It had retaliated by trying to eat her from the inside out.
All she got in return to her question was a look that was both dead serious and tinged with fear. “You don’t want to tangle with him. He enjoys gobbling up little girls like you.”
She shivered at his choice of words.
Chapter Four
Raven pulled up to the house, practically spilling out of the car to get away from Griffin. She slammed the door and strode up the walkway, the crunch of gravel under her feet echoing in the silence. She’d only gone ten feet when a tingle at the base of her spine pulled her up short.
She was being watched.
Very deliberately, she turned and scanned the landscape. Griffin paused at her side. He glanced at her then followed the direction of her gaze toward the tree line.
Nothing carried to her on the breeze.
No scents.
No sounds.
The foliage didn’t sir. Clouds scuttled past, leaving pockets of darkness, almost like birds of prey circling. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, she couldn’t pick out anything that should cause alarm. She rubbed her arms as her wolf rose under her skin as it, too, sensed something stalking them.
She reflexively reached for the electricity stored at her core to scan their surroundings. The animals snarled, quickly rushing to the surface in challenge. The tips of her fingers ached with the need to shed claws.
Something was out there, hunting them on her land. Neither she nor her animals appreciated the fact. When she got her hands on them, they would realize their mistake. She marched toward the grove, determined to eliminate anyone who thought to harm what was hers.
Griffin looped his arm about her waist and pulled her close until her head was tucked into his neck. When she tried to bring up her knee, he tightened his grip, squeezing the air from her lungs.
“Breathe, damn you.”
Raven sucked in a greedy gulp of air and inhaled the fresh cut cedar scent of his wolf. Part of the mindless need to rent flesh from bone lessened. Rational thoughts returned in fits and starts. If anything happened to her, her people would be left vulnerable.
What caught her by surprise was the complete absence of attraction to Griffin.
Her wolf rejected him.
To know that she wouldn’t mindlessly lust after any male in the vicinity left her lightheaded. Then the danger of the situation came slamming back to her.
Angered at her lack of control, she shoved away her wolf. She dipped into her core, actively seeking the full use of her power for the first time since the burnout a few days ago. Pure energy flooded her body. She gritted her teeth as pain seared along her flesh.
“Son of a bitch.” Griffin’s arms flexed a second when his muscles convulsed then he dropped his hold. When he pulled away, his eyes glowed.
Instead of shutting down, the power continued to build until the air crackled. Not wanting to draw more attention to herself, she reluctantly slammed all that delicious power into the ground.
The earth, in a five-foot radius, dropped two inches at the impact like a miniature crop circle, smoke rising like steam from the area. The action left her stumbling to remain on her feet and vaguely nauseous. All the power evaporated as if it had never been.
Whatever had been watching them vanished, and she could only blame herself. She tried to use her animals to search the vicinity, but the only thing she felt was Griffin’s wolf demanding freedom to hunt. His condition only worsened as the very power she’d sank in the earth floated up to them, the ground too saturated to hold it all. The raw energy scratched at her skin, seeking entrance.
It had the opposite effect on Griffin.
It brought out his wolf.
“Go.” The gruff word was a deep rumble from his chest.
She took a cautious step back, but hesitated at Griffin’s obvious pain. His arms rippled as if he would shift then and there. “But–”
“I’m going to find out who was spying on us. Unless you want to see me in my skivvies, I suggest you leave.” So saying, Griffin tore his shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground.
Raven gulped at the display of muscles. Though she felt no desire for Griffin, she could appreciate a man built with all lean muscles and tanned skin. While he still showed effects from his recent imprisonment, it was the old scars covering every inch of his torso that made her flinch. For a shifter to retain that much tissue damage after they’d healed, someone had to have tried to skin him.
When he popped open the first button of his fly, she inhaled involuntarily to catch his scent. The energy around her fluctuating wildly, slipping down her throat to sit like a warm glow heavy in her chest.
Not wanting to lose what little control she’d wrestled back, unwilling to absorb more of the power into her abused body after such a glorious failure to hold it all, she turned and hightailed it back to the house. His mocking laugh rang in her ears, but she didn’t think he took any pleasure in taunting her.
The house was thankfully silent when she entered, giving a hum of welcome. The place was a home in the truest sense of the word. Part of her power had spread to the house, changed it fundamentally with the ability to store electricity.
The tug of war between the two sides of her soul left her exhausted. She inhaled then coughed at her own smell, desperately needing a shower before she tackled the next mess.
She plucked out the two chops holding her hair in place and peeled off her gloves. She headed up the sweeping stairs, the steps curving along the wall to the second floor to open up to a balcony. The grand open spaces, large rambling hallways might have been modeled from late Victorian architecture, but she and the old building suited each other.
She entered her room. The bed was still partially ruffled from this morning’s fight with her dreams. The empty couch next to it mocked her.
Jackson’s couch.
At night, alone in the darkness, she’d swear she could still heard his breathing.
