Electric Storm(30)

“Stay still.” Dominic’s voice was low and unthreatening as he approached. “You move and they’ll pounce.”

“What the hell is happening?” The energy from the two men swamped the room. She’d never felt anything like it. All she wanted to do was soak it up and roll around in it.

Dominic latched onto her arm, his grip unbreakable, jerking her away. Both men kept their gazes cemented to hers. But when Taggert took a step to follow, Jackson leapt. They skidded across the floor, fists pummeling with a force that had her wincing.

“Let me go. They’re going to kill each other.” She struggled against Dominic’s grip. He wrapped his arm so tightly across her chest she could barely hold the panic at bay. The autumn scent she normally found so soothing now felt suffocating.

“This is pack.” He shook her hard, forcing her to watch each blow. “This is how they settle disputes. We’re brutal. We’re vicious. And we’re unbending when someone tries to take what’s ours.”

“What?” The words took the starch out of her, calmed some of the panic licking through her at being confined. The uncontrollable craving to suck in the energy waned the greater the distance she put between her and the wolves. She looked at Dominic, saw his yellow-green gaze, and swallowed hard.

Her mind cleared slowly from the lust-induced euphoria that had invaded her, the one that told her to do what she wanted without care for the consequences.

She had to get away from them. She was going to crash and crash hard. “Let me go.” She spat the words. When nothing happened, renewed panic wrestled her for control.

A zap of static crackled through the room. Energy hummed in the walls, getting louder as her agitation grew. All other noise faded. All her senses lay in resisting the urge to sink her fingers into the juice, and just let go.

“Raven. Snap out of it.” Dominic’s words lashed at her, and she came to herself with a start.

Dominic stood three feet from her, his arms held out at his sides, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. His head was bowed to the side in submission, his throat bared. It shook her to see him like that with her, a tough, proud fighter bowing to her in submission.

Shamed gutted her. The lack of recrimination as he cautiously peered at her only made it worse. He just accepted it.

“Your hands.” Taggert stepped closer, no fear in him.

“Stay back.” She felt fear enough for both of them. A light glow surrounded her skin. She saw it. Now Taggert saw it. Could her gift be infecting him like it did the house? The others didn’t notice anything, and she was pitifully grateful for that small mercy.

She retreated a step. Jackson circled, countering the move, boxing her in until her back hit the wall. At the contact, energy from the house poured into her.

“Ground yourself.”

Dominic’s yell sounded small in her ears, her senses overloading with the charge. To ground herself, she needed to connect to something solid. She needed bare earth beneath her feet, but she didn’t think any of the men would allow her to leave, and she couldn’t guarantee their safety if they followed.

Pain swelled in her head, eating along her bones the longer she held herself in check. Her body craved more, building off her panic. She clenched her eyes shut, her fists balled tight at the thought of them seeing her helpless. She reached down into her center, burrowed deep for the last of her strength. The core had welled with power. Beg to be used.

The temptation to linger and play with it nearly distracted her. Only the fear of them witnessing everything brought back her sanity. She had to get rid of it. She forced the twisting blue and white strands of energy whipping through her insides down her body, past her legs and finally through the soles of her feet.

It pulsed along her skin in protest, wrapping along her shins, tugging at her like a child begging to stay.

With one last mental shove, the energy cracked into the floor. The voltage left her so abruptly that she staggered and slumped against the wall. Her insides felt stripped of flesh, crying out for her to call back the energy. She adamantly refused, but it did no good. The power swirled around her, more eager than ever to find a way back.

When she opened her eyes, the floor where she’d stood filled her vision. Electrical burns crisscrossed the wood, wrapping around one another in a five-foot radius from her feet. A harsh reminder that everything she touched became tainted. How much longer before she couldn’t control it at all?

“It’s growing.” Dominic’s soft voice confirmed her fear.

Her stomach churned violently. She lifted her head, ready to face judgment. Only to be confronted by compassion.