Page 18 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

The computer screen blurred in front of her and Sabrina blinked.

She had been in the lab for hours testing the liquid from the vial.

She’d also opened the other two vials in a sealed compartment in the event that they were different chemicals than the first. The last thing Sabrina wanted was to be locked in the lab again with the biohazard alarms blaring. Especially since she was there alone.

She had been able to determine that all three vials contained the same drug. If she could call it that. The makeup of the drug was incredibly complex, and she wasn’t sure what its purpose was. It didn’t seem like it was a stimulant or depressant, or a hallucinogen. Not a typical narcotic.

Her next step was to complete further testing by trying to identify the separate components that made up the drug. That wasn’t easy either. There were still several she couldn’t identify.

What was it about this drug that smugglers were transporting it? What was the drug for? Who was it for? Was it to heal or hurt? If she couldn’t figure out what it did, how would they figure out what they were fighting against?

The spectrometer beeped on the counter, letting her know that the most recent test had completed.

She pulled up the results on the computer, and the slight ache at the base of her neck that had been threatening for a while arrived with a throb.

She tried to push some of her energy to her head, but it wasn’t helping.

Plus she was bone-tired and was finding it harder to concentrate.

Wait. Was there something synthetic mimicking something biological?

And if so, it was more advanced than anything she’d seen in her long medical career.

What should she do next? Griffin had asked her if she needed more resources, and at this point the answer was yes, but who should she reach out to?

The obvious choice flashed in her mind, but just as quickly she quashed it.

She had burned those bridges. Even if she could convince them to help, she had never been willing to venture there.

There would be expectations. Expectations that she had rebelled against over a century ago.

She pushed back from the computer and stood, stretching to one side and then the other. Her phone rang and she picked it up once she saw the caller. “Hey, Kyle.”

“Sabrina. Just checking on you.”

“I’m fine even though I haven’t had much luck with figuring out what the liquid is that set off the biohazard alarms a couple days ago. How is the rest of the investigation going?”

“Slow. We met with Doyle, and he has feelers out with some of his less than savory prior colleagues. We’re hoping something might come from that.”

“What about Dean Baxter?”

“He’s in the wind. Misha is also having trouble tracking down his prior associates.”

All of which meant that figuring out what the drug did was more important than ever. Her neck tensed even more.

“How is Jason doing with all of this?” Sabrina had been checking with him too, but he hadn’t told her much other than his animal hadn’t attempted to come out again.

“He’s frustrated. But I think it has more to do with the uncertainty about his shifter powers than the case, although it isn’t helping.”

“Well, at least we can move forward with that. Lela is back from the realm. She’s going to meet me at Griffin’s in an hour to work with Jason.”

“That’s good. I know how frustrating it is when you have your world turned upside down. I can still remember everything about the day I found out I was part demon.”

With all her powers, Sabrina hadn’t been able to sense Kyle’s demon side. Even though Kyle was part high-powered realm demon, that didn’t alleviate Sabrina’s guilt for not picking up on it. “I’m hoping that Lela can see what’s going on with his energy. Maybe it’s something she can fix.”

“Lela is a kick-ass demon for sure. Fingers crossed she can help.”

Fifty minutes later, Sabrina pulled through the gates of Griffin’s estate and found Lela climbing out of an SUV. A large demon male nodded at Sabrina from the driver’s seat.

Lela smiled at the driver. “Instead of waiting, if you want to go for a drive, Dimitri, I could call you when I’m done.”

The demon shook his head and Lela grinned. “I thought I would try. Have some of the cookies Irina baked then while you wait.”

Lela joined Sabrina and linked arms with her. “For some reason, Sergei doesn’t trust me to drive yet so I use one of Boris’s drivers. I only ran over one traffic cone when Sergei tried to teach me. I’m much better now.”

Sabrina chuckled. “I think with everything you’ve learned since arriving on earth, you’re amazing. If it takes you a little longer to master driving, that’s okay.”

“Really…” Lela narrowed her eyes at her.

“Yes. And I might have heard that you ran over several traffic cones and a stop sign.”

“Misha has a big mouth,” Lela grumbled, but her eyes were dancing. “So what do I need to know before we go inside?”

