Obsidian Wings by Laken Cane Page B

face gleaming beneath the
tall pole lights. “I need some of your rage.”
    He inclined his head. His long, black hair streaked over his
shoulders and down his back, and for an instant Rune had the almost
uncontrollable urge to go to him, wrap her arms around his huge, kneeling body
and hold him.
    But she was Rune, and she stood silent and still and did not
move.
    “If I could,” Strad said, “I would give it all to you.”
    Lex smiled, very slightly, a tired, sad smile that was not
really a smile at all. “It would kill me, Berserker.”
    Rune smiled when Lex used her name for Strad.
    “What can I do?” he asked.
    “Let me touch you.”
    He took her hand and put it on his wrist.
    The others watched. Rune barely breathed as she waited,
aware something different was about to happen.
    Lex wrapped her fingers around the berserker’s wrist and
closed her eyes.
    He stiffened, his breath leaving him in a soft grunt. He
looked poised for flight. But in the end he stayed where he was and let Lex do
what she needed to do.
    Lex opened her eyes, and even in the relative darkness, Rune
could see a difference. The dullness had been replaced by the spark that had
gone missing the day COS had taken her.
    She reached for Rune. “Now you.”
    Rune knelt on her other side, mystified as she caught
Strad’s gaze. She gave Lex her arm. “Whatever you need.”
    Lex wrapped her fingers around Rune’s arm in a grip tight
enough to hurt. Connected by their addictions and their blood, the three of
them…fed.
    Rune stiffened, moaning as a rush of power roared through
her.
    “Shit,” someone whispered.
    She thought it might have been Owen, and for a brief second
she needed to include him, to include all her crew in the wonder, the bliss,
the protection.
    But then, she didn’t think at all.
    Just felt.
    Blindly, she reached out a hand and when the berserker took
it, something changed. Something completed, shifted, and became…
    Right.
    They fed from the energy. From the power.
    When the zings of power faded, she found Jack leaning over
her, his hand out.
    He helped her to her feet, and she shook off the feeling of
cat-like laziness that had overtaken her. She wanted to writhe on the ground
and purr in contentment. But at the same time, she was so full of energy she
could barely stand still.
    “You were glowing,” Jack said, a hint of envy in his voice.
“You all were. Or,” he hesitated, shaking his head in confusion, “whatever
surrounded you three was glowing.”
    “A circle,” Lex said.
    “I don’t know what just happened,” Rune said. “But it was
amazing. I feel almost complete.”
    Almost, because still, something was missing.
    Strad nodded. “Yeah.”
    Lex climbed out of her chair, shoving away the helping hand
Raze offered her. “I’m good now. I’m better than normal. Physically, at least.
When we get the twins, I’ll be perfect.”
    Rune shot out her silver claws, because she was unable to
contain them. There was simply too much energy. “I need a battle.”
    “There’s a battle coming,” Lex said, her voice grim. She
vibrated forcefully, and then the vibrations became so fast it appeared as
though her body was still. But the crew knew it was not. Her eyes were dancing
crazily.
    Lex was right. She was better.
    Ellis put his arm around her. “I’m so glad you’re okay,
Lex.” But inside his eyes lurked desperate questions.
    “They’re alive, sweet Ellie,” Lex said. “I have no other
answers.”
    He nodded and let go of her, his fingers going to the slight
bulge of the hidden fang. “I wish I could fight. All I can do is watch as the
rest of you save the world.”
    “Ellie,” Rune said, softly. “You know better. The crew works
because of you.”
    He pursed his lips, then sighed. “I don’t want to whine. I
want to matter.”
    “As if you don’t,” Raze said, glaring. “You’re the center of
the crew. You hold us together. You’re the…”
    “Touchstone,” Rune said. There was no doubt