High Voltage (3 page)

Years and years
ago, Volt had been one of those fools. Right before Havoc found a misguided
Elementalist, saved him, and gave him second life. Messing with the black arts
was an instant ticket to a live execution by the city council. If Havoc hadn’t
pleaded on his behalf and sorted him up, Volt would be resting in the dirt.

Back then, Volt
thought death was the best alternative rather than facing the truth that he’d
accidentally murdered the boy he loved. He spent most of his adult life making
up for his mistake, but it was never enough. No matter how many people he
helped, Kevin’s bloody face always came back to him.

Volt didn’t think
the demon, Felor, would come back to hunt him several years later. He thought
he’d left his shady past behind. Pressing his forehead against the brick wall,
Volt tried to steady his breathing and his thumping heart.

“Heath’s taken
because of me.”

It was painful to
admit, painful to realize his foolish apprentice had gotten tangled up in his
mess. Volt bristled, glowering at the wall as if it could give him answers. He
knew he handled his relationship with Heath badly. After seeing Blaze so happy
with Levi, and seeing the couple overcome numerous obstacles like burning
building and a horde of ghouls, Volt thought he could find something similar.

He’d been testing
the waters over the past month, opening up bits and pieces of himself to Heath.
Then the past would come crashing back down on him and instead of seeing
Kevin’s bloody face, he’d seen Heath. No. Heath deserved a much better man than
him, so Volt pushed him away. He’d reverted back to being the asshole Heath
thought he was, so Heath would eventually no longer want him.

Fuck. He didn’t
think Heath would actually quit his job. Volt had pushed Heath to the edge, and
it shamed him. The only solution was to make up for his mistakes.
Again.
He really was a useless bastard.

“I got Heath and
myself in this mess. So I’ll just get us out.”

The solution
sounded simple enough to him, and Volt prided himself on being a simple man who
accepted no bullshit. He’d already made up his mind to clean his mess without
involving his brothers when the lights around him began to flicker. They
flickered in warning a couple of seconds, before completely failing and veiling
the entire alleyway and the two buildings between him in darkness.

The streetlights
outside the alley were gone too.

It wasn’t his
doing, but he knew who was capable of manipulating electricity as well as he did.
Volt conjured Felor for the very purpose of enhancing his abilities all those
years ago when he’d been a misguided, sorry mess of a black wizard. Volt wasn’t
worried about the city’s electricity. He knew Lyon City depended on two power
plants. There was a main plant that primarily powered the city and a second
back-up plant in case of blackouts. He still had time to stop Felor from taking
up the back-up plant.

Volt made a to-do
list. “Rescue my dumb-ass apprentice, kill the bastard Felor, save the city,
and give Heath hell for being so stupid.
Easy
peasy
.”

Volt let out a
breath.
Yup.
Sounds easy enough.
Perhaps he’d reward himself for his efforts by finally bending Heath over his
knee and hear the tabby shifter beg him to fuck him.

Chapter Two

“If you’re
expecting Volt to come for me,
then
get ready to be
disappointed,” Heath said.

The demon turned. No matter how
human it tried to look, it couldn’t quite manage it. The human form it took was
a man of average height and average looks, but it couldn’t successfully hide
its silted yellow goat eyes. It introduced itself as Felor, and one of Volt’s
old acquaintances. Just hearing his master’s name again ignited Heath’s hate
for Volt.

Apparently Volt was being serious
when he said a lot of supernatural
nasties
held
grudges against him.

Felor had bruised
him up quite good, but nothing was broken. Heath experimentally wriggled in the
cuffs, trying to see if he could work around them. No use. The metal only
burned and itched at his skin, making it impossible for him to shift. Damn
silver.

“Little cat, I
have been watching Volt from the shadows for a long time. You have no idea what
your master feels for you, do you? Volt always had a weakness for your sort.”

Heath couldn’t
help himself. Laughter bubbled out of him, unexpected and bitter. “What Volt
feels? Volt feels nothing for me. He thinks I’m his little errand boy. Well,
screw Volt and screw you.”

