Electric Moon (25 page)

 Chapter Twenty-five

R
aven
entered
Talons
just as night fell, taken aback at the press of people,
the place near bursting with the numbers. The draped booths offered privacy
between the different packs. Black material clung to the walls, making the room
appear more spacious.

An empty dais was at the opposite end of the room, five
seats waiting for the council members.

Smells burst over her, sharper and stronger than usual at
the quantity of people. The combination of shifters’ natural scents, the
vampires’ spice, and the overly sweet tang of magic users overwhelmed her nose.
She tried to breathe through her mouth, but she only ended up tasting the
combination as well. “How can they stand it so crowded?”

“The place will become even more so later when the council
arrives.” Taggert inched closer, his presence easing some of the claustrophobia
slithering over her skin, and the need to let loose her power to give them more
breathing room.

Thoughts of Jamie’s brutalized body lingered in her mind, along
with the photos from the crime scene. She scanned the room for Durant, the
urgency mounting when she didn’t spy him. The attacks were escalating, and she couldn’t
quell the dread that it was connected to the conclave.

That put Durant directly in the path of a killer.

As if her thoughts conjured him, Durant entered the club
from his office. His eyes locked on hers, and he walked through the crowd like they
didn’t exist. Everyone either scampered out of his way or was yanked by their
companions.

She really needed to learn that trick.

“We need to talk.”

Durant ignored her words and lifted her hand to his mouth. His
lips brushed and lingered on the back of her blue gloves. He traced his fingers
over her pulse and gazed up at her with such hunger, her breath caught. Memories
of them together nearly had her shuffling forward to touch him in a way that
was much too inappropriate for public.

Her animals were observant but silent, assessing the possible
threats around them. She expected the moon’s call to be worse but the effects
were muted. She was either learning control or her desire was reserved for her
pack alone.

The revelation was a huge relief.

“Let me escort you to your booth.” He straightened and
tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. The rest of her group preceded
them to one of the few remaining tables.

Not willing to be distracted, she surveyed the bar. The
normal bouncers so familiar to the club were gone, off with their packs. No one
stood guarding the doors. “The club is vulnerable to attack.”

Durant increased his step, hustling her toward the corner
booth, most likely to tuck her out of the way before she created a scene. “Take
a look at the club. What do you see?”

Her gaze swept the room and landed on the last man she ever thought
to see.

Rylan.

He stared at her, hunger and want gleaming in his eyes
before he could cover it.

The vampire was her pack. They’d survived the labs by
trusting each other, but their shared past pushed him away. It was her blood.
It’d changed him. To most vampires, her blood was like a drug, the power in it
offering them an illusion of life.

Despite the precautions, Rylan had become addicted and kept
his distance to protect her, or some such bullshit.

It broke her heart.

Rylan gave her a nod of recognition then disappeared as the
crowd swallowed him.

His appearance rattled her. He avoided his own kind like the
plague. His presence here made no logical sense.

Unless he expected trouble.

She blindly searched the room, trying to regain her
composure.

And spied Randolph studying her with a little too much
intensity. That sobered her. She had to step with care or he would ferret out
all her weaknesses and use them against her.

She fought her instincts and turned away from him. Her eyes
were sightless as she stared at the corner. That’s when she saw Jackson and
Aaron lean forward slightly from their hiding positions, partially protected
behind the bar.

They both gave her a nod, then melted back into the darkness.
The damned fools. They could get themselves killed for sneaking in the club.

That they risked their safety just to show their support
should’ve made her furious. Instead, warmth spread through her chest that they
would risk everything just to be there for her.

Raven glanced at Durant and suspected he’d arranged the
whole thing.

“Well?”

She shook off her discoveries and concentrated on the
defenses, or the lack of them. “Vulnerabilities. No one is watching the doors.
No one is checking the dancers. The shifters and vampires, not to mention the
magic users, were all eyeing up each other as if expecting trouble.”

“Exactly. The whole room
is
the extra protection. No
one is going to get in here that doesn’t belong. Not if they want to live.”

 “But that’s what worries me. The shifter won’t even know—”
He swung her around and seated her, brushing off her concern.

“Sit. Observe.”

His dismissive attitude stung. When he strode away, she
glanced around the club, wondering which one of the hundred or more shifters in
the room could already be a ticking time bomb...literally.

Cobwebs brushed against her skin as magic skittered along
her arms. “I thought shifters hated associating with magic slingers. Why are so
many here?”

“They sell their wares to the shifters and forge
relationships with packs. A partnership protects them both.”

Understanding struck. “So the conclave isn’t just for
shifters but for the whole paracommunity.”

Taggert nodded. “The council regulates the many groups and metes
out justice before anything can spill over into the
normal
world.”

“And the police force?”

London spoke for the first time. “It’s all about control.
Right now, we take care of our own problems. The humans are trying to get a
foothold into our community.”

