Dark Nights Dangerous Men
Page 60
Moving forward he laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’ll meet you back at the Wildlands. Take care.”
“And you.” Bayon flashed a smile of anticipation before he was running across the room and leaping out of the window with reckless valor.
Raphael returned to his mate’s side, staring down at her frighteningly pale face.
She’d been through hell and back in the past six weeks. More than anyone should have to endure. Let alone a pregnant woman.
His heart clenched with regret. God dammit, he had to get her somewhere safe.
“Ashe, will you trust me?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Something connected inside him at her swift, unhesitating agreement. A sense of completion, as if two separate pieces had just clicked together to form a perfect whole.
He paused just long enough to savor the unexpected sensation before leaning down to scoop Ashe off her feet.
“Don’t make a sound,” he whispered next to her ear.
Barely giving her time to wrap her arms around his neck, Raphael moved toward the door, glancing down the hall as he used his senses to search for enemies.
Below them he could hear the scramble of Pantera to meet the unexpected threat outside. Which meant the attackers would be occupied. At least for a few minutes.
Holding Ashe tight against his chest, Raphael darted down the hall and shoved open the door that led to a maintenance closet. He locked the door behind him, then, tilting Ashe’s slight weight so he could hold her with one hand, he gave a leap upward, knocking aside the trap door that led to the roof.
He landed lightly on the flat surface, his finger touching Ashe’s lips as they parted to utter a small shriek.
In the street below he heard the sound of gunfire and a scream of pain followed by the unmistakable scent of blood that made his cat snarl with the need to be in the middle of the fight.
Raphael battled back the instinct to shift.
The only way to get Ashe to safety was to remain in his human form.
Staying low, he headed to the far side of the roof, halting at the edge to once again whisper in Ashe’s ear.
“I need you to hold on tight,” he commanded.
She gave a shaky nod, her dark eyes wide with fear. He paused long enough to brush a kiss over her lips, then with a strength only a Pantera could possess, he jumped off the roof and landed on a nearby branch.
Keeping a terrified Ashe cradled in one arm, and the other wrapped around the branch above him, Raphael crouched in the tree, listening intently to the battle that still raged in the street.
There had been no cry of alarm to reveal he’d been spotted.
So far, so good.
Cautiously, he weaved his way through the branches and easily vaulted to the neighboring tree. Ashe gasped, burying her face in his neck as he balanced on a narrow branch, waiting to make sure they remained unnoticed before repeating his stealthy performance until they reached the edge of the swamp.
Once there, he had no choice but to leap to the spongy ground.
His people were skilled at traveling through the trees undetected, but he wasn’t going to risk dropping his precious cargo.
Not now. Not ever.
Heading deeper into the swamps, Raphael kept his attention trained on the ever-changing landscape. In the bayous the very ground melted beneath his feet. There were no roads, no permanent pathways. Even the lily-clogged canals could be there one day and gone the next.
A perfect place for monsters to hide.
Thankfully he was the most dangerous monster around.
Or he had been until tonight.
He had only a faint buzzing sound of warning before he felt a pinprick of pain in the back of his neck.
What the fuck?
Carefully lowering Ashe to the thick underbrush, he reached up a hand to pluck the annoying barb out of his flesh.
A dart?
He studied the small weapon with a frown, wondering who the hell thought a full-grown Pantera could be hurt by a mere toy.
Then, a strange chill spread through his body, making him shiver, and worse, numbing his connection to his cat.
“Shit,” he breathed, realizing that the poison coursing through his body had made it impossible for him to shift.
“Raphael?” Ashe touched his arm, her expression troubled. “What is it?”
He dropped the dart, gripping her shoulders as he held her worried gaze with a fierce determination.
“Listen to me, ma chère, I need you to run as fast and far as you can.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you.”
“I can’t shift. My cat…” He gave a low snarl of frustration. “Dammit. Run. I’ll find you.” He swooped down to steal a kiss of raw promise. “I’ll always find you.”
She reached up to cup his face with shaking fingers. “What about you?”
“I can take care of myself,” he softly assured her. “But I need you to take care of our child. Do you understand?”
She bit her lip, giving a grudging nod. “Yes.”
“Trust me.” He gave her a firm push toward the tangle of swamp milkweed that would easily hide her tracks. “Go.”
Waiting until she’d disappeared into the thick foliage, Raphael slowly turned, concentrating on the human male he could sense hiding behind the narrow trunk of a tupelo tree.
“Come out of the shadows and face me like a man, you spineless coward,” he taunted, oddly unnerved by the pharmaceutical barrier that separated him from his cat.
Although he couldn’t shift while away from his homelands—well, until Ashe had crashed into his life—he was always in touch with his inner animal.
To be cut off from that connection was like missing a limb.
Someone was going to pay.
In blood.
That someone stepped from behind the tree, revealing an average-sized man dressed in camo fatigues, with his hair buzzed in a military cut.
