Raven Investigation 04 - Electric Legend (26 page)

T
he skyline lightened, the sun tinging the
horizon a pale orange and red. Only a few scattered clouds remained, and Raven
was beyond ready to leave. She walked back toward their car, very conscious of
the silent men following her.

Something was on their mind, and she was pretty sure she
didn’t want to have this conversation now.

Maybe not ever.

“You can’t run forever.” Durant sounded amused … and much
too close.

Raven quickened her steps, muttering under her breath. “I
can try.”

“You’re going to have to deal with the possessiveness you
feel or it will eat you alive.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Raven cringed, clenching her
fingers into fists to hide the proof of her lie. She could control her need to
touch them.

Jackson maneuvered next to her, easily keeping pace without
appearing the least bit winded—the bastard could at least fake it. “You risked
yourself needlessly more than once to show your claim on me. You nearly lost control
in front of a bunch of strangers and you didn’t care. You told them the truth
about yourself, without thinking twice, just to protect us.”

Raven stopped abruptly and threw up her hands in
frustration. “I don’t know what you want from me. I’m your alpha. You told me
it’s my job to protect you. I did that the best way that I saw fit.”

Durant kept walking until he was up in her face, his
wonderful, delicious leather scent wrapping around her, doing a very good job
of distracting her from her ire. “What you’re feeling is normal. You’re an
alpha, the need to protect is instinctual, but your actions were almost manic.
Not the actions of an alpha but those of a woman with her mates. We’ve had this
discussion before—you are more important than any member of the pack. We can be
replaced. You can’t.”

“I don’t agree. None of you are interchangeable to me.”
Raven lifted her chin mutinously. The loss of control still smarted, and she
liked it less that he threw it back in her face. She immediately dismissed the
second half of his sentence. Unfortunately, she feared he was at least
partially right—her reaction couldn’t all be pinned on her being an alpha, but
not like he thought. Her dragon considered them part of her hoard, and would do
whatever it could to protect what was theirs. “I was just trying to keep you
safe.”

Jackson shook his head. “It was more than that and you know
it, even if you don’t want to admit it. An alpha would never risk herself for
one member of the pack, not like you do.”

She glanced at all of them, more confused than ever. “Maybe
you better spit out what you really want to say. Stop pussyfooting around the
real issue.”

All the guys exchanged a look that left her uneasy, and she
bit her lip, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut.

Suddenly wanting to be anywhere but there, Raven backed away.

Only to have Durant followed her step for step.

Relentless.

Determined.

“Your beast is basically a teenager with all the emotions of
one. The only way to ease her is to put a claim on us.”

“I don’t understand.”

Jackson and Taggert circled around until they were at her
back, effectively surrounding her. She didn’t like the pressure, but something
about all that manliness left her body tingling. Her thoughts trailed off into a
totally inappropriate area, scrambling her ability to concentrate when she
needed her wits the most.

“I’ve already claimed you. You’re part of the pack.”

Durant scowled, muttering about her thinking too human.

Taggert swayed with exhaustion, his gentleness crumbling her
shield like dust. All her denials evaporated in her throat before he even spoke
his first word. “You’re uneasy sleeping with all of us, but humans often date
more than one person at a time. Think of us that way.”

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” An
uncomfortable sensation, a wave of heat, sizzled over her every nerve ending.
She rubbed her arms, then dropped them when she caught herself wishing it was
their hands. She gazed longingly in the direction of the car, tensing to sprint
if that was what it took to get away.

Unfortunately, she knew they would only follow her.

She would rather have this conversation here than stuck in the
tiny confines of the vehicle with all three men within touching distance and no
room to breathe past their intoxicating scents. She ran her fingers over her
forehead to ease the gathering ache.

It felt like someone kicked her in the head.

Repeatedly.

She’d almost have preferred that than have this
conversation.

Jackson sighed and stepped in front of the others, blunt and
no nonsense as always. “You claimed us as part of your pack, but you’re also a
female. Your dragon doesn’t feel that we are hers, and until you lay a personal
claim on us, she will keep fighting you.”

Raven crossed her arms to stop from reaching for him. She
wished what Jackson had said was true, it would be the easy way out, but she’d
come to terms that what she felt wasn’t all the dragon’s emotions. Nerves danced
through her gut at the prospect of finding a way to fix her possessiveness, and
all that it would entail. “What do you suggest?”

They all glanced at each other again, and Taggert spoke. “A
few weeks ago you spent time with each of us.”

Raven fought a blush as she remembered, then the reality
settled heavily on her shoulders. They were going to ask her to choose. Bile
rose at the back of her throat at the thought of picking one and watching the
others go on with their life. “The dates.”

Jackson was blunter with his words. “You need the practice
to train your beast. You’re not just human anymore.”

He gave her a pointed look, silently reminding her what
happened in the trailer between them.

They saw it as a weakness, something others could use to
take advantage of her, and they were right.

They were asking her to trust them.

She inhaled deeply and took the plunge, whole battalion of
butterflies launching in her stomach. “Tell me what I need to do.”

 “Time alone with each of us will help strengthen the bonds
with you beast, so you won’t feel so frantic at the thought of losing us. We’ll
each choose a day until you grow more comfortable, and we’ll train you in what
you can expect now that your beast woke. The rest of the days, we’ll spend it
all together as a pack.”

She went lightheaded with relief.

She didn’t have to lose them, not yet.

A kaleidoscope of emotions tumbled through her, and awkwardness
smacked her in the face as they all waited for her reaction. Dating three men
went against everything she believed, but she couldn’t help admit, if only to
herself, that she desperately wanted what he described.

