Angel/Hiss (Bayou Heat Box Set Book 7) Read Free

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.