“She’s fine,” Ethan snapped, tightening his hold around the steering wheel as his gaze once again sought out the small woman in the backseat and-
Fucking hell!
He hit the directional and headed off the highway towards the large signs announcing motel rooms with double-beds, air conditioning, and cable with low priced adult movies with a two-for-one special. It was the perfect place to-
“You do realize that this bullshit plan of yours doesn’t work, right?” Jacob asked, gesturing towards the line of cheap motels ahead of them with a Twinkie.
“And what plan would that be?” Ethan asked as he settled on the rundown motel that looked promising.
“The one where you stay at fucked up motels permeated with human filth with the hopes of hiding your scent, thinking that we don’t know where to find you,” Jacob said, finishing off the Twinkie as he shifted his focus to the rest of the king-sized candy bars.
“It works,” Ethan said with a glare aimed at the shifter that he should have left at the hotel, and if it hadn’t been for the small woman lying on the backseat, he would have done just that.
Hell, he should have just left her with him and got his ass on the first plane to Boston so that he could get to his son faster, but the thought of that bitch getting her hands on Indie had turned his stomach. He didn’t know who she really was, or more importantly, what she was, but he did know one thing, she didn’t have what it took to survive in their world. He’d take care of her, keep her safe until the bitch was dead and then he’d let her go.
“True. We can’t find your scent under all that filth, but since we know where to look for you, we don’t have to. It’s not really all that difficult to find you when we know where to look. How do you think I was able to find you so quickly? You’re too fucking predictable,” Jacob said with a sad shake of his head and a, “You couldn’t find any Reese’s Pieces?”
“How exactly am I predictable?” Ethan asked, sighing heavily as he reluctantly drove past the motel that had looked promising and headed back towards the highway.
“You mean besides the motels?” Jacob asked around a Mounds Bar.
“Besides that,” Ethan said, realizing that he might want to rethink staying in fleabag motels in the future.
“You stick to the main highways, avoiding the backroads during full moons, stay at motels less than two miles from the highway, and you always gravitate back towards the old Keenan Pack lands in Maine where rumor has it, is the last place where you saw your son,” Jacob said, confirming his suspicions that the bitch would know where to look for him, which was exactly what he wanted.
Chapter 22
That was so good, Samantha thought on a groan as she took a bite out of the juicy cheeseburger from Dave’s Dinner while she scrolled through men’s boxers on Amazon only to glance up at the man glaring at her through red eyes and…
Definitely boxer briefs, she decided with a nod as she took another bite, scrolled back to her original search and selected several packages of boxer briefs and added them to the cart as she looked up to find Trace staring down at the burger she’d ordered for him.
“What is it?” he asked, frowning as he shifted his attention to the carton of thick steak fries that she’d debated stealing.
“A burger,” she said, taking a sip of her Coke, savoring the crisp, bubbly goodness that was going to make this easier as she waited for the double dose of Advil that she’d taken earlier to take the edge off the headache that was once again threatening to turn into another migraine.
He watched her take a sip before reaching for the ice-cold Coke that she’d opened for him, raised the can to his lips, took a hesitant sip, and groaned when the sweet carbonated elixir that she couldn’t live without hit his tongue. Her lips twitched as she watched him tilt his head back and finished off his soda. Her amusement quickly died when he reached for hers. When she moved to take it back, he growled a warning that had her shaking her head with a sigh as she got up and bit back a wince when her sore muscles protested the movement and grabbed two more Cokes from the fridge.
By the time she came back, he’d already finished off the rest of her Coke and was taking a bite of his burger. The movement was awkward, reminding her that it had been a while since he’d eaten. That was followed by her quickly realizing that he probably couldn’t eat regular food when he grimaced, gagged, and rushed over to the trashcan and spit it out while she sat there, deciding that it would probably be for the best if she didn’t wonder what would happen if they ran out of blood.
Definitely better off not thinking about that, Samantha decided, as she reached over and helped herself to his abandoned burger only to roll her eyes when the little bastard glaring at her growled. Sighing, she got up and headed to the back door, using the burger to entice the furry asshole to follow her.
“Enjoy,” she said, opening the back door and tossed the burger outside.
As soon as Charlie left, she closed the door and realized that she needed to get another Coke when she saw Trace finish off hers. Grabbing another Coke from the fridge and absently noting that they had two six-packs left, she walked back to the table, sat down, and once again found herself sighing when he helped himself to her Coke.
“You might want to slow down there,” Samantha said, not really sure how he was going to handle all that sugar and caffeine.
“What is this, wife?” he asked as he finished off her soda.
“Soda,” she said, popping a French fry in her mouth only to add, “It’s a carbonated beverage made from water, caffeine, sugar, and a lot of things that I can’t pronounce,” when he frowned.
“What’s caffeine?” Trace asked, testing the word.
“Something that is probably going to keep you up all night,” Samantha said with a wistful sigh, hoping that it would help wake her up. She was exhausted.
