Unstoppable

by R. L. Mathewson

  Hoping that his son would be appeased with a bottle and a fresh diaper, Christofer headed to the bathroom, quickly washed his hands, pulled his clothes on, and headed for their bedroom door only pausing long enough to grab a bottle of Cloe’s breast milk from the well-stocked mini-fridge along the way and-

  “I need to speak to you downstairs,” came the announcement when he opened their bedroom door to find Eric waiting for him in the hallway with Gavin in his arms.

  “What’s going on?” Christofer asked as he reached over and took his son from the Sentinel.

  “I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes,” Eric said with a small smile for Gavin, who had already latched on to the bottle with a grumble and a sleepy little smile as he placed his small hand on Christofer’s chest.

  Nodding, Christofer carried Gavin back into the bedroom and wasn’t all that surprised to find his wife already dressed and heading towards him. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure,” Christofer said as he carefully placed Gavin in her arms.

  “Do you think he’s going to try to get you to work with them again?” Cloe asked, kissing Gavin’s small forehead as he settled comfortably in his mother’s arms.

  “Probably,” Christofer said, biting back a sigh because he wasn’t looking forward to having this conversation.

  The Sentinels wanted his help and he…

  Wasn’t interested.

  He’d seen enough death to last him several lifetimes and wasn’t in the mood to see more. He wanted to focus on his family, spending time with his wife, and watching his children grow up and he wouldn’t be able to do that if he joined the Sentinels. He had no problem protecting his family and the Williams family after everything they’d done for them, but he wasn’t going to go looking for trouble. His children were going to have the happy childhood that he and Marta had been denied, and he would do whatever it took to make sure that happened.

  “Whatever you choose to do, we’re behind you,” Cloe said as she leaned up and kissed his chin.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, reaching up to run his fingers through her hair even as he couldn’t help but wonder how he’d managed to find a woman like her.

  “Positive,” she said with a teasing smile as she focused her attention to the baby sleeping in her arms.

  “I’ll be right back,” Christofer said, leaning down to kiss his son before he headed for the door, not really sure how Eric was going to take the news. Probably the same way that he’d taken his answer the last time, with a respectful nod and a murmur of understanding, which is why he liked Eric. He didn’t try to kiss his ass, make threats, or play any games, which he appreciated today since it meant that he could focus back on his mate as soon as they got this over with.

  With that in mind, Christofer headed downstairs and…

  Wondered why Eric was waiting for him by the infirmary. With a nod, Eric walked into the infirmary, leaving Christofer standing in the foyer. After a brief hesitation, he followed the Sentinel inside. When he saw Noah standing there, grinding his jaw, looking pissed, Christofer’s gaze flickered back to the Sentinel to find him watching him.

  “What’s going on?” Christofer asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for an answer.

  “We have some news,” Eric announced with a brief look in the human’s direction as he grabbed a folder off the desk tucked into the corner and handed it to Christofer.

  “What’s this?” Christofer asked, shooting the Sentinel a questioning look as he opened the folder and…found himself frowning as he stared down at a picture of a little girl with honey-blonde hair and the saddest green eyes that he’d ever seen.

  “A few months ago, Tattletale detected some abnormalities in a blood test run at a hospital in Manhattan for a little girl who had been attacked when she interrupted a break-in. We were alerted to some abnormalities in her blood, so we sent in a team, but by the time the team arrived, she was gone. We didn’t think much of it until a few days ago when Tattletale alerted us to a DNA match in our system,” Eric explained as Christofer turned to the next page and felt his stomach drop when he spotted the picture of the little girl lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to tubes, pale as a ghost, and covered in bandages and casts.

  “Why are you telling me this?” Christofer asked as he reluctantly turned the page to find a factsheet about a forty-five-year-old woman named Ashley Cashman who grew up in foster care, lived paycheck-to-paycheck, and…

  Had looked like she was ten years old.

  Feeling his stomach turn, Christofer slowly looked up to find Eric watching him with something close to pity as he said, “She was your sister, Christofer. I’m sorry.”

  Shaking his head, Christofer tried to make sense out of what the Sentinel was saying as he glanced back down at the file in his hands. “Where is she?”

  There was a slight hesitation before Eric said, “We don’t know.”

  “The last time I checked, emergency rooms didn’t run DNA tests,” Christofer said, his eyes turning red as he pulled the small picture of his sister out of the folder and slid it into his back pocket as he struggled with the knowledge that he had another sister, one that needed him.

  “The test was run through our system,” Eric said, sighing heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck.

  “And where did you get the blood to run the test?” Christofer asked the Sentinel leader only to find himself shifting his attention to the human when Noah answered.

  “I ran the blood.”

  In seconds, Christofer was across the room and had the human by the neck and slammed against the wall as he asked, “Where did you get the blood?” ready to tear the human’s throat out if he fucking lied to him.

  He’d already failed one sister and he wasn’t about to fail another one.

