PS03 - Tall, Dark & Heartless (36 page)

she would basically be in solitary confinement, something she didn't deserve.

They literally had to tear her off of him and he was forced to stand there and allow it. He didn't want to take the chance of

them punishing her more to get back at him. So while she cried and screamed for him, he ground his jaw shut. He allowed them

to lead him down to the lower levels and thankfully the Sentinels were sympathetic to the situation since nobody in the

compound was happy with the way Danni was treated and they promised to spend time with her and sneak their kids in to see

her.

The month he spent in the cell had been hell for him, but it had been worse for Danni. Her parents stayed for a week while

her father's jaw healed. Thanks to the Sentinel blood it had taken six days to heal and they ignored Danni the entire time, simply

forgot her because she was in her room. That was worse than anything on Danni, having them so close and being ignored. That

experience hardened her heart and helped make her the woman she was today, brave, loyal, tough as hell, but still too damn

vulnerable on the inside.

"It's going to be fine, baby," he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone as he reached for her only to have her step

away from him as she dropped her hands to her sides.

"How the hell is this fine, Caine?" she demanded with dry violet eyes and it was then that he realized that she wasn't

crying.

No, she was simply pissed.

"I can't control this damn monster inside of me!" she snapped.

He shook his head. "It's not a monster, Danni, it's-"

"Bullshit! I saw what happens when I lose control. If that doesn't make me a monster then I don't know what does. I refuse

to let this damn thing control me, Caine, but that's a joke too because the damn thing is in control," she said, sounding angrier

with each passing second.

"You're not a monster," he bit out, forcing away old memories that threatened to surface and knock him on his ass.

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!" he yelled, getting into her face.

"No?" she asked in a mocking tone. "If I'm not a monster then why the hell do I need to drop my fucking
fangs
so that I can

suck on a bag of plasma?" she demanded, getting right in his face.

"Because you're a Pyte and that's what we do," he bit out, hating the fact that she thought she was a monster and in turn

thought the same of him. He wasn't a monster and neither was she and she damn well better face that fact soon or he was going

to get really pissed.

"Well then, I guess I'm a defect because I can't do it," she snapped.

"Do what?"

She sighed in annoyance as she gestured to the untouched bags of blood. "I can't drop my goddamn fangs!"

Chapter 29

Boston, MA

"Are you okay?"

Chris forced a smile as he ignored the new aches from tonight's patrol right along with the injuries from the day before.

He was wound up tight and the damn panic that set in when he left the compound five hours ago was only getting worse with

each passing minute.

"Fine," he said, looking past his father to peer out the back windows of the van. He slowly blew out a calming breath.

They'd be there in less than a minute and a minute after that he'd be making his way to the secured wing his family occupied and

pulling his mate into his arms and making sure that she was okay. Then he'd check on his baby girl.

"They're fine," his father said, probably for the hundredth time that night, something he seemed to say every night.

"I know," he lied just like he lied every night.

They weren't fine.

His mate was struggling every single day with her confinement and it was killing him to watch her pretend that it didn't

bother her that she couldn't leave the compound. This was one of the reasons he'd tried to push her away in the first place. He

didn't want this life for her and he knew that if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be stuck here.

She was staying for him, to make him happy and as good as that made him feel, it also made him feel like an asshole. It

was his job to protect her, to make her happy and instead he was giving her a life of misery. She hated being inside and with

each passing day it became harder and harder for her to accept this life.

Izzy didn't think he knew that she was unhappy, but of course he did. She was his mate and he loved her. She didn't think

that he knew that she liked to go to the attic and sit in front of one of the small windows with Jessica in her arms so that she

could look outside and simply pretend that it was enough. It wasn't. She was getting antsy and he was close to making a

decision that he promised himself that he would never make.

He was going to chose Izzy over his family.

She didn't belong here and neither did their baby girl. With their son on the way he couldn't do this any longer. As much as

he enjoyed his job and loved his family he just couldn't do this any longer. He wanted his mate and children somewhere safe

where they wouldn't be putting their lives in jeopardy just by stepping outside their front door.

A few months ago Izzy and his father bought an insanely large estate, apparently his little munchkin was loaded, and they

had Eric, the Sentinel leader for their area, install security measures to keep them all safe. He set up the whole place with

alarms, monitoring systems, and added several Sentinel homes nearby and a few on the back part of the hundred acre property.

Then Kale, the pain in the ass that loved to push his buttons, caught wind of the whole thing and took it upon himself to check

the place out.

Not that they knew he was doing it. He just showed up one day, got past all the security measures and had a look around.

A week later he sent Izzy a text message with two words, "All Set." That was it. They found out later from Eric that the damn

shifter had the security torn out upgraded, most of the windows replaced, all of the outside doors replaced. He also had a new

iron fence installed around the front of the property and an invisible fence outlining the rest of the property with surveillance

cameras placed at key points throughout the woods.

The man might irritate the living hell out of him, but in this he was thankful. His number one worry was his family's safety.

It would be especially important in the coming weeks. Keeping his family in Boston to keep an eye on Joshua wasn't working

out. As much as he loved his brother, and he did more than he ever thought was possible, they couldn't stay here any longer and

neither could Madison and Chris' little brother, Marc.

