“Let me fucking go!” Trace roared, yanking on the chains that wouldn’t budge.
“What will you do for me if I do?” Mary asked tauntingly.
There was absolutely no hesitation when Trace screamed, “Anything!”
“I’ll give you the key after you give me what I want,” Mary promised, but…
She lied.
She always lied, Indie thought numbly, barely hearing the screams around her anymore as she pushed herself up on shaky arms. Mary always said that she wouldn’t hurt her anymore, but she always did. She’d promised that she wouldn’t go back on her word, but she always did.
She lied.
Mary lied, Indie thought in a daze as she stumbled towards her open cell door.
“I-I’d like to leave now,” she mumbled absently as she was forced to grab hold of the bars when her legs threatened to give out.
It was time to go, Indie told herself as she slowly made her way out of the cell as her fingers fumbled with the hem of her tee-shirt, searching for the one thing that she always carried with her. It was…it was time, Indie told herself as she dragged herself along the bars as more screams erupted around her, the sounds of chains rattling and laughter, that horrible laughter that used to terrify her more than the beatings as she walked into the next cell and…
“I’m sorry.”
*-*-*-*
“I’m sorry,” the small woman covered in bruises mumbled as the second shifter let out a bloodcurdling scream as Mary turned around and-
“I’m sorry,” the small woman said hollowly as Mary dropped to the ground screaming as she frantically tried to reach behind her.
Without a word, the small woman dropped to her knees and grabbed Samantha’s arm and slowly pulled her towards him. Trace reached out as far as the chains would allow, and then, he had her.
As he held onto his wife, the small woman grabbed the key that had fallen to the floor and unlocked one cuff and then the other one so that he could pull his wife closer and once he had her in his arms-
He did what he’d promised his father that he would never do.
He allowed his fangs to slide down as he brought his wrist to his mouth. He pried his wife’s lips open, placed his bleeding wrist over her mouth and slid his fangs into her neck while he sat there, waiting for a miracle.
“Take it out!” Mary screamed, kicking out at the small woman as she made her way to the bars. She released a pained grunt when the kick made contact but didn’t stop until the key was pressed into Kale’s waiting hand.
“No! No, don’t!” Mary screamed as she watched Kale unlock the silver-coated cuffs before he gave the key to Nathan, who wasted no time in unlocking his cuffs. Once he was free, he handed the key to the other shifter, pulled himself to his feet, and stumbled out of his cell.
“Sammie, come on, sweetheart,” Nathan said, stumbling into the cell past the shifters tearing at their skin, screaming.
“You have to get the blood to flow,” the small woman said in a daze, gesturing towards Samantha with trembling hands as Trace’s blood pooled in her mouth only to escape and run down her chin. “That’s how they do it on TV,” she said, gesturing for him to lay Samantha down.
“She’s right. Lay her down,” Nathan said, moving to do just that only to pull his hands away when Trace released a warning growl against her neck.
After a slight pause, Nathan met his eyes and whispered hoarsely, “Please.”
Trusting the Sentinel, Trace laid her down on the floor, careful not to tear her tender skin as he moved with her, keeping his fangs lodged in her neck as he bent over her as he watched the Sentinel place his hands on Samantha’s chest and began pushing down.
“Come on, Sammie,” Nathan said, pushing down on her chest. “Don’t you fucking do this to me, you little brat! Come on!”
Closing his eyes, Trace blocked everything out, the sounds of the shifters screaming, the sounds of his father’s chains falling to the floor, and listened as his wife’s heartbeat sputtered with every push against her chest as he knelt there, waiting to taste his blood mixed with hers, letting him know that she would be okay.
He blindly reached out and took her hand in his as he did the one thing that he’d promised himself that he would never do again.
He prayed.
*-*-*-*
“You little bitch!” Mary screamed as she stumbled out of the cell, struggling to reach back and remove whatever the little bitch had stabbed her with.
She was going to make her pay for this. She was going to teach her a lesson that she never…that she was never…
“Oh, no,” Mary mumbled when she found herself staring into a pair of cold silver eyes.
