PS03 - Tall, Dark & Heartless (35 page)

little girl she would have simply hunted Caine down and crawled onto his lap, but she couldn't do that now, couldn't cling to

him as he soothed her. She couldn't-

"Come here," Caine said, startling her as he sat down next to her and picked her up before she could react. He placed her

sideways on his lap as he shifted over to take the spot she'd just vacated. Once she was in his arms she found that she didn't

want to refuse him. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed him too much at the moment.

She curled up in his arms and laid her head against his chest as he held her, taking the comfort he offered as she closed her

eyes and focused on the way he soothingly rubbed her back. It was foolish to allow him to comfort her, to allow herself to

believe that he really cared about her, but she didn't care. Right now he made her feel loved and protected when she felt like

her whole world was falling apart.

When some of the pack members climbed into the van she turned her face against Caine's chest, refusing to see the looks

of disgust and fear on their faces. She'd lost control and brutally killed a man, an innocent man who hadn't deserved it. She

realized that if Caine hadn't changed her she would still be dying in that cell and the man would still be alive.

"Shhhh, Danni, it's okay," Caine said softly as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "It's okay, baby," he whispered,

holding her tightly against him.

It wasn't until that moment that she realized she was crying. Not just crying, but sobbing almost hysterically against

Caine's chest as she gripped the borrowed shirt he was wearing and buried her face tightly against his chest as her grief

overtook her. She'd killed a man today, someone's husband, father, son, brother, and friend because she was a monster.

Never again, she swore to herself even as she continued to cry. She would never feed from the source again and she

would make damn sure that she never allowed herself to go into bloodlust again. She would treat this like a disease. As soon

as she showered and got some rest she was going to take off and go to the house her parents left her in Pennsylvania.

It wasn't too far away, plus the Council didn't know about it. She'd go there and contact the blood delivery service the

Council ran, a global effort to keep vampires from living off humans. She'd just have to be careful. The service was very

discrete and used a number system so she didn't have to worry about the Council finding her, but that didn't mean that she was

going to take any chances. She'd lay low there until she got this thing under control and once she did she was going after Greg

and the bastard that ordered her capture. She was going to show them just what kind of monster they helped create.

******

"I'm fine, Caine," Danni said on a tired sigh as she walked up the back stairs to the guest apartment above the garage that

Jax gave them for the night.

Usually the Alpha liked to keep his guests close so that he could keep an eye on them, but it had become more than

obvious by the time they arrived on the large estate that most of the pack feared having Danni under the same roof. Well, the

women did at least. The men looked a little too interested in his mate for Caine's comfort. He may have threatened to rip the

balls off one or two of them, which probably was the real reason why they were being exiled to the garage apartment.

"You don't have to follow me everywhere. I'm not going to break down again," she said firmly as she opened the

apartment door and strolled inside.

"I'm not following you," he lied. "I want to refuel with some blood and sleep before we take off," he said as he shut the

door behind him. He placed the small blue cooler full of blood on the table by the door.

He owed Jax big time for ordering the blood while he'd been dealing with Danni's bloodlust episode. Of course, his pack

probably begged the Alpha to order the blood seeing how most of them were unwilling to be tapped by a seemingly unstable

Pyte. Not that he could blame them. He'd never been on the other end of bloodlust before and he'd have to admit that it wasn't

something he'd volunteer for. Then again if anything with fangs came after his neck he'd just fucking kill it and be done with it,

but this was Danni and it was his job to take care of her.

Danni nodded absently as she stared at the cooler. After the damage her body just went through she was going to need to

feed soon. Her body had worked double time to get itself healed and although the blood she took from the human and him took

care of the damage, she was still weak.

Without a word she walked past him, noticeably swallowing as she opened the cooler. She reached into the cooler, but

hesitated to touch the bags full of blood.

"It won't taste as good as it does from the source," an understatement, it tasted like shit until you got used to it, "but it will

do the job," he explained, reaching into the cooler and picking up a bag of blood. He handed it to her.

She tentatively took it from him. When she turned to leave he moved to grab one for himself when she suddenly turned

around and quickly picked up two more bags. He cocked a brow at that, but said nothing. He doubted that she'd be able to

handle even half a bag of blood. She'd probably gag and have to work at not vomiting, but it would be enough.

He fed her his own blood during her transformation so her body was used to the warmth and taste of fresh blood. If he had

used bagged blood it would have been a hell of a lot easier for her now and her stomach would have been used to the cold

metallic taste of bagged blood. As long as she managed to hold down half a bag she'd be fine. She'd have to feed more often for

a while until she was able to tolerate the stuff, but in time she'd be able to limit her feedings to twice a day.

"I'm going to go take a shower," she said, walking to the open bathroom door as she hugged the blood against her chest.

"Fine," he said, letting his fangs slide down as he prepared to eat his meal.

He watched her shut the bathroom door behind her and heard the click of the lock a few seconds later. After he finished

off four bags he walked over to the small sitting area and plopped down on one of the loveseats. As he looked around the plush

apartment he had to admit that he much preferred this, over one of the rooms in Jax's house. He'd have to make sure to request it

the next time he was in the area and needed to lay low for a night or two.

