The cuff snicked open, and she found herself thrown over his back, carried through a series of underground passages. He dumped her unceremoniously on the floor, knocking the breath from her lungs. While stunned, he efficiently latched an inch wide metal manacle around her wrist.
Cold bit into her ass when the man walked away, the temperature a relief after all the energy she’d handled in the last few hours. Her eyes traced the metal links to another cuff hooked to the wall just out of her reach. A light, pine filled breeze brushed against her face, and she knew the entrance had to be close. She struggled upright.
Shuffling feet drew her attention. She quickly scanned the cave for a weapon. No rocks or twigs were nearby. The stone walls were completely devoid of any power. There was nothing to use to defend herself. All she had left was the gold power Randolph left her.
Part of her hesitated to even touch it, but if it meant Taggert would go free, she’d take the risk. She carefully harvested a strand, sucking in a sharp breath when the cord nearly gutted her.
She wrapped up the unruly energy like a ball, prepared to throw it hard and fast, anything to get it out of her hold.
Sickening horror flashed through her when Taggert stumbled out of the darkness. She scrambled to swallow the current down, sucking in a sharp breath when everywhere it touched burned and became as sensitive as freshly broken blisters. Just when she thought it would kick her ass, it finally settled.
Her gaze shot to Taggert, half fearful she hadn’t stopped her attack in time. Though severely bruised and battered, all the wounds were old. They aslo looked worse than she’d first estimated.
Then she noticed he was alone. “Run!”
The walkie-talkie clenched in his fists squawked. “I have a rifle aimed at her head. Shackle yourself to her.”
She cursed herself for not seeing that this could happen. Those chocolate brown eyes locked on hers, and he resolutely walked toward her. Her heart slammed against her ribs as she watched him clicked the heavy weight to his own wrist, trapping them together. “Taggert.”
“He would’ve killed you.” He cradled his ribs when he settled at her side. He showed no remorse in his actions, running a hand lightly over her hair, fingering the strands with trembling fingers. The metal irritated his wrists, instantly turning his skin red.
An ungodly howl erupted, echoing in the caves, threatening to pierce her skull. A deep chill crept over her skin. Taggert bolted to his feet, jerking her up with him.
“Run!”
He pulled her along and some of his urgency washed over her. She stumbled over her own feet as she tried to keep up, cursing her clumsiness. Nothing had gone as planned. The burnout had scrambled her system more than she’d wanted to admit, the current coming and going in surges, but mostly going.
Her animals refused to settle as the gold power insidiously worked its way through her body, leaving black cinders in its wake as it consumed her from the inside out.
Another rage-filled howl spilled down the shadowy tunnel, washing over her, spreading goosebumps over her body.
Running sounded like a very good idea.
Chapter Thirty-one
“Hurry.” Taggert jerked on her arm, nearly pulling her off her feet, half lifting, half carrying her as they shot out of the cave.
The hunt had begun.
She risked a glance at the cave entrance and saw nothing. That didn’t stop her heartbeat from skyrocketing. Something was there in the darkness, something hungry and coming fast.
Adrenaline surged through her body. The fresh night air eased the tight band around her chest. Some of her coordination returned. She picked up speed despite the stitch growing in her side, but couldn’t dodge the obstacles nearly as well as Taggert. A branch took her unawares, smacking her hard enough to draw blood.
“Stop.” She tried to slow, but Taggert would have none of it. When he would’ve muscled her forward, she threw out her arm and snagged the trunk of a slim tree. The bark ripped off a few layers of skin from her tender underarm. Taggert barely halted in time to prevent her shoulder from dislocating.
“We have time before she catches up to us. It wouldn’t do for her to be on us too fast. The hunt would be over too soon.” She lifted her arm in the meager light to get a better angle on the locks.
Everything metal.
“We should run.” But he stayed still, allowing her to pull him into a crouch, making them a much smaller target.
