Granted, Pantera had their share of medical issues to deal with, but stomach sickness was a rarity. He’d woken up late and apologized profusely to the women. And on his way back to the bayou, he had called to arrange for a new rug to be delivered and maid service to come to their apartment.
“Forget last night,” Roch said, motioning for Damien to follow as he headed toward the doors of Medical. “Today is what matters. And the work ahead. But I will say that Hiss had better give us the answers we’re looking for. My cat is just aching to attack something.”
“Hiss?” Damien repeated, his brows slamming together in confusion. “Is that who we’re meeting with this morning?”
“You didn’t know?”
The male shook his head. “Didn’t know who we’re meeting, and sure as hell didn’t know he’d been brought to Medical.”
A flicker of unease moved through Roch. It wasn’t like the leader of the Suits to keep information from his faction members. “I’m sure Raphael meant to inform you.”
“Maybe he doesn’t trust me.”
The bitterness in Damien’s voice wasn’t hard to miss. It was difficult being the newest member of any faction, but with the Diplomats it was doubly so. There was so much information, so much protocol—so many secrets that needed to be kept to protect the Pantera.
“Why would you think that?” Roch asked him.
The male shrugged. “Hiss was a friend back when we were cubs.”
With a sniff of amusement, Roch yanked the door wide. “Hiss had many friends. Raphael is no doubt suffering from intense stress due to Shakpi’s dramatic departure, and that we’ve been outed to the humans—and then there’s the lack of sleep due to the incessant squawk of one called Soyala.”
That seemed to both smooth the male’s raised hackles and cause him to grin. “The cub. I’m sure he doesn’t mind her cries. A young is a great blessing to a male.”
“To some males, that’s true,” Roch answered. “I, however, prefer work—and the cries of a male who’s just come clean after a particularly rough interrogation.”
Damien laughed. “So, why was Hiss brought here?”
“They’re testing him,” Roch said as they moved down the hall. “His blood, heart, mind—even his cat. While his tongue remains quiet, the Nurturers are hoping to glean some information as to why our new enemies would trade two Pantera for one. Why Hiss is so important to them.”
“I still think loyalty to these humans could be a factor,” Damien put in, giving a quick smile to a passing female who was in her puma state. “Maybe they have a long history. Maybe they consider Hiss one of their own. And the exchange for Rosalie and Mercier is their way of demonstrating that.”
Medical was alive with activity, as it always was in the morning hours. Roch spotted Raphael up ahead. The leader of the Diplomatic Faction was dressed sharply in a tailored black suit and was speaking intently to one of the head Nurturers, Jean-Baptiste.
“Well, they can have him,” Roch said with a growl. “As soon as he tells us everything he knows, and we have our loyal Pantera back again.”
A few feet from his boss, Roch gritted his teeth as his stomach rolled hard and fast again. What the hell was going on with him? Bad alcohol? Bad food? What? And why was it still affecting him? As he neared the two Pantera, he shoved the feeling back. He didn’t have time for ailments. He had a job to do. And, he mused with a forced grin, the cries of a traitor male to elicit.
* * *
Fired.
FIRED!?!
Lydia Page stared at the trees swaying in the breeze outside the picture window and wondered why she hadn’t anticipated the reaction from the partners at her law firm. Maybe because they were both women, and had children of their own? Of course, they also had husbands and nannies to go along with those children. But surely they understood that she’d be committed to the firm even if she had a child?
Nope.
To be fair, they hadn’t said they were firing her because of her pregnancy. Because, you know, that would be highly illegal. Instead, they’d claimed they were firing her for excessive absences. Which was such crap. With the illness and subsequent death of her mother six months ago, she’d taken some time off. Two days over her allotment, to be specific—two days both partners had verbally agreed to. But as a lawyer, she knew how well oral agreements stood up, and how quickly they were forgotten.
Behind her, the office door opened. “Ms. Page,” came the doctor’s voice. “Thank you for coming in today.”
“Of course,” she said.
