Electric Heat (22 page)

It was a gruff demand.

She studied his mouth, remembering the wild taste of him,
and shivered with the need for more. She brushed her lips against his once, a
feather-light touch, savoring the forbidden.

Rylan used the distraction and sank his fangs into the curve
of Durant’s elbow.

Durant grunted as if struck, and the big tiger tensed at the
invasion. Fearful he’d pull away, Raven deepened the kiss, nibbling at his lips
until he growled and took control. His mouth ravaged hers as if he’d been
starved for the taste of her. Her knees weakened, and he ruthlessly took
advantage by dragging her up his body and demanding more.

She ran her hands up his chest and grabbed his shoulders, loving
the way he hummed with pleasure at her touch. By the time he lifted his head,
she was breathless and wanting more. Rylan was pressed against her back, Durant
against her front, and she felt cherished.

For the first time in years, Rylan had willingly touched her
with more than a brush of his fingers. She reached back, and placed her hand on
his thigh. He sighed at the touch, kissed the back of her neck, and then
retreated. When she tried to follow him, Durant tightened his grip, refusing to
release his hold. “Wait.”

Rylan stiffened at her plea.

But now that he’d stopped, Raven scrabbled to come up with a
reason for him to stay. She looked over her shoulder at him. “Did you get
enough?”

She could’ve smacked herself for bringing up what was always
a sore subject.

He gave a short nod, not bothering to turn around to face
her. “I’ll go and inform the Council of what’s happening.”

“Look at me.”

He slowly lifted his head, pinning her with his gaze. The
hunger in his eyes was for more than food, the yearning to belong was so strong
it was like a punch to the gut. “I tasted you on him. It was enough.”

That’s when she remembered he could feel his donor’s emotions
when he fed, a final parting gift for taking her blood all those years ago. The
image of the three of them was there in his eyes, and he disappeared before she
gathered her scattered wits enough to protest. She only managed one step when
Durant lifted her clear off the floor. “Don’t. He needs time to settle
himself.”

Raven struggled to get free, trying not to aggravate his
wounds. “You don’t understand.”

“Don’t I?” Durant pressed his arousal against her, and Raven
froze. “The best way to help him is to give him time.”

Raven slumped in his arms, knowing he was right. When he was
sure she wouldn’t run off, Durant slowly lowered her down the length of his
body. She shivered at the delicious feel of him against her, and it was a
physical struggle to make her brain work on anything other than estimating how
fast they could both get naked.

“How long?” She strangled on the question, hating the vulnerability
it revealed. Rylan was her first crush, her best friend, and she ached to put
things right between them.

“If you want your friend back, you’ll give him as long as he
needs.”

Raven accepted defeat, rubbing at the pain in her chest.
Rylan’s disappearance intensified the ache of the jaguar’s loss. She shuffled
closer to Durant, drawn to his strength. Her pain eased a fraction at his
nearness, the wound scabbing over, so every breath no longer felt as if someone
was stabbing her in the heart.

“It hurts.” She buried her face against his shoulder, the
guilt eating at her soul. “I didn’t even know the jaguar’s name until after he
died.”

“I know.” Durant’s arms wrapped around her, smashing her against
him. Her ribs creaked, but she wanted to get even closer. “It’s your creature.
Humans have the ability to ignore and shuffle away their pain, but animals
don’t have that option. They don’t process loss, they only feel.”

“How do other alphas survive this torture?”

“They don’t allow themselves to get so attached to the pack
the way you do.” He tipped her chin up. “They share the pain with the pack
through their connection. You’ve taken the pain for all of us. You have to let
it go before you drive your beast insane with grief.”

Raven was at a complete loss about he expected of her.
“Explain.”

“Touch helps, yes?”

She tightened her hold, afraid he’d leave, before finally
nodding.

“You’re the alpha. You have the ability to touch us at any
time, even when we’re not in the same room.”

“Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?”

Durant’s lips quirked. “We grew up in the pack, our beasts have
been with us since our earliest memories. We’ve never been alone. We find it a
comfort. If we want to be by ourselves, all we have to do is seal ourselves off.
After only a few hours, we miss the connection.”

The thought of someone poking around in her head set her
stomach churning. “Like you tried to do at the club when we first met?”

“That was different,” Durant muttered then grimaced when she
raised a brow. “An alpha’s touch can soothe our beasts, they can share their
calm, and give us strength when we weaken. They give us balance, keep us
grounded, and stop us from going rogue.”

Her disquiet eased a fraction. “How does it work?”

“You’re connected to each member of your pack by more than
just blood. Every time you think of us, we feel your touch. You hold none of
yourself back, committing yourself completely to those you’ve claimed. Most
packs are generations in the making. An alpha usually inherits their pack. They
don’t get the chance to build or select their family.”

Raven stood straighter, proud of her pack.

