Taggert straightened to his full height, standing a few inches taller than her, all proud warrior. “You saved me.”
Raven shook her head, mourning the harsh changes one unthinkable act had wrought. “But at what cost?”
“I’m stronger and faster. Strong enough to stand and fight at your side.” A muscle ticked in his jaw, and his eyes narrowed. “I’m better this way.”
As if sensing her panic, Durant stepped into view. “Alphas have the ability to pull out latent traits in others.”
Raven rubbed her fingers together, distracted by the feel of skin instead of leather she’d grown accustomed to wearing. “Maybe, but I shouldn’t have been able to build on power he didn’t already have to start.”
The men exchanged looks proven to drive women insane with frustration. “Spit it out.”
Jackson walked right into her private space—damned touchy-feely shifters. He sucked up all the oxygen until she couldn’t focus on anything but him. It was all she could do to keep her attention above his chin and ignore the glorious chest and manly parts on full display.
He angled his body to block the wind, and the smell of freshly cut grass wrapped around her. The simple gesture softened her anger. He’d lied to her by omission, forced her to claim him, and risked his life in the process, when he’d known there was an alternative. He’d had his reasons, though, and she was beginning to suspect he might have been right.
And if she were truthful with herself, she was glad to have him as part of her pack. By claiming him directly, she had made him irrevocably hers.
The creature gave a little hum of pleasure that she’d finally admitting it.
“You have never been normal. Why would it change now?”
She pursed her lips. He had a point. “Neither of you can stay.”
Jackson nodded, studying her face as if memorizing her features. “I know.”
She cocked her head at his easy acquiescence. “Then why did you come?”
“Because Taggert needed to assure himself that you were all right. He was coming with or without me.” Jackson didn’t move or even twitch, and she narrowed her eyes.
“You’re lying.” It was a gift she shared with him thanks to their blood connection.
The skin around his eyes tightened a little. “No, I’m just not telling you the complete truth.”
When he said nothing more, she raised a brow.
Something inside him snapped, and he stepped closer. He inhaled, savoring her scent. “When you left, you weren’t going to come back.”
Raven didn’t deny it. “And you thought if I saw you again that I would change my mind?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, letting her know how close she had come to the mark. Raven hesitantly placed her hand on his chest, her fingers coming to rest on the faint scar below his collarbone. His eyes dilated, and he sucked in a startled breath, his body going rigid.
“Fight for us. We’ve gone through too much for you to give up on us now.” He pressed her hand over the mark that claimed him as hers. “We will never give up on you.”
Raven tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. If only it was that easy. She refused to become a monster. If she wasn’t able to find a compromise with the creature, she might not have a choice. She’d do whatever was necessary to keep them from harm…even if it meant never seeing them again. “I’ll do whatever’s in my power to preserve the pack.”
Jackson’s brows furrowed at her choice of words, immediately noting her omission. “Just remember, you are the core of the pack. Come back to us.”
She couldn’t give him a promise she might have to break. She pulled away, ducking from his too-perceptive gaze. He always sensed too much, much more than she was willing to share. “Taggert, go on back with Jackson—”
“No.” The kid’s expression shut down and he crossed his arms, suddenly an immovable object.
There was no way he could stay. He was too vulnerable. He wouldn’t survive another attack. She had to find a way to make him obey, but no matter how hard she wracked her brain, she couldn’t come up with anything that might tempt him.
All Taggert had ever wanted was to be part of a pack.
Then that’s what she would give him.
“If you go back with Jackson, when this case is complete, I promise to give you and the pack my undivided attention.”
Taggert narrowed his eyes, the calculation there a little disconcerting. “One week. No work.”
Raven studied the demand from all angles. If she could hold everything together and survive this job, a week with the pack should be simple.
But when was anything in her life simple?
Taggert ventured closer. “We’ll go on vacation. You’ll be alone with just the pack.”
His offer sound like both heaven and a threat. “You’ll leave and stay away from this case?”
He gave one short nod. “I’ll use the time to plan the trip.”
“Durant, give them your keys.”
Durant snapped to attention, glowering at her. “Excuse me?”
“They need to leave, and they can’t go back the way they came. The fastest, surest way is by car.”
When he saw she wasn’t going to back down, he cursed and closed his eyes in resignation. “And I have the only vehicle.”
She watched him hesitate again before digging the keys out of his pocket. His body remained tense, as if he was ready to run off at the slightest provocation. He figured the keys, then tossed them. “Damage her, and I’ll take it out of your hide, mutt.”
Jackson caught them with ease, then gave Raven a measured look. “One week. If you don’t show, we’re coming after you.”
Jackson walked by her, and she didn’t resist the urge to turn and watch him stride away. She followed the muscular lines of his back, watched the flex of his ass, and envied his ease with himself. Taggert brushed against her as he passed, his eyes alive as he watched her.
There was an unspoken promise in them…there was nowhere she could hide that he wouldn’t find her.
