Page 39 of Lust
“Sloan!” Max’s deep voice roared from outside the room.
Liza glanced over the stall to see Sloan’s head lift, as though she’d raised on her toes.
“In here!” Sloan shouted.
Liza blinked, reached for a towel, and stepped out of the stall just as Max came hurtling into the bathroom, frantic and in search of the fiancée he’d almost lost. His hands were still covered in Daisy’s blood, but he only had eyes for Sloan. She’d barely opened her stall when he charged through, joined her in the shower, and checked her for injuries.
“You were down,” he said. “I couldn’t see you.”
“I’m fine. Liza covered me.”
Max’s wild eyes searched and found Liza’s. Silent recognition and gratitude echoed her way. She nodded in return.
“Daisy?” Sloan asked, drawing back Max’s attention.
“She’s fine. Bullet’s out. Bleeding has stopped.”
“Thank God,” Liza said.
But no one heard her. Max pushed the stall door closed. Liza caught a glimpse of his lips mashed against Sloan’s, kissing her as though she were the air he breathed.
Usually, Liza would say something snarky about the lust spiraling from them, but she only had energy for hugging the towel and leaving the room in case she vomited.
Daisy was okay. Sloan was okay. They’d stopped the Faithful from spreading and wreaking more havoc, but… Joe’s piercing eyes flashed in her mind. When he’d seen the yellow streaks on her face, he looked afraid. She shook her head to get the image out, but it wouldn’t leave.
“Liza.” Parker’s deep voice lifted her head. He stood in the locker room, Deadly Seven hood down and around his shoulders. The blood had been washed from his hands. Wisps of auburn hair pulled free from the tie he’d tamed it with. He looked wild, wolfish, and pissed.
“I’m not in a mood for judgment, Parks.”
“Too bad,” he replied. “You’ve been sitting on that skill of yours for a few days, and you haven’t tested your limits. That’s reckless and dangerous. What you produce is worse than cyanide.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How would you know that?”
The arrogance dropped from his expression.
“You know something,” Liza accused. She strode toward her big brother and jabbed him in the chest. “And you’ve been expecting this, haven’t you?”
He tried to backpedal. “I never said that.”
“Then how the hell do you know what my toxin is made of if you’ve only just discovered it?” Silence greeted her. God damn. “You’ve deciphered Gloria’s laptop, haven’t you?”
Parker had always claimed he wasn’t able to crack it. None of them could, so they’d left it. Mary and Liza had sought him out the other night but failed to find him. Turned out their instincts were right.
Parker’s nostrils flared at her accusation. And that’s when she noticed something she never thought she’d see in her brother’s tawny-eyed stare. Maybe denial. Or something darker. Fear.
“You found something on that laptop. About you,” she said. “And you didn’t like it.”
“We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you. The chemical you produce is one of the deadliest neurotoxins on the planet. Tetrodotoxin is a hundred times more deadly than cyanide, and there is no known antidote. We’ll have to make modifications to your battle suit, and you’ll have to wear it. I’m not fucking around here, Liza. You’ll need to get it under control. One slip around a civilian—or your mate—and youwillkill them.” He started murmuring to himself, something about proteins and antibodies in her blood, and then strode out of the locker room, leaving Liza quaking.
She could kill Joe with a kiss… if he still wanted to kiss her.
“Today, Liza!” Parker’s shout filtered through the basement.
“Arrogant fucker,” Liza mumbled, and then found a spare pair of baggy sweatpants and a crop top in her locker. She towel-dried her hair and tied it in a low ponytail. When she met Parker in the workshop attached to the operations room, he scowled at her.
The workshop was half mechanical parts and wiring, and part laboratory with scopes and scientific equipment. Parker, Flint, and Sloan were the main users of the room. The rest of the family usually preferred to use the gym, the weapons room, and on occasion, the multi-screened surveillance in the operations room. They all had their talents, and Liza’s wasn’t in any of these rooms. She preferred to do her saving in broad daylight. Sometimes the weak weren’t preyed on in hard and fast confrontations, they were taken advantage of over time. For them, cruelty was a slow poison seeping into their skins, and Liza was the antidote. She’d been taking pimps and murderers off the streets for years.
“You know, I heard that,” Parker noted gruffly.
