Raven Investigation 04 - Electric Legend (22 page)

R
aven should’ve attacked Greggory while at his
weakest, during the change, but she couldn’t make herself lift the sword. “What
if I can cut the ties to the boy?”

His mouth pursed as if she’d asked him to eat shit. “I’m a Warden.
I’ve given my oath.”

Great, now she offended him.

Big black claws curled from his fingers, each well over an inch
long. He wasn’t going to stop coming after her until one of them was dead.
Hampered by the storm, she wasn’t sure which one of them would come out alive.

“What is a Warden?” Raven resolutely tightened her hand
around her sword, but kept the blade pointed down. As much as she hated it, if
he gave her no choice, she would kill him.

The question seemed to throw Greggory, and he stopped
advancing.

Which only served to infuriate Clancy. “Just kill the
bitch.”

Hatred darkened Greggory’s eyes, and he clicked his claws in
agitation. Clancy was a dead man walking. As soon as the kid was safe, Greggory
would tear the ringmaster into itty-bitty confetti pieces.

Raven ignored the tyrant and focused on one very important
fact … Greggory didn’t want to kill her. She intended to use that to her
advantage.

Every minute counted, giving Taggert enough time to locate
the kid and get back.

He had to be close.

“Don’t you think I deserve to know?”

As if to antagonize Clancy, Greggory crossed his arms and
studied her thoughtfully. “You really don’t know?”

Raven shrugged her shoulder, hating to reveal her stupidity.
“I’m learning as I go.”

“Dangerous that.” His face softened as their gazes
connected. “Very well. An alpha is usually born an alpha. In some rare cases,
shifters can become stronger as they get older. They gain the strength of an
alpha, but they don’t have all the abilities to control a pack. It’s not
something one can learn, but it doesn’t stop some from still trying. While some
are content to remain part of the pack, the majority ended up being pushed out
by their alphas. They don’t want the competition. We’re too big of a threat to
their rule.”

He said the words like a history lesson, impersonal and
detached, but emotions rolled beneath the surface. Raven narrowed her eyes. “You
never had any interest in building your own pack.”

His lips kicked up at the corners. “I’m part of a pack
already. I have no need to build my own.”

“So a Warden is an alpha without a pack?”

“Kill her.” Clancy looked personally affronted that she
still remained breathing. He whirled on his pack and raised his voice until it
rumbled in the air. “Kill her.”

Alpha power slammed into her but didn’t soak into her skin.

She was lucky, the others in his pack received the full
blast.

A few of the bigger shifters dropped to their knees,
fighting the command. A number of the humans eyed each other, then quickly ducked
away from the coming battle. They would be nothing more than fodder in a fight,
and they knew it.

No, the problem was that most of the shifters in the pack
were weak. They couldn’t do anything but obey. Their eyes widened in panic as
they were forced to trudge forward, programmed to do as told and attempt to rip
her apart.

 “If you plan to do anything, you’ll want to start doing
it.” Durant and Jackson stepped between her and the shifters, creating a
protective wall.

The almost constant lightning kept the fairground bright. The
thick clouds lowered ominously, so close you could reach up and touch them—an
eerie color that gave them a sickly greenish cast.

The shifters tried to walk around the men. Jackson leaped
forward, knocking a couple of them back like bowling pins. They scattered and
went down. Durant grabbed one by the throat, literally picked the man off the
ground and threw him a good ten feet. Like some deranged robot, the shifter
rose, blood leaking from a gash on his head and shuffled back toward the fight.

The two men efficiently worked together as they disabled one
shifter after another, Jackson protecting Durant’s weak side, but unless they
started killing, they would soon become overrun.

Her hands clenched, watching them fight for her, and hated
not being able to do a damned thing.

At the sounds of the fight, the werebeasts prowled forward,
nothing human remaining. With the soldiers taking cover, there was no one to
hold them back. They charged, claws digging up dirt as they dropped to all
fours and lunged toward Durant and Jackson, fangs gleaming with saliva.

Durant threw his opponent directly at one, and they slammed
into each other with a sickening crunch. The shifter yipped as they both plowed
into the ground. Neither moved.

Then the other two half-shifters were on them.

