Angel/Hiss (Bayou Heat Box Set Book 7) (2 page)

“Which is exactly why I prefer to concentrate on duty,” Angel drawled.

He was happy as hell for his friend. The male was clearly besotted with his mate and daughter. But Angel had no intention of ever committing himself to another.

“It happens to the best of us,” Raphael assured him.

Angel waved aside the warning. “It clearly
hasn’t
happened to the best of us and if I have any say in the matter, it never will.”

Raphael chuckled, an unbearably smug expression on his face. “Luckily you don’t have a say. Fate is a ruthless bitch who will bite you in the ass every time.”

Angel ignored the tiny shiver of premonition that inched down his spine.

Nope. It wasn’t going to happen. His duty as a Healer was all that mattered.

“Is there anything else?” he asked.

Raphael stepped forward to grab his shoulder. “Be careful,
mon ami
.”

“I’m not a Geek, but I have enough skill to keep my investigations from being discovered.”

Raphael’s fingers tightened on his shoulder. “I don’t question your abilities, Angel, but this new enemy has training, discipline and contacts in high places,” Raphael said, his eyes smoldering with a fierce frustration. They’d all hoped that life would return to a simple existence once the goddess Shakpi had reunited with her sister. Now they were forced to accept that peace was still nothing more than a distant dream. “Worse, we have no idea what their endgame is. We’re all in danger.”

“I have no intention of taking unnecessary risks,” Angel promised his friend. “No one in the hospital suspects I’m anything but Dr. Savary.”

Raphael grimaced. “That’s what we hope.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have no idea what Hiss might have revealed.”

Angel flinched. It didn’t matter how many times he reminded himself the male Pantera was a traitor, it didn’t get any easier to accept.

“I know that Hiss was a part of the disciples who were helping Shakpi, but you don’t think he’s working with this new enemy, do you?”

Raphael’s face hardened to a bleak mask. “I’m not going to make the mistake of taking anything for granted.” He shook his head. “Not again.”

“Understandable, but Hiss seemed as baffled as the rest of us when the bastards revealed they were willing to trade Rosalie and Mercier to get their hands on him,” Angel reminded his friend.

Angel had been in the Wildlands clinic when they’d brought in Hiss, and while the traitor had refused to speak to anyone but the elders, he’d genuinely appeared confused by the fact the newest enemy had been so anxious to get their hands on him.

“He could have been faking his response,” Raphael pointed out. “He’s proven he can live a lie for years.”

“I suppose,” Angel muttered, not convinced.

Raphael shrugged. “Or he might have been unaware of them and now has decided they’re his best shot at destroying us.”

Angel gave a grudging nod. There was so much hate inside Hiss it was impossible to guess what he might do.

Still…

“I hoped he could be redeemed,” he muttered.

“We all hoped.” Raphael gave his shoulder a squeeze before he dropped his hand and stepped back. “For now, however, we have to be realistic. The bastard betrayed us once. There’s no reason he wouldn’t betray us again.”

Painfully true.

“Shit,” Angel growled.

***

The elementary school had been shabby before hurricane Katrina had slammed into the red brick building, leaving behind utter destruction. On the plus side, the outer structure was reasonably intact, the electricity and water still worked, and a large playground kept it isolated from the rest of the neighborhood. Which meant no one came around poking their noses into things that were none of their business.

Indy had located the place when they’d first arrived in New Orleans from New York six months ago. At the time she’d hoped they would be in and out of town in less than a week. Which meant the need for secrecy had outweighed the desire for comfort.

Now she was glad she’d found a place where she could hold a prisoner without attracting unwanted attention.

Pausing in front of a mirror in the bathroom, Indy brushed her teeth and ran a comb through the short strands of her midnight black hair. She even took time to make sure there was no dirt marring her thin, pale face that was dominated by a pair of dark blue eyes and a mouth that always seemed too large for her face. One of the few men she’d briefly dated had called it ‘lush.’