“I’ll pay you double!” Mary blurted out as she stumbled back away from the man that she’d been warned not to cross, but she didn’t have a choice.
She’d needed his blood to fix this. The Alpha of her Pack had only been eighty years old when she’d taken his blood. It hadn’t been strong enough to change her and she knew that she was going to need stronger blood if she had a chance to fix this. Kale was the strongest of their kind and if she’d been able to take his blood, she would have been fine. More than fine, Mary told herself as she stumbled back away from him as the other mutt that she’d captured sent her a terrifying smile that had her breath catching in her throat.
Shooting her a wink, Jacob stepped back and released a roar as his body shifted, bones snapped as his limbs stretched, his clothes were torn away as his body filled out, muscle began covering every inch of his body as hair started growing everywhere. His face contorted as a long snout began to grow, stretching out his face as his ears shifted and grew until they pointed towards the sky. His teeth lowered and grew into sharp fangs meant to tear bones apart as bright silver eyes locked on her, but it was the Alpha standing in front of her, watching her through human eyes that terrified her the most.
“P-please, we can talk about this. I can triple the bounty!” Mary said, struggling to reach the middle of her back where the searing pain tore up her spine as she held up a hand towards Kale, hoping to buy herself enough time to think of a way out of this.
“No, no, no, please don’t!” one of her men screamed as the large werewolf leaned down and-
“Oh…” Mary managed to mumble as she watched Jacob tear the man’s throat out before shifting his attention to the other man trying to get away all while Kale slowly came towards her, giving her no other choice but to back away from him until her back hit the wall and she found herself standing in front of the tomb that she’d planned on putting the Pyte in.
“You never should have laid a finger on my son,” Ethan said, joining the mutt as Mary stood there and when she saw that mallet coming at her head, she couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she’d listened to her father and left the Pyte alone.
*-*-*-*
“Two in the back,” Ephraim mouthed to Drew as the large werewolf shifted his focus to the two shifters that were trying to make their way back to the woods as he told himself to stop thinking about Jill.
She was fine.
More importantly, she was safe.
Not going to her and telling her that he loved her and that everything was going to be okay was killing him, but he didn’t have a choice. Every day more shifters, demons, and vampires stalked the compounds, searching for her. Their system was under constant attack as they tried to search for information on Jill, making it impossible for him to call his daughter or to send her a fucking email. He…
He missed her.
He needed to figure out a way to fix this and get that mark removed so that he could change her and give her the protection that she needed, but if he turned her now, she would end up carrying that mark for the rest of her life, and judging by the obsession to get their hands on her, it wouldn’t be a very long life. As soon as she was sent to the island, he was going to follow and he wasn’t leaving until they fixed this.
Forcing his head back to where it bel
onged, Ephraim slowly exhaled as he watched as the large werewolf walked past them and headed towards the back. Ephraim watched as Chris carefully pushed the front door open and stepped inside. They moved through the house, clearing it as they made their way to the closed door where a dog was going crazy from the sounds of it.
Chris walked over to the door and opened it, keeping his eyes locked on the room around them as a large German Shepard tore out of the closet. He raced through the house, jumping over a couch, and headed towards a metal door down the hallway where he frantically tried clawing it open.
“All clear,” Ephraim said while he listened as the last shifter tore out the back door and found a thousand-pound Alpha waiting for him.
“What about downstairs?” Chris asked as he joined the dog by the metal door.
“Time to find out,” Ephraim said as he opened the door seconds before the dog tore down the stairs as the scent of blood hit him hard.
Human, shifter, Pyte, and Sentinel blood, and a lot of it.
“Go grab the bag and see what’s taking them so long,” Ephraim said as he headed downstairs and…
“What the hell?” he said hollowly as he took in the scene before him.
