Electric Heat (8 page)

Durant adjusted his expression, but it was too late. She
glanced away, ashamed of her lack of control, and saw her eyes gleam blue in
the broken glass from the picture frame. She struggled to tuck away the power
seething under her skin, but it was like playing with live voltage.

Now that the magic was gone, the smell of decay overwhelmed
the room. Each breath layered her mouth and throat with a film of death that no
amount of scraping would remove.

When she was sure she wouldn’t lose her cookies, she looked
up again to see she had the witches’ complete attention. They eyed her
suspiciously. They were able to feel the aftereffects of power in the air, the
sheer volume of magic should have been enough to fry anyone who dared try to
wield it.

And Raven remained relatively unaffected.

She crawled forward and swiped her hand over the symbols on
the floor, the remnants of the hex so thorny her skin felt like it was being
filleted off her hand one layer at a time. She staggered out of the way as the
wards fell.

Durant was the first one through the door, a growl of
displeasure vibrating up his chest as he pinned her to the wall when her legs
threatened to give out and drop her on her ass. She ducked her head, using his
broad shoulders to protect her from prying eyes.

“She’s alive.” When the witches continued to gape at her,
she barely resisted the urge to growl. “If you want to save her life, you’d
better get your ass in gear.”

 Chapter Seven

T
he
witches scurried into the room, forgetting about Raven in their rush to rescue
their fallen comrade. In less than five minutes, the cabin was emptied until
only she and Durant remained. Raven reluctantly pushed him away. She couldn’t
hide behind him forever.

When she left the room, the rotten stench followed. With every
step, it grew progressively worse, and she practically stumbled across the
remnants of a foot. When she peered around the corner, she realized there were
actually two remains, the bodies tossed away like discarded trash.

“Her familiars.”

All that remained of them were dried corpses that looked
hundreds of years old. Their skin was worn and brown, their bones turning to
powder even as she watched. “She stole all their power, even their lives, just
to prolong her own. The jaguar was to be the next victim, but he ran. The
distance must have granted him the time he needed to survive. She couldn’t
drain him as fast as the others and still fight off the attack at the same time.”

“You’re doing it again.” Durant was watching her in the
assessing way she was coming to hate.

“Doing what?” Raven crossed her arms, unsure whether she
wanted to know what he was going to say.

“Acting human. Showing outrage.”

She shoved him hard, but the big bastard didn’t give her the
pleasure of budging even an inch, leaving her frustration nowhere to go.
“Dammit, they deserve better than to be slaughtered like animals.”

“We
are
animals.” His roar reverberated in the room.

Raven shook her head, her anger evaporating. She reached up
and cupped his cheek, her palm tingling from the prickle of his scruffy jaw.
“No, you’re pack.”

Durant softened, leaning into her touch. “They died in service
to the pack. It doesn’t make it better, but the witches will have to pay a
penalty.” He raised his hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “A steep
price that will strongly discourage them from allowing something like this to happen
again. They can’t afford another incident, or the war with the pack that would
inevitably follow.”

Despite knowing she shouldn’t touch him, she rested her
forehead against his chest. She was just so tired.

“Come.” Durant wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder
and ushered her toward the door. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Raven allowed herself to be led outside, more than a little
surprised when she saw the sun had set. “What time is it?”

“You were in the room for hours.”

She didn’t reply as she took in their surroundings. Dry
leaves skittered across campus on a light wind, the night crackling with the
lonely sound. The light poles were few and far between, giving the place a
deserted feeling…the perfect setting for a killer to strike. All that was
missing was a black cat to cross her path.

The sense of being watch increased until the back of her
neck itched. “We’re being followed.”

Durant nodded. “Ever since we left the cabin. They were
standing guard the whole time you were in the room.”

Like she and Durant were prisoners.

By unspoken agreement, both remained quiet, not wanting to
be overheard.

Raven felt like she was being hunted by both the witches and
the killer, and she didn’t like being squeezed between the destructive forces
one bit. This case was different from the other jobs she’d worked, the scene providing
no physical evidence or a killer she could pursue. With each paranormal case,
she was being led deeper into the supernatural world, and she wasn’t sure she’d
be able to find her way back.

“Do you think they set up this elaborate job as a trap to
get me here and study me?” She bit her lip, becoming more alarmed when he
didn’t answer right away.

“I’m not sure.”

His simple answer wasn’t reassuring. “Would they really kill
their own for it?”

“You saw their reaction today. They’d sacrifice their own
children for more power.”

That gave Raven pause. “Do you think that’s why there are fewer
than a hundred students?”

He snorted in response, his voice gruff when he spoke. “Even
less, if they had a choice.”

Raven brushed at her clothes, wishing it was as easy to dispel
the remnants of the spell. “What do you mean?”

“Witches have rules in place that require them to give birth
to a certain number of children. A lottery of sorts.”

Raven nearly tripped at the disclosure. “You’ve got to be
kidding me.”

Durant scratched the stubble along his jaw, not bothering to
look at her as he scanned the area for possible threats. “Spell casters are
rare, one or two born every few years. Only the most powerful witches are able
to conceive them. Something happens to their magic during pregnancy. Some say
the child absorbs it, others say the magic is used to create a gifted child,
but no one really knows. To prevent the loss of power, witches use spells to
ensure they don’t conceive. There are a small few who don’t care, but the
majority had worked too hard to willingly lose status. Even if the child isn’t
born…gifted, it can take the witch years to recover the loss of status. Most
children are then farmed out to be raised.”

“That’s horrible.” She couldn’t imagine having a child
ripped from her arms. She’d fight tooth and nail against anyone who would dare.

