Dragonfury 02 - Fury of Ice

whole lot of pissed off and breathing a boatload of poison.
    Or radiation. Whatever.
    Mac didn’t know what he’d been hit with. Neither did the doctors. Even after all the stupid blood tests.
    Which was a problem.
    His partner needed him, and where was he? On injured reserve, sitting on the sidelines while Seattle’s finest searched for Angela—his kid sister by silent agreement if not blood. His throat went tight. God, had he said the entire situation was BS yet? Yeah, a total frickin’ farce. He knew Ange better than anyone. Understood her in ways she didn’t understand herself. Knew her haunts, preferences, where she went to hide when she craved time alone.
    And what had his captain and the team of idiot doctors done? Ass-planted him…with a rent-a-cop outside his door.
    Mac snorted. Like that would make him stay put.
    Swallowing a groan, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. The room went topsy-turvy. His stomach sloshed, then leveled out as his brain came back online. Thank Jesus. Yeah, the pain might still be there—thumping against his temples, cramping his muscles—but at least he was mobile. Operational and combat ready, because he couldn’t stay here. Where no one gave a damn about Ange. About the fact she was out there somewhere: alone, without her Glock for backup.
    So to hell with the doctors. With tests and CAT scans. Getting out of Dodge was priority one. Not his health. And not the dickheads who expected him to put himself first.
    Now if only he could find his boots.
    Busy looking under the bed, he missed the squeaking approach of nurse’s shoes. Metal screeched against metal, making him wince as the curtain surrounding his bed got yanked aside. The squeak of rubber shoes went silent. “Detective MacCord…what do you think you’re doing?”
    Hell, she was back, and the last thing he needed. Nurse What’s-her-name was a slick operator. A liar with big blue eyes and no scruples. “Of course, detective, you’re free to go anytime,” she’d said. “Just a few more tests…”
    Yeah, right. She blah-blahed with the best of them and then screwed him over. Exhibit A? Conan—the genius with a security badge on his shirt—eyeballing him from the open doorway.
    The nurse hesitated a second, then stepped into his little patch of heaven. He watched her from his periphery, not looking directly at her, but keeping her in his sights. “Did you hear me?”
    “Loud and clear.”
    “Well?”
    Ah, eureka. There they were. Pulling a stretch and grab, he hauled his black steel-toes out from under the bed. The action spoke louder than words, and as she gasped, he stomped his feet into his boots.
    “You can’t leave. We haven’t finished running tests.” Her voice came out clipped and hard, like a battle commander’s in the middle of a firefight. “Get back into bed.”
    Ironic, wasn’t it? On any other night, he would’ve jumped on board that party train: shagged her hard, made her scream with pleasure and beg for more. But not tonight. He didn’t have time to play nice. All he wanted was out.
    Sweat dripped off the tip of his nose and hit the floor with a splat. Taking a steadying breath, he pushed away from the bed and stood. His legs protested a second, thigh muscles twitching before he caught his balance. The dizziness—the weakness and nausea—was a bitch, but that was the least of it. Other things were bothering him too. Like the fluorescents above his head. The bright light hurt his eyes and made his temples pound. And his skin? Way too sensitive, as though he’d been sandblasted while drifting in and out of la-la land.
    Rolling his shoulders, he cringed, hating the scratchy feel of the jeans and cotton tee he’d pulled on that morning. “Where’s my jacket?”
    “Detective MacCord, you’re not well,” Nurse Pain-in-the-Ass said, her voice cajoling now instead of steely. Good plan. Not that the tone switch-up would work. He was leaving whether she liked it or not. “Please…just a few more—”
    He pivoted in her direction, nailing her with the full force of his gaze.
    She blinked, then sucked in a quick breath. “Oh, my God. Your eyes. They’re…they’re…”
    Mac’s brows collided. His eyes were…what? What the hell was she talking about?
    The nurse backed up a step. Then another, staring at him like he were some kind of freak show. He reached for her, his gaze glued to her face. Panic flared in her eyes a second before she spun and ran for the