"It's going to be fine, baby," he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone as he reached for her only to have her step away from him as she dropped her hands to her sides.
"How the hell is this fine, Caine?" she demanded with dry violet eyes and it was then that he realized that she wasn't crying.
No, she was simply pissed.
"I can't control this damn monster inside of me!" she snapped.
He shook his head. "It's not a monster, Danni, it's-"
"Bullshit! I saw what happens when I lose control. If that doesn't make me a monster then I don't know what does. I refuse to let this damn thing control me, Caine, but that's a joke too because the damn thing is in control," she said, sounding angrier with each passing second.
"You're not a monster," he bit out, forcing away old memories that threatened to surface and knock him on his ass.
"Yes, I am!"
"No, you're not!" he yelled, getting into her face.
"No?" she asked in a mocking tone. "If I'm not a monster then why the hell do I need to drop my fucking fangs so that I can suck on a bag of plasma?" she demanded, getting right in his face.
"Because you're a Pyte and that's what we do," he bit out, hating the fact that she thought she was a monster and in turn thought the same of him. He wasn't a monster and neither was she and she damn well better face that fact soon or he was going to get really pissed.
"Well then, I guess I'm a defect because I can't do it," she snapped.
"Do what?"
She sighed in annoyance as she gestured to the untouched bags of blood. "I can't drop my goddamn fangs!"
Chapter 29
Boston, MA
"Are you okay?"
Chris forced a smile as he ignored the new aches from tonight's patrol right along with the injuries from the day before. He was wound up tight and the damn panic that set in when he left the compound five hours ago was only getting worse with each passing minute.
"Fine," he said, looking past his father to peer out the back windows of the van. He slowly blew out a calming breath. They'd be there in less than a minute and a minute after that he'd be making his way to the secured wing his family occupied and pulling his mate into his arms and making sure that she was okay. Then he'd check on his baby girl.
"They're fine," his father said, probably for the hundredth time that night, something he seemed to say every night.
"I know," he lied just like he lied every night.
They weren't fine.
His mate was struggling every single day with her confinement and it was killing him to watch her pretend that it didn't bother her that she couldn't leave the compound. This was one of the reasons he'd tried to push her away in the first place. He didn't want this life for her and he knew that if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be stuck here.
She was staying for him, to make him happy and as good as that made him feel, it also made him feel like an asshole. It was his job to protect her, to make her happy and instead he was giving her a life of misery. She hated being inside and with each passing day it became harder and harder for her to accept this life.
Izzy didn't think he knew that she was unhappy, but of course he did. She was his mate and he loved her. She didn't think that he knew that she liked to go to the attic and sit in front of one of the small windows with Jessica in her arms so that she could look outside and simply pretend that it was enough. It wasn't. She was getting antsy and he was close to making a decision that he promised himself that he would never make.
He was going to chose Izzy over his family.
She didn't belong here and neither did their baby girl. With their son on the way he couldn't do this any longer. As much as he enjoyed his job and loved his family he just couldn't do this any longer. He wanted his mate and children somewhere safe where they wouldn't be putting their lives in jeopardy just by stepping outside their front door.
A few months ago Izzy and his father bought an insanely large estate, apparently his little munchkin was loaded, and they had Eric, the Sentinel leader for their area, install security measures to keep them all safe. He set up the whole place with alarms, monitoring systems, and added several Sentinel homes nearby and a few on the back part of the hundred acre property. Then Kale, the pain in the ass that loved to push his buttons, caught wind of the whole thing and took it upon himself to check the place out.
Not that they knew he was doing it. He just showed up one day, got past all the security measures and had a look around. A week later he sent Izzy a text message with two words, "All Set." That was it. They found out later from Eric that the damn shifter had the security torn out upgraded, most of the windows replaced, all of the outside doors replaced. He also had a new iron fence installed around the front of the property and an invisible fence outlining the rest of the property with surveillance cameras placed at key points throughout the woods.
The man might irritate the living hell out of him, but in this he was thankful. His number one worry was his family's safety. It would be especially important in the coming weeks. Keeping his family in Boston to keep an eye on Joshua wasn't working out. As much as he loved his brother, and he did more than he ever thought was possible, they couldn't stay here any longer and neither could Madison and Chris' little brother, Marc.
He knew his father wouldn't be able to leave Joshua behind not only because it was his son, but because his father took one hundred percent of the blame on his shoulders for something that when all was said and done was really Chris' fault. Joshua was his little brother and he should have protected him, kept him safe instead of allowing him to be taken hostage and pulled out of the compound.
