PS03 - Tall, Dark & Heartless (2 page)

caught him on their property they normally set the dogs on him or shoved him around a bit. They'd never gone as far as to use

their swords on him before.

"Just let me go and I won't come here again," he said, becoming more anxious each time he heard his own voice. It no

longer sounded like the voice that he detested, the one that other lads mocked. His voice sounded deep, like a man's voice. In

fact, his voice sounded a lot deeper than Jacob's and he suddenly couldn't wait to go hunt down his cousin and rub it in his face.

It was finally happening. He was finally growing and not a moment too soon.

As soon as he finished growing he was going to leave the village since they'd probably just point at him and call him a

freak for finally growing into a man, but that was okay. He always wanted to travel, but it had never been an option for him

with the way he looked. Hopefully, he'd grow as big and tall as his uncle, he thought as he dropped his eyes down to his bare

legs, and widened.

Why was everything in shades of blue? he wondered even as the size of his legs and arms had him grinning like a fool. It

looked like he got his wish, but he'd bet that he was bigger than his uncle now. He moved to raise his arms, surprised that it

took so much effort.

"Hands down!" Ian shouted and Caine automatically went to comply when something occurred to him. Not only was he

probably bigger than them, but they were acting like they didn't know him. Could he have changed that much during a quick

nap? He didn't think it was possible, but unless this was a dream that's exactly what happened based on what he was seeing.

Please don't let this be a dream
.

"I'll only ask ye again! Where's the lad?" Ian demanded, making Caine cringe as a hundred other sounds suddenly made

themselves known. He could hear each and every breath the men took, the sounds of their clothes moving, the sounds of the

cloth and embers burning around the torch, the soft wind rustling through the trees outside the cave, and insects crawling

through leaves. It was overwhelming and just when he thought that he couldn't take anymore his nose was suddenly bombarded

with scents.

"I ken that he's probably not alive since he's not here an' no one's seen or heard from the lad in over a month, so tell us

what ye did with the body!" Brandon, Ian's youngest son demanded.

Caine barely heard them as he struggled to work through the scents that were attacking him. He could smell the dirt, body

odor, the scent of stale whisky and beneath all of those repugnant smells he scented something delicious, something that had his

stomach growling and his body trembling with need. He looked up at the men as his sight suddenly shifted from blues of every

shade to red.

The men gasped as they moved to step away.

"Monster......," Ian whispered as he slowly raised his sword to strike Caine, but he never got the chance. Caine suddenly

found himself leaping on top of the man and knocking them both over in his clumsy, weak attempt to get at the delicious scent.

He was barely aware of the sounds of the man's sons running and screaming as his eyes narrowed on the man's dirty neck.

He knew this was wrong and sick and that he shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't help it. Before he knew what he was

doing he was biting into Ian's neck and moaning as a rich, hot liquid poured into his mouth and God help him, but he'd never

tasted anything more delicious in his life.

Tall, Dark & Heartless

Chapter 1

Manhattan, New York

Present Day

"That dumb bastard is going to get us all killed," Kelly murmured as they crouched down in the wide tunnel. Danni

couldn't agree more. Kelly jerked her head to the far right where one man stood apart from the others, looking bored.

"Except for him of course."

Danni looked at the only Pyte in the unit and she couldn't help but note the differences. Where some of the men, especially

the lying rat bastard, who was leading the merry group of humans probably to their deaths, went overboard with their weapons

and gear, he kept it simple. He wore a black tee shirt, black combat pants, and boots with only a knife at his side. His short

bronze hair was naturally spiky with a mussed look most of the other men paid top dollar to achieve. The black spiral tattoo

that started at the fingertips of his right hand and ran up his arm, over his shoulder, around his neck and finished along his jaw

made him look dangerous. It also made his pale grey eyes look more menacing. While most of the men tried to look tough with

spiky hair and tattoos he was the only one that carried it off, making the rest of the men look like country club kids playing

dress up. Considering they were full humans working for the Sentinels the description was probably fitting.

Most of the members in this unit were children of Sentinels who either thought they were natural bad asses or had

something to prove. Although she was the daughter of a Sentinel couple, she was neither here to prove herself, or to seek

attention. The simple fact was that it was in her blood. She may not have been born a Sentinel, but she was born for this job.

This was her life and she loved it.

Except for tonight of course.

Tonight she really wished she'd given into her headache, one of many lately, and stayed home. No doubt she could have

helped prepare the infirmary for tonight's casualties. Sharp pain shot behind her eyes causing her to drop her head in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Kelly whispered.

"Yeah, just a side effect of listening to longwinded assholes for too long," she explained, hoping Kelly would just drop it.

Thankfully she did. "I'm surprised he let you in on this, you know considering...," she trailed off.

So was Danni.

She really expected the lying bastard, a.k.a. Greg, to get back at her by keeping her off this mission, but of course that

would have been stupid since they both knew she'd probably save this mission if, when, he fucked up so he could get all the

glory. She could really care less who got the credit, except she was afraid that he'd get promoted and would end up her boss.

She really wouldn't be able to live with that. If that ever came to pass, and with his brownnosing abilities it was a likely

possibility, she'd transfer to another human unit run by the Sentinel Council.

"Let's go over the plan once again to make sure that everyone understands the mission," Greg said. A collective groan rose

up from the small group, echoing throughout the tunnel and causing sharp pain to shoot through Danni's head.

