Worth the Risk (12 page)

Sidestepping the fallen men, Stephan crouched low then rounded the corner. The

hallway was empty so he motioned to his brothers. As werewolves, regular bullets

wouldn’t kill them but they would still cause excruciating pain.

When they neared the end of the hallway a loud explosion ripped through the air so

Stephan and his brother picked up their pace. They rounded the corner and into the

hallway leading toward the laboratory.

Stephan nearly stumbled at the sight in front of them.

“What the hell?” Nick shouted above the alarm.

The steel door leading to the lab was blown off and smoke billowed out from the

room. As they neared the door, the petite brunette he’d seen strapped down appeared

in the open entrance.

She was completely naked but a bright blue ball of—something, maybe energy or

lightning—crackled in her hands. She lifted a hand as if to fire at them but paused as

she smelled the air. As she looked at the three of them, it was as if all the energy was

sucked from her body. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in a small,

lifeless heap.

“I’ll grab the girl. Torch the lab!” Thomas said as he sprinted ahead of them. He

scooped her up as Stephan and Nick headed inside.

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Glass shards covered most of the tiled floor, the television screen was cracked and

the beakers and test tubes he’d seen earlier were smashed on the floor. Three guards

and an old man in a lab coat lay dead on the floor with giant holes burned through their

chests. What had once been a two-way mirror was now shattered open. Stephan spotted

the blonde woman huddled in a corner. She was naked and dirty, but her eyes were

open and terrified.

“I got her.” Nick tossed the bottle of lighter fluid to Stephan before bounding over

the glass. His boots made crunching sounds, even above the siren.

As Stephan started spraying everything with the accelerant, his father and uncle ran

into the room, both in human form.

“Everyone is down but Perez isn’t here.” His father flipped open his lighter and

tossed it into the middle of the room.

Flames erupted with a loud whoosh. Bright orange fire licked its way across the

floor, eating everything in its path with a hungry intensity. Stephan had wanted to

gather some sort of records, but there was no time.

The cops—or worse, the DEA—would be arriving soon and Stephan knew he

couldn’t be anywhere around.

They all rushed from the room and sprinted back the way they’d come. An

explosion ripped through the house, rocking the foundation, as they emptied onto the

back patio.

The familiar blare of a fire truck siren resounded through the night.

“Shift!” his father ordered.

Regardless of their state of dress, they all changed. Thomas and Nick were already

long gone with the women.

If they wanted to get away from the cops, they couldn’t be in human form. Stephan

stayed close to his father and uncle as they ran across the backyard. Shouting humans

sounded around them, but no one tried to stop them and Stephan didn’t pause to see

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who had arrived. Considering the growing fire and the potential problem that caused, a

couple of loose dogs roaming around wouldn’t even register on Miami PD’s radar in a

situation like this.

The farther they ran, the more his paw ached. A piece of glass must have embedded

itself in his foot, but that was the least of his worries. When his father slowed, so did

Stephan and his uncle. They neared the quiet dead-end road where his father had left

his SUV.

Luckily, the back hatch was open and Nick stood guard. The three of them dove

inside and Nick slammed the door shut behind them. Moments later, the vehicle jerked

to life. Only then did Stephan allow himself to think about what they’d just done.

Everything had happened so quickly and they hadn’t had adequate time to cover their

tracks. If they made just one slip-up, it could send their entire pack on the run and into

hiding.

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Marisol’s eyes flew open at the sound of familiar voices. She pushed the afghan

throw off and rubbed her eyes. She and Stephan’s mother must have fallen asleep in the

living room. Glancing around, she groaned when she saw the clock on the mantle.
Four

o’clock.

“They’re here,” Alisha murmured as she pushed up from the loveseat.

Stephan’s mother had been strangely quiet since the males of the Lazos pack had

left hours before. Of course she hadn’t let Marisol out of her sight, but she also hadn’t

drilled her with questions.

Footsteps across the tiled entryway and the front door slamming jerked Marisol out

of her daze and into action. In addition to all the familiar bodies she scented something

else. Something—
someone
—very familiar. But it couldn’t be.

She hurried out of the room and almost ran directly into Stephan. He wore tattered

shorts and no shirt or shoes. “Are you okay?”

He stepped back and kept about a foot of distance between them. “We’re fine. The

lab is destroyed and probably Perez’s entire house.”

“What about Perez?” Marisol was vaguely aware as Alisha passed them and

headed toward the kitchen. She wanted to reach out and comfort Stephan but he

obviously didn’t want her to so she wrapped her arms around herself.

“We didn’t find him, but there were two survivors. Both female werewolves. He’s

been experimenting on them, but they seem physically fine. One of them is different…”

Instinctively she tensed at his guarded tone. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure. Most of the lab was destroyed when we got there. One of the she-

wolves we saved harnessed some sort of blue light in her hands.”

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“Blue?” Marisol’s heart skipped a beat.

“Yes, almost like lightning—”

Marisol sidestepped him and raced for the kitchen. Her bare feet smacked against

the cool tile. She tried to control the hope that surged through her, but it was useless. As

she entered the kitchen, that hope blossomed with the intensity of a hurricane.

“Paz!” Her sister’s limp form was stretched out on the center island of the kitchen,

covered by a large towel.

Thomas stood next to her sister, wiping soot and dirt from her face, but she ignored

him as she took Paz’s hand.

It was warm. A good sign. If her sister used too much of her powers, she drained

herself of energy. But she was alive. That’s all that mattered.

“You know her?” Stephan’s voice sounded close behind her.

“Paz, she’s my sister. I thought…I thought she was dead.” Something in the back of

Marisol’s mind taunted her that this was a dream, but in her heart she knew it wasn’t.

