The 2015 R.L. Mathewson Chronicles Collection Read online

  Since they all agreed with him, they simply sat there as well, starring out the tinted windows of the luxury van while Christofer drove them towards what was guaranteed to be a week from hell, but they really didn’t have much of a choice, now did they?

  Every five years, Sentinels were expected to visit one of these training camps to keep their status, house, payroll, etc. Basically the Council wanted to make sure that all of their active Sentinels were up to date on their training and hadn’t gone fucking nuts yet. It was understandable, Ephraim would have to agree and he fully supported sending Chris off for the week so that he could enjoy a peaceful week at home with his wife and children, but unfortunately for him and the rest of the Pytes in the vehicle, they were expected to train right alongside Sentinels if they wanted to continue living under its protection.

  Not that Ephraim felt all that protected by the Sentinels, he thought absently as Madison laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. If anything, they brought the Sentinels a weapon that the rest of the world would love to get their hands on. They were stronger, faster and deadlier, making in unnecessary to risk the lives of more Sentinels when they could just send them in to a nest with Sentinels as their backups.

  They weren’t perfect and they had their vulnerabilities that could end up being tricky for both sides if they went into bloodlust, but so far they were the Sentinels best defense against the ever-growing army of vampires, demons and shifters who didn’t want to play nicely with the rest of the world.

  So, with that said, everyone that lived in the mansion, including Ephraim and Madison’s son Marc, had been required to attend. The only ones that had been excused from this training session were the babies, Kale since he wasn’t technically part of the Sentinel crew and Izzy since she couldn’t move two feet without being forced to bite her lip and pain and pretend that she wasn’t seconds away from crying.

  Then again, the Council had originally insisted that she join the training session, but after Chris had a “word,” with the Council about his mate’s comfort and inability to manage a week in the woods, they had excused her. That and Ephraim may have threatened to beat the shit out of every Sentinel that made his daughter-in-law cry.

  “Are they really going to let me train?” Marc asked casually, trying not to sound excited, but they all knew that he was eager to begin his training before his transformation.

  After what happened to Izzy and baby Jessica, he’d never been able to forgive himself. Ephraim knew that Marc believed the whole thing was his fault, but it wasn’t. Even though he was a Pyte, he was still a child and four years away from his transformation. There was no way that he could have protected his mother and Izzy, but he didn’t see it that way.

  He was determined to make things right and no matter how many times any of the tried to explain to Marc that it wasn’t his fault, he refused to believe them. He believed that the whole incident was his fault for releasing Joshua and leaving his mother and sister-in-law at the mercy of Joshua, someone that the boy had once trusted his life and heart with.

  “Yes,” Ephraim said, trying to hide how terrified he was that his son was about to be brought into a world that he wasn’t ready for.

  Training: Part II

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Chris managed to pull off with an innocent expression that Marc hoped to perfect one day, “Did I hurt you?”

  The Sentinel cupping his bloody nose while he lay on the ground, helpless to move after the beating Chris had just given him simply glared.

  “Was I not supposed to hurt him?” Chris asked no one in particular as he looked around, appearing innocent and making Marc bite back a smile. “The rules weren’t really clear.”

  “Asshole,” the last guy that Chris had fought against muttered as he hobbled past them towards the first aid tent.

  “Oh, did I hurt you?” Chris asked, blinking innocently which earned a glare from the guy that Marc would from this day refer to as, “Hobbles.”

  “Are you trying to get us kicked out?” Dad asked with that long-suffering sigh that he seemed to do only for Chris. Marc looked forward to driving their dad to the point that he needed to come up with a sigh or a growl just for him.

  Chris blinked over at their father while the rest of them struggled not to laugh. “Yes, yes I am. Was I not clear about that before we started?”

  “Nice try, Asshole, but you’re not going anywhere,” Eric, their assigned Sentinel leader said with a sigh that matched their father’s as he walked past them, not even bothering to pause as hit Chris upside the head with his clipboard.

  If it hurt Chris, it didn’t show because he was back to taunting the poor guy on the ground. As much as Marc loved his brother and thoroughly entertained by him, Marc hadn’t come here just to sit back and watch. He wanted to train with the rest of them, because one day it would be his job to protect his family and he wanted to be prepared for it.

  Not bothering to tell his father where he was going, because he knew that his father would be able to find him easily, Marc hoped off the fence post where he’d been scoping this afternoon’s events and decided to head for the training area for the Sentinel kids. They’d have the advantage since they were already stronger and faster than him, but that was fine with him. He was here to learn, not win.

  “Where are you going, little man?” Chris asked as he caught up with him, apparently bored with wiping the floor with the rest of the Sentinels.

  Granted, Chris was the regional trainer and was supposed to actually teach the Sentinels new ways of fighting and how to take down an opponent faster. He beat them, holding nothing back and while some complained, and many did, he did end up teaching them how to move out of his way faster.

  “To train,” Marc said, gesturing towards the section for juniors.

  “I can train you, little man,” Chris offered, which shouldn’t frighten him, but it did. He’d seen his brother’s training methods enough times to know that he should probably wait until he went through his immortality before he got in the ring with him.

  His brother and father and the rest of the Pytes at home taught him basic moves, how to throw a punch, and block a move, but he had yet to put those skills to the test to see where he stood. He’d playfully played around with brother and father in the ring, but they always held back and always let him win, making it look like they were on the verge of death from his impressive fighting skills.