She rubbed her temples even as she had to ask herself if he was serious. They'd gone over the plan at the compound twice,

once in the van on the way over here, and this would make it the third time in the tunnel. Danni looked at her watch and

groaned.

In an hour the sun would set and the vampire nest they were about to invade would be able to escape the old underground

tunnel system. Then they'd be out of luck in getting everyone in this particular nest together again. Once a nest broke up, it never

formed again. The damn vampires would scatter, not trusting anyone for awhile, because they could never be sure who tipped

off the Sentinels in the first place.

There was no way in hell Danni was going to sit here and listen to Greg ramble on nervously, giving her a killer headache

and letting this nest full of rapists and murderers go free. Those were the crimes this particular nest was guilty of committing.

Before any nest could be attacked or destroyed they had to be charged with a crime, which had to be proven. The last thing any

Sentinel wanted to do was kill a group of "baggers", vampires who lived off bagged blood. They usually made very good

allies, because they saw nests like this one as a threat to their peaceful existence.

"-if we keep to the south tunnels I think we can-"

Danni stopped listening as she closed her eyes and took deep calming breaths. Her headache was on the verge of

becoming unmanageable. If they didn't move their asses and do this soon, she'd be completely useless. Maybe she should-

"What do you think you're doing?" Greg suddenly demanded.

Her eyes flew open half expecting to find Greg looking at her. Instead she found Greg glaring towards the right side of the

tunnel. She followed his eyes and wasn't too surprised to find Caine throwing one of the explosive packs over his shoulder as

he made his way to the tunnel entrance.

Actually, truth be told, she was a bit surprised the Pyte actually sat here listening to any of Greg's repetitive bullshit in the

first place since he couldn't stand Greg. Never had. That had been very clear to her even when she was a young child when

Caine had appointed himself as her self-appointed protector. Anytime Greg came too close to her, Caine would stare the boy

down until Greg had no choice but to piss himself and run away. Caine never explained why he disliked the little boy so much

and she never asked, too happy to have an adult to spend time with her and one that actually cared about her. That happiness

ended abruptly when she was seventeen and he suddenly acted like he didn't know her.

The familiar ache started in her chest at the reminder of that lost friendship. He'd been her idol, her protector, and teacher.

Losing his friendship was still one of the most painful experiences of her life. Her eyes darted to Greg. Thanks to the life

lesson Caine taught her about being foolish enough to let someone get close to her, she'd been able to handle the humiliating

end to her relationship with Greg three months ago.

If she was going to be completely honest with herself she'd probably allowed things to progress with the lying bastard

because she knew it would bug the hell out of Caine, probably one last act of childhood rebellion that she'd forgotten to release

all those years ago. Then again if it had bothered Caine it never showed. Not once during her entire four month relationship

with Greg had Caine behaved as if he cared or even noticed. That wasn't surprising since he hadn't spoken one word to her in

the eleven years since he ended their friendship. Not that it mattered to her anymore. She wasn't that seventeen year old kid

who got her heart broken by the only person she ever trusted anymore.

"We're not finished here yet," Greg stated loudly, making Danni wince when the echo seemed to ring inside her head.

Her stomach twisted painfully as nausea rolled through her. She needed to get out of here. Throwing her small pack over

her shoulder she got to her feet and as casually as she could she headed for the tunnel opening. Thankfully, no one looked her

way. They were too busy watching the pissing contest.

"I am," Caine said, staring down the much smaller man.

As she progressed towards the tunnel opening she noted Greg's wince, but he didn't back down. He never would in front

of a crowd. He really thought he was tough and worked hard to make everybody believe it.

"You're staying here until I say we're ready," Greg snapped.

"I'm not your bitch, boy," Caine said between clenched teeth. He took a menacing step towards the smaller man. "Or do

we need to have another
talk
?"

Was it her imagination or did both men just shoot glances at her? Whatever. Danni didn't have time for this. She was about

thirty seconds away from losing her aspirin dinner.

When she thought she was far enough inside the long, dark tunnel so no one could see her, she broke out into a run. She

stumbled several times, but didn't stop, desperate for fresh air. She ran until she spotted a lone figure guarding the ladder.

Without pausing, she nodded to him and quickly climbed up.

Once she made it out she quickly ducked behind the old restaurant's rusty dumpster and not a moment too soon. Before her

knees hit the pavement she was vomiting. Closing her eyes, she welcomed the frigid assault of the cold January air against her

face and in her lungs. It quickly suppressed the remaining nausea and acted like a balm to her splitting headache.

She took a moment to calm her breathing, knowing she should walk the block to where their vans were parked, crawl in

the back and wait to go home, but she couldn't. This was her job, her responsibility, and her life. She couldn't turn her back on

it.

After the last wave of dizziness left her she returned to the tunnels, determined to get this over with quickly so she could

go home to her painkillers and bed.

********

Caine rammed his fingers through his hair as he fought back the urge to turn around and rip that asshole's throat out. He

didn't, but he was so fucking tempted.

The little bastard was on a massive power trip. He still couldn't understand what the hell Thomas had been thinking

setting his son up as team leader tonight. Such blatant nepotism was only going to come back and bite him in the ass, especially

when his golden boy fucked up and sent half the team home in body bags.

He could easily think of five people out of that group of humans who were more qualified to lead this mission than the

little prick. He didn't bother counting himself in that number since he was technically still a prisoner of the Sentinel Council.

They liked to say he was on "probation," but it was all just sugarcoated bullshit as far as he was concerned.