“No man would be satisfied sharing their woman.” She wasn’t
sure she’d ever be able to let them go if she allowed herself to grow any
closer to them. The true reason holding her back. She wouldn’t survive the
separation. “You’ll eventually want to find someone special to call your own.”

Raven absently rubbed the ache in her chest.

To watch them fall in love with someone else would destroy
her.

Taggert shook his head, seemingly resigned to his fate. “Shifters
don’t expect to settle down with one person, much less fall in love. We grow up
with the expectation that if we’re lucky enough, we might find a shifter woman
who would give us the time of day, much less a lifetime.”

Her heart cracked at the bleak future he sketched out. “It
doesn’t have to be like that anymore. Things are different now. ”

Taggert’s face gentled, as if getting ready to tell her some
bad news. “It’s already too late. There is only one woman for us. And you wouldn’t
react so violently if you weren’t already a little bit in love with us, too.”

No one said anything, none of them bothering to deny it.
They watched her unwavering, each one of them way too serious … like she should
already know how they felt.

Their confession left her dazed, which seemed to amuse Durant.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and steered her toward the car. “Why don’t
we give you a little time to think about it on the way home?”

Raven wanted to blurt out her first response—yes, but held
back, trying to think past the giddiness and the way the dragon hummed in
pleasure.

She needed to make sure that she was not being selfish. She
needed to choose the best option for all of them. “And if I turn down your proposition?”

The only indication that Durant wasn’t as collected as he
pretended was the hitch in his stride.

It was enough.

Jackson reached the car first, but didn’t open the door, gazing
at her over the roof. “The wildness will only increase, your dragon will take control
and jealousy will literally eat you alive.”

Taggert ducked into the car, sprawling across the backseat
in the boneless way of an animal in a deep sleep. Jackson left her alone with
her thoughts and slipped behind the driver’s seat. The car turned over on the
first try.

Durant tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded to
the back. “Why don’t you crawl in next to him and get some rest. Think about
what we said.”

She doubted she’d be able to think of anything else. Heat
licked up her spine at the innocent touch. He brushed his fingers along her
jaw, relishing the touch, before he dropped into the passenger seat.

Taking his advice, Raven crawled into the back, but sleep
eluded her. Taggert rolled over and reached under the seat, pulling out a dirty
stuffed animal.

Her wolf.

She snatched it close, her eyes stinging as she rubbed the
dirt from its fur.

It survived.

It gave her hope that they could do the same.

As if satisfied by her reaction, Taggert wrapped himself
around her with a small smile to his lips and fell back asleep. Her body
relaxed at his touch, and she dropped into unconsciousness.

The ringing of the phone woke her some hours later.

The whole day had passed, darkness had fallen, and she heard
Durant answer the phone. Even with the distance, Raven could hear London on the
other end of the line. “Pass the phone to Raven.”

Raven unwrapped herself from the shelter of Taggert’s arms
as reality intruded. “What’s wrong?”

“Your vampire has gone missing.”

Raven bolted upright. “Rylan?”

“Your sword returned without you, and he went to
investigate. No one has seen him since.”

Rylan often disappeared for weeks or even months at a time,
but this time felt different. He was in charge of her pack while she was gone.
He wouldn’t have just left.

He had the ability to track her blood or follow the bindings
if he allowed himself to admit they were connected. Stubborn jackass. He’d gained
enough power, absorbed it through her blood, to force the particles of his body
to break down and rematerialize, something only the ancients should be able to
do after they spent centuries amassing power.

To work, though, he had to be close enough to lock in on
her.

Great distance would stretch him too far, and he’d never be
able to gather all the particles to reform his body.

If he tracked the sword, he should’ve been there by now.

“How long has he been gone?”

“He disappeared last night. We found signs of a struggle. He
didn’t return for his first appointment tonight.”

The car began to accelerate, and Jackson’s gaze flickered
toward hers in the rearview mirror. “We’ll be there in under an hour. Keep
everyone inside.”

London grunted in acknowledgment and hung up.

Raven lowered the phone, but could only stare at it. Taggert
gently pried it from her fingers and pushed the off button. “We’ll find him.”

The hour ride home was the longest of her life. No one
spoke. The others didn’t care for Rylan. Vampires and shifters had fought wars
on and off for years, their hatred bred into them for generations, but they
were all trying to get along to please her.

Taggert slept wrapped around her. Every time she so much as
twitched, his eyes cracked open to study her. Satisfied she was unharmed and
not ready to bolt, he would settle back down again.

Urgency rushed through her as they finally turned down the
driveway. Raven could barely sit still. If she thought she could get there
faster, she would throw herself out the door and run.

A dark shape lay crumpled across the driveway, and her heart
nearly exploded out of her chest. “Jackson?”

But he was already slamming on the brakes. “I see it.” 

Raven flung open the door, already stepping out before the
vehicle stopped. Magic spilled out of her in a wave, seeking the source of the
threat, but found nothing. She darted forward, only to slow when her brain
caught up with what she was seeing.

A bloodied corpse.

The metallic smell of blood thickened the air, invaded her
mouth and spilled down her throat. A gallon of it saturated the ground, but the
majority of it seemed to be missing.

The body had been dumped, dropped face-first on the ground
as if pushed out of a vehicle.

No matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn’t pick up a
heartbeat.

The chest didn’t move.

“Rylan?” Raven dropped to her knees by the still form, unsure
where she could touch him without hurting him more, the body so bloody it
looked like they’d skinned him, bits of dirt and pebbles imbedded into the
flesh.

Then she noticed the odd angles of the body, his frame
contorted in a way that wasn’t physically possible … not if he had bones.

Bits of white bones poked through the flesh.

All broken.

She’d seen these injuries before.

In the labs.

It was what happened when they were finished with their test
subjects. They took what they wanted from the body and threw out the remains
like trash.