“We’re going to try and help Jason shift into his animal. He’s having trouble with it, and I suggested that you could watch and see what his energy does.” Sabrina didn’t want to say anything else for fear it might influence Lela’s observations in some way.

They climbed the steps to the front porch and knocked.

Griffin opened the door. “Good to see you both. Thank you, Lela, for coming today.”

“Of course. I hope I can help.”

He showed them to the back sunroom where Bea and Jason waited.

“Thanks for coming, Lela,” Jason said.

Lela nodded. “I’m here to help if I can.”

“So how does this work?”

“It’s simple. I’m going to watch. I can sometimes sense energy blockages and disturbances that might pinpoint if there is an issue.” Lela stared at Jason and her eyes took on a glassy look as she watched what only Lela could see.

Sabrina pulled the sedative trigger from her medical bag. She pushed the shield back from the button so that she had access to it. She hoped they wouldn’t need it today.

Bea and Griffin walked through the same exercises with Jason like they did before, and once again nothing happened. When they stopped, Jason looked at Lela with so much hope on his face that it made Sabrina’s chest ache.

“Can you see anything?” Sabrina asked.

Lela frowned. “I don’t know exactly what I should be looking for. I think I need a frame of reference on what a shift looks like to see how the energy normally acts. Could someone shift for me?”

Griffin stood. “Sure.” He quickly stripped and walked over to the open area in the room so that he had enough space for his animal.

Lela’s expression glassed over again and she nodded. Griffin crouched and shifted. Sabrina had seen his lion side before, but seeing him in the enclosed space was a shock, especially when he was so close to her, and she let out a small gasp.

Jason’s head whipped toward her. His nose twitched before his eyes started to glow, and he growled, pushing his chair back with a scrape when he jumped up.

Sabrina put her thumb over the trigger and tried to slow her breathing. She didn’t want to sedate him if they had a chance of getting him to shift.

Bea put her hands up. “It’s okay, Jason. Your animal wants to come out. Let him join us. Does he want to meet Griffin’s animal?”

Jason bared his teeth and hunched, preparing to attack.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sabrina could see Lela carefully watching the exchange.

Griffin shifted back to human. He took a step toward them and spoke to Jason, his alpha power pulsing. “Don’t be afraid to come out. Let Jason guide you.”

But the expression on Jason’s face was like Griffin spoke a language he didn’t understand. Griffin tried again and nothing.

“It’s okay, Jason,” Sabrina said. “We’re trying to help you and your animal.”

Jason stopped his growling while she spoke. She thought she might be getting through to him until he lunged for Griffin, and Sabrina dropped the damn trigger.

No! She was out of time. She flung her hands up, and energy pulsed outward, forming a transparent blue wall in front of Griffin. Jason slammed into it and stumbled back, shaking his head. Sabrina held her hands in front of her to keep the barrier in place, and Jason slammed into it again.

“Bea! The trigger!”

Bea dropped to the floor, grabbed the trigger, and pushed the button.

Sabrina let the field drop, and Griffin caught Jason before he hit the ground.

The shock she sensed from Bea, Griffin, and Lela had little to do with Jason and everything to do with her.

She flexed her hands as residual energy pulsed in her fingertips.

She had never shown her powers before in mixed company.

Not at this level anyway. Her clan banked on everyone thinking they were lovers, not fighters.

Now the proverbial cat was out of the bag.

Jason slowly opened his eyes. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he could guess. Especially since Bea, Griffin, Lela, and Sabrina were all watching him. He was slumped in a chair in the sunroom. He sat up and rubbed his hands over his face when his vision wobbled for a moment.

“Take it easy,” Sabrina said.

“How long was I out?” he asked.

“Just a few minutes. The sedative is mild,” Sabrina said.

“My animal took over again?”

“Yes,” Bea said. “What do you remember?”

“I remember trying to turn and it not working. Then Griffin started to shift, and everything went hazy after that.”

Sabrina nodded. “I hoped that your animal would try to mimic the shift, so I held back with the sedative until you tried to attack Griffin.”