For a while he blamed Kale, but he realized that the man was just doing his job, a fucked up job, but his job nonetheless. The shifter also earned his forgiveness by doing everything he could to save Joshua. He'd given him his blood and saved him and Marc by shoving them back inside the tunnel. He was the one that fucked up, not the shifter, not his father, it was him.
And now he was going to abandon his brother to save his family. It made him feel like an asshole, but he didn't have any choice. He was getting his mate and child out of here as well as his little brother and Madison. His father could stay and that would be fine with him. He'd look after Madison and his brothers. He hoped Jill came with them. They would need the help.
But it would have to wait until he could devise a plan to get them out of here without the shifters and demons that watched the compound day and night finding out. He hoped to get them out of here before his brothers were born, but that didn't look like it was going to happen. There was a Pyte, make that two Pytes, out there that needed to be brought in before they did something fucked up like make an army of vampires for the Master hell-bent on getting them.
If they didn't get out of here before the babies were born he was afraid that they were going to be stuck here for another month and then of course his son would be born so they wouldn't be able to leave for a few months after that. His only hope was that Madison could hold on long enough for them to do what they needed to before she had the babies otherwise it would be out of his hands.
"Fucking hell," the driver said, sighing heavily with annoyance. "Looks like we'll have to go the back way."
"Why?" he asked as his father cocked his head to the side and scented the air.
"The front's jammed packed with everything from vampires to demons," he said, already turning the van around to go the back way which would add another ten minutes to his wait.
"Fuck that," Chris said, getting to his feet and moving towards the back of the moving van.
He didn't have to look back to know that his father was right behind him.
"What the hell are you doing?" one of the Sentinels pulling his legs out of the way asked.
"Going trick or treating. What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?" he said as he hit the lock release above his head and threw the door open.
He jumped out of the moving van and hit the g
round with a smooth roll. Within seconds he was on his feet and moving towards the bastards keeping his family in this fucked up situation. He spotted an arbean demon, a nasty race of rage demons that looked angelic, but were sick fucks that got off on killing children.
"Come here, asshole," Chris said, gesturing for the demon to come closer. Arbean demons only got involved if there was a chance to kill a child, which meant the sick fuck knew about his daughter. "Yeah, you, asshole," Chris said when the demon looked around, probably thinking that he blended right in with the pedestrians moving along the walkways.
"Just remember to get your ass inside before the cops show up," his father said, zeroing in on a group of shifters making their way towards them.
"No problem," he said, pulling out his knife and going for the bastard as humans all around them either screamed or made a run for it. A few of them already had their phones out and were dialing 911.
That was one of the major problems with having a compound within city limits, it made it difficult to protect the compound without drawing attention from the humans. Once a week, usually around three in the morning, they sent a patrol out to clear the shifters, demons and vampires that were waiting for their chance to get their hands on Izzy out of here, but tonight it was just him and his father and he wouldn't have it any other way. He was sick of this bullshit and he was going to make damn sure to send a warning to the next group that came looking for his mate.
Chris took the demon on, gutting him before he slashed his neck open and shoved him aside so he could go after the vampire trying to make a run for it. Before he could make it around the corner he was dust and Chris was already chasing another demon and then another as he took his anger and frustration out on them.
"Chris!" his father snapped as he grabbed Chris by the arm and yanked him away from the dying demon. "The cops are coming. Get the hell inside, now!"
Reluctantly he left, wishing like hell that this had done more than just piss him off more. He wanted to tear them apart for scaring his mate and family and keeping them locked up like fucking criminals.
He jogged up the steps of the brownstone that looked like every other brownstone that lined the street on both sides, but in reality was just the facade for the three level compound that occupied every building on this street, and waited to be let in. He didn't have to wait long. Before his father had a chance to step in behind him he was running.
One look at his watch let him know exactly where his little munchkin was. Normally at two in the morning she'd be upstairs in their suite watching a movie and pigging out on junk food while she waited for him to return, but whenever Eric or Kale was in residence she felt it was her duty to kick their asses at whatever video game that currently held her attention.
He took the secured elevators to the lower level. "Come on, come on," he muttered, anxious to pull his mate in his arms and know that she was okay, that she was safe.
Finally after what seemed like hours the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Sighing with relief he stepped out of the elevator only to come to an abrupt stop when his brain registered what he was seeing.
In the next second he had his gun drawn and aimed at the bastard that he was going to kill.
"Get the fuck away from my sister," he said evenly as he leveled his gun at the leech's throat. It wouldn't kill the vampire, but then again he didn't want to kill the bastard, at least not yet. He'd happily take his time with this leech.
