Electric Storm (38 page)

The underbrush crunched, the noise indicating the person headed in the opposite direction. “God dammit, don’t shoot. We need him alive.”

The lights and voices faded in the distance. She stretched, groaning as her body protested. A twig snapped behind her and she jerked, twisting to see who was there.

She craved to be able to use her senses, but she couldn’t risk something going wrong while her powers were still on the fritz. The more time she had to heal, the more control she’d have when she needed it.

The air around her grew heavy. Everything fell ominously silent. She glanced up in time to see a shadowy face she didn’t recognize loomed over her. She tried to speak with the gag in her mouth, but the words came out mumbled.

“Don’t worry, I got you.” The deep, masculine voice sounded so concerned, she half-worried she was about to be rescued. Until he reached for her. She recognized the device in his hands. The large meal she ate for fuel lumped like coal in her gut. She twisted away, kicked out, but much too late.

The taser hit her high in the shoulder. She heard the zap, smelled the electricity when the jolt arced through her body. Her back bowed, her teeth clenched, and a muffled scream escaped her gag.

She closed her eyes and allowed the voltage to roll over her. Instead of absorbing it into her system, it snagged on the cage. Under the assault, the vault holding Randolph’s stolen power cracked.

Forever passed until the pain finally faded enough to think clearly. When she became aware again, she found herself slung over a man’s shoulder, her arms dangling down his back. Nausea pressed heavily against the back of her throat, each swaying step testing her control.

She had to get her bearings, but everything looked wrong when viewed upside down. She went with what she knew. There was no trail. The edges of his pant legs were damp, but the only stream was miles from the dumpsite.

His booted heel scraped rock as the dirt give way to stone. Blinking in surprise, she mentally viewed the maps London had gathered. None mentioned a cave system.

The outside world vanished, along with the light, as she was lugged lower and lower into the bowels of the earth. Cold air swirled around her, snaking through her clothes. Then she saw the tracks. The old gold mines. He must have carried her south through the stream to throw off the scent. 

Her eyes took a while to adjust to the absolute darkness. Stale water made the air thick. Then, pinpricks of light glowed in the distance, and she could vaguely distinguish shapes in the tunnel.

A rumble of voices grew louder as they neared. She slammed her eyes shut and steadied her breathing.

And none too soon. A fist tangled in her hair, wrenching her neck back. A grunt sounded, and she felt a finger trace the angles of her face. It was all she could do to remain still under the cold touch. The brutal grip on her loosened, and her head dropped, smacking the small of her abductor’s sweat-stained back.

“Put her in the cage with the others. Check on her every hour. I want to know when this one wakes.”

 The man turned, and she bit her lip against making any sound when her arm scraped along the narrow tunnel. Then she found herself falling. She struggled to keep herself from tensing when her head cracked against the unforgiving ground.

Air whooshed out of her lungs.

Stars danced, and she found herself drowning in darkness.

 
Chapter
Thirty

DAY 8: SOMETIME AFTER MIDNIGHT

C
oldness crept over her flesh and shivers racked her body. She groped for her blanket, cursing when she couldn’t find it.

“Raven.” The harsh whisper clanged loudly in her head. She rolled over and slapped the alarm.

Only to have her hand hit stone. She winced at the unforgiving surface and pried open an eyelid. Inky blackness greeted her. She blinked a few times and a faint light from the end of the room slowly brought everything into focus.

Reality came crashing back.

She rubbed the bracelet of bruises on her wrists, relieved to have those blasted ties removed. All she heard was dripping water, the sound lonely in the silence. A movement across the way drew her attention. She sat quickly, then sucked in a harsh breath when her battered body protested. “Taggert?”

“What did you do?” The guttural reprimand in his voice stung. Dirt smudged his face and matted his beautiful hair. His face appeared gaunt but unhurt.

He was alive.

Part of her had been terrified she wouldn’t make it in time. The back of her throat ached with unshed tears, and she had to clear her throat twice to speak. “I came to get you out of here.”

Here appeared to be an underground way station. The cages were nothing more than three by four foot boxes carved out of the stone walls with thin wires acting as bars.

“You shouldn’t have come.” Taggert shoved away from the edge of the kennel, disappearing into the shadows where she couldn’t see him.

“You don’t mean that.” His sharp rebuke confused her. Raven expected relief, not the bitter, nearly uncontrollable rage. It left her floundering and a little unsure of herself.

Movement in another other cage caught her eye, but she couldn’t make out any shapes. Her determination hardened, and she shoved the hurt away to deal with later.

“How many are here?” She needed to factor their numbers into her plans.

“If they didn’t kill Digger yet, there are four of us including you.” The raspy male voice was from a stranger, his words giving away little information as to his identity. “They emptied the cage when they heard you were coming.”

That they’d kill another to make room for her was devastating when so close to rescue. “Could he still be alive?”

No one spoke for nearly a minute, and she closed her eyes as guilt twisted through her.

“Not for long. They never come back after they go beyond this point.” The voice hardened. “You should worry about yourself. It’s always worse for the women.”

Raven reached for the cage.

“Don’t.”