Then again, the next time he was in the area could very well be a century from now and Jax and his pack would have

already moved on. Like him, shifters didn't age once they were fully matured. Some stopped aging as early as twenty-two while

others didn't reach their immortality until their early thirties.

Living among humans for long periods of time was a problem for them since humans tended to notice that sort of thing and

overreact. Jax usually didn't keep the pack in an area for more than ten years. Since he'd already been here for nine years the

Alpha was probably already looking for a new home.

"Come on," he heard Danni say, sounding frustrated.

He shrugged it off. She was probably just having problems keeping the cold blood down. He looked around and sighed

heavily when he didn't spot a microwave in the apartment. He'd have to tell the man to get one for the next place. Not that it

would really improve the taste of the blood all that much, but it was better than drinking it cold. He really missed the days

when he lived off the source, but once he started working for the Sentinels he hadn't had much of a choice in the matter.

Not that he had much of a choice now. If he wanted to stay off the radar he was going to have to drink the bagged shit

since an epidemic of neck bites would probably attract the attention of the Council. If he was careful, he could probably get

away with-

The sound of glass shattering yanked him out of his thoughts and off the couch. He was across the room and breaking down

the bathroom door in the next second and what he saw when he stepped into the bathroom felt like a physical blow to his gut.

Danni stood in front of the bathroom sink, her bloody hands cupping her face as her body trembled. His eyes darted over

to the large shattered mirror, the broken glass on the sink counter and floor among the drops of blood and finally down to the

neatly stacked pile of undamaged bags of blood.

"It's okay, baby," he said, having absolutely no idea what to say to the woman as she continued to cry.

He could count on one hand the number of times she'd cried as a child. Even as a little toddler she'd been a tough kid and

usually only cried because someone else was hurt or sad. She didn't cry if another kid was mean to her, if she got in trouble, or

when she threw one of her adorable fits that used to make him laugh when she didn't get her way.

She never once cried for herself and that had amazed him back then considering her less than normal childhood. He

remembered the few times that she did cry. When another child lost his father during a raid on a rather nasty nest, she'd cried

quietly in his arms for an hour. The moment she was able to pull back her tears she wiped her face, grabbed her favorite teddy

bear and gave it to the little boy, promising him that the teddy bear would watch over him and love him now.

The time he decked her father and broke his jaw had been a memorable affair. Then again, he probably wouldn't have

done it if the bastard hadn't promised Danni that they'd be home for Christmas that year and didn't show up or send her a

present. Danni hadn't cared about the presents. The only thing she did care about was that her parents were never there on

Christmas Eve to help her lay out stockings and were never there on Christmas morning. It broke Caine's heart when Danni

came running out of her room, grinning hugely as she looked past the Christmas tree he put up for her and the presents from the

toy store that he'd bought. She always searched for her parents who were never there.

She always made sure to force a smile as she opened her presents, barely aware of what he'd bought her as she threw

hopeful glances at the door, but they never came. The only thing that seemed to give her any joy on Christmas morning was his

reaction to the gift she'd given him. It didn't matter if it was a glob of glue, glitter and a bunch of other shit she'd put together for

him, he smiled each and every time and made damn sure to act like it was the best gift he'd ever gotten all while wishing that he

could get his hands on her parents and smack some sense into them.

The year she turned twelve she told him that she didn't want to celebrate Christmas and asked if they could just hit the

movie theatre and the Chinese buffet instead. For a while he'd considered making her an orphan. When her father called a few

weeks before Christmas and out of the blue promised that they would be home that year he damn near sighed with relief.

Any relief he felt was short lived when they didn't show up on Christmas Eve and when Christmas morning rolled around

and Danni walked out of her room with a hopeful smile he'd had enough. He didn't let her know how pissed he was. Instead he

focused on her. He brought her to the movies, sat with her at the buffet and even let her win their yearly snowball challenge.

She put up a tough front and pretended that it didn't bother her that they hadn't showed up or even called for that matter and he

pretended that he hadn't noticed.

When her parents finally showed up, six months later, Caine walked right up to the bastard and punched him, sending him

flying twenty feet through the air and crashing into a wall. Unfortunately for him, Danni chose that moment to come into the

room. A second later so did half the compound with their weapons drawn.

It seemed the rule about him not harming a Sentinel included beating the shit out of one that had it coming. They sentenced

him on the spot to a month in a cell, like that would really bother him. He'd get to relax, have all the blood he wanted and all

the books he could read. The only thing that bothered him about the sentence was not being there to take care of Danni, but

they'd make due. She'd come visit him and before they knew it the month would just fly by.

That's what he thought at least.

Instead they threw him in the lower levels of the compound, let him have all the blood he wanted, he got peace and quiet

and as many books as he wanted but they took away Danni. She was forbidden to visit him. When they announced that, Danni

walked up to the Sentinel that sentenced him and punched him as hard as she could.

When the man glared down at her, she demanded a cell right next to his and all the ice cream that she could eat, because

according to her, if she didn't get an unlimited supply of ice cream she got cranky. The Sentinel didn't have a sense of humor

and sentenced her to one month confinement in her room, alone, which set him off.

She had no one. Caine knew that her parents weren't going to stick around so that meant they were sentencing a twelve

year old child to stay by herself for a month. They'd look after her, send her meals from the cafeteria and check up on her, but