  “I gave it to him,” came the bored announcement that drew Christofer’s attention to find Kale picking up the file off the desk. “I was the first one dispatched to the hospital when Tattletale was alerted. She was too far gone by that point, so I pocketed a vial of her blood and gave it to the human to run tests so that I could see what I was dealing with.”

  “Where is she?” Christofer asked, releasing the human before Eric could pull him off him as he focused all of his attention on the shifter and-

  “Dead.”

  Chapter 29

  Great.

  They were already back to glaring, Ashley thought, biting back a sigh as she took in the large man sitting across the room from her. As she pushed the covers aside and sat up, she couldn’t help but wonder what she did this time to piss him off.

  “We need to talk,” Kale said when she stood up.

  “Of course we do,” Ashley murmured as she turned around and focused on making the bed, wondering if he regretted last night. Probably, she thought, not bothering to bite back the next sigh as she finished straightening the bed and-

  Was forced to reach over and grab hold of the headboard when a wave of dizziness threatened to drop her on her knees only to disappear before she had a chance to wrap her hand around the headboard, leaving her to wonder if she’d imagined it.

  “Are you okay?” Kale asked, placing his hands on her hips to help steady her.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Ashley said absently, moving to finish making the bed when Kale turned her around so that she was facing him.

  “You’re pale,” Kale said, reaching up to cup her face in his hand.

  “I’m fine,” she repeated as she forced herself to step away from his touch, knowing that this was a bad idea.

  She was just a job and he was…

  She had no idea what he was, Ashley finally admitted to herself as she finished making his bed and headed for the door, not really surprised when he followed her. Last night, he’d held her while she’d struggled to keep it together, making her feel safe, and now…

  They were back to the interrogation stage. It had been nice while it lasted, Ashley had to admit as she made her way downstairs to her bed
room. She didn’t bother shutting her bedroom door behind her, knowing him well enough to know that he wouldn’t let a door get in his way, not when he wanted answers that she couldn’t give him. She grabbed a change of clothes from her bureau, well aware of the man that was watching her every move and made her way into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and hoping that he would at least give her a few minutes to herself to figure out what the hell she was doing.

  “Tell me about your father,” came the softly murmured words that had her biting back a groan.

  “There’s nothing much to tell,” Ashley said, turning on the bathroom sink so that she could relieve herself in peace.

  “When are you going to stop lying to me, Ashley?” Kale asked after she finished using the bathroom and found herself standing there, staring at the bathroom door, tempted to tell him everything, but…

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, forcing the words out of her mouth and unable to help but wonder why it felt wrong to lie to him.

  He’d kidnapped her, threatened to tear her throat out, made it crystal clear how he felt about her, and then…he’d held her while she’d been scared out of her mind and talked to her until she fell asleep. He’d held her all night, keeping her safe, and-

  She couldn’t do this anymore.

  She couldn’t keep lying for a man that had promised to keep her safe only to abandon her in a world that she didn’t belong in and disappear. She was so sick of lying, Ashley thought, slowly exhaling as she ran her hands over her face only to realize that they were shaking.

  It was time to stop lying.

  “You can trust me, Ashley. I would never let anything happen to you,” Kale said, and god help her, but she wanted to believe him.

  Opening her mouth, Ashley dropped her hands away and-

  Realized that something was wrong.

  He was already fucking this up, Kale realized, slowly exhaling as he stared at the door that he wanted to rip off its hinges and-

  Bad fucking idea.

  She didn’t trust him and breaking down the door wasn’t going to fucking help matters, no matter how badly he wanted answers. He couldn’t fucking believe this, Kale thought, shaking his head in disbelief even as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that she was an Ion, a pure Pyte.

  But it made sense, didn’t it?

  If her father had been another Pyte or a vampire, she never would have been born, but her father was so much fucking more than that. If the rumors were true, and at this fucking point he honestly didn’t fucking know what to believe, Lucifer had placed several demons on earth in a pissing contest with God to see how many human souls he could corrupt.

  The demons had one job, turn as many humans as they could, and for a while, they did an amazing job at creating an army of vampires, but then God stepped in by sending his warriors down to earth in the form of Sentinels to protect the humans. They’d managed to cut down the vampire army, but they could never seem to stop them completely. There were rumors that all of the demons had been killed or called back to hell, which Kale had believed right up until he came across his first Ion.

  Now, he was mated to one, Kale thought even as he couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t handing her over to Christofer. There was no doubt in his mind that the Pyte would do everything in his power to keep Ashley safe, but…

  “Fuck,” Kale bit out as he walked over to Ashley’s bed and sat down only to drop his head in his hands because he couldn’t let her go. He wanted her and he couldn’t fucking believe it. He wanted a fucking Pyte, Kale thought with a humorless chuckle, only to frown when he smelled it.

  Shifter.

  It was faint, but it was strong enough that he knew that it definitely wasn’t Jacob, which meant that they had a fucking problem. Getting to his feet, Kale scented the air again as he threw the closed bathroom door one last glance before shifting his attention to the windows as he reached back and pulled his gun free from its holster.

  As he moved the curtains aside, Kale scented the air again and-

  Fuck.