In one cell, a small woman sat in the corner, hugging her legs against her chest while she watched Lukas, who wasn’t looking too good, pump a woman’s chest as a Pyte fed her his blood. For a moment, Ephraim watched the heartbreaking scene in front of him before he forced himself to look away. He decided that he was going to ignore the bodies everywhere and turned his attention to his left where-
A large werewolf covered in blood stood guard as Kale and a vampire that he’d never seen before were putting the finishing touches on a freshly built stone wall from the looks of it as a woman’s screams for help reached his ears. He opened his mouth to ask them what was going on when he saw the look on Kale’s face. He watched as the shifter looked from the stone wall to the Pyte in the cell and-
That was all Ephraim needed.
If he’d been given the chance to lock Nichols in the small cell that he’d kept him trapped in, Ephraim would have taken it in a fucking heartbeat. With a nod of understanding, he shifted his attention back to the small cell as the vampire stumbled past him. He made his way inside the cell where the dog was now standing guard over Lukas as the Sentinel dropped to the floor with a pained grunt.
For a moment, the vampire stood there, watching as the Pyte released his bite so that he could pull the small woman in his arms as he begged her to breathe. Ephraim watched as the vampire slowly turned his head and sent the small woman sitting in the corner a look of longing and just when Ephraim thought that he was going to reach for her, he turned his head and took one last look at the Pyte before he walked away.
Chapter 45
Williams Mansion
Upstate New York
“Bring her in here,” Ephraim said as he shifted Nathan off his shoulder and carefully placed him on one of the beds as Trace hesitated by the door.
“What have we got?” a human male asked as he walked into the room and began checking Nathan as he sent Ephraim a questioning look.
“Sentinel,” Ephraim said as Trace’s father quietly stepped into the room and moved to stand by the wall, looking anywhere but at him.
“He’d got a gunshot wound to the shoulder, one to the abdomen, and one to the leg as well as multiple lacerations,” the human said as he inspected Nathan for injuries.
“He needs Sentinel blood to heal, but we need you to take the bullets out so that he has a chance, Noah,” Eric, the Sentinel in charge of this area, explained as he joined Trace by the door.
“It’s okay, Trace. We’ll take care of her,” Eric said softly with a warm smile as he gestured towards one of the beds in the room.
“I can’t,” Trace said, shaking his head as he tightened his hold around Samantha, terrified that if he put her down or stopped touching her that he would never be able to hold her again.
He just wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
Eric gestured for Ephraim to join them. “Can you scent a change in her?” Eric asked as the other Pyte, and he still couldn’t believe that he’d finally met someone like him, slowly leaned in and inhaled.
“She’s going to be fine,” Ephraim promised him with a reassuring smile.
Nodding, Trace stepped out of the way as Kale stumbled into the large room and dropped down on one of the small beds with a pained groan.
“I haven’t had these in years,” Jacob said around a mouthful of whatever he was eating as he walked into the room, carrying a bag with M & M on it and leaned back against the wall next to him.
“What’s wrong with him?” Noah asked, nodding towards Kale, who looked like he was going to be sick again as another Sentinel walked into the room and began working on Nathan. They made quick work of removing the metal from the Sentinel’s body. While Noah sewed him up his wounds, Eric helped run a clear tube from the Sentinel’s arm to Nathan’s arm seconds before blood filled the tube.
“The asshole refuses to shift,” Jacob said with another heartfelt sigh and a, “These are so good,” as he tossed another handful of the small multi-colored pebbles in his mouth as Kale raised his hand and extended the middle finger in the other shifter’s direction.
“You’d already be healed if you shifted,” Jacob pointed out with a shrug.
“Fuck off,” Kale said with a groan as he buried his face in a pillow.
“What’s going on?” a small woman with a very noticeable limp asked as she walked into the room and-
“Hey!”
Absently plucked the small bag of pebbles out of the shifter’s hand and slowly made her way to the bed where Kale laid, groaning in pain. When she was a few feet away from the bed, Kale released a groan, shoved the pillow aside and reached over, picking the small woman up, carefully placed her on the bed next to him before he promptly buried his face back in the pillow and continued groaning.