Not that Raphael believed for a second the stranger was a part of the armed services.
He’d secretly traveled the globe to meet with world leaders. He easily recognized the crisp movements and precise bearing that marked a trained soldier.
This yokel was a bully who’d been given a gun and the illusion of power.
“I don’t fear an animal,” the man mocked, his square face and beady eyes revealing a confidence that came from his mistaken belief that the gun he clutched in his fingers gave him the upper hand.
“Good.” Raphael moved forward, a taunting smile curving his lips. “Then let’s do this thing.”
G.I. Joe Wannabe frowned, glancing over Raphael’s shoulder. “Where’s the female?”
Raphael prowled steadily forward. The idiot didn’t even realize his danger.
“Why?”
“She has to die.”
Raphael halted, a ball of dread lodged in the pit of his stomach.
It was one thing to suspect the strangers were after Ashe, and another to have it confirmed.
He battled back the red haze that demanded blood and tearing flesh and crunching bones.
Before he ripped the bastard apart he needed information.
“Because she carries my child?”
“Because she carries the magic.”
“Magic?” He frowned, baffled by the unexpected words. “What magic?”
The man narrowed his gaze, belatedly realizing he’d given away more than he intended.
“I’ll find her.” He lifted the gun. “But first I intend to rid the world of an abomination.”
He squeezed the trigger at the same instant that Raphael leaped forward.
It shouldn’t have been a contest.
Raphael was bigger, stronger, and infinitely better trained.
But whatever drug was coursing through his body had done more than put his cat to sleep. His movements were awkward, lethargic.
He slammed into the bastard even as the bullet sliced through his uppe
r shoulder. Pain seared through him, but wrapping his arms around the man, Raphael drove him into the ground, landing on top of him.
He knocked aside the gun, wrapping his fingers around the man’s thick throat.
“Who sent you to kill Ashe?”
The man laughed, the fetid stench of ‘wrongness’ intensifying.
“This is bigger than you,” he choked out, his eyes simmering with the madness of a true fanatic. “This is bigger than all of us.”
Raphael tightened his grip, battling back the growing weakness that threatened his survival.
“Tell me who sent you, dammit,” he roared.
Without warning the man jerked his upper body off the ground, smashing his forehead into Raphael’s with enough force to make him see stars.
Giving a shake of his head, Raphael suddenly found himself being rolled onto his back, the man holding him down as he reached for the gun that lay a few feet away.
Oh…hell.
Raphael wanted answers, but the combination of the unknown poison and the blood loss from his wound was taking its toll.
If he didn’t kill the man quickly, he was the one who was going to end up in a soggy grave.
Clearing his double vision, Raphael bared his teeth. He was going to rip off the man’s head and feed it to the gators.
The satisfying thought had barely formed in his mind when he caught a familiar scent and his heart forgot how to beat.
Goddammit. That stubborn female was going to get locked in his house and never let out again.
He gathered his waning strength, desperately grasping his attacker’s arms to keep him from reaching the gun. At the same time, Ashe stepped into view, her arms held over her head as she swung a heavy stick toward the back of the man’s head.
There was sickening crunch as the skull busted at the impact, and the man’s eyes glazed.
Raphael didn’t hesitate. Grabbing the man’s face, he jerked his head to the side with enough force to snap his neck. Instantly the stranger went limp and Raphael tossed his dead body aside.
Rising to his feet, he stepped over the corpse so he could glare down at his mate in frustration.
“I thought I told you to run?”
She rolled her eyes, tossing the stick aside so she could wrap an arm around his waist. Only then did he realize that he was swaying like a drunkard.
“You know how well I take orders,” she reminded him with a wry smile.
He brushed his lips over the top of her head, allowing her to keep him balanced as they continued their interrupted journey through the bayou.
Once he reached the Wildlands he would send someone back to check the body for a brand.
For now he had to get Ashe to the safety of his people.
“That’s something we’re going to have to work on,” he assured her.
She tilted back her head to meet his weary smile.
“Together.”
“Together,” he breathed, wondering if a word had ever sounded so sweet.
Leaning against each other, they managed to stumble their way through the swamp, combining their strength as only a truly mated pair could.
They reached the Wildlands just as the sun crested the horizon, and Raphael wasn’t remotely surprised when a cat padded forward to greet them.
Dark as the shadows, the lethal feline regarded them with a predatory gaze.
Then, with a low roar the creature surrounded itself in a silvery mist, shifting to reveal a tall, grim-faced warrior.
“So it’s true, Raphael. You return with a mate and a child,” the leader of the Hunters drawled with a taunting smile. “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or have you thrown into the psych ward.”
“And a happy fucking hello to you, Parish.”
With a shared chuckle, they stepped into the Wildlands, the magic wrapping around them as overhead a raven screeched in fury.