“It means you trust us. Trust us a little more.” He took her
hand and spread her fingers over his chest. “Reach for my animal, allow me to
help you.”

His beast rose under her touch, and she nearly pulled back.
As if sensing her hesitancy, the cat slowed, flicking his tail out until fur
brushed against her mind. She reached forward and sank her fingers into his
hide. The warmth eased the ache a smidge more.

“Come, you’re exhausted. Sleep while you can.”

Raven reluctantly pulled back at the grim reminder of what
was waiting for them, and allowed herself to be led away.

* * *

Raven shifted in the chair, unable to sleep. The silence of
being underground was unnerving. It was the soundlessness that happened while
waiting for the other shoe to drop. She stared at the soft light from the
hallway as it spilled into their room, struggling to think of a way to get them
all out of this alive.

There was a slight change in Dominic’s breathing. She was so
distracted, it took her a second to realize the pattern had altered.

Shoving out of her chair, she leaned forward to see him
staring at her. Neither of them spoke, and her throat tightened with the real
fear that she’d broken him.

“Hey.” His voice was raspy and dry, barely a sound.

It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard. She closed
her eyes to cover her tears and sat at the very edge of the bed, not certain he
would allow her to get even that close. “I wasn’t sure if you’d make it.”

“By rights I should be dead.” The flat tone told her he
wished it were true.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“If there’s ever a choice between you and me, you can never
hesitate.” His expression turned fierce. “Kill me.”

She reached for his hand, only to have him jerk away.

The small gesture cut deeper and more painfully than any
claws.

Dominic turned to face the wall. “I foolishly believed my
wolf was too strong to be taken by a witch. Hell, I struggle to contain him so
many times that I was sure no one else could manage it either. I should have
listened to you.”

“I took your wolf.” She could barely force the words out of
her mouth. “I should’ve found a different way. How can I ask for your
forgiveness when I can’t forgive myself?”

“He’ll be back.” He spoke as if the strength of his words
would make it true, but his voice lacked conviction. “I forced you into this
situation. It was my fault. My choice.”

A knot of fear hardened in her gut at his resignation, and then
sank like a pile of stones. Most shifters would prefer to be dead than lose
their animal. She couldn’t lose him, too. “I can fix it.”

It was a desperate plea.

But he was already shaking his head. “My wolf was infected. Even
if you had managed to bring him back, we can’t risk him turning dark again.”

He was keeping something from her, and she couldn’t blame
him. “If we wait, it might be too late.”

“I won’t put you in danger again.”

Raven narrowed her eyes, debating whether to ignore his
decision when he grabbed her wrist, his unbreakable grip just short of snapping
her arm.

“I won’t have my choices taken from me again. If you try
anything, I will get up and walk out of here, and you will never see me again.”

The hard glint in his eyes said he meant it. He was a
leader. A protector. It would destroy him to lose control of his wolf and hurt the
people under his care.

Raven understood. She would have made the same choice. With
great reluctance, she relented. “Fine.”

He released a shaky breath and loosened his hold, but didn’t
let go of her completely. “You can try later when this is all over.”

If it wasn’t too late.
The words were an unspoken
whisper in the air between them.

When he dropped her arm and patted her hand, the slight
tremble there told another story. He was petrified.

If she failed—

A huge yawn caught him unawares, and his jaw cracked. He turned
on his side, then grunted, gingerly cupping his ribs. He was asleep in less
than a minute.

Raven moved shakily back to her seat in the chair. Dominic
was alive. But how long would he be able to survive without his wolf?

She had to know.

Calling up the energy wrapped around him, she studied his
aura. It was battered and fluctuated wildly, but there weren’t any dead spots.
She pushed deeper, but halted when Dominic rolled restlessly onto his back.
When she was sure he wouldn’t wake, she refocused her sight and saw his body
was studded with pinpricks of starlight.

His wolf.

Her chest felt crushed at seeing his majestic beast so shattered.

She nearly gave up, pulled back, when she saw the tiny
starbursts being pulled together.

His wolf was healing. It would take time, but he would
survive.

The relief threatened to drop her to her knees. Now all she
had to do was find the witch responsible and kill her before his wolf fell
under her sway again. Neither man nor beast would survive being taken over a
second time.

 Chapter Eighteen

DAY FIVE: EARLY
MORNING – UNDERGROUND FORTRESS

R
aven
fell out of the chair, her hands and knees smacking stone while the world
around her quaked. The whole mountain rumbled, like an angry god of old had come
to life. A trail of dirt sifted down from the ceiling, and she waited for the
mountain to come crashing down around them.

The Prime had found them.

She pushed herself upright and glanced over to the floor where
Durant had slept.

He wasn’t there.

She shot to her feet, her creature pressing heavily on her
chest, wanting to charge down the hall and hunt down the ones who’d stolen him.

