A Shifter's Curse, Raven Steele [the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT] 📗

Time to start the verbal dance off.

“You jackasses,” I began. “Do you guys know who this is? She’s a Morgan, the daughter of the most powerful witch family in the city. I’ve met her psychotic mother. If she finds out you’ve kidnapped and tortured her daughter, she’s going to blow this motherfucking house down!”

Dominic pocketed the blade calmly. “We know very well who this is. Permission was given. You aren’t the only one being tested here.”

Lynx lifted her head, her bloodshot eyes wide. “Are you saying my mother knows I’m here? There’s no way. She would never…”

Her words stuttered to a stop, losing their strength until the room swallowed them altogether. Realization of the truth paled her face, and her head fell to her chest. She sobbed quietly.

My chest tightened at the sight. I turned to Luke. “This is some messed up shit.”

He looked away, saying nothing, but clenched his jaw.

“Are you changing your mind?” Dominic stepped forward, his eyebrow raised.

The question stunned me momentarily. Was I? Could I actually go through this? Lynx was the sweetest, kindest person I’d ever met. She didn’t deserve to be tortured. I was tempted to say no. To say, to hell with this, and walk away.

But then a shadow darkened my mind as I remembered the cold water that had encased my legs for days, freezing my bones until I thought they would shatter into a thousand pieces from the smallest movement. I tasted the blood in the back of my throat as if I was back in that old well, alone and scared, my voice broken from screaming over and over.

Dominic did that. Silas was there too. It had taken me years to find their location.

Finally, I was here. Exactly where I needed to be. I couldn’t stop, no matter the cost. Everything associated with Dominic and his whole world had to be destroyed.

I lifted my gaze to Lynx. She was already looking at me, her sad eyes ripping me to shreds.

“It’s okay.” Her voice, so pitiful, came out barely a whisper. “I need this too.”

I stared at her in horror, my stomach feeling sick. I don’t know what was sadder, knowing I was going to go through with this or knowing she was willing to let me.

Dominic made the slightest movement toward me, subtle yet threatening. “Make your choice.”

There was no choice. I couldn’t go backwards.

I swallowed around the tightness in my throat and walked toward him, willing my legs not to give out. I trained my eyes on him and forced the corners of my mouth to turn up into a seductive smile. I resisted the urge to look at Lynx as I drew closer.

Reaching Dominic, I placed my hand on his chest and slowly slid them down to his stomach. My eyes flashed to Luke just over Dominic’s shoulder. The veins on his neck bulged big.

“What’s this?” Dominic frowned, his tight stomach muscles flexing beneath my touch.

I snaked my hand down and around his torso until I reached the dagger in a sheath behind his back. I snapped the weapon out, making him jump. “I prefer to work with this.”

He cleared his throat and recovered quickly. “Whatever you like.”

Turning my back to him, I approached Lynx. My eyes flashed to the camera in the corner, knowing that all the pack was watching me. Most of them were probably eager to see blood. Only Ryder might be disgusted by what I was about to do.

I lowered in front of Lynx and looked up at her, shifting my weight so only she could see me. “This isn’t personal. Joining this pack is everything to me.”

My voice was cold and distant, but I hoped she could see the pain and sadness bleeding through my eyes. I didn’t want to do this. This was a line I never thought I’d cross, but here I was crashing right through it.

She forced a smile and blinked. Tears spilled onto her cheeks again. “I understand.”

“I’ll tell you when to stop,” Dominic said, and casually strolled to the back of the room, stopping next to Luke. Dominic typed something into his phone, completely uninterested, as if what I was about to do was an everyday occurrence.

That pissed me the hell off.

Luke watched me intently, a look in his eyes I couldn’t read. I glanced back at Gerald. He looked indifferent, but it was Silas’ reaction that turned my blood cold. He had a finger to his lips, biting his nail anxiously as if I was about to read off a lottery number. His eagerness for violence frightened me.

I gripped the blade of the dagger, my knuckles turning bone white. I turned back to Lynx. “This is going to hurt.”