But it was too late. Her hand curled around the wire before she could pull back. Electricity sizzled up through her fingers and along every nerve ending. While her core remained dormant, fire spread along her muscles until her whole body spasmed. She lost her hold and slid bonelessly to the ground, every inch of her screaming in agony.

“Raven?” The hoarse sound of her name from Taggert reached through the haze of pain. She had a feeling it wasn’t the first time he called for her. She’d forgotten what it was like to be hit with raw energy, how evil it could feel. It was devastating to be close to all that power, taste it, feel it and be unable to access it when she needed it most.

“I’m fine.” Though she knew she had never let out a whimper, she barely recognized her rough voice. She was good at swallowing the screams. “Are all the cages similarly charged?”

“Yes.” There was a slight hesitation in the answer, and the mysterious man crept toward the edge of his cage.

Perfect. She scanned the room, stealing a bit of the raw electricity that saturated the air. Current singed her in retaliation for daring to touch it, but thankfully allowed her to direct it. Wires around the floor and ducts lit up like the Fourth of July to her eyes. Most of the cords were laid in haste, exposed and easily manipulated.

The back of her teeth ached at the prospect of working with live current without the filter of her core. It was unpredictable, unreliable and hurt like the dickens to use in its raw form, but at least she wasn’t at the mercy of her unstable gift. The only drawback was that she could only use it for so long before it killed her. Raven clenched her hands to control the tremor in her fingers, then inhaled deeply and reached for the cage again.

“Raven, don’t do this.”

The plea in Taggert’s voice made her hesitate. She lifted her head to see him mimic her position across the way.

“I can do this. If I can bring down the generator, you can get everyone out.” She licked her lips, noticing they were chapped and bleeding.

“Even if we can escape the cave, it won’t work,” the other man spoke. “There’s still the girl. The four of us won’t be able to overpower the guards with her standing watch.”

“What’s your name?”

Another lengthy pause and she thought he wouldn’t answer. His shape appeared blurred by shadows, but she recognized the scars burned across the back of his left hand. A branded rogue.

“Griffin.”

She swallowed hard and made the only decision she could. Rogue status or not, she had to trust him.

“I’m going to rig the bars to take down the generator. When they take me out to hunt, you should be able to break the lock and get the others out. Head north. My team and the cops are ready.” She ignored Taggert’s growl of rage. “Keep Taggert safe.”

“Raven, don’t.” Taggert looked furious enough to rip apart the cage.

“Just hurry. I won’t be able to evade them forever. I’ll try to stall them long enough for you to bring backup.” She very deliberately placed her hands back on the bars, whimpering when the energy slammed into her again, stronger than ever. She quickly manipulated the current in the wires, looping circuits away from the generator, knowing she didn’t have much time.

The lights flickered. At the signal, she loosened her hold. Her arms dropped to her sides, and she groaned at the unexpected pain. Her arms felt like they would fall out of their sockets. The first part was done. A surge of relief left her giddy.

One more time should do it. The generator was unhooked. She just needed to bleed the system dry. She straightened, and it took nearly twice as long for her to rise to her knees. Fresh burns and blisters felt raw on her hands as she resolutely crawled toward the door. She swayed and swallowed hard, squinting when her eyes refused to focus. Just one more time, and Taggert would be free.

“Stop.” Taggert’s hissed whisper sounded more animal than human.

“I’m sorry.” Raven braced herself for the charge, allowing it to roll over her. The voltage nearly dropped her on her ass. Only sheer determination locked her fingers on those searing hot wires.

She did her best to suck all the current from the system. Only it was too much. Breathing became a struggle. When her vision dimmed, she flung herself backwards. Spasms contorted her body, her hair stood on end like a cloud around her face. Then everything went black.

* * *

The sound of locks tumbling jerked her back to awareness.

“Up you go.”

Hands grabbed her under the arms and dragged her out, uncaring that the bars abraded the flesh of her lower back and legs.

“You son of a bitch, leave her alone.”

A dark chuckle came from the man above her. “Don’t worry. Your time will come. We’re just going to play with her for a bit.”

Lights blinded her when they moved her, and it took precious seconds for the makeshift room to come into focus. The walls were stone, the floor swept clean and covered by a rug. The space had a kitchenette, a desk and fridge. They’d been here for a while. Then she turned her head and saw the waist-high table. It wasn’t the table by itself that scared the shit out of her, but the metal cuffs dangling from the edges that struck terror in her heart.

She wouldn’t go there meekly.

Brutal images of the labs rose to haunt her. Her heartbeat sped up, her skin tingled. She was seconds away from panic overtaking her. If she lost her reason, she’d ruin Taggert’s chance at escape.

She needed to assess the situation rationally.

She tipped her head, straining to see her captor. Military haircut, strict dress code, sturdy boots. The scent of gun oil was so strong, she could almost taste it. A hunter for the thrill. Big, built, no-nonsense, do-your-duty man from the closed, almost bored expression on his face.

“If you want a better hunt, I can give it to you.” The man cocked an eyebrow at her as if he’d heard it all before.

“Oh, you’ll run.” He hauled her on the table and reached for the cuffs.