Unstoppable

by R. L. Mathewson

  Before William finished his transition, Michael had the boy moved downstairs to the lab that he’d had built in secret and began his work. By the time that William opened his eyes, Michael had already mourned the small boy with the shy smile that he’d grown to love and focused on finding answers. Thanks to William, he was able to find out so much about Pytes, how they developed, why their blood was so dangerous to others, and most importantly, the key to their regeneration.

  He now knew that the key to everything was a combination of a very thin tissue that was found throughout the body, a hormone in the blood, and a small section of cardiac muscle located in the center of the heart. It had taken quite a few experiments to figure out how it all worked. There was still some uncertainty, but he now knew how Pytes were able to heal themselves, how they could survive mortal wounds, and how they were able to survive being burned until they were nothing more than ash.

  He also knew why Pytes didn’t generate a new body from limbs after they were severed from their body or why they didn’t form a new body for every speck of ash after their bodies were burned. Their bodies had what he liked to think of as a fail system. If you cut a Pyte’s heart out, the other two systems worked together to form a new heart, but if you burned the body down to ash with the heart intact, the body would be regenerated from the cells in the heart first. When he removed the heart, it took longer before the body began regenerating itself from the ash. He realized that the tissue in the heart acted like an accelerant for Pyte recovery and regeneration. If you removed the heart, it took at least ten times longer for the body to repair itself.

  Thanks to William, he also knew just how much damage Danni’s cancer could do to a Pyte. It had taken some time, but he’d figured out the right combination of demon blood to protect the cancer. He’d also learned how to hide the changes in Danni’s hormones, ensuring that she became pregnant to complete Caine’s downfall.

  The only thing that he hadn’t been able to do was get his hands on enough Occultus demon blood needed to pull this off. The small sample that he’d stolen from the Sentinel labs in Madrid hadn’t been enough. He’d needed something to hide the cancer and the Rasha demon blood that made the cancer stronger and the only thing that could do that was Occultus blood.

  The problem was that Occultus demons were rare, expensive, and normally avoided Sentinels at all costs. He’d tried to find another source to cover the scent, but nothing else worked, leaving him with no choice but to cross a line and do something that he swore that he would never do. But then again, the Council hadn’t left him with a choice.

  They could have put a stop to this a long time ago and followed through with the promise that they’d made him, but instead, they’d welcomed the Pyte with open arms. When he found out that Caine was at the Manhattan compound, he’d thought that it was finally over, but he’d been wrong. The Pyte had been given free rein of the compound, allowed to come and go as he pleased, all while the Council praised their new pet.

  It made him more determined to find a way to make the Pyte pay. For a long time, he’d considered putting his new knowledge to good use and lure Caine into his lab. That all changed when he received an email asking for help finding a way to destroy the cancer that had followed Caine’s new mate into her immortality and he realized that he’d finally found a way to make Caine pay. For the past two years, he watched Caine suffer, giving him hope only to take it away again and again, and now, he was done playing this game.

  “Don’t do it,” Caine said, swallowing hard as he moved to stop Danni from drinking the blood, but one look at Michael had him going still.

  “She drinks the blood or I’m going to kill your son,” Michael said with a pointed look at the baby sleeping in his arms. “And this time, you won’t have a fucking Ion to save her.”

  “You fucking coward,” Caine bit out between clenched teeth as he visibly struggled with the need to give in to bloodlust and rip his throat out, but they both knew that he would never do anything to risk his child.

  “Start drinking,” Michael bit out coldly.

  “Don’t fucking do this!” Caine shouted, only to swallow hard as he watched Danni’s fangs lower as she raised the bag to her mouth. “Please, god, don’t do this…”

  “You’re going to pay for what you did.”

  “Then punish me!” Caine said, reaching for the blood only to stop when Michael pushed the needle just far enough to break the skin and tore a cry from the small baby in his arms, making the threat clear.

  “Take care of Ash,” Danni said, swallowing hard before she bit into the bag.

  “Don’t fucking do this!” Caine shouted, looking terrified as he watched his entire world come crashing down around him.

  “It’s already done,” Michael said, watching Danni take her first swallow and-

  “You really didn’t think that I was that fucking stupid, did you?” came the coldly whispered words as the large hand that was suddenly covering his hand squeezed, breaking every bone as he lost his hold around the baby.

  Chapter 71

  “How do you want to do this, Kale?” came the bored question as Kale was forced to kneel there, watching as the little bastard that wasn’t leaving this house alive absently rolled a silver bullet between his gloved fingertips as he sent Ashley a pointed look.

  “Just ask your fucking questions,” Kale bit out, grinding his jaw while he struggled to stay where he was as he watched Ashley slump over onto her side and curl into herself as her hands found her belly and-

  He was going to fucking kill Vane.

  “What would happen if I gave your mate silver?” Andrew asked, his gaze turning curious as he watched Ashley struggle to stop trembling.

  “You don’t know?” Kale asked as he forced himself to look away from Ashley, knowing that he would fucking lose it if he didn’t.