Then the darkness swallowed him, too.
Chapter Nine
DAY TWO: MORNING
Raven woke to sunlight streaming into the room, and she frowned, uncertain why her mind was racing a mile a minute. Then it hit her. The sun.
“Rylan!” For a panicked second, she searched the room, her heart fluttering. He’d never reported back last night. She must have drifted off while waiting up for him.
Durant’s big frame filled the doorway. He leaned his shoulder against the jamb and crossed his arms. “If you’re looking for the vampire, he went to ground earlier this morning.”
Relief flooded her until the silence of the cabin grabbed her by the throat. “Where’s the jaguar?”
Durant scowled at the mention of the other cat, as if the jaguar was an unwanted stray who had invaded his space. “He let himself out just after sunrise.”
Raven relaxed back on the bed and stretched. “What time is it?”
There was a lengthy pause, and she lifted her head to find him staring at her, looking ready to crawl into bed at the slightest bit of encouragement. She blushed, but her self-consciousness faded at the naked hunger in his eyes. She tucked her hands under her to keep from reaching for him, her nails sinking in her flesh, until her sanity finally returned.
“Time.” It came out a croak.
The fire in his eyes banked at her rejection. When he glanced at the clock without a word of protest, she blew out a heavy breath, deflated that he hadn’t pushed for more. She knew it was her own fault for sending mixed messages, even if they weren’t intentional.
“A little after ten.”
“What?” Raven scrambled from bed, nearly tripping when her legs tangled in the sheets. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”
She gave him her back and quickly pulled on her pants. When he didn’t speak, she glanced over at him to find his attention cemented on her scantily clad ass. The near-scorching look in his eye
s made her breath catch, and she couldn’t decide whether to be flustered or flattered. She pulled a shirt over her tank top, tucked it into her pants then turned and faced him. “Well?”
He finally looked up, met her eyes, then shrugged. “You needed the rest.”
It was as simple as that for him. She was still uncomfortable with how focused her pack was on her well-being.
“No, what I need to do is finish this case.” The urgency to find the killer and hurry home had only increased after she’d seen Taggert again. There was brittleness about him that warned he would snap if she failed and never returned. He’d go rogue and risk being hunted before going back to being a slave.
Durant narrowed his eyes at her irritation. “You’ll solve it. A few hours won’t make a difference.”
His confidence in her was nice. She just hoped she could live up to their expectations. First, she needed to get away from his simmering eyes before she completely forgot why being in the same room with him and a bed was such a bad idea. “I’ll meet you out front in five minutes.”
The instant his broad back disappeared out the door, Raven closed her eyes and searched her core in a desperate hope that everything was back to normal, but the spot remained barren. The damage she’d inflicted on herself was healing, but there was still no hint of her power.
Without her power, she and her pack were vulnerable. To keep everyone safe, she needed to assert her dominance over her animal…but how was she to do that when she couldn’t catch and hold the elusive beast?
The creature emerged on a whim, wreaked havoc on anyone near, and then disappeared, leaving Raven with a mess to clean up. She needed to find a way to communicate with it, because without her power, they were all lost.
Heat spread through her veins, flooding her system with raw energy at the thought of losing her pack. She waited for the creature to emerge, but Raven suspected the animal was pacifying her, biding its time.
She clutched a single ray of hope to her chest. She and her creature had the same goal—the survival of the pack. It could give her an edge when dealing with the creature.
She splashed water on her face, twisted her hair up, but there was no more hiding the silver that streaked the black strands. The tips were almost solid silver. Since she was no longer able to use the power directly, she wondered if the electrical current would stop eating away the color.
She slipped out the door to find Durant standing perfectly still, waiting for her to emerge. The two guards from last night had been replaced, judiciously maintaining a healthy distance. She eyed them curiously, but felt no malice.
“What did Rylan learn?” She led the way toward the main building and breakfast, wanting to avoid any more personal talk.
Durant didn’t take her arm, but lingered close enough that his leather scent distracted her. “The coven is secure. He couldn’t detect anything out of place.”
Curiosity made her ask. “Would he be able to tell if the person responsible had been here for a while?”
Durant scanned the courtyard for possible danger, ever alert for trouble. Not even the students escaped his perusal. “By smell, no, but he might be able to sense if something was off.”
“Everything feels off,” Raven mumbled, knowing he would hear her anyway. She watched as a group of students detoured around them before they scampered off toward class, and she snorted in amusement at their antics.
“Everyone’s on edge.” He corrected, dismissing the kids as any kind of threat, seemingly unaware he was being treated like a leper.
“Keep an eye out for the jaguar.” She raised a hand when he opened his mouth to protest. “Whether you like it or not, he knows more about what’s happening here than anyone else. We need him.”
Durant grumbled but didn’t say anything more as he scanned a small knot of people scurrying from one building to the next. They received a few curious looks, an annoyed glare or two, but nothing overtly menacing. “Something is killing people.”
“Yes,” Durant glanced over at her.