Book List
Guardians of Eternity
Darkness Avenged
June 4, 2013, Zebra
ISBN 978-1420111385
Fear the Darkness
September 1,2012, Zebra
ISBN 978-1420111378
Bound by Darkness
December 6,2011, Zebra
ISBN 978-1420111361
The Real Werewives of Vampire County
November 2011, Kensington
ISBN 978-0758261588
Supernatural
September 2011, Kensington
ISBN 978-1420109887
Yours for Eternity
September 2011, Kensington
ISBN 978-1420112283
Devoured by Darkness
November 2010, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-1420111354
Beyond the Darkness
April 2010, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-1420102987
Darkness Unleashed
November 2009, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-1420102970
Darkness Revealed
March 2009, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-1-4201-0296-3
Darkness Everlasting
May 2008, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 978-0-8217-7939-2
Embrace the Darkness
November 2007, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN-10: 0821779370
ISBN-13: 978-0821779378
When Darkness Comes
January 2007, Zebra Paranormal
ISBN 0-8217-7935-4
Immortal Rogues Series
* Please note this series is a reprint from the 2003 Historical Vampire Series written as Deborah Raleigh *
My Lord Vampire
#1 in the Immortal Rogues Series
February 28, 2012, Zebra
ISBN 978-1420122718
My Lord Eternity
#2 in the Immortal Rogues Series
December 4, 2012, Zebra
ISBN 978-1-4201-2861-1
My Lord Immortality
#3 in the Immortal Rogues Series
December 31, 2012, Zebra
ISBN 978-1-4201-2272-5
Sentinel Series
Predatory
Sentinel Anthology
May 7, 2013
ISBN 978-1-4201-2512-2
About The Author
Alexandra Ivy is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Guardians of Eternity series, as well as the upcoming Sentinel series. Alexandra Ivy graduated from Truman University with a degree in theatre before deciding she preferred to bring her characters to life on paper rather than stage. An active member of RWA, she also writes under the name of Deborah Raleigh. She lives in Missouri with her husband and family.
PARISH
BY LAURA WRIGHT
Copyright © 2012 by Alexandra Ivy & Laura Wright
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced in any fashion without the express, written consent of the copyright holder.
Bayou Heat is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed herein are fictitious and are not based on any real persons living or dead.
Chapter One
THE baby emerged writhing and covered in amniotic fluid. Cradling the child, unable to curb the proud and relieved smile breaking on her sweaty face, Dr. Julia Cabot reached across the bed and placed him on his weary mother’s belly and chest. Annette, one of the three nurses assisting, quickly covered him with a blanket, then suctioned his nose and mouth with a bulb syringe. In seconds, a hearty wail erupted from the infant, the welcome sound pinging off the walls and calling forth a duet of sighs from the baby’s father and aunt.
Twenty-one hours of hard labor. This woman’s a freaking rock star. Julia glanced at the clock. “9:51 pm.”
“Got it,” Annette said, scribbling on the chart. “Do you want me to get his scores now, Doc?”
“Right on his mom’s chest will be fine.” Julia returned to her work, another nurse assisting as she delivered the placenta. “So, Mrs. Dubroux, do you have a name for your beautiful boy?”<
br />
“Garth,” the woman said, pulling her gaze from her little love and looking up at her husband. “Garth Allan Dubroux, just like his daddy.”
The man beamed.
“Nines across the board, Doc,” Annette announced, making the note in her chart.
“Well, well, you’ve got a strong one there,” Julia said, pulling off her gloves and letting the nurse take over with the cleaning. She walked around to the side of the bed and eyed the precious new family member. “Welcome to the world, Garth.”
As the baby rooted around on her chest, Mrs. Dubroux smiled up at Julia, tears brightening her eyes. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“You’re a godsend, Doctor Cabot,” Mr. Dubroux added, his arm tightening around his wife’s shoulders. “Marilyn would’ve been in the surgery room if it wasn’t for you.”
“It was my pleasure,” Julia said, trying to hold back the wave of emotion and sadness at such a lovely ending to her career at New Orleans General. “One of the nurses will help you with breastfeeding if you need it, and Doctor Salander will be coming in to check on the both of you very soon.” She gave them one last smile. “Congratulations, and good luck.”
“Nice work, Doc,” Annette said as they left the room. “Never seen anyone turn a baby like that. You have a gift.”
Julia headed for the nurses’ station. She needed to fill out some paperwork before she was done for the night. Before she was done, period. She didn’t want to be rude, but talking about her work right now…well, it was too painful. She was going to miss this place, the staff, the patients.
Sidling up next to her, Annette clucked her tongue as she watched Julia scribble on Marilyn Dubroux’s chart. “Damn shame. Best baby doctor this hospital’s ever seen.”
The words pinged inside Julia’s heart. She was good at her job because she believed in it so much, truly cared about each and every new family that came to the hospital. She wanted their first moments as a unit to be special because after they left, when they got home, sometimes things changed.