PS03 - Tall, Dark & Heartless (17 page)

the back elevators. She wanted to go upstairs and get Jessica, but the text message that Madison sent her a half hour ago let her

know that Jessica was curled up in her grandfather's arms and fast asleep. As much as she would love to hold Jessica right

now, she knew that Ephraim needed her more. Ever since the incident with Joshua the man had been struggling to keep it

together and seemed to be able to relax the most when he had his granddaughter in his arms.

Thankfully Madison's due date was getting closer and he'd soon have his two baby boys to keep him occupied. The man

deserved a break and she wished he'd accept that he couldn't have known that Kale had given Joshua his blood before he gave

Joshua his as well. Anyone would have done the same to save their child. It was tragic what happened to Joshua, but it wasn't

his fault. They still weren't sure what the mixture of shifter and Pyte blood had done to Joshua and until they figured it out,

Joshua was going to have to remain locked up.

"Come on, freak, fight back!" she heard a boy yell, followed by the sounds of laughter.

She rounded the corner and wasn't too surprised at the sight before her. Marc, Chris' eleven year old brother, was

standing in the middle of a group of five teenage boys, who were enjoying making his life a living hell. Marc was a really

sweet kid, a cutie pie in her book with his jet black hair and ocean blue eyes. He was also a Pyte, a young Pyte who hadn't

made it through the transformation that would turn him immortal yet. That would thankfully happen in about five years. Until

then, he was just as weak as any human boy, one that needed blood to grow normally, but he was still pretty much human. He'd

also been on the receiving end of this type of nonsense ever since they moved here.

"What's the matter? Don't want your game back?" Seth, a little creep that she'd love to put over her knee, said as he held

up the handheld game system that she'd given Marc just yesterday.

Marc just stood there glaring at the boy, but didn't make a move against him. They both knew that he'd probably be able to

take the boy and a few of his friends down since Chris had trained him, but the boy refused to hurt anyone. Well, anyone human

that is. If the boys had been Sentinels or shifter children instead of humans he probably would have taken a swing at them by

now, but Marc just didn't think the training he had received from his father and Chris was a fair advantage over the human boys.

The boy was just too damn sweet, she thought with a sigh as she stepped up to the group, reached over the boy's shoulder

and yanked the game out of the bully's hand. The boy reacted automatically and went to swing his fist at her as he turned. She

caught his fist in her hand, giving it a light enough squeeze to catch his attention.

"You want to tell me what you're doing?" she asked when the boy's eyes landed on her and widened. "Or should I just go

get my mate and have him handle this......
again
?"

Even as Seth shook his head, almost frantically, his friends took off at a dead run. They might all feel tough picking on an

eleven year old kid who wouldn't fight back, but none of them wanted to deal with Chris. Chris scared the hell out of them and

for good reason, he never made a promise he didn't intend to keep. The last time he found them picking on Marc he promised to

hang them upside down in the great hall downstairs.

"Let me go! We were just kidding," Seth cried out.

"Don't do it again," she said, releasing his fist, but not before Marc stepped up to him and decked the much larger kid,

sending him flying backwards and falling on his ass.

"The next time you take a swing at my sister I'm going to knock all your teeth out," Marc promised evenly as he took her

hand in his and led her towards the elevators. The boy simply nodded as he cupped his face and tried to stop the flow of blood

from his nose.

Isabella had to bite back a smile as Marc entered the code for the elevator. Marc might not lift a finger to defend himself

against human boys, but he was a lot like his brother when it came to the people he loved, he would beat the hell out of anyone

who hurt his family. Without a word, she handed his game back to him. He placed it in his back pocket, but didn't say anything

as they rode the elevator down to the lockup unit.

When the elevator doors opened, the Sentinel on duty looked up and acknowledged them with a nod before returning his

attention to the small television on his desk. They walked past Logan's glass cell and weren't too surprised to find the man

sleeping. Since they'd taken him into custody several months ago he tended to sleep during the day and save his energy for

nighttime when Chris' sister, Jill would visit.

Not that Chris or anyone else for that matter was aware of the little late night visits. She hadn't told anyone because she

hadn't felt it was her place. Besides, the man was locked up and she doubted he could do any harm. She also liked the man, she

didn't trust him, but she liked him. He was cranky in an adorable way.

"I'm going to visit Joshua," Marc mumbled, releasing her hand and headed towards Joshua's cell at the end of the hallway.

"Okay," she said, knowing he'd sit there as long as it didn't bother Joshua. She walked past Joshua's cell and felt her heart

break as she caught sight of the man who was once her best friend. He'd been such a sweet man before the incident and well on

his way to becoming a great doctor, but now he simply sat in his cell all day. He never spoke. The only time he moved was to

eat, drink blood or pace his cell when he became agitated. She hated seeing him like this and wished there was something she

could do to help him.

"Izzy, you need to see this," Kale said, drawing her attention to the large break room the man claimed as his own.

Frowning, she walked into the room and stopped when she spotted the man on the screen floating off the ground. If there

was any doubt in her mind before that the man was a Pyte it was gone now. She nearly groaned in frustration as she watched

him destroy the camera and the signal.

"The signal died a half hour ago," Kale said, sighing heavily as he leaned back against the couch. "There's no way to find

them now."

Yes, there was. It was normally something she used only as a last resort because the program had the tendency of going

overboard and she was still trying to restrict the program, but what other choice did she have?

None.

"It's time to use
Tattletale
."