“Durant went to eat.” Raven whirled to see Dominic struggling
to prop himself up on the bed, a grimace pulling at his face. “This being human
shit is going to take a while to get used to again.”

A smile blossomed on her face. “Don’t get too accustomed to
it.”

Dominic froze and searched her face for a lie, his eyes
alive with such painful hope that her heart clenched. “Explain.”

“Your wolf is healing.”

His brows lowered ominously. “I told you not—”

“I didn’t do anything.” Raven lifted her hands and backed
safely out of swatting distance.

His intensity ratcheted up another level, all domineering
man in full charge. “You’re sure?”

Some of her good cheer dimmed. “Yes, but I’m not sure what
shape he’ll be in when he returns.”

“Let me worry about that.” He sagged against the bed’s only
pillow, the lines on his face dropping away. She could almost see his mind
working again while he settle back into his old self.

His stomach growled loud enough to be mistaken for a small
roar, and she laughed. “Why don’t I get some food?”

But his eyes had already shut, a peaceful rest stealing over
him for the first time since the battle.

Despite the constant barrage to the mountainside, there was
a lightness to her steps as she wandered down the halls in search of food. In
between blasts, the tunnels were so quiet all she could hear was the swish of
her shoes against stone. No wind. No insects. The total lack of other noise was
like walking in a cemetery at midnight. Her good cheer faded a fraction, her
nerves pulling tight, part of her bracing for an attack.

A heated discussion caught her ear. Glad to find she wasn’t
alone in this giant crypt, she veered off course to investigate. The corridor
led to a narrow passageway behind the auditorium. The door stood open, and she
spied a knot of witches cluster near center stage. The rest of the room
appeared empty, as if the others had left for a break, while a few die-hards
lingered behind to argue their point. They looked like they’d been up all night.
Heloise’s calm had cracks around the edges, and her normally blank face
revealed emotions, mainly frustration.

As soon as they saw her, they fell silent and scowled.

“How long can the wards hold against the attack?” Raven sauntered
into the room, not willing to leave until she knew when she needed to have her
people ready to fight.

Heloise sighed and rubbed her fingers between her brows.
“He’s unraveling the wards faster than expected.”

The last of her giddiness over Dominic’s good news shriveled
and gusted away like dried leaves. “How long?”

“The fortress is old, but the residual magic stored in the
stone is draining at a rapid rate. Even with the circle of twelve witches to
help fuel the wards, we don’t have long.” She dropped her arm back to her side.
“Most of the other witches are students, not strong enough to help. They don’t
have the power that comes with age. The wards won’t last another day.”

“And by the time the wards finally fail, you’ll be
completely drained and helpless.” Raven’s heart sank. She’d been hoping for
more time to allow her people to recover before the next battle. “What are our
options?”

“That’s what we’ll be discussing today.” 

“I would like to attend.”

“No.” A young, dark haired witch shook her head, a pretty
little thing if you could get over the arrogance marring her face. “It’s a
closed session. You’re not welcome.”

Raven suspected she’d interrupted that discussion when she barged
into the room. “Very well. I’ll get my people ready to move out fast.”

The woman’s face twisted with hatred. “It’s too late for
that. People will die today because of you. If you think you can just walk
away, you’re sadly mistaken.”

The creature roused, pressing under her skin with razor-sharp
claws, studying the witch who issued the threat. “I lost people today as well while
trying to help you. Tell me, when did you arrive at the fortress?”

Raven stalked forward, taking a whiff of air around the
woman. “From what I can smell, you vanished long before the fight broke out.
You left your own people out there to be slaughtered while you cowered in your
little hole. So don’t you dare judge me and mine for something I didn’t start.”

With each word she spoke, the witch’s hatred darkened, and Raven
stretched her fingers out and shook her hands lightly against the urge to cold
cock the woman.

“How dare you! The shifters started this whole thing by
messing with something they knew nothing about. The ancient magic should never
have been disturbed. Of course we left them behind. How are we to know how many
more are in cahoots?”

“
Your
wild magic infected
him
, someone you had
sworn to protect, and it’s
his
fault?” Raven was flabbergasted that
they’d dare cast all the blame elsewhere. “And the children we found wandering
the woods? I’d love to hear your reasons for leaving them behind.”

After a second, the witch’s combative glare dropped away,
but Raven could practically feel her hatred simmering beneath the surface.

“Enough.” A wealth of exhaustion coated the word, and
Heloise took a seat on the stone bench in the first row. “Mistakes have been
made. We need to find a way to move forward without getting killed.”

“Of course. I’ll leave you to it.” Raven did her best not to
sprint from the room. It took all her concentration to wrestle control back
from her creature. As the beast calmed, the consuming rage scaled back to a
manageable level. Every day the creature became more aware, scratching to get
out. Raven’s power seemed to increase the animal’s strength, too.