He knew his father wouldn't be able to leave Joshua behind not only because it was his son, but because his father took

one hundred percent of the blame on his shoulders for something that when all was said and done was really Chris' fault.

Joshua was his little brother and he should have protected him, kept him safe instead of allowing him to be taken hostage and

pulled out of the compound.

For a while he blamed Kale, but he realized that the man was just doing his job, a fucked up job, but his job nonetheless.

The shifter also earned his forgiveness by doing everything he could to save Joshua. He'd given him his blood and saved him

and Marc by shoving them back inside the tunnel. He was the one that fucked up, not the shifter, not his father, it was him.

And now he was going to abandon his brother to save his family. It made him feel like an asshole, but he didn't have any

choice. He was getting his mate and child out of here as well as his little brother and Madison. His father could stay and that

would be fine with him. He'd look after Madison and his brothers. He hoped Jill came with them. They would need the help.

But it would have to wait until he could devise a plan to get them out of here without the shifters and demons that watched

the compound day and night finding out. He hoped to get them out of here before his brothers were born, but that didn't look like

it was going to happen. There was a Pyte, make that two Pytes, out there that needed to be brought in before they did something

fucked up like make an army of vampires for the Master hell-bent on getting them.

If they didn't get out of here before the babies were born he was afraid that they were going to be stuck here for another

month and then of course his son would be born so they wouldn't be able to leave for a few months after that. His only hope

was that Madison could hold on long enough for them to do what they needed to before she had the babies otherwise it would

be out of his hands.

"Fucking hell," the driver said, sighing heavily with annoyance. "Looks like we'll have to go the back way."

"Why?" he asked as his father cocked his head to the side and scented the air.

"The front's jammed packed with everything from vampires to demons," he said, already turning the van around to go the

back way which would add another ten minutes to his wait.

"Fuck that," Chris said, getting to his feet and moving towards the back of the moving van.

He didn't have to look back to know that his father was right behind him.

"What the hell are you doing?" one of the Sentinels pulling his legs out of the way asked.

"Going trick or treating. What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?" he said as he hit the lock release above his head and

threw the door open.

He jumped out of the moving van and hit the ground with a smooth roll. Within seconds he was on his feet and moving

towards the bastards keeping his family in this fucked up situation. He spotted an
arbean
demon, a nasty race of rage demons

that looked angelic, but were sick fucks that got off on killing children.

"Come here, asshole," Chris said, gesturing for the demon to come closer.
Arbean
demons only got involved if there was

a chance to kill a child, which meant the sick fuck knew about his daughter. "Yeah, you, asshole," Chris said when the demon

looked around, probably thinking that he blended right in with the pedestrians moving along the walkways.

"Just remember to get your ass inside before the cops show up," his father said, zeroing in on a group of shifters making

their way towards them.

"No problem," he said, pulling out his knife and going for the bastard as humans all around them either screamed or made

a run for it. A few of them already had their phones out and were dialing 911.

That was one of the major problems with having a compound within city limits, it made it difficult to protect the

compound without drawing attention from the humans. Once a week, usually around three in the morning, they sent a patrol out

to clear the shifters, demons and vampires that were waiting for their chance to get their hands on Izzy out of here, but tonight it

was just him and his father and he wouldn't have it any other way. He was sick of this bullshit and he was going to make damn

sure to send a warning to the next group that came looking for his mate.

Chris took the demon on, gutting him before he slashed his neck open and shoved him aside so he could go after the

vampire trying to make a run for it. Before he could make it around the corner he was dust and Chris was already chasing

another demon and then another as he took his anger and frustration out on them.

"Chris!" his father snapped as he grabbed Chris by the arm and yanked him away from the dying demon. "The cops are

coming. Get the hell inside, now!"

Reluctantly he left, wishing like hell that this had done more than just piss him off more. He wanted to tear them apart for

scaring his mate and family and keeping them locked up like fucking criminals.

He jogged up the steps of the brownstone that looked like every other brownstone that lined the street on both sides, but in

reality was just the facade for the three level compound that occupied every building on this street, and waited to be let in. He

didn't have to wait long. Before his father had a chance to step in behind him he was running.

One look at his watch let him know exactly where his little munchkin was. Normally at two in the morning she'd be

upstairs in their suite watching a movie and pigging out on junk food while she waited for him to return, but whenever Eric or

Kale was in residence she felt it was her duty to kick their asses at whatever video game that currently held her attention.

He took the secured elevators to the lower level. "Come on, come on," he muttered, anxious to pull his mate in his arms

and know that she was okay, that she was safe.

Finally after what seemed like hours the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Sighing with relief he stepped

out of the elevator only to come to an abrupt stop when his brain registered what he was seeing.

In the next second he had his gun drawn and aimed at the bastard that he was going to kill.

"Get the fuck away from my sister," he said evenly as he leveled his gun at the leech's throat. It wouldn't kill the vampire,

but then again he didn't want to kill the bastard, at least not yet. He'd happily take his time with this leech.

"It's not what it looks like!" Jill said as she rushed to pull her shirt back on when the leech sitting beside her on the cell's

cot shot him a wink.

"Oh fuck this," he said, holstering his weapon, knowing that his father would kill him if he fired a shot this close to his

sister. He was just going to have to settle for ripping the asshole apart with his bare hands.