He gulped when
visible tendrils of electricity leaped across the demon’s skin. A long slit
tore across its face, revealing its scaly true flesh underneath, making Heath
shiver.

“We shall see,
little cat. Either way, once your master gets here, the two of you can finally
taste what it’s like being electrocuted inside out. I can tell you, it isn’t
pretty.”

Dry rasping sounds
came from the ancient creature, sounds Heath recognized by now as its laughter.
Great, Volt.
Nice friends you’ve been hiding.

The creature went back to its task,
to playing with the enormous rotating machine Heath recognized as the main
electric generator. The whirring steel turbines surrounding the main generator
told Heath where the demon had taken him. He’d taken Heath to one of Lyon
City’s main power plants.

Electricity leaped from the
generator and into the demon. It was trying to absorb all the electricity,
Heath realized, just like what it did with the smaller generators.

“W-what are you doing?”

He didn’t think Felor would oblige
him, but the demon seemed to think indulging a small fry like him wasn’t a
problem.

“I’m shutting down each section of
your beloved city, little cat. This main generator and a second back-up
generator on another plant powers Lyon City. I’ll take care of the two power
plants until surely and slowly a full scale panic will erupt all over the
city.”

Heath watched, half-fascinated and
half-horrified, as the main generator seemed to let out a wailing sound before
it came to an abrupt halt. All the lights in the enormous room then blew out.
He didn’t like being in the dark. The only source of light came from the golden
pulses of electricity crawling across the demon’s human form.

Heath tried quelling the panic
threatening to take over his entire body.

Breathe
in and out. Breathe— Oh screw this.

They weren’t dealing with some
bottom-feeding demon from the Otherside. Felor was definitely major league.
Just what kind of mess had Volt gotten himself into? The demon seemed to know
Volt from before too, and it piqued Heath’s interest. Among all the things he
and Volt talked about, his past had always been an untouchable taboo topic even
among the other members in Havoc’s Crew.

“There. The entire city is plunged
into darkness for half an hour before the back-up generators start working. Let
us see if your master will finally take notice, little cat.”

“You want my notice, Felor? You got
it,” said a deep, angry, and unmistakable voice.

Another golden globe of light
glowed softly from the entrance of the generator room, illuminating Volt’s
bulky figure. Hope kindled inside of Heath despite how pissed he was at Volt.

His master looked terrifying and he
had to admit, a little badass. The suit Volt wore was a little creased up and
wrinkled. Little sparks of electricity jumped across his massive frame,
highlighting all the hard planes of his honey-colored skin and the golden ink
peering from his cuffs and neck.

Those tattoos were proudly worn by
Elementalists who’d mastered their particular element, and Heath was miles away
from earning his.

Heath thought he’d never seen such
a furious expression on Volt’s face. It made him look savage and a little wild.
Damn did his jeans just feel tighter? Heath became embarrassingly aware of his
strained erection. Why did he always react like this whenever Volt was around?

“Ah Volt, your apprentice and I
were making bets on when you’d come. I’m afraid he has little faith in you.”
Felor’s human mouth stretched unbelievably wide, revealing sharp ebony teeth.

“Your fucking business is with me,
Felor. Heath has nothing to do with you or me,” Volt said through gritted
teeth. As Volt neared them, balls of electricity formed on either side of his
clenched fists. “You must be becoming weak, Felor. Taking hostages because you
can’t face me head-on? You’re worse than pathetic.”

Felor let out a monstrous rumble.
Numerous sparks of electricity jumped from the demon’s body and hit the
turbines and generators. Heath cringed at the sound of some the parts falling
apart. This place was done for, and if the two electricity-wielding idiots
weren’t careful, the place might come down on all of them.
Bloody
great.

“Weak? I’m going to tear you apart,
foolish mortal,” Felor hissed. “Do you really think you can take me by
yourself, Volt? Have you forgotten why you summoned me in the first place? How
heartless of you to forget the delicious blood sacrificed you’ve offered.”

Summoned?
Volt?
Heath’s head spun. Summoning demons was an instant black card to an execution
by any ruling magical council in the Quad Cities. What was the demon talking
about, blood sacrifice?