She grimaced. Although she was a grown-ass woman, she appeared to be in her early teens. An image that was only reinforced by the fact she barely topped five foot two and had a boyish frame.

Pulling a leather coat over her white muscle shirt that was tucked into a pair of faded jeans, she shoved her feet into a pair of motorcycle boots and headed out.

So, she looked like a biker pixie doll.

It was better than being mistaken for a pubescent boy.

She walked down the hallway that was filled with broken lockers and assorted rubble, entering the room that used to be the nurse’s office.

Instantly a woman with long red hair and light brown eyes turned from the narrow bed, her face still beautiful although she looked older than her thirty years.

“How is she?” Indy demanded, remaining beside the door as her gaze slid to the tiny girl lying motionless on the bed.

Karen bit her lower lip. “Willa is a fighter, but…”

Indy’s heart clenched with pain as Karen’s voice drifted away.

“She’s fading,” Indy spoke the words that everyone was thinking.

Karen gave a slow nod, her eyes filling with tears. “Yes.”

Indy squared her shoulders, her decision made. “I can’t wait any longer.”

With a glance toward the sleeping child, Karen crossed the cracked linoleum floor to stand directly in front of her.

“Indy, it’s too dangerous,” she whispered in urgent tones.

Indy shrugged. She’d been doing things that were too dangerous for the past ten years. Okay, she’d never tried to kidnap a full-grown Pantera male before. But she’d risked her neck a dozen times sneaking into the labs of her enemy and releasing captives.

How much harder could this be?

Unwilling to actually consider the question, or the odd flutter of excitement, she nodded her head toward the bed.

“What choice do we have?” she demanded. “The human doctors haven’t been able to help Willa. We have to hope a Pantera can do better.”

It’d felt like fate when she’d left the hospital yesterday afternoon. At the time she’d been frantic with worry as she’d carried Willa away from yet another doctor who’d been unable to explain the girl’s debilitating headaches and fever that would come and go without warning.

But then she’d caught the unmistakable scent of Pantera.

Sending Willa back to the abandoned school with Tarin, one of the young men she’d rescued over the years, she’d trailed behind the tall stranger with white-gold hair until he’d disappeared into a private office.

Dr. Savary.

She knew then he had to be one of the mysterious healers she’d heard whispered about in the lab when she was still a captive.

Perhaps the one person in the entire world capable of helping Willa.

Karen studied her determined expression with blatant concern.

“If you bring the male here you expose us all to the beast-men.”

Indy reached to grab her friend’s hand. She thrived on danger, but she wasn’t the only one who might be hurt by the arrival of a Pantera.

The beast-men might have been kept strictly separated from the humans in the labs, but Indy knew enough about the creatures to realize that they were ruthless predators who would kill without mercy.

“It’s a risk, and if anyone prefers to bail, I completely understand,” she said.

She meant every word. Over the years she’d rescued over twenty captives from Benson Enterprises and the various annexes. Some had returned to their families. Some had simply disappeared. But five had remained with her, moving from place to place as she’d avoided the hired thugs who were constantly searching for her. The last thing she wanted was to put them in even more danger.

Karen scowled at her perfectly reasonable explanation.

“Don’t be an idiot. No one is going to bail,” the woman assured her. “We all love Willa as much as you.”

“Yes,” Indy agreed with a small sigh. They did. In less than six months the little girl had stolen all their hearts.

“And just as importantly we all know what we owe you,” Karen continued.

Indy scowled. “Don’t say that. No one owes me a damned thing.”

“You saved us.”

Tugging her hand free, Indy shrugged aside the woman’s soft words.

“I was screwing with the guards,” she muttered. She hated when Karen got all mushy. “Nothing pisses them off more than losing a prisoner.”

“So tough.” Karen gave a resigned shake of her head. “Why can’t you just admit that you’re one of the good guys?”

Indy snorted. Who wanted to be a good guy? They always finished last.