  “I mean, I could always find out,” Andrew said with a careless shrug, letting him know everything that he needed to know.

  “And I could rip your fucking throat out,” Kale drawled, deciding that he was going to have to have a talk with the Sentinel doctor after this.

  “You know, don’t you?” Andrew asked, sending him a curious look as he continued rolling the bullet between his fingertips while Kale struggled to ignore the pain tearing through his chest and side. He needed to shift, but he couldn’t risk something happening to Ashley, not with the men currently aiming their guns at her. As soon as they so much as fucking flinched, he would be on them, and they knew it judging by the way they kept their gazes locked on him.

  “That I have a Sentinel to thank for your visit?” Kale asked, shifting his attention to the four men keeping their guns locked on them.

  Occultus demons.

  After his last encounter, Kale did some research, finding out everything that he could about demons that didn’t give off a scent or make a sound and was able to narrow it down to Occultus demons. They were rare, only the males were demons, and they preferred to live among humans since they were one of the very few demon species that mated with them. They were strong, efficient, and only had one real weakness.

  Their females.

  They’d do anything to protect them, which explained why they were here. Occultus demons hated shifters and didn’t give a flying fuck about money, which meant that they were being forced to help the little prick. He took in the four men standing in front of him, noting that they all had dark hair, two of them had matching gray eyes while the other two had green eyes, similar builds, and every single one of them looked pissed about being here.

  “Sister?” Kale asked, noting the way their jaws clenched.

  “My daughter,” the one holding the gun aimed at Ashley said while the other three nodded, their glares flickering in Andrew’s direction before turning resigned as they focused back on Ashley.

  “Magnus?” Kale guessed, already knowing that it had to be the mysterious forum poster since there was no way in hell that Andrew and his father could have pulled off someth
ing like this on their own.

  “His fucking lackey,” the man aiming the gun at Ashley bit out.

  “And who is that?” Kale drawled, noting just how fucking pale Ashley was and-

  Narrowed his eyes on her when she mouthed, “Shift.”

  He was going to spank her ass after this, Kale decided, shifting his attention back to the demons, noting the smug look on Andrew’s face. God, he was going to enjoy wiping that look off the little prick’s face, he thought before glancing back at the problem at hand.

  “You should know who it is since he carries your scent, asshole,” the demon aiming a gun at his chest said, making Kale frown as he tried to make sense out of what he was saying and…

  Oh, shit.

  “Joshua,” Kale said, swallowing hard only to end up glaring down at his mate again when she asked, “Who’s Joshua?”

  “I believe that’s Ephraim’s son,” Andrew drawled as Kale noted the calculating look on the demon’s face standing across from him.

  Chuckling, Andrew said, “Don’t waste your time. Who do you think set this all up?”

  “Set what up?” Ashley asked, looking adorably confused as she struggled to sit up only to give up and drop back down on the kitchen floor with a groan as whatever they’d injected her with continued working its way through her system. He needed to fucking shift to get the silver out of his system so that he could give her blood, Kale thought, debating his options as he glanced from the demons whose blood would probably burn her before settling on the shifter.

  “They’re hoping to auction us off,” Kale drawled, knowing that there was no way in hell that they had enough Occultus demons to pull this off and take everyone left at the compound by surprise, which meant…

  “Well, not all of you,” Andrew said with a pointed look that Kale ignored as he shifted his attention back to the demons.

  “Who was the asshole that I killed a few months ago?” Kale asked, needing to be sure of something before he made his next move.

  “Aaron? The little prick thought that he actually had a chance with our sister.”

  “Then I would say that you owe me,” Kale murmured absently as the sound of a car pulling into the driveway caught his attention.

  “True, but we want our sister back.”

  “Which is the only reason why you haven’t ripped the little prick’s throat out,” Kale said as a familiar scent caught his attention. “They’re never going to let her go.”

  “Of course, we will,” Andrew said with an innocent smile that had the demon and his sons looking more determined to go through with this.

  “But you knew that, didn’t you?” Kale murmured, listening as the newcomer took his time making his way to the house.

  When the demons didn’t say anything, Kale nodded as he digested that information. “Why didn’t you split up and two of you go to the mansion?” Kale asked, knowing that if they sent in anyone else that the Pytes and shifters at the mansion would have sensed them coming a mile away.

  Then again, they probably needed them for something else, Kale thought. “Who did you send to the prison?” he asked, knowing without a doubt that they would have taken care of the biggest threat first, the men.

  “The twins,” the youngest of the brothers said, shrugging it off as his brother to his right added, “The mansion isn’t our problem,” making Andrew frown in confusion.

  “But we are,” Kale murmured, knowing that they would have to have a coordinated effort to pull something like this off. He also knew that the demons in front of him didn’t give a flying fuck about any of it.

  “You’re our best bet to get our sister back.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Andrew demanded, getting to his feet as he shot nervous glances at the demons.

  “Looks like they got a better offer,” Kale drawled as the front door opened and the last person that he wanted to see walked inside when the demon in front of him said, “Come in.”

  Logan.