“Then why didn’t they send the children back to their parents for protection?”
Durant raised a brow, looking surprised that she didn’t already know the answer. “It would mean admitting the witches aren’t able to protect their own.”
Raven rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? These witches are the best in the coven, put in charge of teaching the next generation. If they admit they can’t handle the danger—”
“They would lose status.” Raven still didn’t understand it. “That doesn’t excuse them for putting children in danger.”
Durant continued to look at her, and she resisted the urge to fidget. “What?”
“They might be children, but they’re witches first. Going home would mean failure. People would know and remember.”
She waved her hand, dismissing his ludicrous comment. “No one thinks that way.”
“Shifters are the same way.” Tension mounted in the air around Durant, his reluctance to say more was obvious, and she bit her lip to keep from asking what happened in his life to make him think he was a coward. She didn’t believe it for a second. “If there is even a hint of weakness in a shifter, they immediately lose status. No one wants to claim a shifter who has shown cowardice.”
“Fear is a healthy response to danger. It keeps you alive.” Fear was her daily companion, it swarmed around her, trying to drag her down the moment she relaxed her vigilance. She would not be swayed in her belief that fear was a healthy response. To do so would be to admit that she didn’t deserve her pack.
Those mesmerizing green and gold eyes of his bore into hers. “Fear doesn’t mean you’re a coward. Think of it more like a test. The best and the brightest don’t run from danger, they run toward it. People like you.”
She couldn’t help be flattered at his roundabout complement. “Then why have they brought me here? Isn’t that admitting they couldn’t handle it on their own?”
“When you can’t solve a problem, you bring in someone who can.”
She narrowed her eyes, wishing she could read him as easily as he read her. “But you still believe they requested me for more than my ability to solve cases.”
He stared at her with golden eyes, his tiger close to the surface at the possibility of her being in danger. “Don’t you?”
She took her time answering. “I don’t think it matters at this point. I’m trapped. If I leave without finding the killer, they’ll make sure I lose Taggert just for spite.”
“They’re watching you, taking notes on everything you can do.” He practically bristled at the idea.
As they neared the building, her stomach rumbled, and she quickened her pace. She needed to consume a lot of calories or her body would steal energy from those around her. The last thing she needed was to accidently kill a witch.
The building was cool when they entered. People, both past and present, walked through the halls. She dodged around the ghosts for fear of repeating yesterday’s performance. Durant didn’t comment on her odd dance, and she ignored the few witches who eyed her as if she was a lunatic. The cafeteria was empty but for a few stragglers scattered throughout.
And no shifters.
Again.
“Shifters aren’t even allowed to eat in the same building, are they?”
Durant nudged her toward the food. “If you were a familiar, would you want to eat with the one who had purchased your contract?”
Her lips curled with revulsion at the thought of being forced to interact with anyone twenty-four hours a day. “Point taken.”
She loaded her plate, her mouth watering despite the fact the food was a congealed lump that had been sitting out a little too long. They ate in silence. It was only after she swallowed the last mouthful that she noticed Durant watching her with a peculiar smile.
“What?” She snatched up a napkin and wiped her mouth, feeling her face heat. “Did I get it?”
His smile widened,
and her paranoia escalated. “Why are you smiling?”
“Do you realize this is one of the few times I’ve had you all to myself without one of us being injured or someone trying to kill us?”
Raven dropped the napkin on her plate. Her eyes dipped to his lips, her mind immediately going to the time when she had him all to herself, cuffed to a chair, urging her to do anything she wanted to him. A blush heated her face as she imagined stripping off his shirt, and Durant chuckled, smugly confident where her thoughts had gone.
Raven shot to her feet, sure that at any moment she would be able to see his tiger peek out and lick his lips while he watched her. “Stop it.”
Durant slowly straightened, giving her time to admire all those sleek muscles at work. “Stop what?”
Mischief danced in his eyes, and she huffed out a breath. But he had succeeded in distracting her from her worries. She turned toward the door as he rounded the table.
“You’re still you. The beast you fear won’t change that.”
He had to go and ruin it all by mentioning her creature. She hurried toward the exit, not wanting to encourage him. “We need to find out if the witch lived. She could know something.”
Instead of wasting time searching the campus, Raven headed straight for Heloise’s office. The door was open, thankfully, but the wards clung like sticky taffy as she passed through them. “Did the witch survive?”
Heloise finished signing a document, not even bothering to look up. “Her name is Crystal. We did all we could for her.”
Raven cocked her head, noting something off about the answer. Then it clicked. She didn’t say she had died. “I’d like to question her.”
Heloise sighed in annoyance and finally glanced up. “I’m afraid that will be impossible. We’ve made her comfortable, but there was nothing we could do to reverse the process. She’s dying.”
Raven understood the rejection, but cooperating wouldn’t get her answers. “Your first impulse is to protect, but you have more than one person under your care.”
Electric Heat (A Raven Investigations Novel Book 3) Page 9