“I’m a thief, a liar, and I’m about to become a kidnapper,” she pointed out in dry tones. “Hardly the stuff of heroes.”

Karen’s pretty face softened with genuine affection. “Say what you want, Indy. You have our loyalty. We’ll stand at your side no matter what your decision.” The woman glanced toward the sleeping Willa. “It’s what families do.”

“Christ.” Indy gave a sharp laugh. “Has there ever been a more dysfunctional bunch?”

Karen’s smile faded, her eyes filled with pain. “Yes.”

Indy hastily changed the subject. Karen never talked about her life before being captured by the Benson Enterprise goons and Indy never pressed for details.

“You have the cage set up?” she instead demanded.

“I do.” Karen shuddered. “Filthy thing.”

Karen was the only one of them who could actually touch the metal bars that were laced with malachite. The rest of them had been infected with enough Pantera blood, bone marrow, DNA, and god only knew what else to be able to endure the coppery mineral.

Indy had nearly killed herself trying to salvage the stupid thing from the Haymore Center after it’d burned to the ground.

“It’s the only thing that will hold a Pantera.”

“Yeah.” Karen grimaced. “Now we just have to get him in there.”

Indy smiled with more confidence than she felt. “Leave that to me.”

Karen bit her lower lip. “Indy, I wish you wouldn’t go alone.”

“This is my responsibility.”

“Why do you always take everything on your shoulders?”

“It was my decision to take Willa from the lab.” Her stomach twisted with regret. Her impulsive nature wasn’t always a good thing. There were times when she made hasty decisions that hurt others. “It’s possible that removing her is what made her sick.”

Karen shook her head. “It’s much more likely that whatever the bastards were infecting her with is what caused the damage.”

Indy shrugged. “We won’t know until I get the doctor.”

Karen narrowed her eyes. “A very smooth sidestep of my question.”

Indy held up her hands. It wasn’t a sidestep. Or not a deliberate one. The truth was…she didn’t really know why she assumed she should be in charge of fixing the world.

She just did.

“It’s my responsibility because it’s what I do,” she muttered.

“Indy?”

The small voice came from the bed and Indy leaned forward to whisper in Karen’s ear.

“Get the dart gun from the locker and put it in my backpack,” she ordered. “I’m going to speak with Willa before I take off.”

Karen gave a reluctant nod, heading out of the room as Indy crossed the cracked and peeling floor to stand next to the bed.

Instinctively her hand reached to push the blond curls from Willa’s tiny, heart-shaped face. Although they didn’t have an exact date for the child’s birth, they assumed she must be around five or six years old.

Too young to have endured being tortured.

“Hey, kitten,” she murmured, forcing a smile to her lips even as she took in the child’s flushed cheeks and the hectic glitter in the wide hazel eyes.

Willa flashed her dimples. “I’m not a kitten.”

“Are you sure?” Indy teased, reaching to brush her fingers over her cheeks, covertly feeling for a fever. She hid her grimace as she felt the heat that radiated from the child’s skin. “You have two eyes like a kitty.” She grabbed Willa’s ears, giving them a light tug. “And two fuzzy ears. And a nose with whiskers—”

“I’m a girl,” Willa laughingly protested.

“Ah. So you are,” Indy murmured, her fingers pushing the curls from Willa’s damp forehead. “The prettiest little girl in the whole world.”

“As pretty as Karen?” Willa demanded.

Indy chuckled. “Just as pretty.”

“And as smart as Nadia?”

Indy nodded. Nadia was an intensely shy young woman with a self-conscious stutter who Indy had rescued five years before. It was because of her skill with healing that Willa had survived this long.

“Just as smart. And as strong as Tarin,” she assured the little girl. “And as loyal as Caleb.”

Willa reached up a small hand to touch Indy’s cheek. “And as brave as you?”

Indy covered the tiny fingers with her hand, pressing them against her skin.

“There’s no need for you to be brave, Willa,” she said, the words a solemn oath. “I’m going to take care of you. I promise.”

CHAPTER 2