  Chapter 72

  Williams Mansion

  This wasn’t over, Michael told himself as he was suddenly shoved out of the way as Ephraim, who should be a pile of fucking ash by now, tried to grab the baby, but he didn’t move fast enough.

  Before the baby hit the floor, the human who had ruined everything was there, catching the baby with a pained grunt as his back hit the floor. He skidded across the hardwood floor several feet before Caine could get to him, his red eyes locked on Michael as he grabbed Noah’s leg and dragged him away to safety before he could stop him.

  This wasn’t happening.

  Not now when it was finally almost over.

  Ignoring the throbbing pain shooting through his right hand, Michael reached back for his gun and-

  “Think again,” Ephraim said when Michael found the holster empty.

  Keeping his red eyes locked on him, Ephraim tossed the gun across the room as he moved to get between him and the fucking Pyte who was going to pay for what he did. Feeling his stomach drop, Michael watched Caine take his son as Noah quickly got to his feet and climbed onto the bed so that he could tear the bag of blood from Danni’s hands.

  “You need to spit it up, Danni,” Noah said as he gently pushed Danni towards the edge of the bed.

  “Is Ash okay?” Danni whispered, looking deathly pale as she grabbed hold of the edge of the bed with trembling hands while Michael stood there knowing that it was already too late.

  “He’s perfect,” Caine said, holding his son in one arm as he reached over and cupped her face with his other hand. “I need you to get the blood out, Danni.”

  “I-I can’t,” Danni said, closing her eyes as her body began trembling harder.

  “It’s already too late,” Michael said, knowing that they were quickly running out of options. In a matter of minutes, it would be all over.

  “We need Christofer,” Noah said, grabbing hold of Danni’s shoulders and gently pulled her back so that he could lay her down on the bed and check her vitals.

  “It won’t help. Not this time,” Michael said, watching as Caine’s world began falling down around him.

  “Christofer!” Caine shouted as he reached over and took Danni’s trembling hand in his.

  “And why is that?” Ephraim asked, his gaze remaining locked on him.

  “Because the cancer has already started spreading through her body, taking over her organs and shutting them down,” Michael said, his gaze flickered to the alarm clock by the bed as Christofer rushed into the room.

  Ten more minutes.

  That’s all he needed.

  “What’s going on?” Christofer asked as his gaze landed on Danni.

  “She needs your blood,” Noah said, taking Danni’s other hand in his.

  “And your sister needs you,” Michael said, watching as the large Pyte suddenly went still.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Christofer asked, moving to come after him when Michael’s next words stopped him.

  “That it might be a good idea to go check on your sister before it’s too late,” Michael said, knowing the Pyte well enough to know that he would never do anything to risk losing another sister.

  Christofer’s eyes slowly turned red as he glanced over his shoulder at Danni as her breaths became shallow and-

  “Did you forget who her mate is, Sentinel?” Christofer asked with a pitying look as he quickly made his way to the bed. “That asshole will never let anything happen to her.”

  “He can’t protect her if he’s dead,” Michael said, watching as his words sank in as Ephraim grabbed him and yanked his arms behind his back seconds before he felt cold metal wrap around his wrists.

  “You should be more worried about who’s going to protect you, Sentinel,” Ephraim whispered coldly in his ear as he was yanked back and-

  “Izzy’s gone!” Marc yelled as he rushed into the room, letting him know that this was far from over.

  “You really didn’t think that I would let someone else do
this, did you?” Logan asked as his gaze found Kale’s as the shifter’s hands were yanked behind his back and he saw the one thing that he’d been waiting over nine hundred years for.

  Fear.

  After all this time, the mutt finally had something that he was afraid to lose, Logan thought as he glanced at the small woman curled up on the floor next to Kale and found himself wondering about the woman that was going to be Kale’s downfall. He’d always hoped that Kale would find his mate, a bitch who hated him even more than Logan did and took satisfaction in neutering the bastard, but…

  This was so much better than anything that he could have ever hoped for.

  “Let her go,” Kale bit out, looking as though he was struggling to remain on his knees. Then again, judging by all that blood pooling around the large shifter, Logan was surprised that the bastard was still conscious.

  “You know that I can’t do that,” Logan drawled as he took in the inviting living room, noting everything from the framed pictures on the walls to the neatly folded quilt hanging over the back of the soft leather couch. There was no mistaking this for anything other than a well-loved home, something that he’d always dreamed of having with his wife one day.

  It made him hate Kale even more.

  “All set,” Thaise said as he finished securing chains to Kale’s legs.

  “No, we’re not all set. Someone tell me what the hell is going on here,” the shifter that really should have known better than to come here tonight demanded.

  “Take him to Magnus and tell him that we’re even,” Logan said as two of Thaise’s sons grabbed the shifter sputtering in outrage and dragged him to the front door.

  “What about the female?” Thaise asked as Logan’s eyes locked with Kale’s.

  “What do you think, Kale? Should I send her to Magnus so that we can find out just how much she’s really worth?” Logan asked, watching as Kale’s eyes slowly turned silver.