Greggory flicked his claws, eying Clancy up like a side of
beef, clearly wanting to help. “Your men are only delaying the inevitable. I’ll
eventually have to obey. Tell them to stand down, and they might walk away with
their lives.”

Everything inside her rebelled at giving up her men. No way
in hell would she leave them to Clancy’s tender mercies. Jackson struggled with
one werebeast, holding his own. Durant used brute strength to keep the other at
bay. He dodged the snapping jaws, teeth missing his jugular by inches, and her
breath caught in her throat at the near miss.

Too close.

Raven brought up her sword, gripping and re-gripping it over
and over. She couldn’t stand around and do nothing while they fought for their
lives.

The werebeasts didn’t act like humans, so she’d treat them
like animals. Careful not to pull the energy around her and draw the storm’s
attention, she scraped every speck of current from her bones. It felt like
someone was slicing her up with razorblades, the agony nearly doubling her over,
leaving her hollow and fragile. The blue cords crackled with static, but more
worrisome, the red magic had threaded itself throughout, the teeming mass like
wild lightning.

She almost changed her mind, but the dragon pressed its
giant paw on her chest, forcing the energy out. Raven held it back until it
felt her eyeballs were being boiled in acid, just long enough to shout a
warning to her men. “Get down.”

Jackson and Durant didn’t hesitate, dropping to the ground.
The magic rebounded out of her and shot through the air, ensnaring the three
shifters in a net. She tightened the cords until they were surrounded, the
smoldering touch of unfamiliar magic stinging.

As she’d guessed, since they were no longer human, the
bindings to the pack had weakened to nothing more than faint lines. She easily
snapped the cords, the backlash ricocheting in her like a flaming arrow. They
stumbled to a stop, confused, no longer compelled to kill, then animal instinct
took over and they ran away from the humans, disappearing into the forest in
seconds.

The instant the power dissipated, her knees wobbled. She
felt gutted without the comforting touch of power. Without the current to hold
her shields, the storm increased in its ferocity, raw energy seeped into her
body, and she had no way to stop it from overloading her.

Jackson and Durant leapt to their feet and went back to
fighting, giving her time to think of a plan.

Too bad she had nothing.

“Unfortunately, you didn’t change anything.” Sadness dulled Greggory’s
eyes. “I don’t want to kill you. If you hadn’t weakened yourself, you might
have stood a chance to beat me.”

He might not want to kill her, but he would.

It was written on his face, but he made no move toward her.

“You’re stalling.” Raven eyed him, surprised he would try to
help her.

She flinched at the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. It took
everything in her not to turn around and fight with her men. The sense of time
growing short sat like an elephant had parked its car on top of her chest.

Without her shields, the dragon swelled and the armor
slotted into place. Her skin hardened, readying her to fight for her life. She
shouldn’t be able to move with scales covering nearly every inch of her, but
they shifted seamlessly with her every move.

Greggory eyes narrowed at the change, his stance shifting
warily. “What did you just do?”

“I don’t want to kill you, either. Don’t make me.” Her words
were pure bluff. A puff of wind could knock her over right now.

Greggory had the lethal combination of strength and
determination of an alpha.

A virtual unstoppable force.

An ultimate fighter.

Her men were buying her time, but she didn’t need time, she
needed a damned army. Without her dragon, she couldn’t take Greggory one-on-one
even with her special enhancements. Thanks to her scales, she’d be able to take
a beating, even land a few good blows, but he was too fast, too strong. The
only chance she had to even the fight was to call down the storm despite the
cost. With the storm brewing so heavily, she would either burn out or kill herself
trying to channel the raw energy.

“Tell me more about the Wardens, and I’ll answer your
questions.” She prayed he said something that she could use to get them all out
of this alive. Her beast peered out through her eyes, noting every shift of his
muscles, every breath, studying its prey.

It waited, ready to lunge forward to stomp on the bear and
squash him.

Her pack, her hoard.

Must protect.

Her control wavered dangerously.

As the beast rose, so did the ferocity of the storm. A
constant rumble of thunder drew near. The wind whipped around them like a
bloodhound searching for a scent.

If the dragon burst free, they were screwed.

The creature would kill everyone, just like it did in the
labs so many years ago.

She refused to believe the dragon would hurt the pack—the
dragon huffed in agreement—but the storm would be another matter.

