Electric Moon (32 page)

Then she very firmly stepped back from him. She knew she
made the right decision when he didn’t protest. She turned and entered the
woods with her men, doing her best not to limp. She’d swear she heard the moans
of the dead urging her to take vengeance.

 Chapter Thirty-four

T
hey
followed Griffin’s directions this time and circled the ravine. When the few
remaining insects in the woods fell silent, Raven knew they were nearing the
location of the cabin.

Death clung to the air almost like a presence pressing
against her, warning them away. She slowed her step and everyone instantly
followed her lead. After two more yards, a building took shape in the trees,
the shadows clinging to it like a shroud.

The station wasn’t any larger than a one-room cabin. The
emptiness of the place echoed around her even across the distance and frustration
struck.

They were too late.

Boards echoed hollowly as they crossed the porch. Rays from
the full moon filtered into the one window, illuminating a lab of some sort.
And from the equipment, they had interrupted them before they could box up everything
and vanish.

A sheet of plastic lay on the far counter, the thin film of
liquid pooled on top, set out to dry.

Randolph and Jackson entered behind her. They ate up the
oxygen in the room, turning the one small room into the size of a glorified
outhouse.

“He’s near.”

Randolph nodded, but it was Jackson who spoke. “Are you able
to sense him?”

Ever since her creature had wakened, Raven had been
reluctant to call her power for fear of discovering she had nothing left. “I’ll
give it a try.”

She sank her fingers into the electricity hovering under her
skin. The creature clenched her talons, resisting the pull. Raven pushed harder
until her stomach rebelled under the strain. The air became thick in the cabin,
movements slowed as if through molasses, the creature fighting her every step
of the way.

It was hording the power for itself.

That was unacceptable, not when the life of her pack was at
stake. Raven took every pathetic bit of power she could gather and threw it all
at the creature.

Demanded a response.

With a huff, the creature finally relented, and the power
broke free.

Current built under her skin, gaining momentum like a wave
about to crest and drown her. Unable to hold it back, the energy broke free and
shot out across the forest floor like a shockwave from a blast. The weak
plywood floor of the cabin bucked under their feet. The strength of her power
nearly knocked everyone in the cabin to their knees.

Raven ignored their stares, ignored the slight bitter taste
of fear and awe, concentrating on the information feeding to her. She dismissed
the hits she’d received from the group, followed the curl of energy, but
something niggled at the back of her mind.

Then she knew.

There was one too many people.

“He’s outside.”

And coming up right behind Taggert.

Raven’s eyes widened in alarm, and she shot out of the
doorway, her fear allowing her to move faster.

“Taggert!”

She ran and leapt off the porch, her injury throbbing in
protest. Slowing her down. Taggert’s form was silhouetted against the stillness
of the trees.

Safe.

But the tension riding her didn’t abate.

“Taggert–”

He straightened but too late. A man looped his arm around Taggert’s
neck, shoving something that looked like a gun at his carotid.

No, not a pistol, a dart gun.

“Come any closer and I will inject your friend with the
latest version of my serum.”

Raven skidded to a stop with less than ten feet separating
them. “Professor.”

How could she not have made the connection sooner?

She only had her own stupidity to blame. She’d been so focused
on her dislike of Vivian and fighting with the rogues, she was blinded to the
true killer.

Though he issued the threat to everyone, he hadn’t removed
his gaze from her as if she were the biggest threat.

Which made no sense to her at all.

Taggert didn’t appear concerned at the turn of events.

That was okay.

She was frightened enough for the both of them.

On edge, waiting for the slightest opening, she watched Professor’s
thumb on the trigger. If he moved, she would fry him. Professor knew it, too.

“It seems we’re at a stand-off.” She circled to get a better
angle.

His grip tightened, his finger tensing on the trigger.
“Ah-ah. I wouldn’t do that. I would hate to have an accident.”

Going against instinct, Raven stilled. She kept her body
lose and ready to react the instant he let down his guard. “You don’t seem too shocked
to see me.”

Professor shook his head. “The rogues’ alpha hadn’t the
skill to kill you. You’ve defied all his attempts. He was a fool and
underestimated you.”

Implying that Professor wouldn’t.

“You used him to do your dirty work, turned him against his
own kind.”

“No, I just gave him the opportunity. He did all the rest on
his own.” He twisted, using his shoulder to push up the corner of his glasses.
“I have the brains. Sadly, I lack the brawn to make people listen and obey.”

“So you promised him power and money in return for his
cooperation.” Raven shuffled closer. “Did he decide that I must die on his own
or did you give him a little help?”

The slight man shook his head. “That was him. All he cared
about was not allowing anyone to stop his petty pursuit of revenge. He couldn’t
see the bigger picture.”

Raven raised a brow, not believing him completely. “And it
didn’t matter all the people you had to kill to perfect your drug. But it isn’t
perfect, is it?”

“You sound like that fool at Pak Pharmaceuticals.”

Kevin.

Somehow, she wasn’t surprised.

“We were at the testing stage. A few people died, so he shut
us down despite all that we could’ve gained. He thought he’d destroyed my
research, but I had backups.”

Raven gritted her teeth knowing that all of this could’ve
been avoided if protocols had been followed. “How do you think this will end
after all the people you’ve murdered with your experiments?”