"It's not what it looks like!" Jill said as she rushed to pull her shirt back on when the leech sitting beside her on the cell's cot shot him a wink.
"Oh fuck this," he said, holstering his weapon, knowing that his father would kill him if he fired a shot this close to his sister. He was just going to have to settle for ripping the asshole apart with his bare hands.
********
"Is that all?" Caine asked, chuckling as he picked up one of the bags of blood off the counter.
"Is that all?" she repeated in disbelief. "Isn't that enough? I can't feed, Caine. I call that a pretty big goddamn problem, wouldn't you?" she snapped, knowing she was acting like a bitch and not really being able to help it at the moment.
Right now she was scared out of her mind that she'd never learn to control this thing inside of her. If she couldn't feed she'd go into bloodlust again and that was one thing she definitely never wanted to experience again.
She'd never experienced anything like it, not the pain, the hollow emptiness as her reality became a black smothering void. It had been so confusing, so frightening to be aware of muffled sounds, scents and needs, but to have absolutely no ability to form a conscious thought or to control her own actions. It was something that she never wanted to experience again. Coming to and realizing that she'd killed someone was another thing she didn't want to experience and if she couldn't get this under control, she was afraid of the monster inside of her taking over and doing just that.
"Shhh, Danni," Caine said as he pressed a kiss against her forehead. "You need to calm down."
"I am calm!" she snapped, feeling anxious, stressed and helpless. She hated feeling helpless.
He chuckled as he shook his head. "No, you're tense. If you want to master control over your eyes and teeth then you're going to have to relax."
"I am relaxed," she bit out even as her muscles tightened even further.
Caine sighed heavily as he walked over to the large glass encased standalone shower and turned it on. He adjusted the temperature before he reached behind him to grab his shirt and pulled it off, giving her a mouthwatering view.
She'd never seen a more perfect body than his, but then again the monster inside of him would have it no other way, she realized with a start. Had her body changed at all? she wondered as she ignored Caine's questioning look and searched the large bathroom for a mirror. When she spotted the floor length mirror on the wall she didn't hesitate in taking her clothes off and flinging them to the side.
"What are you doing?" Caine asked, stepping up behind her.
"Nothing," she mumbled as she ran her eyes over her breasts, noting that they looked a little fuller and firmer. Her stomach looked a little toner, but then again they had starved her for a few days, she reminded herself which could also explain her breasts. Would this make her ass look bigger? she wondered, twisting to get a good look and sighed. It looked fine, tone, but fine.
"Are you quite done?" Caine asked, sounding amused and for the first time she noticed that he also sounded relaxed. He sounded almost like the Caine who used to make her feel loved, she realized. "Because if you are, I think we should focus on teaching you how to stay in control," he said, placing a large warm hand on her bare hip.
"Oh? And how do we do that?" she asked, her voice breathless as she struggled not to get her hopes up.
She missed the old Caine. The one who used to smile easily with her, tease her and allowed her to be herself. A year or two before he cut off their friendship it had matured to the point where he treated her like an adult with a valuable opinion and a good friend. He'd stopped babying her and trying to fill in for her parents. She loved that time with him and apparently missed it more than she realized. She'd give anything to have that Caine back and have what they used to have.
"Well, first we need your fangs to come down so that you can feed. You'll learn how to control this faster if you're fed and at full strength," he explained as he held a bag in front of her.
"If it was that simple I wouldn't need your help getting my teeth down," she said as aggravation quickly replaced nostalgia.
How exactly was she supposed to feed if she couldn't get her teeth down? She could cut the bag, she supposed as she took it from him. Then all she'd have to do was chug it down until she couldn't drink anymore. That was her game plan, at least for now. She was going to overfeed every chance that she got just to make sure that what happened in the woods never happened again. Then she would-
She gasped as Caine's hand left her hip to slide up her stomach
and palmed one of her breasts.
"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded even as her stomach tightened with need and her breasts swelled, hardening the nipples as if preparing itself for Caine's touch.
"Getting your teeth to drop," he murmured as he bent his head to press a kiss against her neck.
"How exactly is feeling me up going to accomplish that?" she asked as she absently noted the tingle in her gums.
"Your teeth and eyes will change when you're close to bloodlust, angry or.....," he said, letting his words trail off as he gave her breast a gentle squeeze and her neck a sexy little nip.
"Or?" she asked, breathlessly.
He licked the spot he just nipped. "Sex."
Tall, Dark & Heartless: A Pyte/Sentinel Series Novel Page 27