Pepper stirred, drawing his gaze. Her eyes met his, the brilliant starburst of diamonds showing through the nearly purple, midnight sky. “Has it occurred to you that none of his scientists could figure out how to make the antivenom in my body work for anyone else? And that he expects you’ll have to do it. That you’ll have to find a way to make the children less lethal? And when you do…”

“He’ll come after them again.”

Pepper was getting tired. He could tell by her voice – the soft, sultry note had crept back in. He didn’t reprimand or remind her. He set his teeth and endured it, not looking at Ezekiel or Malichai, hoping they could see how worn out she was.

“The minute you said you needed my blood, I knew you were more than a soldier. You really are a genius, aren’t you? Both you and Nonny, and along with that, you’re chemists and deal with toxins all the time.”

Wyatt nodded slowly. “The swamp has many plants that cure and take away pain, but it also has plants that can kill in minutes.”

Pepper made a small sound in the back of her throat, her large eyes on him. Fringed with impossibly long feathery lashes, her eyes pulled at him. They were filled with fear, and this time she didn’t try to hide it.

“You’re risking your life, Wyatt. Whoever this man is, he’s after you.”

Wyatt shook his head slowly, once more bringing her hand to his mouth. He nibbled on her fingers for a brief moment, holding her gaze, enjoying the fact that she was worried about him. “No, he’s too cold to make anythin’ personal, babe. He’s all about science. I’m all about famille. He just thinks I’m all about science.”

He had a full lab in the garage. He’d had one since he was a child, experimenting with the various plant extracts in order to perfect the drugs for the people in the bayou that couldn’t afford medical care. Maybe all along he was using the things Joy had said to him as his excuse for joining the GhostWalkers, when it really was the science. Whitney would certainly see it that way.

Dr. Peter Whitney didn’t understand families, and he’d never be able to understand a family like Wyatt’s. His grandmother had sacrificed everything, including an education, to take care of her parents. She had taken on the four boys when their mother and father had died in an accident. She’d done so instantly and without a thought to what it would cost her. She gave herself selflessly to the people in the bayou, helping the older ones who couldn’t hunt or fish by bringing them food and clothing. And her pharmaceutical field was magnificent.

In Whitney’s eyes, Nonny was uneducated and backwoods. That’s what he saw when he looked at her, not any of the rest of it. Wyatt doubted if the man even knew the boys got their high IQs from their grandmother.

“We’ve got only a few days to pull the house together, childproof it and put in extra security. I don’ want to leave the children there any longer than I have to.” He shot a glance at his grandmother, wanting her to understand. “I’m goin’ to call in a couple more of my friends. They’ll help build up our security and the lab. Once I sort out a way to ensure if someone is accidentally bit that we can minimize the damage to them, I’ll call Flame and ask her to help.” He made that concession to his grandmother.

The truth was, his brother’s wife would be a huge help. Flame could get in and out of places few others could. But she was his brother’s world and he’d nearly lost her to cancer. Whitney had repeatedly given Flame cancer. She was one of his throwaways.

Wyatt loved her as if she’d been born into the family. It broke his heart that she couldn’t have children and he knew she would love nothing more than to help them, but he wasn’t going to risk her no matter what Grand-mere or Flame said.

“Let’s get to work,” Ezekiel said. “Ma’am?” At Nonny’s sharp glance he cleared his throat and tried again. “Grand-mere, do you mind if I go exploring in your attic? If the high chair was up there, we might find a crib or two. I’m handy with tools and if they need repairing, I can do it.”

“I’ll go up with you, Ezekiel,” Nonny offered. “It would be nice to bring life back to some of the things I’ve cherished in my lifetime.”

Wyatt finally turned his head and looked at Ginger. He’d been avoiding her gaze throughout the conversation. He didn’t know the first thing about babies, but something told him this one was very sensitive. “Ginger, I know you’re sick of people pokin’ and proddin’ you, but I’d like to take a look in your mouth and take a few samples of your saliva.”

The child turned her head to look at Pepper, her little fingers signing.

Pepper signed back, reassuring her. “Her saliva isn’t venomous, as one would think it would be. The doctors in the first lab were shocked by that. If she were made like a snake, she would be secreting the venom in her saliva.”

Wyatt frowned. “That’s interestin’.” He caught Pepper’s look. “Don’ be thinkin’ I’m goin’ to turn my daughter into a guinea pig. She isn’ a test tube for me. I’ll need to study her to see how I can keep others safe and maybe reduce the risks to her as well. However, I will be askin’ you to help me out quite a bit. You know what the danger is in havin’ three baby vipers around.”

“Don’t call them that.” Pepper glared at him.

He grinned at her, unrepentant. “It was said with affection, woman. Get a sense of humor. You’re goin’ to need one around my Cadien famille.”