The storm was too big, too dangerous to hold back.

The dragon heeded the warning, hunkering down when it came
to the same conclusion.

It gave up its chance to gain control of her at the thought
of harming the pack.

The niggling worry at the back of her mind that the beast
would eventually try to take over gradually faded. A warm glow of trust began
to build between them.

She walked a careful balance between two worlds, spent her
whole life with a caged beast. No way would the creature go back to its slumber
now that it had a taste of freedom. It would fight her every step of the way if
she tried. After the trouble of the last few weeks, they were so intertwined, she
doubted either of them could survive without the other.

After years of struggle, Raven was finally at peace with the
change, startled to realize that she’d come to care for the dragon.

The dragon was the other half of her soul.

And now it was her turn to protect them.

To stay alive, she must use her wits.

The sword warmed in her grip, reminding her she wasn’t
alone.

Now, all she had to do was get close enough to use it
without getting her head ripped off.

J
ust when Raven feared Greggory
wouldn’t answer her question, he spoke. “Wardens are not true alphas, but our
abilities do allow us survive without a pack. It also allows us to exchange
pledges with others.”

Things began making sense. “You
bind yourselves to your charge, something like an ironclad agreement of
service. It’s different from an alpha oath. If you don’t protect them and they
die, you die with them.” Raven shook her head at the stupidity. No wonder they
were so rare. “Nothing like incentive to keep you motivated.”

“Exactly.” He smirked, as if amused
by her description. “We’re an elite bodyguard service. Most jobs only last a
few months, and the bindings fade when it can’t be supported by a true alpha.
If the job lasts longer, the bindings need to be strengthened by another exchange
of blood.”

It explained the multiple bindings.
“And the boy?”

Greggory straightened, coming to
attention. “My alpha’s second son. I serve as a bodyguard.”

A second son to an alpha was rare,
but didn’t deserve a super soldier to guard him, unless … “Both sons are
alphas.”

“Two alphas is rough on a pack,
three will tear it apart. Eventually, the two sons will end up challenging each
other.”

“So to protect his sons, he asked
you to keep them separated.” Worried about her men, she turned a fraction of an
inch to watch Jackson and Durant fight. Thankfully, the shifters were still
trying to get around them and not attacking directly, but eventually, her men
would tire. Her heart sank with the realization she’d eventually have to fight
Greggory. “How did you end up here?”

“You mean, how did we get caught?”
He jerked his chin in Clancy’s direction. “The circus came to town.”

“And the boy heard the legends and ran
away to save them both.” Raven felt sick at how Clancy had turned something
good into evil, duping the people who needed help the most into a trap they
couldn’t escape.

“He didn’t want to fight with his
brother. They’re too young to challenge each other until they crest, but it
won’t be too much longer.” His gaze shifted behind her, and she resisted the
urge to whirl and see what was wrong.

First rule of fighting, never give
your opponent your back.

But it took all her restraint not
to turn.

Greggory took pity on her. “Your
men know how to fight. They could probably hold out all night by sheer determination
alone.”

“Thank you.” The brittle emotions
holding her hostage eased a fraction.

Until she realized the truth.

Durant and Jackson would kill
themselves to save her.

She couldn’t live with the
sacrifice.

No more delay.

They were out of time.

From Greggory’s deep sigh, he knew
it as well.

“You’re all worthless,” Clancy
bellowed, his face red, spittle flying in his rage. His eyes narrowed, his
crafty mind working all the angles.

Her skin crawled when he turned and
headed toward the humans. He grabbed the first soldiers he reached, yanked the
walkie-talkie from his belt, then shoved the man. The human thumped to the
ground so hard he bounced then stilled.

Static roared to life as he clicked
the button. “Get your ass back to camp and bring the kid.”

He didn’t wait for a reply, but
dropped the walkie-talkie and smiled at Greggory. “Enough stalling. If you
don’t kill her by the time they return, the kid is dead.”

Greggory closed his eyes for a few
seconds. When he opened them again, everything remotely friendly had vanished,
leaving the deadly alpha in its place. Undaunted by the sword, willing to die,
he advanced without hesitation.

Power poured off him in waves, the
strength repeatedly slamming into her weakened shields.

Some of the display was intimidation,
but the majority of it was just brute strength.