Volt may be a hard-assed bastard to
him, but Heath knew the softer, seldom seen side of him. Felor didn’t know
anything. The demon didn’t know that among the brothers, Volt took up most of
the pro-bono cases. When the city had a serious problem with their back-up
power plant and one of the generators went out of control, Volt was the first
one there to rescue the trapped workers. Heath even had the numerous thank-you
letters written by the workers’ spouses and children tucked away in one of the
drawers at his desk. No. Volt wasn’t the kind of man who’d resort to human
blood sacrifice.
Right?

“No. I’m the same arrogant brat who
summoned you from the depths of the Otherside, Felor.”

Volt unleashed the balls of
electricity, but they weren’t aimed at Felor. They shredded right into the
blades of the main generator, and the metal plates began to rain down on Felor.
Trapped and unable to react in time, the demon let out a shriek of pain as he
was impaled by falling debris.

“Fuck, Volt,” Heath cursed.

His master was by his side in an
instant. A light touch of electricity undid the cuffs. Heath sunk into the hard
press of Volt’s body. He had to get on his feet, snarl at Volt, but he only
realized how the silver cuffs had rubbed into his skin like a slow poison.

“Can you shift?” Volt growled at
him.

Enraged and trapped by the metal
speared through his body, Felor was hurling random bolts of electricity all
around him. The impact of the bolts tore through equipment, metal, and concrete.
Chunks of the room were beginning to fall around them.

Heath tried, but his body was too
banged up and still trying to recover from the after effects of the silver.

“I can’t, Volt. I
—
just leave me.”

“What the fuck are you saying? You
know what, just don’t speak.”

Without another word, Volt tossed Heath
over one of his broad shoulders like a rug and broke out into a run. He
occasionally tossed balls of well-aimed electricity all around them, helping
along with the building’s collapse.

Insane.
Volt’s fucking insane. He can’t beat a demon upfront so he’s decided
to bring an entire building down on it?
Really?

Heath was too tired to protest or
feel humiliated. He had a prime view of the place coming apart. Felor let out a
victorious roar from somewhere, but it was too late. The power plant was coming
apart. Volt grunted and collapsed right outside the structure’s doors. Their
exit was followed by a large series of booms and crashes, making Heath wince.

“Have to get the hell out of here,”
Volt breathed.

Still slung on his master’s
shoulder, Heath only managed a weak wheeze. Volt rose, hefting him carefully
before managing to stagger to his car. Heath felt himself being tossed into the
back seat. His head spun as the car roared to life and Volt began to drive away
from the crime scene.

From the collapsing plant, an
abhorrently loud howl of rage rang out into the night.
Great.
Felor wasn’t dead. Heath groaned. His head hurt and he still couldn’t
comprehend what had just happened. It all felt like some surreal nightmare he
was hoping to wake up from.

“Hush, Heath. We’re safe for now.”

This was all definitely a
nightmare. Volt never sounded so tender to him before.

Chapter Three

After the shifter doctor had come
and gone to check on his apprentice, Volt remained seated on the easy chair
facing his bed. Heath was sprawled leisurely across his sheets, cocooned in
pleasant dreams and looking far too comfortable and indifferent for Volt’s
liking.

Volt, meanwhile, felt shitty and
miserable. It was a fair trade considering he’d pulled Heath into his mess. He
still hadn’t changed out of his crumpled suit, hadn’t even bothered splashing
water on his face.

Some logical part of him knew Heath
was fine. There was nothing serious about his injuries, just a minor silver
poisoning. Still, it galled him Felor knew where to hit him the hardest. The
demon had known Heath was important to him.

How long had the demon been
watching him? Perhaps he’d been too lax in his defenses and had become too
arrogant in thinking he’d always have the upper hand over his enemies.

Staring at the bed, Volt caught
occasional glimpses of Heath’s bare skin. Heath’s nude and slender body looked more
tempting with every passing second. His skin was flawless and smooth, just
waiting for Volt to mark and claim him. Guilt doubled its dosage and hit Volt
twice as hard, but it was difficult looking away.