“Running blindly through the forest is what got the others killed.” She scanned the surrounding area to gain her bearings. The wind swept low to the ground, shadows jumped as past chases haunted the area. She could almost see them running scared, panting in fear, their only intent to escape, knowing each step, each breath could be their last. She shook her head to rid herself of the images.
“I can’t unlock these.” She looked at him in the darkness, saw him trying to hide the pain so clearly etched on his face, and wondered how long he’d be able to keep going. She needed a plan and fast.
“They picked me up on the other side of the stream. That’s where everyone else is waiting. With your heightened sense of smell, can you get us there?”
Taggert lifted his head and inhaled deeply, shuddering as air filled his chest. He cradled his ribs, but didn’t stop scenting the air until he found it. “Follow me.”
He shot to his feet in the graceful way of his kind. Raven cursed her clumsy body, doing her best to keep up. After ten minutes of running, she was more than a little embarrassed by her lack of endurance. The stitch in her side was a taunt.
Wounded and starved, Taggert wasn’t in much better condition. The signs were there in the way his chest hiccupped with each breath, the way his stride hitched. He just hid it better.
“If we can get that far, we’ll have backup.” But she didn’t hold out much hope of making that distance without a confrontation. With each footfall, she pulled raw energy from the earth to disperse tiny grains of current across the surface of the forest floor. The roots eagerly soaked up the extra boost. The grass sprang back, bent leaves straightened, snapped twigs mended. Each step took its toll. She wouldn’t be able to cover them for long. Even now, a fever heated her body.
They needed help.
“I need to track the others.” She swallowed hard as she said the words, her body already flinching at the pain to come.
A shudder ran through Taggert’s frame, though he didn’t slow or miss a step. “Do it.”
Something in his reaction had her hesitating, sucking up precious moments. “Are you sure?”
“You won’t hurt me.”
His trust didn’t reassure her. A strangled inflection in his voice had her guts clenching with unease. Weighed against the overwhelming need to protect him, there was no contest.
“Stop.”
He instantly stilled and cocked his head to listen. His bloodshot eyes met hers, and he nodded to indicate they were alone.
To keep him safe, she imagined a five-foot circle surrounding them. Then with great care, she pulled energy from around them and fed her power to the circle. Built it. Like a leech, it devoured the charge, greedily pulling everything faster than she could gather it. Trees became brittle. Plants wilted and turned brown, then black. Grass withered. All the while, her temperature soared with each pull.
Once saturated with as much energy she could gather, she released her hold, nearly dropping to her knees at the strain of working with pure energy. Power shot out, blasting through the forest with impossible speed.
Taggert’s growl rumbled through her as he was hit with backlash, but she kept her focus on the wave. The first hit captured her attention. “Shit.”
She shoved Taggert down just as a shot sounded. A burn lashed along her arm. Before she could peel herself off him, Taggert rolled, dragging her into the shelter of the trees.
Crouched facing her, Taggert’s eyes glowed. He no longer resembled the boy she knew but a warrior determined to kill.
She clutched her arm, warm b
lood spilling through her fingers. Her core still sputtered, remaining unusable. The raw energy around them was too unpredictable to manipulate into closing the wound. She felt exposed and useless without her gift there to save them.
“Here.” Taggert tore off the bottom of his shirt and wrapped her arm. She gritted her teeth when he tightened the makeshift bandage to slow the bleeding.
“Sorry.”
She grabbed his hand when he dropped his arm and squeezed. “Thank you.”
When Taggert tensed, she slapped her hand against his chest. “No you don’t.” She lifted her arm, and the chain clanked. “We do this together.”
“We can’t stay here. He’ll kill you.” He lifted his face to the wind. “I can smell him, the powder on his gun, the tar in his hair.” Taggert turned slightly and nodded. “He’s coming from that direction.”
“He’d found us too damn fast. He’s tracking us somehow.”
Taggert stilled, not even breathing. “It’s me.”
Her lips tightened, anger burning bright as she imagined what they’d done to him. “Where?”
