A Shifter's Curse by Raven Steele (best color ebook reader .TXT) 📖
- Author: Raven Steele
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Silas sucked in a breath and straightened. “Does anyone else have anything to say?”
His question was met with deathly silence.
Silas began to walk toward the woman trying to help the girl. His limp was barely noticeable as if the violence had strengthened him.
I narrowed my eyes, watching him closely as his face twisted, and his eyes grew cold. Something in me told me that Silas hated kindness the most. He was going to do something bloody, something I would never forget, something that might break me. My whole body shook, and my wolf emerged, ready to take out the sick motherfucker. I clenched my hands, trying to control my anger, but I was losing the battle.
As if sensing my agitation, Silas looked back at me and, seeing the fury in them, grinned. He lifted his cane, aiming for the woman’s head. He was going to smash her brains out.
I couldn’t let that happen.
If he liked crazy, I would show him insane nuts the size of an elephant. I only hoped my actions would prevent the death of the woman who I was sure was the eyeless girl’s mother.
Yelling out a sudden war cry, I ran directly into the middle of the Greybacks and started swinging. "That will teach you filthy dirty bitches. We should take out all your eyes!"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Silas straighten, a flash of surprise in his eyes. His left eye twitched, but then he was grinning wildly. He lowered his arm holding the cane and watched my show, mumbling, "Finally! Someone who gets it."
I swung my fist at a large man standing near me. He would feel considerable pain, but he would recover more quickly than the others. He dropped to the ground, and I kicked him in the stomach. "Don't screw with the Silver Claws."
Behind me, Silas laughed.
I spun and kicked another man in the face, dropping him too. Three more fell by my hands.
Silas clapped gleefully. "Fabulous!"
Reaching to my hip, I removed my favorite blade from the sheath on my belt. I pointed it at the crowd. “Who’s next?”
I lunged toward a nearby woman and swiped quickly, only scratching her enough to show blood.
Silas’ voice called out to me. “As much as I hate to say it, that's enough blood sport."
I turned around, casting him an angry look. "You're going too easy on them."
He returned to the eyeless girl, who was still breathing, but was otherwise motionless on the ground. He wiped his blade off on her bare stomach, coating it in her own blood. "I think they've learned their lesson.”
He straightened and screwed the blade back into his cane. "Let's go."
Gerald and Lilith turned around and headed back to the car. After giving me a look of appraisal, Silas practically walked perfectly after them. My stomach heaved, and I turned so that no one would see my face, which must surely be paling.
I barely had the strength to go to the car. I stopped to help Ryder to his feet, but when my gaze found his, the look of horror on his face almost had me joining him.
Pleading with my eyes, I nodded once, hoping he would understand why I did what I did. His eyebrows shot up, and his Adam's apple moved up and down. He forced a small smile in understanding.
As I slid behind the steering wheel, I glanced back at the pack. Most were surrounding the injured, especially the eyeless girl. Only one among them stared after us.
Meeting my gaze, Jackson flashed his fangs, a murderous rage in his eyes.
Because I’d performed so well at the Greybacks, Silas said I’d earned the privilege to drive one of their cars for the rest of the week, a whole three days. Too disgusted and ready to get out of Fire Ridge, I couldn’t turn down the free ride. I immediately grabbed the keys and headed for the front door. As I left, his slimy smile followed me across the room. “Briar?”
I turned around, trying to keep my cool. “Yeah?”
“You did well today. I’d like to give you another assignment.”
Terrence, who was standing by him smiled slowly, and I knew I wouldn’t like whatever Silas was about to say. Terrence still hadn’t gotten over the fact that I’d hit him when we first met. He’d also been cozying up to Silas more and more, trying to get on his good side.
I folded my arms across my chest. “What?”
He frowned, but ignored my attitude. “Tonight I’d like for you to be on my detail when we meet with the Sangre Nocturnas.”
The Sangre Nocturnas was the vampire Mexican cartel. One of Dominic’s plans for expansion was to open new areas using some drug the Nocs had created. Supposedly it gave users an epic high like no other. In my opinion, anything made by vampires should be avoided like the plague.
“You’ll be a valuable asset at the meeting.” He couldn’t hide the gleam in his eyes. By valuable, he meant I would kill and torture if necessary.
I could tell he expected me to feel some sort of gratitude for his offer, so I gave a thumb’s up. “Sounds like my kind of party.”
I spun away from him and headed outside. I had officially become the monster living in Silas’ shadow. Silas believed I was like him and would use me more often because of it.
And I would go along with it because I could use my fists to soften his butchery.
By the time I reached home, my insides were shaking. I kept having flashbacks of Silas stabbing that girl’s eyes out, and it left me raw and bleeding inside. All I wanted to do was drink myself to sleep. Alcohol had been my only comfort during times like this.
I parked the car, but as soon as I stepped out of it, I froze. Luke stood on my porch, his hands stuffed in his pockets. The early afternoon sun kissed the golden highlights on his brown hair. For some reason, the sight of him made me shake worse. I wrapped my arms around myself and walked quickly to the front door. I just had to get inside to where alcohol waited for me like a long-lost friend.
I approached the door. “This isn't a good time.”
He blocked my path. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
"Silas can be especially cruel. I've seen his work too many times to know that it doesn't leave anyone ‘fine.’”
"And yet, you seem to be doing okay.”
“Looks can be deceiving.”
“You lie well, then,” I mused. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Look who’s calling the kettle black.”
I gave him a hardened look. “If you don’t like working for him, why do you?”
He glared back at me, just as hard. “I don’t have a choice."
My mouth dropped open, and I almost asked him about it, but my shaking grew stronger. I stepped up, trying to pass by him. He couldn’t see me like this.
He lifted his hands and gently placed them on my arms as if to hold me steady. "What the hell happened? You can talk to me.”
My gaze slowly lifted to his. “Can I?"
"We may be more similar than you think." Warmth from his hands bled into my skin and tension buzzed between us.
I stepped back away from his touch, and his hands fell to his side. "I don't think that's a good thing. You should go. I need to get some rest before tonight. Silas wants me to go with him, and I need to figure out a way to scrub my mind before I do."
He bristled. "Tonight? Don't tell me he's taking you to meet the Nocs.”
I held my tongue, unwilling to talk about it. If I did, I might slip and tell Luke the truth. That I didn't want to go anywhere with Silas. That the second I got him alone, I was going to kill him. Until then, I just needed to walk through the darkness a little more to finally free myself and others.
“Why would Silas bring you? He barely knows you.”
““Apparently, I'm his new favorite pet." The words felt like razor blades in my mouth.
He asked his next question slowly. “And how did you earn that title?"
I didn’t like the way he was looking at me, as if I was suddenly
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