It was this very lunchtime appointment at The Haymore Center that her assistant had both scheduled and shared with one of the partners’ assistants a few days ago. Clearly, the partners didn’t believe that a single mother could put in the kind of hours they wanted.
Well, screw them, Lydia thought, her eyes now set on the doctor seated across from her. She could get another job. Hell, maybe she’d even open her own practice.
“How are you today, Ms. Page?” the doctor inquired, his gaze trained on the paperwork before him on the desk.
“Fine,” she said brightly. “No morning sickness yet. But I’m sure that will come. My mom was really sick with me from six weeks to four months. Barfing all the time.” She smiled and touched her flat belly. “But what’s a little barf when you get something so precious at the end of it, right?” She laughed softly.
The doctor took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Ms. Page, I’d like to discuss your blood test and ultrasound results.”
It was then that he looked up from his paperwork and met her gaze. His eyes were a cold brown and deep set. His mouth a thin, tense line. Lydia felt the blood drain from her face, and her heart start to pound. “What’s wrong? The baby—”
“The baby looks fine,” he said evenly. “Healthy.”
“Oh my god.” She put a hand to her chest. “Oh, thank goodness. I—”
“But there is something we need to talk about,” he amended.
The relief from a moment ago evaporated and heat prickled through her. “What?”
“The embryo’s development is further along than it should be.” His tone was unsympathetic at best.
Lydia’s hands started to tremble. “What does that mean? How far along is it?”
“The fetus should be measuring four weeks. But instead, it’s twelve.”
Lydia stared at him, her heart beating so fast now it actually hurt. She’d only met Dr. Ambrose twice. Once for a consult, and the second time when he performed the insemination. The man was purported to be a genius so she had overlooked his lack of warmth and bedside manner. With the job she’d hired him to do, skill was far more important than kindness. But right then, staring at him across his desk, feeling as though she might implode from fear and grief, she wouldn’t have minded a little bit of gentleness.
“What does this mean?” she asked in a near whisper. “And why did it happen?” My baby…
Once again, the door opened behind her and a woman’s voice called out, “Knock, knock.”
“Come in, Erin,” the doctor said in a grave tone, avoiding Lydia’s gaze as much as possible now.
The woman strode past Lydia and came to stand beside the doctor. She was somewhere in her mid-thirties, with pale brown hair and dark, intelligent eyes. She looked from Lydia to the doctor, then back again. “I see you’ve been told.”
Her words were meant to sound sympathetic, but they came out detached and clinical. Lydia clasped her hands together. Her palms were cold and wet. “Yes,” she said.
“I am sorry, Ms. Page,” she said, handing Lydia a document. “But I’m sure you understand why it’s imperative that you terminate this pregnancy immediately.”
Chapter 2
“I’ve told Raphael and now I’ll tell you,” Hiss growled. “The only Pantera I will speak to are the elders.”
The Hunter could be damn intimidating, even strapped down to a bed with needles sticking out of his arms. Though he felt like shit, Roch stood imposingly over the male, arms crossed over his chest. “You think you’re in any position to make demands, traitor?”
“Yes, I believe I am.”
“Arrogance won’t get you anywhere but back in a cell,” Roch threatened.
“The elders will never come here,” Damien put in from his position at the foot of the bed. “So just do us all a favor and end this. Tell us why these humans want you.”
“I don’t know,” he ground out, his dark grey eyes narrowing with hatred.
“Bullshit,” Damien growled.
“Give us names, addresses and plans,” Roch said calmly. “And we’ll return you to your humans.”
Hiss’s lip curled. “They’re not my humans, asshole. They’re not my anything. I don’t know them. My dealings were with the followers of Shakpi. And whatever I did, whoever I used, it was for myself and my family alone. Not for some human cause.”
“Maybe we should bring Reny here,” Roch suggested, watching to see if the male’s cat flashed behind his eyes. It didn’t. It hadn’t in quite some time. “Let the long-lost sister have a visit with her traitor brother. Have a nice familial heart-to-heart.”