“There was a cut on my back when I woke. It never healed.”
“Turn.”
He growled as if furious with himself and turned. “There’s not much time. He’s closing fast.”
She peeled up the shirt. The infected wound stood out against the corded muscles of his back. The skin looked partially healed over, but a bright, angry red.
Without giving either of them a chance to flinch, she probed the small incision. Warm blood and nothing else met her fingertip.
“Hurry.” The light sound barely emerged through his gritted teeth. He had to be riddled with pain, but he didn’t show it.
He was right. There was no time to be squeamish. She pressed deeper, ignoring the fresh dribble of blood that smeared his back. Her fingertip touched the edge of something hard. She grabbed and pulled it free, wincing as she tore the object from his flesh.
Iron. The bastards. Since he couldn’t shift, the wound would leave a permanent scar. She dropped the tracker, relieved to see the dribble of blood down his back already slowing.
“The old man said that if we escaped, we’d be free.” Tension spiraled through Taggert. “Do you believe him?”
She didn’t have to think twice. “No.”
“Then we run.” They kept low to the ground, Taggert guiding them away from the hunter. Another shot whizzed in the dark from somewhere behind them.
A bellow of rage followed, and she couldn’t prevent a hard smile. “Cowboy found the tracker.” And he was close enough for her to smell the grease on him.
Taggert pulled her to a stop and crouched to face her. “You were right. More of them are ahead. If we run, they’ll take us.”
“How many?”
Taggert shook his head. “The wind carried just a hint of scent. Three?”
“How many were there in total?” She cursed her inability to send out another probe. She poked at the gold power that steadily bled into her system, but let it be. She couldn’t risk using it with Taggert so near without knowing the consequences.
Taggert shook his head. “They made sure we only dealt with one person in the cave. There were two others that dumped me in the woods. Also a big guy with the taser that picked me up.”
“There’s also the girl and the old man. Plus they must have at least one person to guard the prisoners at the cave.” She nodded to the darkness. “The cowboy is a coward. If we can unarm him, he’ll be easy to take. One is a hunter, a soldier. He’s in it for the chase. Killing’s become boring. He needs bigger prey to get his thrill. The leader is an old man who detests all paranormals with an unquenchable hatred. He feels it’s his duty to keep the rest of the world safe. Neither of them will stop.”
“So we fight.” There was no fear in Taggert’s voice.
Adrenaline surged, burning away the pain and exhaustion. The animals at her core perked up in interest, spurring her forward. A quick glance at Taggert revealed the same. No lust for the kill, just grim determination to get them out alive.
Narrowing her eyes, she stared in the darkness back the way they came. “We take Cowboy first and even the odds.”
With a game plan in mind, they slipped through the forest with barely a sound. As she guessed, Cowboy couldn’t find anything without his technology. He lingered within five feet of where they’d left the transmitter, stomping the ground, muttering to himself, slapping at a watch-like electronic box strapped to his forearm.
Taggert jerked his chin at Cowboy, and Raven nodded. They moved in unison. Cowboy heard them and brought up his rifle, the barrel of his gun pointed dead center of Taggert’s chest, though the pervert didn’t know it in the darkness.
Raven tugged on the chain that bound them, jerking Taggert out of range and behind her.
Cowboy dropped the night goggles over his eyes, instantly spotting them. A vicious smile curled his lips. “It doesn’t matter to me if my women are dead or alive.”
Even as he squeezed the trigger, Taggert swept her feet out from underneath her. The ground came up to smack her as the shot rang out. She felt more then saw Taggert’s body jerk. He didn’t go down, doing his best to protect her while pinned in place by the chains connecting them.
Rage stole all rational thought. She was on her feet without being aware of moving. Taggert mimicked her, and they rushed Cowboy. The chain caught the pervert around his neck. His back slammed against a tree trunk. The gun went off harmlessly into the ground. She found herself facing Taggert behind the tree when the sound of Cowboy’s neck snapping calmed the volatile emotions that threatened her sanity.