Chapter 14

One week later.......

"You're not to bring him anymore blood until I tell you to," Greg ordered the two vampires Lucan had sent to deliver a

cooler full of blood.

Lucan bit back the urge to rip the little bastard's throat out for probably the hundredth time that week. It had been seven

days since the human tried to kill the woman and the Master refused to allow him to dispose of the man. If Gregory had been a

vampire the Master would have ordered the execution immediately upon finding out what the asshole did, but unfortunately for

him, Greg was still very much human and the Master was thinking with his dick.

He just prayed that the Master showed up soon. The sooner he fucked Greg and got it out of his system, the faster they

could get rid of the annoying little prick and focus on fixing the problem he'd created.

They had a seriously pissed off Pyte who wouldn't let anyone in the room except to bring the woman food and coolers of

blood for him. Actually, the Pyte demanded a week ago that they double the amount of blood. His reason was valid. According

to the Pyte he was close to bloodlust. For every vampire here, who knew just how bad bloodlust could get, that was more than

enough reason to comply. The little prick of course tried to interfere with the blood and food deliveries.

When the Pyte had taken out the cameras, Lucan had been out of the building looking into another matter. By the time he'd

been notified he'd been sure that it was too late and that they were not only going to have to find a new female, but they were

also going to have to deal with a seriously pissed off Pyte. He'd made it to their cell just as Greg ordered a small group of

vampires to enter the room and retrieve the body. The man had looked damn near giddy at the possibility of seeing the woman's

dead body.

The men didn't get five feet into the room before the screams of terror began. He shoved Greg out of the way and walked

into the room only to come to a halt as he watched the Pyte tear into the throats of his men and take his fill. Even as the Pyte fed

he made damn sure that no one got near the body on the mattress. Lucan took one look at the man's feral expression and knew

he'd hit bloodlust so he ordered his remaining men back, knowing it would be pointless to stay in the room. Just as he was

about to step out of the room he heard it.

The small, weak sound of her heartbeat, but it was enough. She was alive and he knew it would be foolish to try to take

the woman out of the room or even attempt to reattach the barbaric device to her ankle since the Pyte would probably kill

anyone that went near her. Deciding it was time to retreat, he sent in two large coolers of blood, hoping the Pyte would

overindulge in the cold liquid and leave the woman alone. She was the key to their plans and they couldn't afford to lose her.

Not now.

It had been a week since the asshole almost killed her and he was starting to worry. As far as he knew she hadn't woken

up yet. She just laid there. The only thing that kept him from storming the room and taking her out, well, besides the Pyte that

would rip his throat out, was that her heartbeat was strong. Somehow the Pyte was managing to get the food that he sent, into

the woman and she was slowly recovering. He hoped the Pyte was in a better mood today because they needed to talk.

"I'll take that," he said, taking the large cooler out of the vampire's hands and heading for the room only to have Greg step

smoothly in his way and try to block him. He didn't even blink as he shoved the human out of his way and entered the room.

When the stubborn man tried to follow him, he slammed the door in his face.

He shot a look over at the still figure on the mattress and wasn't too surprised to find the Pyte crouching in front of her,

ready to tear his heart out. The good news was the Pyte had definitely staked a claim on the woman. If they played their cards

right and kept that asshole Greg away from the couple, they might just end up getting that Pyte child sooner than he'd hoped. The

bad news, the Pyte had staked a claim on the woman and was too damn focused on protecting her to allow any of Lucan's men

to check on her so they could try to get her better faster. They needed these two to produce a Pyte.

True, it would be sixteen years according to what they'd learned before the child came into his powers and a few days or

months shouldn't matter in the scheme of things, but they did. They needed the army the Pyte could create. They were desperate

for the Pyte the child would be able to create once he went through his change. It would be much better if the Pyte in front of

him turned the woman into so they could take her under their control and get that army he needed for his Master that much

faster.

"Get out," the Pyte practically snarled.

Lucan cocked his head curiously to the side, but didn't say anything as he placed the cooler on the ground and kicked it in

the direction of the Pyte. The man was too close to the edge, at the moment, to be of much help with their problem. The Pyte

needed to calm down and the only way to do that was for Lucan to leave the room so the Pyte could relax and tend to his

female. He shot a look towards the sleeping woman and felt himself relax when she mumbled something and turned onto her

side. The Pyte kept his eyes locked on him, but Lucan could tell that the man wanted to go to the woman, but refused to as long

as there was a threat in the room. With a nod, Lucan left the room, hoping the woman was recovered enough to move onto the

next phase of the plan. Even if she wasn't, they couldn't wait any longer. He didn't want to, but it looked like he was going to

have to help this plan along before Greg convinced the Master to kill her and start all over again.

********

she rolled over onto her back, ignoring her sore muscles as she slowly opened her eyes.

The sound of the toilet flushing sent shockwaves through her skull, causing her to cringe as she squeezed her eyes shut. It

looked like she hadn't slept through her migraine. Although it didn't exactly hurt, it didn't feel great either. Why was everything

so painfully loud, she wondered as she listened to the almost deafening sounds of Caine's chains being dragged across the tile

floor as he walked closer to her.

She turned onto her side, deciding that she'd better get to the toilet before her migraine came back. As she sat up she

caught a whiff of herself and nearly groaned. She smelled of old sweat and about a hundred other things that she didn't want to

think about. In fact, the whole room was full of odors that were attacking her poor nose.