Raven swallowed her automatic protest at his ominous
announcement, but what he said was true. “Up to a point. Paranormals came out
ten years ago. There is no more hiding in plain sight and sweeping things away
as superstitions. Humans might be poking in where they don’t belong, but you
can’t expect them to sit back when the battles between paranormals spills over
into their world, not when there are casualties on both sides.

“Regions were created to be a go-between. The humans just
made the first move...on their terms. That was a mistake on the conclave’s
part.” Time was the enemy, closing in on her, forcing her to make choices that
could affect her future, both personally and professionally.

“Is that your official opinion?”

Raven turned, surprised to find Donaldson at her back, the
leader of the paraconsulate and Griffin’s father. But she would not back down
from her opinion, not when she was right. “The paranormal community lost an
important edge when they allowed humans to take the lead and set the boundaries
on how things should be done.”

“Yet we get a vote in who’s elected.”

“Only after we follow their rules.” She hated that she
couldn’t read anything about him. “Their rules limited us to following human
laws without consideration that the people they’re patrolling aren’t human.”

“We’ve heard about the rogue you’ve recovered from the last
crime scene.”

His meaning was clear. Pack wouldn’t concern themselves with
the welfare of an average rogue. He was asking about his son. “Jamie is safe
and recovering. The rest of my team is investigating the incident.”

He gave a nod and moved away without an ounce of emotion. He
held everything so close to his chest, she couldn’t make heads or tails of him.

As he moved through the crowd, he was joined by four others.
The room fell silent. Donaldson seated himself at the center of the dais. The
others claimed their spots in an orchestrated move that they all appeared to
sit as one. “Welcome to the conclave. We will begin with the petitions. We ask
all the alphas to stand and present their claims first.”

Raven was astounded at just how few alphas stood. Less than fifteen
people rose, and only a handful of them were female. These were the upper crust
of the pack.

She anticipated a display of power, and there were a few
that showed off. Those were not the ones that worried her. It was the ones she
couldn’t sense anything from that she needed to watch.

Taggert gave her a nudge.

Showtime.

She took her cue and rose. A murmur swept through the room.

“Objection.” Vivian didn’t show her normal smirk, though
Raven could almost feel the smugness pour off her.

If Raven thought her presence had shocked anyone, an uproar
now shook the room. Everyone spoke at once, but she refused to back down like
some pup. She would not allow this woman to discredit her without a fight.
Raven faced the council as they were the ones she needed to convince. “I ask permission
to organize a pack.”

“We received no official paperwork for your request.” This
was from the large male at the end with graying hair. A wolf if she had to guess,
a position he earned by removing his predecessor in a challenge no doubt. Even
at the distance, his displeasure beat at her shields, trying to get her to back
down.

Raven wouldn’t be dismissed by the mangy old wolf so easily.
Now that they were questioning her right to form her own pack, she realized how
badly she wanted this. It may have started against her will, but they were hers
now. “That’s why I’m here. I want to petition for my position.”

“And what about your position as Region?”

Raven nodded her head at him. “As you are aware, a Region is
an elected position. I did not campaign for it. I was offered the job after the
fact.”

“And you’ve accepted it without our consent.” The vampire at
the other end of the table spoke. She expected a quintessential vampire.
Instead, he looked no older than a teenager.

Vibrant and alive.

Human.

Maybe that’s what made him the scariest.

“Not at first. I waited. Delayed. But a murder case takes
precedence. Shifters were being killed. That is not acceptable.”

“Rogues.” The older wolf shook his head, dismissing her
protest.

“And as of last night, pack as well. Four murders that we
know of so far and more will die unless someone can stop them.”

“You.”

She nodded to Donaldson. “Me.”

“She is not claimed. She has no consort. If she’d survived
this long on her own, she deserves the chance.” The male who spoke was slender,
but not thin. All of him was pure muscle. His pose was lazy, but there was no
doubt he saw everything. A cat of some sort if she had to guess, but he wasn’t
the same breed as Durant. “Let her stay but double the fine.”

The lone female studied at her a full minute before
responding. “I agree. She is too rare.”

The wolf scowled, not so easily put off. “What about
territory?”

No one wanted to lose territory to another alpha. To her. Her
mind raced for answers. She wouldn’t lose her men now that she had two votes. “I
have no desire to claim more than what’s already mine. The land I own and the
government parcel behind it are mine.”

Someone in the crowd stood in protest. “That’s public land.”

Raven scanned the crowd, her gaze resting a second on
Randolph. Malice shown in his eyes. If she lost the vote, any ephemeral
protection would be gone and he would come for her. It brought home how much
more she had to lose.

Swallowing hard, she tore her eyes away and found the man
who’d spoken. Instead of avoiding her gaze, he defied her and refused to back
down. “You talk like a
normal
. Pack has no public land. It’s mine.”

The man narrowed his eyes at the slur. A snarl curled his
lips, revealing a hint of fang at her insult.