Chapter Thirty-two
The body lay slumped against the tree, sightless eyes staring up into the sky. “We have to leave. The noise will bring them right to us.”
Raven ignored Taggert’s pronouncement. “How bad are you hurt?” The rawness of her throat made the words difficult.
He marched directly in front of her and got right up into her face. “We need to leave.”
Raven couldn’t let it rest, not with her fingers still tacky with his blood. She eased away from him, her breath catching at all the sight of all that blood low on his abdomen. With her fear, her core flared to life for the first time since she had been taken. “We need to stop the bleeding. Your wolf should accelerate the healing process if we can cut out the bullet.”
“It went through. The bleeding’s already slowing. We have to go.” His tone was calm, soothing, and very insistent.
Some of the panic crowding her mind subsided. The tightness choking her chest eased. He was right. They had to keep moving. “Can you scent anything?”
Taggert shook his head. “The gunpowder is too strong.”
While she still had access to her core, she sent a burst of electricity into the forest. This time she didn’t protect Taggert. Despite insisting he was fine, his movements were sluggish. The injuries were impacting him. The extra energy would help him heal. It would keep him on edge and bring his wolf closer to the surface.
As the energy gushed out of her core, her legs trembled, threatening to dump her on her ass. Her core dimmed to a fraction of its former self, but it didn’t vanish completely. The burnout was fading.
Then her wave got a hit. Two. Three. Six. And they were all heading in their direction.
“We have to leave now.” She shoved at Taggert’s shoulder and spun him around to face the opposite direction. “Back toward the cave.”
“They’ll trap us there.” Though his body cowed at the mention of the cave, he did as asked and hustled.
“We’ll have to circle around or be caught up in their net.” When the shadow of the cave came into view, she pulled up short.
The hair on the back of her neck rose. Taggert jerked to a halt, the cuffs stretched between them, peering at her in confusion. “There’s an energy shield of some sort around the cave like an underground fence.” She tipped her head to the side and held out her arms, wal
king blindly, her fingers brushing the edges.
“Here.” She traced the path down. “There’s an electric fence buried here.” The fence sparked when her fingertips bumped over the line. The tip of her finger burned then grew numb. She quickly pulled back, rubbing at the blackened tip.
A shadow shifted to the right. A person lumbered out of the darkness, the gait awkward. Twigs were tangled in snarled hair. Something about the shape of her face, the placement of her eyes, nagged at her.
“Sarah?”
The shape turned toward her, and the truth rocked through Raven. The laughing picture. Jason’s missing girlfriend. Childlike confusion clouded the dull eyes. A flicker of recognition flared as if she remembered Raven from their first meeting when she almost fried her. The girl pointed back toward the cave.
“The cave?”
The girl shuffled forward. She had one foot across the fence when her body jolted, and a scream of rage bubbled out of her throat. The total despair bled Raven’s heart.
A snarl of frustration transformed Sarah’s face, the consciousness in her eyes faded as she swung toward them.
“I don’t think she’s happy.” Taggert retreated a step when Sarah bared her teeth. They were jagged, half human, half animal.
Her movements smoothed out, her joints became fluid. She was going to attack.
Fear for Taggert curled through her. She’d come too far to let anything happen to him now. “Freeze.”
Taggert instantly stilled in the uncanny way that she normally associated with vampires.
Raven lifted her hands to draw Sarah’s attention. “You want in there?” She pointed to the cave. Sarah halted and gazed at the cave. The killers had something in there, something they used to ensure that Sarah obeyed.
Raven knelt and dug her hands into the ground. Cords of power snaked through the earth, leaping at her touch, eager for release. “Taggert...”
“If you don’t do this, she’ll kill us both.”
Raven still hesitated. Even with perfect control, those shackles would transfer at least some of the shock to him. “I don’t know what it’ll do to you.”
Electric Storm (A Raven Investigations Novel) Page 28