“I’ve had worse.”

This broke my heart even more. There’s so much I didn’t know about her. The pain in her eyes mirrored my own. No matter what happened after tonight, I would make it up to her.

“Get on with it,” Dominic snapped. “I’ve got a meeting after this.”

I ground my jaw together and held my breath. The blade trembled in my palm. I clasped her knee with my other hand. I would hold on to her as I did this and hoped the contact would help her through it. Her eyes were soft on mine.

“Dominic,” Luke tore his eyes away from me to look at him. “Maybe I should—”

I slashed the dagger downward, slicing open Lynx’s thigh. She ground her teeth and tears slid down her face. I didn’t waste any time and swiped the blade again, this time on her forearm and not as deep. No point dragging this out.

As I cut over and over, the handle of the blade grew slippery in my grip, I pushed my mind somewhere else, to a time when life was simpler. A trick I’d taught myself in the numerous foster homes where I’d lived.

I thought of my remote-control monster truck my father had given me on my ninth birthday and I instantly loved it. My brother, James, loved that toy just as much as I did. We fought over it constantly until finally my dad gave in and got James one for Christmas. For weeks, we raced those trucks through the forest, feeling as at home in the forest as we did in our house. The woods called to us, and we spent hours there playing with those stupid trucks. Until I accidentally steered mine into the river. It never worked the same after that.

Lynx’s pain-filled scream brought me back to the present, and I fell back onto my rear. I stared at her, horrified. She had three cuts across her face, several on her arms, and two long ones that reached from her hip to her knees. Had I done that? There was more red on her than white.

I looked up at Dominic, my head swimming. He was still typing on his phone. Luke cleared his throat to get his attention.

Dominic glanced up at me as if he’d forgotten I was there. He pocketed his phone and walked over to me, eyeing Lynx carefully. He shook his head. “Too much red. I prefer blues and purples. I probably should’ve told you that in the beginning.”

“I like it.” I jumped, as Silas’ voice came from behind me. He had moved so close, he could’ve touched me. He stared at Lynx as if in a trance, his nose trembling.

I couldn’t do anymore. No matter what he said, I just couldn’t. My stomach tightened, then flipped. I leaned to the side and threw up.

Silas yelped and scurried to the back of the room, nearly tripping on his lame leg. “Shit, woman.” He studied his shoes. “Did she get any on me?”

Dominic chuckled. “You may not have a stomach for this now, but that will come in time. Just the fact that you were willing to do something as jacked up as torturing your roommate is promising. Rise.”

I inhaled several hitched breaths to keep from barfing again. As soon as the room stopped spinning, I pushed upward on shaky legs.

Dominic looked from the camera and back to me. “Briar Jacobs, I officially accept you into the Silver Claws family. Kneel before me.”

I barely heard him; I couldn’t stop staring at what I’d done to Lynx. Her head was slumped over as if she’d passed out, but her toes were curling in and out. She must be feeling considerable pain.

Even though it killed me to do it, I kneeled at Dominic’s feet, baring my throat.

He leaned down, his fangs elongating, and bit into my neck to show his dominance over me. I quickly placed my hand over the wound to hide how fast I could heal.

“You will be a valuable asset,” he continued. “Because Silas is so enthralled by your talents, I’m assigning you to his guard team. If you do well there, then maybe one day you could be mine.”

“This bitch has a lot to work on if she’s going to follow me around.” Silas sounded disgusted. “I can’t tolerate someone with a weak stomach.”

Dominic walked past him and patted him on the back. “I have no doubts you’ll train her well.”

His nostrils flared. “Guaranteed.”

One by one, the others filed out of the room, talking about a barbecue they had planned. It was as if I hadn’t just tortured my only friend. They might not give it another thought, but I would never forget. Luke stayed behind, shifting his weight back and forth.

I carefully unstrapped the chains around Lynx’s feet and hands. I wanted to tell her I was sorry, to tell her how much I regretted it. To offer to let her do the same thing to me. But, even in my head, the words sounded insufficient.