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

His eyes remained open, staring at me accusingly.

My anger turned to rage, and I tossed the knife down. “You brought this upon yourself!”

Maybe it was a small remnant of the Scorpion’s Breath still in my system, but I swore his mouth opened and hissed, “We are the same.”

Screaming, I rushed him and kicked him in the gut, over and over until copper red painted the room, and my bare leg was bloody. The bastard deserved everything he got.

I gasped for breath and leaned over, my hands resting on my knees. All I could see was red. The color was everywhere.

I began to shake. Maybe it was the ancient power going dormant again or maybe the drugs clearing from my blood, but all the pain from before returned in full force. The silver bullet, still lodged in my leg, made every bone in my body throb. It was the only wound my wolf couldn’t heal.

I needed to get out of here. Away from the smell of blood. Away from all the red. Maybe then I could dig out the bullet.

Gasping for air, I threw open the door, nearly ripping it from its hinges. I stumbled down the darkened hallway and to the spiral staircase. My hands were numb. Flashes of me gutting Silas shocked my mind, and I nearly fell to the ground several times. Focus!

I clawed my way to the top of the staircase, partially on my knees, then threw open the iron hatch, gasping in the cool night air. I collapsed against the cold ground, feeling both amazing and terrified.

I laughed, even as tears stung my eyes. I finally killed him.

My body continued to shake. I inhaled several hitched breaths and wiped at my eyes. I needed to think. This wasn’t the time to have an epic meltdown. I pulled myself upright.

Somehow, I had to cover this up. I needed to stay in the pack so I could do the same to Dominic.

The thought of cutting someone’s belly again, even Dominic’s, had me falling against a tree. So much blood.

I needed help. I needed to find Ryder or my uncle.

I ran, tripping over roots and rocks. Pain shot up my leg with each step. I should shift, but I couldn’t feel my wolf anywhere. The silver must have driven her away.

The blood on my body was sticky and had cooled in this chilly fall weather. Only monsters wear this much red.

My body crashed into something immovable, and strong arms wrapped around me.

“Briar! What the hell happened?” a familiar, deep voice asked. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

I sucked in a shallow breath and looked up. Luke’s blue eyes searched mine frantically.

“You’re back,” I whimpered, and fell into him. All the way. And unlike any other time, I didn’t try to stop it. I had never needed him more.

“It only took me thirty minutes to realize Silas had sent me on a goose hunt. That’s when I knew something was wrong.”

I gripped him tightly. “Thank God you’re alive.”

He pulled back, looking me up and down, searching for some gaping wound that might explain the blood covering me. “Where are you hurt? Who did this to you?”

“Silas—”

His eyes darkened, and the wolf came alive in him. “I’ll kill him! Where is he?”

“—is dead. I killed him.”

He stumbled, surprised, and glanced around. “Where?”

It took a lot of effort to push through the bloody mind-fog screwing with my thoughts. “Underground. He took me to a secret room and injected me with Scorpion’s Breath. He was going to kill me.”

My legs buckled suddenly, and I fell forward.

Luke caught me. “Briar!”

His hands were warm against my cool flesh. I hoped he wouldn’t ever let go. I didn’t like being this cold. My vision began to fade.

“Something’s wrong,” I mumbled. That’s when I remembered the bullet still embedded in my leg. Silver. It was slowly killing me. I might’ve been able to fight against it, but the combination of the drug that was probably still in me, and the fact that I’d just cut through a dude’s intestines had fractured my mind.

“Briar!” He looked me over again. “Don’t close your eyes. Just stay with me.”

My lids grew heavy as darkness threatened to pull me under.

“Stop being so damn stubborn and obey me!” he growled, and shook me. “Where are you hurt?”

I forced my eyes open, but it was as if barbells had been taped to my lids. I forced them open. I couldn’t give up like this. Dominic, the sick bastard, still had to pay.

Using the last of my reserves, I managed to whisper, “Silver bullet. Leg.”

In the distance, I heard shouting. Someone was coming toward us. Any chance I had of covering up Silas’ death was gone. Everyone would know I had killed him. The moment might’ve been bitter sweet, but it was ruined when the whole world turned black.

Chapter 47

I was being carried, even though I couldn’t feel anyone touching me. It was as if I was floating.

I definitely felt dead.

My eyelids were heavy, but I managed to blink them open. A dark canopy of trees filled my vision. Faint moonlight twinkled between the empty spaces, shining like silver beneath a water’s murky surface. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and they fluttered shut.

There were voices. Two? Three people? Their words made no sense but by their tones, they were frantic.

I sifted through my fractured memories. Mostly all I saw was red. It made me want to vomit. Something had happened. Something bad, and yet good all at the same time.

“Hold on, Briar!”

My eyes opened briefly. Luke stared down at me, his face pale and sweaty. He looked so worried and scared. I’d never seen him like this before. I didn’t like it.

That’s when I remembered my fist buried into Silas’ stomach. My eyes closed again, wanting to forget the brutal violence caused by my hands.

But Silas was dead.

Hadn’t I wanted that?

I did, I just didn’t realize my revenge would include such horror. Maybe I should die. I had done no worse than Silas.

But if I died, then Dominic would live.

“Fight this, babe. I need you.”

By sheer will, I pried my eyes open. I couldn’t go just yet, not while Dominic still breathed.

Luke was smoothing my hair back while talking to someone at my feet. I could feel pressure, but no pain.

With limited faculties, all I could do was think. I skipped over the horrible memories—I had too many of those—and thought of the last several months. I had found my uncle, someone I thought was dead. I had discovered I was capable of making friends and even had begun to trust others again. That alone was huge for me.

I thought of Lynx and how sweet and kind she was. Someone like her needed to be protected from the evils of the world. Ryder, too. They were so much alike. Maybe I’d set them up, if I ever got the chance.

Then there was Samira. Hard and dead but with a soft and human center. There was so much I could learn from her. I think she knew more than anyone else what it felt like to be a monster.

My mind wandered to Roma, the witch with secrets, but the good kind, I thought. She looked out for me and that was a good feeling. It’s what a mother would do.

Finally, I thought of Luke. I’d never felt such powerful feelings for anyone else in my life. He could be the real deal, if only we could both let go of the past. We could heal each other, and hopefully screw each other too.

There’s no way I could die now. Not when life was just getting good.

A sharp pain in my leg broke through my body’s numbness, and a scream tore through my mouth. Black splotches crowded my vision again. I gripped Luke’s hand hard.

“I don’t want to die,” I gasped, finally finding my voice.

“You won’t. The silver is gone. Rest now because you’re going to need all the strength you have for what comes next. I promise you though, Briar, you won’t be alone. You can trust me to get you