A cruel trick of her mind.
She kicked her shoes off and had her shirt half-unbuttoned when she heard a noise that raised the hair on the back of her neck.
Instead of calling her animals, she reached for her core. She needed power she could rely on, not a mindless beast that just wanted to kill. Strands of energy slithered through her center, the blue cords springing forward at her call to swarm over her.
Much too strong.
“Shit.” Electricity snaked down her arms, enveloping her hands in a light glow. Ignoring the burning of heat under her skin, she inched along the edges of the bedroom.
She cocked her head and listened. Then she heard it again.
Male voices.
Inside the house.
How had they gotten past Griffin...or had Griffin let them in?
Following the sound, she cracked opened the bathroom door.
And stopped stock-still.
The room was torn apart, only the shower and sink remained intact. Three men, shifters of some type, young and very fit, stood across from her. They straightened abruptly at her entrance, acting shocked to see her as if she’d walked into their bathroom.
They didn’t look threatening, more curious.
Their reaction tripped her up, and she had to wonder what kind of picture she presented with her dark hair swirling around her shoulders, the prominent streak of silver near her temple, and the gilded tips.
A freak even amongst the paranormals.
She opened her mouth to demand answers when Taggert slammed into the room behind her. Raven whirled to face the new threat, angling her body to keep everyone in view. She lifted her hands, her powers amped and ready to blast anyone who dared follow him.
He pulled up short when he saw her.
When no one entered behind him, she reluctantly dropped her arms, but didn’t release her hold on the building energy. “Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?”
“I tried to call you.” Taggert gestured toward her hip, but h
is eyes were on her hair, his fingers twitching as if barely resisting the urge to reach out and stroke the strands.
She groped for her phone, cursing to find she’d sucked the energy out of the blasted thing.
Energy resistant her ass.
“We were hired to remodel the bathroom.” The voice was low and respectful. The kid stared over her right shoulder, valiantly trying to avoid peering at the gap in her shirt.
“On whose orders?” Fighting a blush, Raven quickly covered the hint of exposed cleavage without removing her attention from the three men, who had to be related if their near identical looks were anything to go by.
The oldest of the three carefully pulled a work order out of his back pocket and handed it to her. He could be no more than forty, but she was learning the shifter world was deceiving. “Mr. Jeffery Durant.”
“That son of a bitch.” Raven made no move to examine the paper. The anger she’d been holding at bay built to a simmer, electricity crackling around her.
She turned toward Taggert. His eyes widened, and he hurried toward her, ushering her away from the others. That’s when she realized her own eyes must be glowing blue as it did when her powers rode her hard. “Why the hell would he demolish my bathroom?”
“I think Durant is taking you up on your offer to make himself at home.” Taggert scratched near his eye but refused to look at her. “He’s ordered a connecting door and an extra-large tub.”
“What?” That damn sneaky cat. But the image of Durant in the tub, rising out of the water, boggled her mind and left her anger floundering. “But all his crap is down the hall. Tell him to tear apart his own room if he must.”
“I believe he didn’t care for the room you’d selected for him. He packed some stuff in there, but found other accommodations more to his liking.”
Heat flushed her face when she realized he’d set himself up in the master suite without saying anything to her. Too bad she didn’t know if she was more angered or flattered that a man like Durant would go to such lengths to lay claim to her.
If Taggert so much as snickered, she wouldn’t be responsible for her actions.
Chapter Five
EARLY EVENING
Raven jerked open the doors to the club, not hesitating like she had the first time she’d entered just a few days ago. The industrial magnet snicked shut behind her with a finality of being sealed into a tomb. The stifling air only increased that impression.
The walls were stripped bare of decoration, all except the prominent word Talons clawed into the heavy wooden panels. It didn’t surprise her to find Durant’s scent all over the carving.
Heat and music crested over her first. While sorting and filing everything away, the many scents snuck up and swamped her. The spice of vampires, the stench of burnt magic and the more soothing, natural smell of shifters.
She expected vampires, shifters and magic users, the usual clientele.
What she didn’t expect was to double over when a wall of lust slammed into her. Acting on instinct, she yanked a blanket of pure electricity around her. The air crackled and it took a minute longer to gain back her breath. Only when she was sure she had control did she turned down the wattage to a manageable level.
If she kept the shield too high, she’d have the attention of every shifter and vampire in the club. Too low, and she might be caught up in the need to explore the rampant desire flooding the room. She rubbed her skin, debating the wisdom of pinning down the bastard in his own lair. One thing convinced her to enter. If she reacted this drastically just being around others, the conclave itself would be pure torture.
She needed to acclimate herself to the sheer amount of shifters and hoped to hell she could adjust accordingly before more trouble found her. Taking a deep breath, she opened the second set of doors and entered the club.
Red and blue lights flashed over the bodies on the dance floor, their sensual movements captivating to watch. The bar to the left was packed three people deep. The booths in the back were all occupied, shadows giving the occupants an impression of privacy.