Trace frowned down at the Coke in his hands and then…
He finished it off while reaching for the one in her hands. He’d barely finished off his Coke before he tossed it aside and finished off hers while she sat there, frowning. That quickly turned to sighing when he grabbed two more Cokes from the fridge and finished them off.
With a resigned sigh, she focused back on the iPad, pulled up the grocery order that was supposed to be delivered tomorrow and added more Coke. A lot more. When she was done, she decided to see if there was anything about her house burning down on the news only to groan when she saw the date.
“How long was I asleep?” Samantha asked, glancing up to find Trace watching her.
“Two days,” he said, making her frown.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” she asked, getting up and heading back to the living room where she’d left the cellphone plugged in, wondering if his father tried to contact them while she’d been passed out.
“You were tired, wife,” he said, following her into the living room.
“Did your father call?” she asked, glancing around the room for a phone only to remind herself that he probably wouldn’t know if he had.
“I don’t know,” Trace said as Samantha picked up the cellphone and-
Nothing.
Damn it.
She’d kind of been hoping that this would be over by now. That was followed by the realization that she hadn’t showered in two days, which of course, explained why she looked like she’d been dragged through hell. Tossing the phone on the couch, she decided to call it a night. She didn’t care that she’d apparently spent that last two days sleeping, she just wanted to go back to bed and pretend that this nightmare was over.
Grabbing the bag that had been delivered earlier from 7-Eleven, Samantha headed upstairs and bit back a sigh when Trace followed her. Too tired to argue, she moved to go to the bedroom where she’d apparently spent the past two days passed out, hoping that Ethan would be here in the morning when she woke up so that she could-
“What’s that sound?” Trace asked, drawing her attention to find him frowning with a curious tilt of his
head as he listened to whatever it was that he heard.
Without another word, he turned around and headed downstairs while she stood there, telling herself that she should take advantage of this reprieve from her shadow and take a quick shower only…
She’d promised to keep an eye on him, Samantha reminded herself with a grumble as she turned around and headed downstairs only to turn right back around with a sigh because she was being ridiculous. He was fine. She kept telling herself that as she walked into the bedroom, stopping by the bed to grab her bag that she’d brought up earlier and continued to the bathroom.
Once she made it to the bathroom, she dropped her bag on the floor, ignored her aching head and grabbed the items that she’d had delivered from 7-Eleven and briefly debated taking a bath only to dismiss the idea since she didn’t know how long she had before Trace came back.
With one last glance at the closed bathroom door, she worried her bottom lip for a minute and then pulled her clothes off with a resigned sigh. She tossed her clothes aside, climbed into the shower, and turned it on. As she stepped beneath the spray of hot water, she nearly groaned when the moist heat began soothing her aching head.
For several minutes, Samantha simply stood there with her hands pressed against the wall and her head dropped forward, slowly exhaling as the hot water worked out the last of the aches leftover from what felt like a really bad dream. She couldn’t believe that it had only been three days since this whole nightmare started. It felt like a lifetime ago that she was kneeling on her basement floor, praying that Nathan wasn’t dragged into this mess and now…
“You’re in pain, wife,” came the concerned words spoken in that deeply accented voice that she liked so much.
“I’m fine,” Samantha lied, biting back a sigh as she opened her eyes only to close them on a groan when Trace ran his fingers gently through her hair.
“No, you’re not,” Trace said as he worked his fingertips over her scalp and tore another groan from her when he found the part that ached the most.
“There’s no break,” he said, answering the question that she’d been worried about. That meant that she most likely had a severe concussion, something that was probably going to cause problems for a while.
“How can you be sure?” she asked even though she really wasn’t sure that she wanted to know the answer.
“You would be screaming right now if your skull was broken,” he pointed out, making her lips twitch because he had a point.
“Did you find anything?” she asked, hoping to distract herself from the fingers massaging her scalp and the fact that he was most likely naked, something that she planned on discussing with him, but…in another minute.
His hands felt good, Samantha thought only to bite back a moan when he added shampoo to the mix and began working it through her hair. She should put a stop to this, she told herself as he guided her back so that he could rinse the soap out of her hair. It was hard to believe that anyone that was capable of breaking a solid wood door in half with his bare hands could be this gentle.
“Soap?”
“The green bottle,” she found herself saying only to moan a minute later when he ran his hands over her shoulders.
For several incredible, life-altering minutes, she stood there, enjoying the feel of his large strong hands moving over her body. Trace focused on her shoulders, her arms, back, legs, and stomach, avoiding all the areas that would have had her putting an end to this.
At least, that’s what she told herself as she stood there, feeling every muscle in her body relax until it became a struggle to keep her eyes open. It took a moment before she realized that he’d turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her and once she did, she turned around to thank him only to end up watching him walk away with his hands clenched into fists by his sides as his wet clothes left behind a trail of water.
Chapter 23
Williams Mansion
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Madison demanded, shaking her head in disgust as she grabbed an empty suitcase from the closet and threw it on their bed.
“We didn’t have a choice,” Ephraim said, reaching for her only to have her pull away.