The bespectacled man smiled. “I’ll be a hero. And you’re
going to help me. You burst into the shifter world, disdaining the old ways. You’re
not like the others. You understand what I’m trying to do.”

Raven calculated a dozen ways to free Taggert while Professor
babbled and dismissed them all. The percentages were too high.

Professor nodded to his lab, fervor lighting his eyes. “Together,
we can create an equal world, no more rogues, no more alphas to rule us.”

He didn’t seem to realize that most of her actions had been
made in ignorance to protect her pack. “There are rules in place for a reason. The
way rogues are treated is atrocious, but there is dynamic in the pack beyond
just control and power. An alpha keeps the pack in line and prevents them from falling
into chaos.”

The man’s face fell. “They already got to you. Filled your
head with their lies.”

She tracked Professor’s every gesture, shuffling closer. “You
think drugging and killing shifters is the answer? You’re no better than the humans.”

“Only the weak,” he shouted, his face turning red from the
insult. The barrel of the gun pressed brutally against Taggert’s neck until he
winced.

Raven tensed at his outburst.

Taggert waited for her signal to run or duck. The complete
faith in his eyes sent a sharp thrust of panic to her gut.

She couldn’t risk him.

A twist of fear sent her heart rattling against her ribs. Talons
flexed in her chest, ripping up her insides in the need to act. She needed to
distract Professor from his anger, or she’d loose Taggert. “A pack cannot
function with all alphas.”

“That’s just it. We won’t need packs anymore. Each of us
would be strong enough to hold our own. No more need to rely on anyone else. No
more slaves. No more pack war.”

At one time, Raven might have agreed with him. “You talk of peace,
but you have no clue what it’s like to be an alpha.” She swallowed hard. “We
saw the bodies. They killed each other as they battled for dominance. If this
drug ever got out, no shifter would be able to remain in the same city. We’d
hunt each other to extinction.”

Professor waved away her words, her stubbornness at not
seeing things his way beginning to wear thin. “No, you’re purposely looking at
it wrong. I just need to adjust the drug to weed out the aggression.”

“You want to change us. The humans will view us as monsters
again. You’ll destroy everything that we’ve built in the last ten years.” With
each word, rage swelled in her chest, spreading heat in its wake.

“Don’t say that. My work is the next step in evolution.”

Raven understood then that no amount of reasoning would
change his mind. The only way out was to make him mad enough to shoot her, giving
Taggert the chance to run. “When we first revealed ourselves to the human
world, they experimented on us. They acted out of fear. You’re just a coward
desperate to escape your fate as a rogue. You would never amount to anything in
the pack.”

A deathly pall washed over his face, a calmness to him that
sent a shiver up her spine. “You’re wrong. I’ll show you.”

Raven tensed to leap, but realized her mistake too late. She
surged forward, only able to watch in horror as Professor’s finger flexed on
the trigger. Taggert flinched, grabbed at his neck even as he crumbled. She
fell to her knees, her injured leg giving way when tried to catch him.

Professor raised the gun. She braced to be shot, but he only
held it level at her.

“Stop, not any closer. We can’t risk anyone else being
infected. You know what happens when two alphas fight.”

They would battle to the death.

Raven jerked the dart from of Taggert’s neck, heaving it
into the woods. She watched Taggert on his hands and knees, chest heaving as
the toxins coursed through his body. Blood rushed in her ears as she waited. She
half expected to see Taggert shredded before her very eyes.

“You’ve killed him.” Sorrow nearly swallowed her whole.
Raven waited for wrath or hatred to overwhelm her apathy and take control but
guilt left her incapacitated.

She brought him to this by involving him in her cases.

“On the contrary, I saved him. With this new mix, his body
would’ve reacted by now.” Victory reflected off his face. “I granted him a
gift. He will know what it feels like to be a true alpha.”

She reached out with trembling fingers to reassure them both,
only to have him snap his teeth at her.

The rejection stung.

Never in her wildest nightmares had she ever anticipated
that reaction.

The truth of his words reflected back in Taggert’s yellow
eyes. Instead of the need for belonging she normally saw there, possessiveness
bordering on cruelty, gazed back at her.

Raven retreated and stood. Taggert growled and mimicked her
movements. He inhaled as if he could smell her then licked his lips.

Randolph studied her reactions like a bystander. Her lips
tightened, her anger growing at his passiveness while her people suffered. Neil
ignored the scene unfolding, his attention unwavering as he stared unblinking
at the Professor.

“Tell me doctor, what happens to all the women in your grand
new world? They will be fought over, hunted down and slaughtered. No more pure
lines. Our race will die out. Do you think the humans will allow us to steal
their women when none are left?”

Professor shrugged. “It’s no better for them now, bartered
like cattle.”

“They are protected by the pack. They are our future.” Anger
heated her chest, her outrage nearly making her step toward him.

Taggert’s muscles bunched, and she froze.

One more step and he’d be on her.

Shifters always carried their beasts close to the surface. She
had no idea how much control the human side of them exuded to remain in charge.
How much more she had yet to learn. The drug had ripped away Taggert’s filters,
leaving her with a wild animal.