PS02 - Without Regret (18 page)

“Y-yes,” she answered even as her vision began to dim, “I-I’m just a l-little discombobulated here, but I’ll be okay.”

“Maybe you should-“

Whatever he was about to say was lost to her as blissful darkness overtook her.

*************

“I hope this doesn’t set Madison off,” Ephraim said as he gingerly flexed his newly formed hand around the steering wheel.

“That your hand was torn off because my mate didn’t do her fucking job?” Chris said evenly as he leaned back in his seat,

refusing to look back and see if his little mate was okay.

His father sighed long and loud and Chris didn’t have to be a fucking genius to know his father didn’t share his opinion about

his mate.

“You’re being too hard on her, Chris,” he said softly before he said a few choice words that would have his grandmother

scowling.

“What’s wrong now?” Chris asked, rubbing his uninjured hand down his face and pointedly ignoring his father’s comment

about his mate. He knew from what he’d heard and seen on that little battle field back in the woods that his father already saw

Izzy as one of his own simply because she was Chris’ mate.

“That prick swallowed my fucking wedding ring,” his father said, the glow from his red eyes lighting up the dashboard of the

SUV.

“Well,” Chris drawled, trying not to wince when his right arm brushed the door when they hit a bump, “we could always go

back there and sort through the ashes.”

His father shot him a thoughtful look before he shook his head and looked ahead. “The stomach acid probably already

destroyed it,” he muttered, sounding truly unhappy, which Chris could understand. The man did have an overly hormonal wife

to go home to after all.

“You never know, the fire might have stopped the acid from destroying the ring,” he said, knowing it was probably bullshit.

The stomach acid in shifters was fucking frightening. It devoured whatever the shifter ate within minutes. Skin, fat, bone,

clothing, and jewelry were all vulnerable in a shifter’s stomach and for good reason. If all that shit remained when it shifted

back to human it would either rip the shifter internally to shreds or kill them instantly.

His father’s ring was long gone and he had absolutely no idea how Madison was going to react in her current state. Normally

she’d get pissed at the shifter that hurt Ephraim and probably a little sad at the loss of the ring, but this new hormonal

Madison……

Hell, he didn’t even want to think about what she was capable of and was glad that he wasn’t in his father’s shoes.

“No,” Ephraim said, sighing softly, “it’s long gone.”

“Probably,” Chris agreed easily.

His father shot him another glare and he simply shrugged it off. He knew he was being an asshole, but he couldn’t help it. After

waiting all these years for his mate to show up and help protect his family and what he got was a fucking coward, he thought

bitterly as his eyes once again sought out her form in the rearview mirror.

He snorted with disgust when his eyes landed on her.

Even in her sleep the little coward curled up. Of all the things he’d expected her to do, lying down on the ground while several

werewolves circled her was not one of them. At least if she had tried to run he could have understood that. He would have

tackled her ass before she’d gone too far, but he would have understood that reaction. The fact that she’d just given up and

hadn’t even tried to fight back or defend herself in any way let him know all he needed to know about the mate he’d been

destined with.

She wasn’t good enough.

The realization had him chuckling darkly as his father pulled into their driveway and parked behind Madison’s old Jeep that

she refused to trade in. After all those years of sleepless night and constant worrying that he’d be the one lacking in his mate’s

eyes and she was the one who came up short.

Now he was stuck with a woman who not only couldn’t do her job, but probably wouldn’t even do it if she could manage to tap

into her skills. She was a fucking coward and his responsibility, a responsibility he didn’t need or want.

“What do you want to do?” Ephraim asked, slowly turning the car off and pulling out the keys, but made no move to get out.

“About her?” he asked casually, biting back the bitter disappointment that threatened to take over.

“Yeah, about her,” Ephraim said, dropping his head back against the head rest.

He shrugged, forcing himself to treat this like any other problem he needed to fix to keep his family safe.

“There’s really not much choice in the matter. I’m going to see what I can find out about her tonight and then tomorrow I’m

going to contact Eric and see where the council wants to send her.”

“You know they’ll either send her to a compound or straight to one of the islands, don’t you?” Ephraim asked, rolling his head

to the side towards the window where one of the Sentinels Eric left behind was doing a perimeter sweep. Chris forced his eyes

away from his unconscious mate and watched with his father as the Sentinel disappeared into the woods.

There was no doubt in his mind what would happen to Izzy once he contacted Eric. She’d be sent to a Sentinel compound,

usually a large mansion where dozens of Sentinels, their children and allies lived and worked.

They’d keep her safe since she was on a Master’s wish list and try and train her. When that failed, and he really couldn’t

imagine it working, they’d send her off to one of the many islands the Council owned and used for protection and rehabilitation.

No matter where she ended up one thing was clear, she would never be free again. A Sentinel in this much hot water with

absolutely no way to defend herself would never be safe and he knew that and had no doubt his father had already figured it

out. Wherever she went she’d be a danger. He knew that even if Eric started her out at a compound to give her a chance that

she’d mostly likely end up on one of the island where she’d spend the rest of her life.

Personally he wouldn’t want that type of existence, but he knew it was probably her best bet if she wanted to live.

“It’s her only hope,” Chris said quietly.

Ephraim raked his hand through his hair. “I don’t like this, Chris. I know she fucked up tonight, but with the right training and a

little time-“

“We don’t have that kind of time on our hands,” Chris said, cutting his father off.