“Diluted silver nitrate. He needs to shift, but he’s refusing, so that means that he’s going to have to wait it out, Izzy,” Eric explained while the woman absently nodded as she tossed a handful of the colorful pebbles in her mouth, looking thoughtful.
“He’s very stubborn,” Izzy said as Kale cracked one eye open to glare at her as he reached over, grabbed the bag from her and promptly hugged it against his chest as he continued to glare.
“Does he need more blood?” Izzy asked, gesturing towards Nathan as she began rolling up her sleeve.
“Not from you, my little munchkin,” Chris said as he walked into the room carrying Indie in his arms and-
“Indie?” Noah said, immediately coming to Chris’s side and took the small woman from him as movement from his right caught Trace’s attention. He watched as his father moved to take a step towards them only to noticeably stop himself and forced himself to step back against the wall, but his eyes never left the small woman that had saved them all.
“What the hell happened to her?” Noah demanded, sending Ethan a questioning look.
“They beat her and drowned her,” his father said hollowly as he watched Indie with something close to regret.
“Shit!” Noah snapped, making quick work of checking all the bruises covering the small woman’s body. “Any idea what she is yet?”
“Human,” his father said softly as Noah nodded to himself, “I’m going to need an x-ray to see how much damage there is.”
“She has bruised ribs, internal bleeding, but it’s not serious. They knew what they were doing,” Ephraim said evenly, his eyes turning red as he watched the small woman that had gone through hell. “But she’s burning up. She’s probably been sick for a while. She was a bit out of it when we got to her.”
“Flu,” Noah said, nodding as he shifted his attention from checking her injuries to getting her covered and warming her up. “She looks pretty dehydrated. Any idea when the last time she ate or drank anything was?”
“Five days,” his father said hollo
wly as Noah nodded and set to work on Indie as he glanced towards Trace. “What happened to her?”
“She died,” Trace managed to get out.
“What?” Noah said, rushing over to take Samantha and-
“Oh, shit!”
Backed up quickly when Trace allowed his eyes to turn red and growled the only warning that the human was going to get.
“Don’t come between a Pyte and his mate,” Kale mumbled into his pillow as everyone in the room murmured in agreement.
Clearing his throat, Noah nodded, “Duly noted,” as Trace backed up until he found a corner and sat down so that he could hold her, not ready to let her go.
Not yet.
*-*-*-*
One simple kiss and he was ready to explode. That had never happened to him before. He’d always been calm and collected during sex, making sure to cover all of the bases, foreplay, condom, and an orgasm for his partner, before he allowed himself one, but right now he was struggling not to fuck her hard for the relief he desperately needed. Had he ever wanted a woman more? He didn’t think so and wasn’t going to look too much into that at the moment since he was struggling to stay in control.
“I missed this,” Zoe moaned into his mouth.
“Kissing?” he asked, groaning when she slid her warm little tongue against his.
“Mmmhmmm,” she said against his mouth as her hands slowly slid away from his hair and down his back only to come around the front and gently trace his chest and stomach, driving him out of his mind and making him wish she’d slide her hands a little south and trace something else that needed her attention.
When her hands slid around to his back and down until they cupped his ass whatever control he’d had snapped. He deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth with more passion than he’d ever felt in his life. He ripped her towel away, ignoring her shocked gasp as he moved over her, urging her back up on the bed until he settled his weight on top of her, forcing her to lie back as he-
“Someone fucking shoot me,” Nathan said, sighing heavily from the bed next to his sister.
After he’d regained consciousness, Nathan sat up, looking dazed as he glanced around the room. When he saw his sister lying unconscious several beds away from him, he’d pulled the wires out of his arms, climbed out of bed and slowly made his way down the room. After making sure that she was okay, he’d turned around and shoved the shifter off the bed before climbing onto the freshly vacated bed, closed his eyes and promptly fell back to sleep.
Tall, Dark & Furious (A Pyte/Sentinel Novel Book 6) Page 26