Jason’s muscles locked. “I attacked your lion? ”

Griffin frowned. “I had turned back to human. But I was using my alpha power at the time to talk you down. I’m surprised you attacked me. I’ve never seen that happen before.”

This was worse than he thought. He was a danger to them. If he was willing to attack the frickin’ leader of the Shifter Nation, what would he do to his team—to Sabrina?

Sabrina took a step closer. “I used my power to slow you down until I could sedate you.”

He frowned. “What power?”

“I formed a field in front of you that blocked you from getting to Griffin. When you kept slamming into it, we sedated you.”

Holy shit. There was banked power she hid from the world that he sensed slip from her on occasion, but she was way more powerful than she’d let on.

She glanced around the room. “I would appreciate if you kept my ability confidential.”

“Of course,” Griffin and Bea said at the same time.

“You don’t even have to ask,” Lela said.

Sabrina nodded. “What did you see with the shifting, Lela?”

Lela sat across from him. “When Griffin turned, his energy pulsed outward and his animal took shape, but his energy still flowed up into his brain and his two halves were in concert. Now in his human form, if I concentrate, I can see an outline of his animal. The first time I saw your animal was at Misha’s wedding years ago.

Sabrina explained to me at that time that your animals are sacred and private.

Once I knew that, I worked on tamping down my power around shifters so that I don’t see your animals. ”

“And what do you see in me?” Jason could hear the plea in his voice, but he didn’t have it in him to tone it down.

Lela brows drew together. “When your eyes started to glow, your energy didn’t pulse. It retreated, especially in your head and neck region. Something took over. It was like a hard dark shell that locked your thoughts.”

“My animal?”

She shook her head. “When I look at you, I don’t see an animal.”

Jason’s stomach twisted. What did that even mean?

Sabrina spoke up before Jason could say anything. “Lela, the first time you saw Jason at Misha’s wedding, you told me he had an animal.”

“That’s what is so strange. He did have an animal then. But I don’t see it now. It’s not showing itself to me.”

“What animal did you see before?” Jason asked, holding his breath.

“Your animal was some sort of large feline. I don’t know exactly what it was. Back when I saw it, I was just learning about the animals on earth. I had no frame of reference other than the obvious ones I had seen in picture books like lions and tigers.”

“But his glowing eyes were his animal, right?” Bea asked.

“I don’t know what it was.”

Jason looked from Griffin to Bea and Sabrina but they all looked as confused as he felt. “You’ve helped people in the past. Can you fix my energy?”

Lela shook her head. “I don’t know what is happening to you, so I don’t know how to fix it. I’m sorry.”

“Why would my animal disappear?” Jason asked Griffin.

His somber face made Jason’s stomach ache. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of that before.”

What a mess. In the past he’d hoped that his military experience helped the team since he was aware that he was a weak link compared to his fierce supernatural teammates. But now? He was becoming a liability. And a dangerous one at that.

Lela stood and he mumbled thanks to her before she left. He kind of zoned out after that for a bit and closed his eyes. When he opened them, Sabrina was the only one left in the room.

“Did you pull the short straw?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. And you don’t have to do that.”

He sat up. “Do what?”

“Deflect with humor.”

He wanted to quip back at her, but his reservoir was empty. “That’s all I have right now, Doc.”

She leaned forward. “You have your friends, and you have the pack. We’re going to figure it out.”

“You don’t know that!”

Her eyes sparked. “Do you think Misha, Jean Luc, Talia, and Kyle are going to sit back and not do anything?”

“Of course not. What about you?”

She narrowed those gorgeous blue eyes at him. “I am already thinking of ways to figure out how to help you. I’m going to review your blood work that I took at the hospital the other day. Your results should be back by now. And I want to draw some new blood right now too with what just happened.”

He nodded. “Before you go, you better give me a new sedative pump.” Because he didn’t know when he would lose himself and this thing would come out again.

The determination in her eyes made him believe that she could figure out how to help him.

And he loved her for it. Hell, it wasn’t even a shock that he loved her.

He’d known it for a long time now, but he’d ignored it.

It was a good thing she had friend zoned him with all that was happening to him.

He was a bad bet. And he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he hurt her.