“What the hell do you mean you didn’t have a choice? You didn’t need to send her away. You could have brought her here or asked Eric to hide her at a compound or-”
“She’s not safe, Madison,” Ephraim bit out, cutting his mate off and wishing like hell that he’d had a choice because the last thing that he wanted to do was to hand over his baby girl to the Council, but he didn’t have a choice.
Not if he wanted to keep her alive.
“We could have protected her here,” Madison said as her beautiful caramel eyes that he loved so much turned red as she anxiously licked her lips, struggling not to finally breakdown and lose it.
Between Jill and Joshua…
It was only a matter of time.
They hadn’t seen Joshua in nearly two years since the day he’d turned their lives upside down and left. They had no idea where he was or what he’d become, but they’d heard rumors that he prayed weren’t true. He couldn’t stomach the idea of the little boy who used to try to sneak up on him, giggling his little ass off every fucking time Ephraim grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder, doing those things. Joshua had been the sweetest little boy and Ephraim missed him more than he’d ever thought was possible. He’d outlived everyone that he’d ever met, and it had never affected him like this before.
Then there was Jill.
He had no fucking idea what he was supposed to do with her. She was his little girl and he loved her more than anything, but he had no fucking idea how he was going to save her. She was too kind for her own good and this time…
This time that might not be enough.
“We could sneak her into town and make sure that she doesn’t leave until we figure out how to remove the mark and keep her safe until this all blows over,” Madison pleaded with him.
They were never going to be able to remove that mark. They’d tried. God had they fucking tried, but the fucking leech had figured out a way to make his mark permanent and no one could figure out how he did it. He’d made sure that every fucking leech, demon, and shifter that came within a mile of her knew who she belonged to. Logan had signed her death warrant with that mark.
Ephraim thought they could keep her safe by sending her away while they tried to figure this out, but the only thing that he did was buy them a little more time before someone scented the mark and came after her. He’d been hoping the Sentinel watching over Jill had been exaggerating, but he’d barely crossed into town when he’d scented the fucking army waiting to get their hands on his little girl. There had been demons, shifters, vampires, and minions of all the Masters that Logan had crossed over the centuries, desperate to get their hands on her.
Logan showing up had only sealed her fate.
“You know that’s not an option, not with Izzy vulnerable, and definitely not with a houseful of helpless children,” Ephraim said, reaching for her, and this time, she let him.
“I don’t want to lose her,” she said, pressing her forehead against his chest as Ephraim stood there, knowing that they already had.
*-*-*-*
“I-I can’t do it,” Kara whispered hollowly, moving to shake her head only to rethink the move as she pressed herself more tightly against the wall as she watched in terror as death came for her.
Blinking, Izzy popped another mini cupcake with extra buttercream frosting and rainbow sprinkles in her mouth as she looked from Kara, who had foolishly allowed herself to be cornered, to the small black spider coming to kill her.
“Umm, you know that you’re a shifter, right?” Izzy asked, sounding amused as she shifted her attention to the plate that Kara had been forced to abandon only moments earlier and helped herself to the Drew Special that Kara was going to need to get through this.
“K-kill it,” Kara whispered, sending the Sentinel a pleading look only to na
rrow her eyes when the Sentinel helped herself to the glass of extra chocolate milk that she’d been looking forward to.
“I would. I really would, but I’m not supposed to leave this chair,” Izzy said with a sad shake of her head before offering, “I could call Chris?”
Nervously licking her lips, Kara looked from the Sentinel that she was never going to forgive for this betrayal to the spider coming closer and found herself nodding even knowing that she was going to regret this. Popping another mini cupcake in her mouth, Izzy turned around, grabbed her cellphone off her desk and sent a text, one that would hopefully have the large annoying Sentinel grabbing every weapon in the mansion and rushing in here before it was too late.
“What’s going on?” Marc asked as he walked into the room with baby Jessica clinging to his leg and sighed when he spotted the small spider coming to kill her.
Without a word, he picked Jessica up and handed her to Izzy, who wrapped her arms around her baby girl with a warm smile as Marc, who was now her favorite person in the whole world, grabbed a tissue off the desk, leaned over, and grabbed the small spider off the floor. While Kara stood there, watching his every move, he walked into the bathroom, tossed the tissue in the toilet and flushed it before he walked back out and-
“Shut the door and lock it,” Kara whispered as her gaze shot past him, searching for the eight-legged bastard that she knew, just knew, was out to get her.
“You know you’re a shifter, right?” Marc asked, sighing heavily, but thankfully he closed the bathroom door behind him and locked it.
Sniffle. “Thank you,” Kara said as she pushed away from the wall and wrapped her trembling arms around herself.
“You’re welcome,” Marc said, chuckling as he sat down in the chair next to Izzy, picked up a game controller and quickly lost interest in them.
“Mine!” Jessica mumbled as she climbed off her mother’s lap and onto Marc’s lap with a satisfied sigh.
“Are you okay?” Izzy asked, absently finishing off the last mini cupcake as an alert drew her attention to the large computer screens lining the wall in front of her.
Tall, Dark & Furious (A Pyte/Sentinel Novel Book 6) Page 14