Electric Heat by Stacey Brutger Read Free Book Online Page B

nearly gutted himself. No shifter
would voluntarily maim himself without reason.”
    The witch clearly didn’t care for being told what to do, and
those spooky eyes of hers darkened as magic gusted in the air. In response to
the rising tension, the young shifter snarled.
    His longish hair was tangled, the black strands matted with
blood. His blue eyes were so vivid they appeared lit from behind, making the bruised
circles under his eyes even more pronounced. The angles of his face were sharp,
his cheekbones prominent. His body was a bit too lean, his ribs clearly delineated.
    It was as if he’d been starved, pushed to his limits and then
left lying around like a loaded gun. There was a subtle tremor in his body,
indicating some sort of trauma…if he had been able to shift, she had no doubt
she’d be facing his beast right now.
    Before Durant could block her, Raven scrambled forward, halting
a few feet away from the shifter…just out of striking distance. The shifter
hunched down, looking ready to spring.
    “Tell me about the tag.” She directed the softly spoken
question to Heloise, not removing her focus from the injured beast.
    The shifter stopped snarling, lifted his face and scented the
air.
    “There are two types of service. Those who pledge themselves
as familiars in return for protection and upkeep, and those who sell themselves
for a specific time frame. Those who commit are marked. The tag connects the
witch to her familiar.”
    “So, tell me why would a familiar be willing to practically
kill himself to remove the mark?”
    That gave Heloise pause…for all of two seconds. She turned
her head and gave a regal nod to someone behind her, a queen giving the kill
order. “Do it.”
    Two men crept forward, the small charms on their persons
their only protection. It wouldn’t hold against tooth and claw.
    The bait.
    A third man hung back with a gun big enough to take down an
elephant.
    One shot would blast a hole through a shifter’s chest,
ensuring he would never get up again.
    “I need him alive.” Raven darted in front of the gun,
ruining the shot, praying that if they pulled the trigger, there would be
enough of her left to regenerate.
    The gunman and Heloise both cursed.
    Magic built in the air, and Raven planted her feet,
concentrating on thickening the armor under her skin to take a hit. Much to her
surprise, the power obeyed. Molten heat funneled along her veins. When it
cooled, it hardened to a thin armor.
    She’d expected the process to be painful, feel weighted down
and cumbersome. She flexed her fingers, rolled her shoulders, surprisingly
comfortable with the change.
    She’d expected to feel different.
    Expected her beast to take over.
    The creature didn’t even stir.
    “You asked me here to solve your problem. You interfere now,
and I will assume I’m relieved of my job.” She pointed to the shifter behind
her, noticing the two men continued to advance. The fools. “He’s a clue. I need
him alive.”
    The man with the gun hesitated and lifted his finger from the
trigger. Raven stepped forward, grabbed the barrel and twisted. She wasn’t sure
which of them was more shocked when the thick metal bent like taffy.
    She didn’t have a shifter’s strength.
    No way should she have been able to physically manage that.
    As quick as the power came, it vanished.
    A vicious snarl came from behind her, and she froze.
    Idiot.
    She made a rookie mistake by turning her back on a threat.
    “Look out!” Durant launched at her, but much too late.
    When she whirled, it was in time to see a body flying at
her.
    Raven ducked and received a knee in the face for her
trouble. Her lip split and blood spilled into her mouth while Durant hauled the
body off her. Free of the weight, Raven pushed herself up on her hands and knees
then froze at the life or death struggle just feet from her. The jaguar shifter
had the second human on his back, his fangs bared, snapping at the man’s
vulnerable throat. The charm