She scratched her arm then stopped when she realized what she was doing. The presence of so many shifters was like a plea to let her own come out and play. The rushed shower she’d taken had done little to cool the lick of fire under her skin.
When Raven made eye contact with Cassie, the girl blanched.
“OhshitOhshitOhshitOhshit.” Durant’s assistant hurried forward, chanting under her breath as she shoved her way through the sea of people.
At the commotion, people turned toward the door then stopped to gawk. Whispers spread around the club like fire.
That’s when Raven noted the surprised expressions. Another survey around the room increased her unease. Out of the few women present, she was the only shifter.
But it was too late to retreat. She straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, daring them to approach. She refused to run and be seen as weak.
“What are you doing here?” Cassie reached for her arm, halting an inch from touching her skin, encountering the energy Raven used like a shield.
Her eyes immediately washed to black.
Fangs descended.
“Crap.” Cassie’s thirst beat at her like worms wiggling under her skin. Without being too obvious about it, Raven drew off a steady bead of electricity surrounding Cassie until the girl forgot to breathe.
Since she was a vampire, no problem. Cassie was new, the action more of a comforting habit than anything else.
“What the hell was that?” Cassie staggered, and Raven resisted the instinctive reflex to catch her.
No need to repeat what’d just happened.
The added power danced over her skin, threatening to escape. Shifters around them stopped, their eyes splintering to yellow or green as their animals surfaced, and she quickly swallowed down the extra energy.
She wouldn’t be responsible for Durant’s whole club going furry. An arm wrapped around her from behind, a large body cuddling up to hers, close enough his erection nudged against the small of her back.
“Taggert?”
The breath in her throat nearly strangled her.
He must have followed her.
When she would’ve turned and put distance between them, knowing physical contact between them had to be painful, he held her still and nuzzled her neck.
“Let me help.” Power leeched away slowly at the contact, his touch soothing the wild current enough for it to settle in her bones in a delicious ache. Lust and comfort was all wrapped up in his embrace.
Raven sighed of relief and faced him. “You shouldn’t have come. It’s too dangerous for you to be here.”
His tense posture alerted her that something was horribly wrong. “What the hell did you do?” She reached for the collar of his shirt when he manacled her wrists with his fingers.
But too late.
Cold metal of the slave collar encased his throat, the beautiful threads of gold and silver doing nothing to disguise the terrible truth behind the twisted strands of metal.
“How could you?” Especially after they’d risked their lives to remove it.
He’d been free.
The back of her throat ached, and she couldn’t bear to meet his gaze, see him forced back into the role of a slave.
All because she lacked knowledge of the shifter lifestyle and kept blundering into trouble.
Her stupidity had cost him everything.
If she wasn’t careful, his relentless need to protect her would eventually get him killed.
“You needed me.” Taggert shrugged as if his freedom meant so little when she knew it was everything. She tugged her hands away from him, unable to tolerate his touch after what she’d did to him, but he refused to release her. “It was the only way I could protect you without placing you in more danger.”
“Bullshit. People already knew you had the collar off.”
“There was no proof.” Taggert stepped toward her, and she recoiled.
&nb
sp; Hurt clouded his eyes, but the magnitude of his loss because of her stubbornness wouldn’t let her unbend.
She was terrified she might shatter if he showed her any kindness.
“Uh, maybe we can discuss this in private?” Cassie nodded to the crowd, her eyes constantly scanning, braced for attack.
Raven glanced about the club. Way too many pairs of eyes were centered on them. It made her skin itch. “Lead the way.”
Cassie cleared a path. The shifters gave the vampire wide berth, but they immediately crowded closer as Raven passed.
Damn touchy-feely shifters.
She picked up her pace, refusing to feel grateful for Taggert’s presence at her back.
The door to the office closed behind them, cutting off nearly all sounds from the club. Cassie whirled toward the fridge, took out a bag and popped it into the microwave.
The smell of blood blossomed in the office.
The cool, natural tones of the room didn’t lessen Raven’s growing anxiety. The massive desk and matching set of chairs dominated the room.
They suited Durant.
A love seat rested against the wall, and she could all but envision Durant seducing a willing young woman on the overly plush cushions. The smell of leather only increased the rage building in her at thoughts of Durant with someone else.
Raven prowled the confines of the room. She’d come to confront Durant, both about his omission on hosting the conclave and his demolition of her bathroom. But once she stepped into the club, she felt blindsided by her wildly out of control emotions.
What worried her most was if she reacted so viscerally to them now, how would she be affected when the alphas entered the picture?
She’d be served up on a platter.
The microwave dinged twenty seconds later. Cassie popped in a straw, turned and leaned against the counter, settling in to watch the show.
Perturbed to watch her feed, Raven clenched her fists and stared at her hands. A sheen of blue rose from her skin. “Cassie, call Durant.”
Electric Moon (A Raven Investigations Novel) Page 4