Electric Storm(79)

“No.”

“You came about the murders.” Instead of talking, he bowed his head and another disturbing suspicion rose. “And you think I killed them.”

“No.” He seemed as surprised as she was by the answer.

“Then why all the questions?”

“To gauge your intent now that you are in possession of one of the very few known tigers and managers of one of the three approved clubs on pack territory.” While he said the words, he continued to stare at her with those disturbingly dead eyes.

“He’s pack.”

“And you would die for them?” It wasn’t an idle question.

“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate even though Durant appeared ready to protest.

“It’s his club peddling drugs. That’s a killing offense.” He reached out, but didn’t touch the glass, his fingers hovering over the condensation that had collected.

“Kill him and the real perpetrator will only switch to a different venue. They already tried to take him. They stole the life of his employee when she showed up instead.” Now that Randolph was here, everything made sense. Someone wanted to run drugs through the club, and the only way they could get to the shifters was through an approved club like Talons. They dumped Cassie’s body in the killer’s hunting ground to cover their crime.

She ignored the pounding of her heart, ignored the way everyone near them stilled as if they could taste the menace in the air. Power built beneath her skin.

“How do you propose to catch this dealer?” An uncompromising, hard look came in Randolph’s expression. “How did you even learn about it?”

“They’re pack. Are you saying you don’t know everything about the people you live around?” She dodged the question, but she knew that it only delayed the inevitable.

He gave a slight nod of his head, relaxing a little. “True.”

She could tell he was disturbed not to have known about the drugs, that he had to have been told. Some of that anger burning below the surface showed in the way he shifted slightly.

“But how did you find out? Unless you tasted it in his blood.”

She shivered at the demand for the truth. He wouldn’t be pawned off. If she wanted her pack to live, she couldn’t hide. “I claimed him by blood.”

Jackie gasped, but Randolph only nodded. “But you recognized the effects of the drugs before then, didn’t you?”

“Let’s say I’ve seen the effects.”

Randolph’s hand stilled. “When?”

“The labs.” She bit the words out between stiff lips, audible to only those nearest them. She hated being forced to admit the painful truth in front of so many.

A snort of laughter escaped Jackie, her posture loosened and that bitchy smirk came back to her face. “She lies.”

“Are you lying?” Randolph asked the question, his gaze trained on Raven as if dissecting her. Something about his stillness triggered a buried memory.

Raven couldn’t respond, finally recognizing what was different about him. He wasn’t a shifter or a vampire. The energy lines she used to gauge a person’s threat level wavered around him, hiding him from her. It took more than just the magic to do that.

“You’ve been inside one as well.” A snarl worked its way up her throat as her hackles rose. “You’re enhanced. A damn soldier they engineered to protect the humans from us monsters.” Power surged, tangling lines of blue down her arms. The shield she wore parted, and what made her such a killer in the labs peeked out.

Raven’s chair scraped as she shoved back from the table. She didn’t have to look to know that her eyes had changed to vivid blue. “How does it feel to be a real monster amongst the monsters?”

“Jesus, Raven. Be quiet.” Durant barely got the words out when Randolph’s power lashed against her skin, searching for an opening.

Raven snatched the strands, yanked them closer and wove them into a ball. The golden energy was different than her normal blue. It was more volatile and ice cold, scoring her wherever it touched. Instead of fighting it, she absorbed it throughout her system.

A mistake. The instant the strange power touched her core, her blood felt like it was boiling. The animals inside roared, slashing at the cages to get out, but what scared her the most was that the strange creature surrounding her core gave a lazy stretch as if awakening.

Randolph’s eyes widened and as quickly as the attack came, the spike died. The energy she’d siphoned fought her as she tried to expel it. The gold lines wrestled with her every step of the way until her body screamed for mercy. She couldn’t get rid of it, the strands clinging to her body like a leech.