Free Electric Heat by Stacey Brutger

growl. “If you want to save her life, you’d
better get your ass in gear.”

 Chapter Seven
     
     
    T he
witches scurried into the room, forgetting about Raven in their rush to rescue
their fallen comrade. In less than five minutes, the cabin was emptied until
only she and Durant remained. Raven reluctantly pushed him away. She couldn’t
hide behind him forever.
    When she left the room, the rotten stench followed. With every
step, it grew progressively worse, and she practically stumbled across the
remnants of a foot. When she peered around the corner, she realized there were
actually two remains, the bodies tossed away like discarded trash.
    “Her familiars.”
    All that remained of them were dried corpses that looked
hundreds of years old. Their skin was worn and brown, their bones turning to
powder even as she watched. “She stole all their power, even their lives, just
to prolong her own. The jaguar was to be the next victim, but he ran. The
distance must have granted him the time he needed to survive. She couldn’t
drain him as fast as the others and still fight off the attack at the same time.”
    “You’re doing it again.” Durant was watching her in the
assessing way she was coming to hate.
    “Doing what?” Raven crossed her arms, unsure whether she
wanted to know what he was going to say.
    “Acting human. Showing outrage.”
    She shoved him hard, but the big bastard didn’t give her the
pleasure of budging even an inch, leaving her frustration nowhere to go.
“Dammit, they deserve better than to be slaughtered like animals.”
    “We are animals.” His roar reverberated in the room.
    Raven shook her head, her anger evaporating. She reached up
and cupped his cheek, her palm tingling from the prickle of his scruffy jaw.
“No, you’re pack.”
    Durant softened, leaning into her touch. “They died in service
to the pack. It doesn’t make it better, but the witches will have to pay a
penalty.” He raised his hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “A steep
price that will strongly discourage them from allowing something like this to happen
again. They can’t afford another incident, or the war with the pack that would
inevitably follow.”
    Despite knowing she shouldn’t touch him, she rested her
forehead against his chest. She was just so tired.
    “Come.” Durant wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder
and ushered her toward the door. “Let’s get you out of here.”
    Raven allowed herself to be led outside, more than a little
surprised when she saw the sun had set. “What time is it?”
    “You were in the room for hours.”
    She didn’t reply as she took in their surroundings. Dry
leaves skittered across campus on a light wind, the night crackling with the
lonely sound. The light poles were few and far between, giving the place a
deserted feeling…the perfect setting for a killer to strike. All that was
missing was a black cat to cross her path.
    The sense of being watch increased until the back of her
neck itched. “We’re being followed.”
    Durant nodded. “Ever since we left the cabin. They were
standing guard the whole time you were in the room.”
    Like she and Durant were prisoners.
    By unspoken agreement, both remained quiet, not wanting to
be overheard.
    Raven felt like she was being hunted by both the witches and
the killer, and she didn’t like being squeezed between the destructive forces
one bit. This case was different from the other jobs she’d worked, the scene providing
no physical evidence or a killer she could pursue. With each paranormal case,
she was being led deeper into the supernatural world, and she wasn’t sure she’d
be able to find her way back.
    “Do you think they set up this elaborate job as a trap to
get me here and study me?” She bit her lip, becoming more alarmed when he
didn’t answer right away.
    “I’m not sure.”
    His simple answer wasn’t reassuring. “Would they really kill
their own for it?”
    “You saw their reaction