blowing kiss. She released the stranglehold on the stuffed animal she held, stroking its fur, a poor substitute for the real thing. Thankfully, Taggert seemed oblivious to her thoughts as he scanned their surroundings until she noticed that his gaze kept landing on her after a few seconds.
She wasn’t sure if he thought she would disappear or if he wanted to pounce on her.
She pushed away the chaotic thoughts, hating that she was growing so aware of the men thanks to the dragon messing with her emotions. The beast made it impossible for her to ignore them as she had in the past.
The absolute silence from the forest became heavy and began to prey on her nerves.
No animals foraging.
No insects.
It wasn’t natural.
Cheering rose from the circus, and she shivered, not sure she wanted to know what was happening. It couldn’t be anything good.
It made her nervous she couldn’t sense anyone giving chase.
That she couldn’t see and take down the threat.
What the hell were they waiting for?
Her clients usually came to her with a problem to fix, where she could do research and gather background information on the case before jumping into the fray. This was different, and until she had more information, the only way to keep everyone safe was by leaving, enlist the council’s help and come back with reinforcements.
She went over everything they’d seen, glanced back to gauge the sheer size of the circus, and realized they’d only seen a small portion. Taggert was hiding something from her. “You avoided taking me to see the whole circus. Why?”
“You know why.” He gave her a measured look, betraying nothing about his emotions, bottling himself all up.
Hurt ploughed into her gut that he kept a part of himself apart from her, just like he did when he’d first come to her.
Like he didn’t trust her. “You didn’t think I could handle it.”
“Circuses have animals. I knew it would upset you to see them, and I didn’t want to ruin our special night.” A hint of vulnerability softened his face, and Raven found herself drawn closer.
Then the truth became clear, and she closed her eyes in resignation. “The animals are shifters locked in cages, aren’t they?”
“Yes.”
Raven could understand why he thought it would upset her, but the way his shoulders tensed, the way he angled away from looking at her directly, she knew he was keeping something else from her. “They can’t shift back, can they?”
Taggert’s shoulders dropped as he sighed, weighed down with the truth. “None of the shifters we saw were in good condition.”
“When they can no longer change back into their human forms, they are relegated to the cages like animals. And the longer they remain in animal form, the harder it is for them to remember their human side.”
“We don’t know that.” But his protest lacked conviction
They traveled farther into the trees, found three more cars, but never the right one. Her muscles tensed, and she shook with the urge to run hard and fast.
This was not her mess.
It wasn’t her problem to solve.
Duty and the need to do the right thing tore her in opposite directions.
The shifters were virtual prisoners, treated worse than slaves, and their alpha didn’t give a damn. The very idea horrified her. Pack was built to protect, lived and died to safeguard each other. To be betrayed by the ones who were supposed to keep them safe was beyond unspeakable.
She waited for her beast to show outrage, but the dragon remained locked down tight. They’d become so integrated, Raven found herself missing the creature. No spell held the beast at bay. No outer forces were at work.
The beast was just gone.
After so many years of repressing the monster, Raven missed the dratted creature.
She gave her dragon a careful poke but received no response.
It meant only one thing—something bad was about to happen.
Apprehension churned in her gut, and she picked up her pace, eager to find the men. She brushed against a tree, the bark biting into her skin. Every step without catching even a trace of them shot her anxiety higher. She could feel people watching them from the woods like a game of cat and mouse, their boots against her neck, ready to grab and drag them back.
She wouldn’t survive being imprisoned again.
Her breathing grew labored when she couldn’t find enough air. Raven knew she was having a panic attack, but the knowledge didn’t ease the swirling emotions.
She’d had enough.
There was no more hiding.
Refusing to leave without the men, Raven grabbed for a string of current.
“Here!” Taggert took off running.
Concentration shot, the hot strands singed her palms as the energy slid through her fingers. Raven followed, heart in her throat, darting around trees and random cars in her path. Taggert practically vaulted over a vehicle. No way could she keep pace.
When he drew to an abrupt halt, Raven slowed.
He whirled, pure wolf staring back at her and roared. “Run!”
In the next second, three shots echoed in the glen.
Taggert staggered and something inside her crumbled.
It took her precious seconds for her to realize that she scented no blood.
He wasn’t dead.
She blinked to see three red darts sticking out of his chest.
They’d drugged him. They wanted him alive. He lifted an arm, swiping away the darts, but it was much too late, the poison already coursing through his system.
She sprinted toward him, refused to leave him behind.
Taggert growled when she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I told you to run.”
“Not happening.” They pushed deeper into the forest, the circus offering no sanctuary. Even hampered, they moved faster than any human. Unfortunately, the shadowy forms hovering in the darkness easily kept pace.
Without her beast, she was useless. Heart hammering against her chest, she gathered her power when the dragon pressed down on her chest, smothering every ounce of current.
Raven was devastated by the betrayal.
Before she could grab the damned beast and demand answers, the bitch slithered back into her bones and vanished. The dragon obviously wanted her to stay, but no amount of probing would tell her wh
y.
She understood the beast wanted to protect her by keeping their secret, but the dragon would never put her men at risk without a reason.
“Stop.” Taggert squeezed her waist until she had no air left. He slowed to a jarring stumble, his hold on her weakening. “Leave me.”
Raven shook her head, prepared to be just as stubborn, and he shoved her away. “They will use you against us. You have to escape.”
Everything in her rebelled at the idea, but she knew he was right. If they took her, her pack would all be trapped. If she left, she could come back for them, but it didn’t make abandoning them any easier to swallow.
Her chest burned as she took a step away from him, the action so painful, it felt like she was being gutted by a butter knife.
Two large shifters stepped out of the darkness, not remotely human, both stuck in transition like werewolves of old with furry legs, snout, teeth and claws galore.
A human followed a few paces behind, a soldier by his bearing, his cold gaze freezing her insides solid. He held a gun in his grip and could’ve easily shot her. Instead, he waved to the men, malicious glee in his eyes. “Get the woman.”
Both werewolves lifted their guns in a blur, obeying as if the man were their master, their spirits completely broken.
No way could she elude them without the help of her beast or magic.
Time slowed.
Their fingers tightened on the trigger.
Then the darts shot through the air.
Even as she dropped to the ground, she waited for the piercing pain from the darts.
Instead, Taggert lunged in front of her.
He grunted as the tiny missiles struck true.
He swayed on his feet, his eyes dilating until they were nearly black. His beast processed the drug as fast as it could, but there was just too much.
Raven scrambled to her feet as he dropped to his knees. Her arms ached to catch him, demand he come with her. She almost gave in when his eyes heated with anger, his wolf ready to lunge at her to get her moving. “Go.”
Raven Investigation 04 - Electric Legend Page 6