The storm thickened overhead, the energy
soaking in her skin until her whole body felt like it was lit on fire. Static
crackled in the air, begging to be used. The dragon hummed in pleasure,
swelling with the influx of pure current, all but wagging its tail and ready to
pounce.

As if sensing the change, Greggory
slowed and circled around her, searching for weaknesses. He lunged in a blur so
fast she could hardly track him. She threw herself sideways, lifting her arm,
barely blocking the blow meant to rip out her throat.

Weight slammed into her arm, the
brute force numbing her from wrist to elbow. She expected to lose her hand, see
flesh peeled away from bone. Instead, the tiny scales weren’t even scratched.

It still hurt like a bitch, though.

A rush of adrenaline allowed her to
ignore the pain as they circled each other.

At least he was going for the quick
kill and not playing with his prey.

Not giving her a chance to recover,
he snapped his leg out.

She lurched backward, his kick only
an inch short of taking her head off. He advanced like a predator scenting
blood. She dodged the right hook aimed for her chin, but missed the fist that
plowed into her gut.

Her breath whooshed out of her.

Training took over, and she danced
back, wheezing for air.

Spirits plummeting, she realized he
wasn’t going to let up until she was dead. She ruthlessly cut off the panic, tightening
her grip on the sword, more determined than ever not to lose. If she didn’t go
on the offensive soon, the fight would be over even before it began.

On the next swing, she ignored the
fist aimed for her ribs, brought up her sword and sliced at the soft spot under
his arm.

He grunted at the impact, and the
sword hummed in pleasure at the taste of blood.

The sword cut weakened the blow
meant to cave in her chest.

Instead of killing her, the fist
lifted her off her feet. She sailed through the air and landed with a heavy thud.
She gasped for air, the pain trying to twist her insides out, nearly causing
her to throw up.

Acting on instinct, she rolled, and
felt the ground vibrate as his boot landed where her head had been not seconds ago.

The sword warmed in her hand, and
she automatically lifted her arm. Instead of landing a chop to her throat, his hand
slammed into the side of the blade. Without thought, Raven twisted to her feet
and brought up the sword before dancing away. The blade sliced through the soft
flesh of his stomach, the weapon guiding her hand.

Blood spilled down his abs, pulling
him out of his killing rage.

Raven halted to find Greggory
studying her, the doctor in him beating back the predator as he grew more
cautious. What should’ve been a quick kill for him was turning out to be an
evenly matched battle.

He was fast on his feet. Strong.
His only weakness was underestimating her.

Now that was gone, too.

The blood would make him slippery
as hell.

Too bad it wouldn’t slow him down
enough to matter. She could really use the advantage.

The blade took on a slight red
glow, eager for the taste of more blood and she rotated her wrist, her muscles
turning liquid with the desire to attack.

Like his bear counterpart, he
charged straight for her.

Raven braced herself and brought up
her sword, but he didn’t even do her the courtesy of slowing down. He used her
hesitation in not wanting to kill him against her, bending low.

Alarm skittered through her when
she realized his intent—he wanted to disarm her.

If she lost her weapon, she would
be vulnerable.

Easier to kill.

Before she could evade, his
shoulder smashing onto her stomach.

Momentum flipped her through the
air.

She clutched her sword, twisted and
managed to land hard on her knee instead of flat on her back to be gutted like
a fish.

Greggory didn’t hesitate, charging
after her again without a second’s hesitation.

Raven stumbled to her feet, but much
too slow.

Claws raked through the thin armor,
leaving four deep grooves scored down her back where he tried to tear out her
spine.

She arched forward, desperate to
escape the pain, blood trickling down her back as he dug deeper into her spine.
She ripped herself from his hold before he could do more damage.

Though not deep, the gouges hurt
like a bitch.

Every inhalation, every movement sent
agony screeching through her, and she struggled to turn and face the next
attack, well aware she would be dead without her armor. If Raven didn’t get her
ass in gear and fight back, she would eventually lose not only the fight but
her pack as well.

The dragon bared her fangs in
denial, pressing claws into her chest to get her moving. The sword hummed in
her hand, and she could almost see the way Greggory would move next, the way
she needed to strike to take his head.