Clasping her sister’s hand, she breathed a sigh of relief when Paz’s fingers tightened

slightly.

Experience told her it would be hours before Paz woke up, but Marisol didn’t care.

“What is she?” Stephan asked.

Mindless of everyone’s gaze on her, she focused on Stephan. She could lie and tell

him she didn’t know what he meant. Of course if she did, everyone in the room would

know she was a liar and she was tired of lying to him anyway. “She’s half werewolf,

half fae.”

“Faerie?”
Alisha gasped from the other side of the room.

Marisol nodded and tried to force down the burst of fear that bloomed in her chest.

Stephan was her mate. He wouldn’t harm her or her family. Or at least she hoped he

wouldn’t. Technically Paz was more powerful than everyone in this room—the Alpha

included—but she was passed out and helpless. “Her mother was full-blooded faerie,

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but she wasn’t evil, like the Council seems to think faeries are. My father and her

mother fell in love, but Selena—that was her mother—died giving birth to Paz. Decades

after her mother died, he met and mated with my mother. My father never told the

Council about her and the entire pack was sworn to secrecy because…” Marisol

swallowed and glanced away from the penetrating gazes of the Lazos pack.

She didn’t need to say it aloud because they would understand. The Council of

Werewolves would have ordered Paz to die simply because of the magic that ran

through her blood. The Cabrera pack wouldn’t have listened and it would have begun a

bloody war. Millennia ago—long before any of them had been born—faeries and

werewolves had been at war. Of course, werewolves had also been at war with

vampires, Immortals and any other being that was different. Their history was just as

violent as the humans’.

“What are her powers?” Lucas asked. His voice was calm, but it didn’t stop a

tremor of fear from snaking down Marisol’s spine.

She risked a quick glance at Stephan. His face was an unreadable mask, but at least

he stood by her side. “She…she has the ability to draw energy—life force, I guess you’d

call it—from most living beings. It usually manifests in the form of blue light. Basically

she turns kinetic energy into a blast of power…it looks sort of like lightning. She’s never

killed anyone though and from the time she was a child our father helped her to control

her powers.”

“She killed the men in the lab.” Lucas’ voice was wry.

“Then they deserved it!” Even though Lucas was an Alpha, she couldn’t stop the

rising pitch of her voice. She would die for her sister if need be.

Lucas nodded once. “They certainly did. For now, your sister is under the

protection of my pack. However, no one outside of this room will know that she’s more

than a werewolf.”

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Relief flooded Marisol’s veins until her gaze fell on a tall blonde woman leaning

against one of the counters. A black t-shirt fell to mid-thigh, but she was dirty and

otherwise naked. “Who are you?”

The blonde cast a nervous glance at Lucas, who simply nodded. The she-wolf

wrapped her arms around herself defensively. “My name’s Shea Hart. I’ve been held

captive with your sister for about six months. She kept me sane and she saved my life. I

won’t tell a soul about her. I swear it. I owe her so much…” She trailed off with a

broken whisper.

The truth of the woman’s words rolled over her along with a healthy dose of grief

and sadness. Marisol could only imagine what the pretty blonde had been through.

Apparently the woman’s emotions hit the other wolves in the room too because Lucas

immediately took charge.

“Shea, you’re coming home with Alisha and me. Stephan, I’m sending over Caro to

look at your mate’s sister. Everyone else, go home, get a few hours of sleep, we meet at

my house at noon.” He turned his dark gaze to Marisol. “If your sister is awake, she

comes too.”

Without a word, Marisol nodded as everyone filed out. She noted that Thomas

lingered by Paz, but he eventually made his way toward the door. Once everyone had

gone, Marisol made a move toward Stephan but he averted his gaze. “I’ll carry your

sister upstairs. My aunt should be here soon.”

Before she could respond, he’d scooped Paz’s small body in his arms and strode

from the room. Marisol had hoped his annoyance with her would wane with time, but

evidently not. Sighing, she followed him up the stairs but stopped in their room first.

And since when did she start thinking of it as
their
room anyway? Rolling her eyes at

herself, she grabbed one of her favorite pajama sets and hurried to the guestroom.

She found Stephan tucking the comforter around Paz. Her heart warmed at the

sight. As a werewolf, Marisol was more uncomfortable than most with her nudity, but

Paz would die if she knew others had seen her naked. For a half-fae, she was incredibly

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insecure. Maybe because she’d grown up feeling like an outsider. It was ironic that

considering how powerful she was, Paz had more human attributes than anyone

Marisol knew.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

He grunted something inaudible and disappeared from the room. It took some

work, but Marisol dressed Paz in the silk pajamas and tucked her back in. By the time

she was finishing, an older female wolf carrying a black bag appeared in the doorway.

“Hi, you must be Marisol. I’m Caro, Alisha’s sister.” The tall, dark-haired woman

waited by the door until Marisol nodded for her to enter.

“Thank you for coming. This has happened to her before and I’m sure she’ll be fine.

Are you a doctor?”

Caro nodded. “For the better part of this century. I spoke to the other rescued

werewolf, Shea. She told me they weren’t sexually assaulted, but when your sister is

awake, I’m going to speak to her about it.”

“Okay.” Marisol sat on the bed next to Paz and held her sister’s hand as Caro

examined her. She was thankful the woman was being so gentle.

After a few minutes, the pretty werewolf stood. “You’re right. She’s sleeping, but

she’s okay.”

On one level, Marisol had already known that, but hearing someone else repeat the

sentiment gave her peace of mind. She stared at the other wolf expectantly and when

she didn’t make a move to leave, Marisol frowned. “Did you need something else?”

“I’d like to stay and keep an eye on her if you don’t mind. You can go sleep with