“I think you should give her a chance,” Ephraim said, leveling a look on him that told him just how much his father hated this

situation. It was the same look he used to give Chris before each surgery, the one that told him how helpless his father felt. Not

really helpful then and it sure wasn’t helpful now.

Right now he had a war to put an end to before it came to his front door and five vulnerable siblings to take care of, two who

weren’t even born and needed his help the most. The danger Izzy brought to his family wasn’t worth it. As much as it pained

him to sacrifice his mate he would do it. If it meant that his family was safe he would do it in a heartbeat.

“Would you trust her to keep our family safe?” Chris asked, already knowing the answer.

“No,” his father said with absolutely no hesitation.

“Then you know that we don’t have a choice. She has to leave,” Chris said, getting out of the car. With a reluctant nod,

Ephraim followed.

“Do you want me to get her?” his father asked, gesturing towards Izzy.

“No,” Chris said, shaking his head. “While she’s here, she’s my responsibility.”

She might not be able to protect his family, but he’d make damn sure she didn’t do anything to endanger them.

Chapter 14

“What should we be doing?” one of the men Logan insisted on working with him asked.

“Getting the fuck away from me would be a good start,”

Kale said, glaring down at the much shorter man until he backed away from him. Without a word his friend moved away from

him as well.

At least they were well trained, Kale mused as he stepped into the ransacked apartment and looked around the mess Logan’s

men had made.

“Look, we already told you there’s nothing here,” the second vampire said as he folded his arms over his lean chest and tried

to look intimidating.

“And I told you to be quiet and stay out of my way,”

Kale said, gesturing for one of the men to close the door behind them. The last thing he needed was some old lady in curlers to

see them and alert more humans.

With a glare the second man let his arms drop by his side and shut the door.

“We should be-” the man started again, testing Kale’s last fucking nerve.

“One more word,” Kale said, letting his eyes turn silver, “and I’ll rip your heart out.”

The man noticeably bristled under the threat. “You wouldn’t dare cross the Master,” he said with such conviction that Kale

knew the leech truly believed he was safe with him, which of course was fucking stupid since he planned on getting rid of them

both very shortly.

Logan knew how much he hated leeches and was just trying to push his fucking buttons by sticking two of his men with him and

of course he couldn’t forget the two minions he’d spotted following him. If it had been any other client Kale would have given

him a courtesy warning to back the fuck off, but that wouldn’t work with the man who’d been waiting damn near nine hundred

years for an opportunity to string him up by his balls.

He had to be a fucking masochist to keep coming back for this shit, Kale thought. Seven hundred years ago when Logan trapped

and caged him for the first time should have been the end of all of this shit, but he hadn’t been able to walk away from Logan

then and he sure as hell couldn’t walk away from him now.

None of this bullshit would have happened if it hadn’t been for that bitch. Then again if he’d just opened his mouth up when

Logan announced his intentions towards the cold hearted girl that hadn’t deserved a moment of Logan’s attention, none of this

would have ever happened. Logan would have found a girl worthy of his kind heart, raised a family, grown old and died a

peaceful death surrounded by loved ones.

Instead the man dedicated ten years of his life on a girl who simply hadn’t been worth it. He’d taken every single job he could

get his hands on, gone without and all for the sake of his compassionate besotted soul, leaving Kale with absolutely no choice

but to go with him and protect him.

Not that anyone would believe him now, but Logan used to be the kindest man Kale had ever known. He would never willingly

hurt anyone. He always went out of his way to help others, never had a bad word to say about anybody, and always had a ready

smile. He’d also been the best and only friend Kale ever had, which was probably why he was here when he should be resting.

Resting? He snorted at the concept since that’s all it was him to him. No matter how many times he tried to bullshit himself

with promises of a break after each job he knew it was all sugar coated bullshit he told himself as he tried to find the will to

keep pushing through to the next job. A few more jobs and he would be set for life, which is why he should never have

accepted this job in the first place.

A war was starting and he was in high demand. Instead of accepting Logan’s summons, which he knew was only going to end

poorly, he should have entertained one of the higher offers since one of those offers would have brought him one step closer to

his goal. Unfortunately for him he couldn’t forget the pain on Logan’s face the moment his world crumbled at his feet.

Sentiment had no business in his life and sometimes he wondered if he should do them both a favor and ram a stake through

Logan’s heart. Not that the man had much of one these days. The man was cold, brutal and unforgiving. He was nothing like the

young human who could fill a two day walk while they searched for work with endless excited chatter and couldn’t seem to

stop smiling.

He felt the familiar tightening in his chest at the memory of Logan, carefree and smiling and shoved it away before he became

sick. When everything was said and done the blame lay on his shoulders.

All of it.

After nine hundred years he couldn’t forgive himself or forget about his friend no matter how hard he tried. It was the same

reason he took this job and why he would finish it for his friend and foolishly hope that it would earn a mediocre amount of

forgiveness from the only friend he’d ever known.

He knew it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference what he did, but he couldn’t stop himself from hoping. When this job was

done he’d have to face Logan’s anger once again. Not that he’d let the man have his revenge. He wasn’t a fucking idiot after all.

“Aren’t you going to shift?” one of the leeches asked, drawing his attention.

“No,” he said firmly, focusing his mind right back where it should be, finding Isabella McGuire. He never shifted. Shifting

would mean losing control to his baser instincts and he would never allow that. Although he’d still be in control, his needs

would be magnified and he’d be worthless. He’d had his last shift over five hundred years ago and had absolutely no intentions

of changing it any time soon.

“Then why the hell are you here?” the man demanded.