Free Electric Storm by Stacey Brutger

between the two came to a head. All the work promoting to the public that the paranormals were like everyone else would go to shit. “Yes.”
    “Very good.” The man’s appearance slowly rippled, his frame bowed, his jowls sagged, and his face loosened into that of an old man once more. He picked up his cane, barely touching it to the floor as he shuffled to the door. “You’ll be amply rewarded for your time.”
    As soon as the door shut, Jackson stalked toward her with a decidedly unfriendly expression. Taggert inserted himself between them.
    “You sell yourself to the highest bidder like a whore.” The cruel gleam in his eyes convinced her he truly believed what he said.
    Raven shrugged, but couldn’t brush away the sharp sting of hurt this time. Pride refused to let it show. “I provide a service to the paranormal community that others cannot. I don’t discriminate between the races.”
    “I won’t allow you to dig into pack business on the say so of one of his kind.” He jabbed a figure at the door.
    Her patience grew thin with his damn holier than thou attitude. “Then I’ll make sure you’re not aware of my business in the future.” His expression looked like she’d asked him to chew glass.
     “There are other possibilities besides pack.” Dominic’s voice floated from her right. 
    Did he say that for Jackson’s benefit or hers? She couldn’t tell and it bothered her more than she cared to admit. Could the presence of other wolves be reminding him of everything he’d been denied by staying with her? A little part of her trembled at the thought of losing him.
    “I’ve never doubted it, but it’s my job to research all the angles. I don’t choose sides; I find the problem and fix it.” When Jackson didn’t say a word, she glanced at Dominic and knew she’d been had. “I know what you’re thinking. Stay out of my business.”
    “They could be connected.” He pushed away from the wall, running a hand through his thick mop of wavy hair. “It wasn’t too long ago that this very thing happened. People missing from both pack and clan communities and each race too stubborn to work together. So much could’ve been prevented if the scientists had been stopped.”
    “Now you’re jumping to conclusions.” She gave up on men. Needing a little peace from the testosterone in the room, she strode toward the door. “Just because it was a vampire doesn’t mean I shouldn’t take the case. It doesn’t mean shifters are automatically the perpetrator. It doesn’t mean that humans are stealing people to do testing.
    “If I want your help, I’ll ask for it.”
    “What if it’s a trap?” Taggert’s question pulled her up short; there was something in his tone that made the back of her skull tingle. When she turned, she only found concern on his face.
    “I’ll find out the truth. I won’t accuse the wolves or anyone else until I have proof.”
    Taggert shook his head, his gaze unrelenting. “A trap for you.”
    He didn’t seem to care about the argument. His first concern had been her. That took her aback. “Why would they come after me?”
    “You’re unique. Something about you draws attention. I noticed it last night at the club. Though he might not admit it, Jackson noticed. So did Durant. Do you have the same appeal to vampires?”
    A dangerous question that. One she didn’t know how to answer truthfully.
    Dominic’s gaze on her sharpened. “It’s worse around the dead, isn’t it?”
    Unnerved at how close he was to the actual truth about her lack of control, Raven lifted her chin, prepared to be just as stubborn. “Leave it be, Dominic.”
    “What did they do to you that makes you so dangerous?” Jackson’s soft question did nothing to alleviate the anger that vibrated in the air.
    Though the anger wasn’t directed at her, she jumped under the lash of it anyway. The force of it left her little doubt why Jackson made such a fantastic enforcer for his people. No, neither