The added danger of being trapped underground with an army
waiting outside just made the situation worse.

The time available to form a bond with her creature shrank down
to hours instead of months, and a spurt of panic chiseled away at her calm. A particularly
nasty blast shook the ground, reverberating up her feet, and she smacked her
hand against the chilly stone wall for balance.

They were well and truly trapped.

Memories of the cinder walls in the labs she’d grown up in flashed
through her mind.

She couldn’t get enough air.

Shoving away from the wall, she hurried down the tunnels,
struggling to control her breathing. A babble of voices echoed against stone,
and the door to her past cracked open further. She nearly ran in the opposite
direction, convinced the guards were coming to drag her back to her cell.

Durant was ahead.

Just knowing he would be there, waiting for her, dissolved
her paranoia. She burst into the kitchen, out of breath, her legs trembling
with the need to keep running.

People stopped talking and stared.

When she realized Durant wasn’t there, it took all her
strength to straighten and finish her mission. She walked to the food,
conscious of being observed.

Whispers started up as she passed, a few people snickered,
but Raven didn’t care, the normal sounds of conversation going a long way toward
soothing her unease. She wasn’t in the labs. They weren’t doing testing. No one
was being tortured.

She was safe.

For now.

Without paying attention, she heaped food on the old metal military
lunch tray. When she turned, no one offered her a seat, not that she was
surprised. No shifters were present either.

Clear lines were being drawn.

Not good.

If they wanted to survive, they needed to work together. Hefting
up the tray, she left, glad to be away from prying eyes. She paused in the
hall, peered right, then left, completely lost in the underground warren. She’d
been so panicked, she’d run blindly, and now she wasn’t sure how to get back to
Dominic.

Taking a gamble, she veered left, hoping to pick up her own
trail.

She wove through the tunnels, marveling at the distance
she’d managed to travel while blinded by panic. It wasn’t a comforting thought.

Whispers bounded around the corner, and Raven slowed. Not
wanting company, she debated turning around, but decided against it. She’d only
become more entangled in the maze.

When she rounded the corner, it was to see a group of five
kids huddled outside the auditorium door.

Eavesdropping.

She couldn’t blame them, since she was tempted to do the
same.

Two boys and three girls argued heatedly, stubbornly split
in two groups, just like the adults. Two of them voted for Raven’s pack to
stay, while three others wanted to kick them out.

As she came closer, she recognized the snooty girl and the
wizard boy…Paige and Luca. Not surprising, they were on opposite sides of the
argument.

“If we had listened to her in the first place, none of this
would’ve happened.”

“We can’t trust outsiders. She probably planted the virus
herself. It makes more sense than one of our own doing this. If we just hand
her over, they’ll leave us alone.”

The second boy shook his head as if the others were idiots. “They
risked their lives coming back to save us. If she wanted us dead, she could
have killed us outright or just left us to die.”

The girl snorted in disdain, dismissing his claim, and Luca
raised his voice. “If we hand them over, we could lose our only advantage.”

Paige scoffed and rolled her eyes. “The witch’s Council will
send help.”

Luca threw his arms wide. “Yeah, look how well that turned
out. He unleased the wild magic on us, and now we have no way to fight.”

There was a scuffling noise, and Luca whirled. “Who’s there?”

Paige jerked around, all her brass melting away at the
prospect of getting caught…until she saw Raven. Her face twisted in a sneer of
teenaged superiority. “You. Figures we’d catch you spying on us.”

“I believe you were doing the snooping.” Raven gave her a
pointed look then lifted her tray. “I’m just on my way back to my room with
food.”

The sound came again, and Raven turned to stare into the
black tunnels. With a nod of her head, she gestured for the kids to move. “You
both need to step back.”

Luca immediately retreated, concern wrinkling his brow.

Paige put her hands on her hips, all sass and attitude. “You
have no right to tell us what to do.”

Shuffling footsteps came nearer, the smell of wild magic and
rot filling the tunnel.

“Give me your light.”

“You can’t just—”

“Shut up, Paige.” Luca handed over his flashlight.

Raven tossed it down the tunnel. The beam flickered and spun,
shooting a thin stream of light down the tunnel at random intervals. It was
enough. Rotting faces peered out of the darkness. Their clothes were ragged, their
faces spongy and expressionless, as if they were in stasis. Their skin had
turned a pasty gray with decay, their eyes milky and vacant.

It was like their souls had been removed. All that remained
were these husks, machines waiting to be called to battle. 

Raven shivered in revulsion, her feet rooted to the floor as
her brain slowed down to process the sight. There was something fundamentally
wrong at seeing a corpse move.

Two of the girls screamed. Their flashlights dropped and
smacked the granite floor hard enough to crack.