  It was an Alpha, which meant that whoever was coming their way wasn’t here to play any fucking games. They were taking a big risk entering a town with this many Sentinels, something that they would have figured out as soon as they drove into town and caught the incredibly sweet scent that Sentinels gave off, lingering in the air.

  That was the reason why he’d taken her here, knowing that the Sentinels that had been stationed here as added protection for the Williams family would help keep her safe since no one in their right fucking mind would willingly enter a town under Sentinel protection. Then again, ten million dollars was usually enough to risk drawing a Sentinel’s wrath, Kale had to admit since he’d done it for less.

  He was going to fucking kill Vane with his bare hands, Kale decided, searching the surrounding woods for any sign of the shifter stupid enough to take this job. Over the years, he’d made sure that other mercenaries thought twice about taking any bounty on his head, but now that he had a mate…

  He wasn’t going to play any fucking games.

  When he didn’t see any movement in the woods, Kale headed for the living room, absently noting that the shifter coming their way was female as he scented the air and-

  Felt his cock twitch with interest.

  It took his fury-filled brain a moment before he realized what that meant and when he did, Kale slowly turned around and swallowed hard as he scented the air again, telling himself that he was imagining things. His knees nearly fucking buckled when Ashley’s scent became stronger, taking away any doubt that his mate was a fucking shifter.

  She was also an Alpha, Kale thought numbly as he forced his legs to move, taking him closer to that bathroom door even as he wondered how he’d missed this. There hadn’t been any hint, not fucking one, that his mate had shifter blood. He’d wondered if she was an Impure, a mixture of shifter and something else because of their mating mark, but that wouldn’t have made any fucking sense.

  For a moment, Kale wondered if his blood had turned her but…that didn’t make any fucking sense either. Then again, nothing about this situation made any sense. Slowly exhaling, Kale returned his gun to its holster as he reached for the doorknob, not sure what to expect when he opened the bathroom door, only to feel his heart break when he saw Ashley sitting in the shower with her arms wrapped around her knees as the tears that fucking broke him ran down her face.

  “Something’s wrong,” she said, her voice breaking as her body trembled and she struggled to hold it together.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Kale said softly as he made his way into the shower and knelt down in front of her.

  “It hurts,” Ashley said around a sob as she squeezed her eyes shut.

  Kale cupped her face in his hands as he slowly ran his eyes over her, noting that her face was flushed, her skin was hot to the touch, and her body was trembling so fucking hard, causing her teeth to chatter even as she struggled to clench her jaw together.

  “I know it does, mo ghrá,” he said, gently caressing her face, wishing that he could take away the pain that was about to tear her body apart.

  “I think I’m sick,” Ashley said in a daze as she opened her eyes and met his with red eyes that flashed silver.

  “I think you’re about to shift,” Kale said with a rueful smile that had her shoulders sagging as she mumbled, “Oh.”

  “I need to get you out of here before it happens,” he explained as he dropped his hands away after one last caress and reached for her.

  “Okay,” she said with a jerky nod and a little sniffle as he pulled her into his arms.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Kale said, repeating the same words that she’d said to him when she’d pulled him through that nightmare.

  “Liar,” Ashley mumbled pathetically, surprising a chuckle from him as he picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom.

  “What if I told you that it was going to be over before you know
it?” Kale asked, trying not to panic as he carried her into the living room.

  “I’d really like it to be over now,” she mumbled pathetically as she laid her head against his chest.

  “I know, mo ghrá,” Kale said as he carefully adjusted her in his arms so that he could open the front door and carry her outside, noting that her eyes had transitioned to a solid silver and that her body was getting hotter.

  “Is it going to hurt?” Ashley asked only to mutter, “Of course, it’s going to hurt,” before he could lie to her.

  “I’m going to be here the whole time,” Kale promised her, seeing the terror in her eyes as he moved to put her down on the porch only to rethink the move and brought her down to the lawn, making sure that there was nothing around that could hurt her when she shifted.

  “Maybe this is a mistake, too?” she asked, sounding hopeful as Kale moved to help take her clothes off, only to curse when he saw the tracker on her arm.

  Fuck!

  “We’ve gotta get this off, mo ghrá,” Kale said, trying not to panic as he noted that her fingernails were getting longer and her arms were beginning to swell, readying to fill with muscle. She was seconds away from shifting and having her hand sliced off by that fucking tracker. It would grow back, but the pain would be excruciating, and he didn’t want her to have to go through that.

  “Try to fight it,” Kale said, grabbing hold of the tracker and moved to turn it only to realize that her wrist had already filled out, making it impossible to turn the tracker around.

  “I can’t!” Ashley bit out between clenched teeth only to release a cry of pain as Kale struggled to hold it together as he raised her arm, looking for that fucking glass so that he could scan his thumb.

  When pain tore through his mating mark, he knew that the tracker was starting to hurt her. “I’m sorry, mo ghrá,” Kale rushed out, trying to find the release as another scream was torn from her lips as her skin stretched and muscle began growing around the tracker and-