Electric Storm Read Online Free

end of that time, they must head to a new territory or die. It was a last chance for those men. If anyone spoke a claim, they have thirty days to prove legitimacy in order to keep him or proof of the rogues’ unsuitability and death.” He jerked his head at the boy. His too perceptive eyes still locked on hers, demanding she do right. “Taggert’s yours for thirty days.”
    “That’s barbaric.” Raven was appalled. She couldn’t take him home. Hell, she couldn’t guarantee his safety if she did. She grasped at the first excuse. “Suitable or not, what’s to keep anyone from killing them once they leave then lying about it?”
    “Me.” The growl in his voice bit into her skin. His teeth flashed, more a bearing of fangs than a smile.
    “What?” All the blood drained from her head so fast the world tilted. For a second, her control snapped. Streetlights flickered, dimmed. Electricity hummed loudly, then the light flared bright. Energy coursed through everything, dancing closer, seeking freedom.
    Seeking her.
    She needed to calm down. She couldn’t absorb more, not here, not now, even if her body cried out for it, the craving so strong she ached. She could only hold so much before it seeped from her and infected others.
    Fear blossomed, took root, and memories rose.
    Some people had a natural talent to absorb a little energy. But with one little slip, she’d been known to blow pacemakers. Shifters were especially sensitive to her, transforming if they received an unexpected boost. Then there were the vampires. The extra hike gave them a delicious illusion of life. For them, it was like an exquisite brand of drug.
    No one could know what she could do to either species. A spark in just the right places, and even the dead woke, pulled right from their grave. Images of decomposing corpses shuffling toward her flashed in her mind, and her throat closed tight.
    A shadow fell over her, blocking the light. “You haven’t heard a word I said, have you?”
    She jumped, and the streetlamps burst like fireworks, raining sparks and glass over them. The big Ogre arched over her, pushing her low, covering her. She scrambled away, unfeeling of the glass digging into her flesh.
    Beneath the pavement, the dirt rippled. Current worked its way through the packed ground, through the road, then arched into her body. Fire burned along her nerve endings. Electricity funneled into her system faster than she could control the burn, preparing her body to fight.
    “What the hell.”
    The world around them went dark. Not gradually, not one light at a time, but completely black from one second to the next. When she glanced up, the big man was searching the shadows for a threat. The boy was on all fours, balanced on the tips of his hands and feet, his eyes gone neon green, his whole focus centered on her.
    Knowledge danced in his eyes.
    She didn’t know how, but he knew she’d caused this.
    Tires squealed. Headlights raced toward her, gaining speed. The Ogre moved, and she scuttled backwards, crablike on her ass. The car swerved around her, slid sideways, settling between her and the beast of a man and the boy.
    The back door popped open. “Get in.”
     
     

 
     
     
      Chapter Three
     
     
    D ominic. “Thank God.”
    Her car forgotten, Raven scrambled forward and dove inside. Even before her butt hit the seat, he took off. One glance out the rear window showed the boy sprinting after them, his face illuminated in the red taillights. There was no fear, no anger or pain, just sheer determination to follow her.
    “I see you’ve made some friends.” Humor danced in Dominic’s dark green eyes when their gazes clashed in the rearview mirror.
    “Shut up.” The voice in the back of her head urged her to turn around. If she left without the boy, they’d kill him.
    Fool that she was, she couldn’t do it. She’d seen too much death to leave him. She’d find a way to keep him safe.
    “Stop.”
    When the car continued, she cursed