Durant touched her arm as if to hold her back. “It’s the
mother’s choice. Most of the time, it’s safer for the child.”

“They resent the loss of power.” She couldn’t believe a
mother would ever resent her child for something like that, but the proof was
the existence of the school itself. Something Luca said came back to her. “The campus
is more of a boarding house for the best and the brightest who have earned the
right to be trained.”

He gave an absent nod. As they drew near their cabin, Durant’s
posture stiffened infinitesimally, his expression giving nothing away. Raven wanted
to be anywhere but alone in the cabin with him, not fooled in the least by his
calm demeanor. He was ready to explode.

She was right. As soon as the door shut behind them, Durant
whirled on her. “What the hell happened back there?”

He stalked her across the room with determined steps, spoiling
for a fight, his single-minded focus fixed mercilessly on her. He wouldn’t be
put off with half answers.

Sudden anger at her situation took over, and she crossed her
arms. She would not be pushed around any longer. “I don’t have a clue. You’re
the one who seems to know everything. Why don’t you tell me?”

A barely-there scratch at the door stopped her tirade short.

Durant immediately became all business, straightening,
growing bigger, until he seemed to suck up all the air in the room. He tucked
himself behind the door and gestured for her to open it.

As she turned the knob, the door banged open. The jaguar shifter
sat crouched in the doorway, uncertainty clinging to him like the autumn air.
He faltered when he saw her, ducking his head to avoid her eyes, as if worried he
would be found lacking. Durant huffed. Before he could slam the door in the
cat’s face, the shifter scampered inside on all fours.

He skirted the room, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
His chest billowed, his eyes locked on her as he huddled in a corner, terrified
she would force him to leave. Pain hovered around him, so intense she feared one
touch might shatter him.

His blood on the floor appeared slightly congealed, almost
putrid. Even if he wasn’t a full shifter, he should’ve begun the healing
process. The damage must have been more extensive than she first guessed.

She’d only taken two steps to investigate when Durant
marched across the room and grabbed her arm. “Leave him.”

“He’s injured.”

Durant scowled back at her. “He isn’t yours.”

“Actually, I believe he became mine as soon as he gave his
pledge.” She shrugged off Durant’s hold, pissed that he would deny a fellow
shifter assistance.

“The witch is still alive. Their contract is still valid.”

She pursed her lips mutinously. “That deal was made with his
old pack. We’re his new pack now, which makes any previous contract invalid.”

Durant didn’t say anything, which meant she was right.

The last thing she needed was a new shifter in her life. She
had more than enough trouble of her own, she didn’t need to borrow more. But
when she turned to look at his cowering form, she couldn’t leave him to suffer
if it was within her power to save him.

Not to be defeated, Durant narrowed his eyes at her. “We’re
not finished with our conversation.”

“Oh? What conversation? The one where you were going to tell
me what the hell is happening to me?”

The smile he gave her wasn’t pleasant. “How about the
conversation where we discuss the risks of running into danger without a plan?”

She froze for a second, avoiding his probing gaze. “I had a
plan…of sorts.” It had been to rescue the witch, but she was smart enough to
keep that to herself. She didn’t want to find out if that throbbing vein in his
forehead would actually explode if she pushed him.

“That magic was consuming those witches, and you rushed into
danger without hesitation.”

“I—”

“No,” he slashed his arm through the air, “you don’t get a
say. You will listen. You have a pack to take care of now. You have to stop
taking chances.”

“We’ve been through this already.” Raven barely resisted the
urge to smack him, her fingers aching where she balled them into fists. “You
promised not to interfere in my cases.”

Durant stiffened. “I didn’t stop you from doing anything.”

No, he hadn’t, which only made this dressing-down worse,
because he was right. “What do you expect me to do? I’m fighting for my pack.” She
stalked toward him, her creature rising closer to the surface with each step.
“You can’t expect me not to take risks if it means saving us.”

He heaved a sigh of defeat and began pacing. “The magic
reacted differently to you.”

She wanted to soothe the agitated tiger she sensed hovering
just under Durant’s skin. “Everything tends to react differently around me. I’m
different. I can’t promise to follow some nebulous plan to stay safe. Any
hesitation on my part would most likely put me in more danger.”

“I know.” Raven could see the muscles rippling along his jaw
as he gritted his teeth, pacing and fighting his instinct to protect. “It
doesn’t mean I have to like it.

She stepped in front of him, wishing she could ease him.
“You kept me within sight the whole time.”

The shifter had sneaked closer to her during the discussion,
reaching out to touch her when Durant bared his teeth at him. The cat scurried
back to his corner.

“Feel better?”

Durant shrugged and shoved his fingers through his wild mop
of hair, the lights shimmering across the streaks that so resembled his
animal’s stripes. “I couldn’t get to you.”

His anguish squeezed her heart. She rested her hand on his
chest, unable to resist touching him. Without the barrier of her gloves, the
simple gesture was far more intimate than otherwise. The heat of him soaked
into her skin, urging her closer. “I don’t need you to rescue me. Just be there,
and catch me when I stumble.”

He heaved a heavy sigh, and his aggression toned down a few
degrees. “I’ll try.”

It was all she could ask, and more than she had expected. “Good.”
Raven smiled and gave him a shove. Then she rubbed her fingers together, still
able to feel him. “Now go see if you can find some medical supplies.”

It took some coaxing to get the jaguar shifter to sit on a
stool by the counter island. Every time Durant came close, the cat would tense
up. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you check the cabin for weaknesses?”

Or escape routes. With her luck, they might need them.

Durant narrowed his eyes but did as she suggested, always
making sure she was in his line of sight.