Though she didn’t want to do it,
she would do what it took to protect her men.

Greggory’s face hardened as if
realizing that he’d missed the only chance he had to take her out.

“Clancy!” The gasping screech
filled the clearing.

Raven gave a start, her head
snapping up, and she twisted to keep everyone in view as she turned toward the
tree line.

A smile blossomed across Clancy’s
face. “About damned time.”

But it quickly became apparent that
something was wrong.

A lone man charged blindly across
the grass, all-out terror clutching him in its grip. Even from the distance,
the stench of fear rose from him like he’d rolled in a pile of shit that
wouldn’t wash away.

Clancy shifted from one foot to the
other, the first hint of unease settling over him. “Where is the boy?”

Even before the soldier managed to
clear half the distance between them, a golden lion bounded from the forest. Sweat
stained the man’s shirt as if the beast had been stalking him for some time.

Playing with him.

Hope lit the soldier’s face as he
neared the safety of the circus, his legs pumping faster, his chest heaving as
his breath billowed in and out.

A movement at the corner of her eye
caught her attention, and she saw the hunter lift his gun and take aim.

“Hey!” Raven drew back her arm and
heaved her sword. It spun end over end through the air before landing with a juicy
thunk
into his chest and straight through his heart. Shock dropped open
his mouth, and he grabbed the sword as he lifted hate-filled eyes in her
direction before he dropped dead to the ground.

Clancy smiled in glee and marched
toward the man, leaning over to wrench the sword from the dead body.

Her fingers tingled, the tainted
magic swirling inside her at the thought of anyone else touching her sword.
Even as she watched, the blade vanished before he could wrap his grubby hands
around the pummel.

His eyes bulged in surprise when
his hand clutched nothing but air.

As if she called it, the sword
filled her hand.

She fumbled under the weight, surprise
almost making her drop it. She tightened her hold on the weapon, possessive of
the damned thing, taking comfort from its solid weight.

A vicious roar rented the air.

Raven whirled to see the lion
pounce.

A terrified scream echoed in the
small clearing, only to be cut off abruptly by a brutal snapping of bones.

The mangy lion lifted his bloody
muzzle, and Raven immediately recognized Leo, the nearly feral beast she
released from the cage. The shifter appeared ragged, but he’d gained a few
pounds, his fur not quite so matted. A bit of craziness still gleamed in his
black eyes as he surveyed the fairground in search of his next target.

“He’s been hunting the soldiers.
Every time Clancy sent his men into the forest, not all of them returned.” Her
words brought his big head swinging in her direction and he prowled toward her,
his form nearly hidden in the long, swaying grass.

He stopped a few feet away and
roared, the booming sound vibrating in her chest.

Then he promptly sat.

One … two … five more of the caged
animals crept from the darkness of the forest. Blood coated a few of them, one
clearly bleeding from a gunshot wound, but most of the blood was not theirs. Taggert
emerged a few steps behind them, not a scratch on him. Elation soared through
her. She’d never seen anything look so good. A ragged boy, no more than sixteen
and covered in dirt, stumbled after him.

“He did it.” Greggory didn’t say
anything more, but turned on his heel and charged her at full speed, rage and
ferocity etched on his face. His body began to shift, fur sprouting along his
arms, bones snapping.

Stumbling away from his attack,
Raven braced to feel claws to rend her in half. The sword blazed red, the
demand to defend herself a compulsion. It took all her concentration to force
her fingers to release their hold, and the metal landed on the ground with a
heavy thump.

Greggory changed into a full-grown
grizzly, his shift slowing him down enough for her to crouch and meet the
attack head-on.

Muscles flexed as he gained speed,
and he leapt clear over her head.

Raven dropped to the ground, then
twisted, rolling over to see that she’d never been his intended target.

Clancy spotted him in the same
instant. He reached for the gun the soldier dropped, and he drew down on
Greggory. Then his gazed landed on her. Pure hatred brimmed in his eyes. He
knew he was going to die, but he was determined to take her with him, blaming
her for all his trouble.

In slow motion, he lifted the
barrel of the weapon in her direction, and she heard him pull the trigger. The
cylinder turned on the revolver and the bullets exploded from the gun, hurtling
toward her.

He managed to pull the trigger
three times before the enormous bear slammed into him.