  He’d rather find out the truth by getting in the ring with a kid his own age and seeing what he-

  “Hold up, little man,” Chris said, sounding serious as he grabbed onto Marc’s arm and pulled him back before he could enter the Junior’s area.

  “What’s up?” he asked, not really paying attention to his brother as he looked around, watching the kids from as young as four to eighteen fight, do relay games and put their skills to the test.

  “You can’t go in there,” Chris admitted with a look that told Marc that he was serious.

  Frowning, Marc asked, “Why not?”

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Chris said the one thing that he’d never expected to hear from his brother.

  “Because it’s too dangerous for you.”

  Training: Part III

  “Oh, buck up, little man!” Chris yelled after his little brother. “I’m sure that if you ask nicely they’ll let you play in the kiddie tent!”

  Other than a slight stiffening of his little brother’s shoulders, Mark didn’t pause as he stormed off towards the woods where he would most likely sit on a fallen tree and pout for the next few hours.

  There was a heavy, long-suffering sigh that he would recognize anywhere. It was the one that most people learned to make after getting to know him.

  “Was that really necessary?” Ephraim asked as they both watched Mark continue storming off, glaring at anyone foolish enough to get in his way as he made his way towards the woods where he would no doubt allow his anger to fester for a few hours before he tried something incredibly stupid to prov
e them all wrong.

  “Fucking with his head?” Chris asked, making sure that they were talking about the same thing here.

  “Yes,” his father said as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, “fucking with his head. Was it really necessary?”

  Chris watched his brother kick a stick out of his way as he jammed his hands in his front pockets and shrugged. “Necessary? Probably not, but it will probably entertain me in a couple of hours.”

  “And that’s all that matters?” his father asked dryly, finally understanding him.

  “Exactly,” Chris said with a satisfied grin as he watched Mark finally enter the woods and disappear.

  He wasn’t worried about his brother’s safety. He had a level head and had a knack for getting out of trouble, but that’s not why he wasn’t worried. The woods were crawling with Sentinels on patrol, making sure that no one got by them and saw something that wasn’t meant for human eyes. Plus, his father and the rest of the Pytes would hear the boy scream for help if he needed it.

  No, he definitely wasn’t worried, he told himself even as he started to stroll towards the woods, whistling a Justin Bieber song just to fuck with the Sentinels staring at him in horror. He was building himself a nice reputation indeed, he thought proudly as a large Sentinel that outweighed him by a good fifty pounds got the fuck out of his way when he saw Chris approaching. The larger Sentinel did pause to glare at him as he cupped his broken nose before he stormed off towards the first aid tent with the rest of the babies.

  Sighing, because tomorrow his day would probably be filled with large asshole whose egos couldn’t take getting their asses kicked by a young Sentinel would be issuing requests for rematches and bitching and moaning when he knocked them on their asses.

  It was going to be another boring fucking day, but at least he should be entertained when Mark decided to rebel and go kick some Sentinel ass.

  Sighing with anticipation, he sprinted the rest of the way to the woods, making sure to stay out of his brother’s sight so he could watch over his brother in peace and perhaps fit in a nap or two while he waited for Mark to finally show a little bit of that William’s rebellion they were well known for.

  A Valentine’s Day Special

  Boston, Massachusetts

  “I fucking hate snow,” Nick said, rubbing his hands roughly down his face, hoping that by the time that he opened his eyes the blizzard covering everything with another foot and a half of snow would be over and done with so that he could get back on the road.

  The sound of his cell phone ringing had him dropping his hands away with a sigh. Wondering what else could go wrong today, he reached over and grabbed his phone off the small table for two tucked away in the corner of his hotel room. Staring at the white mess blocking his view of Boston Harbor, he answered the phone.

  “The next time that you send my wife to a signing without me, Rick, I’ll-”

  “Jamie’s missing,” Rick said, cutting him off.

  “What?” he heard himself ask as he reached out and grabbed the back of the chair as his legs threatened to give out. “She’s supposed to be in New Hampshire.”

  “We can’t find her, Nick. It looks like she checked out early this morning,” Rick said hollowly.

  “She’s supposed to be sleeping in this morning,” he said numbly as he gazed at the blanket of snow pouring down.

  “She skipped the after party last night and went to bed early,” Rick explained as Nick rushed across the room and picked up the room phone and dialed Jamie’s cellphone.

  It immediately went to voicemail.

  “She’s not answering her phone,” Rick continued. “I’ve got Stacy and John calling local hospitals and we’ve notified the police. We’re doing everything that we can to find her.”

  “When did she check out?” he demanded, heading for the door as he struggled not to lose his temper and take it out on his friend. He knew better than anyone how stubborn Jamie could be when she made her mind up about something.

  “Around five this morning.”

  Oh, God…

  His heart dropped in his stomach when he realized that his wife had been missing for over ten hours. He should have never agreed to handle this signing for Rerum. He should have insisted on going with Jamie and the rest of the authors that Rerum had sent to the New Hampshire signing. When he’d booked this trip he’d planned on heading up there after the signing to surprise her for Valentine’s Day.

  What he hadn’t counted on was a blizzard ruining his plans. As soon as he’d found out about the blizzard he should have said the hell with it, driven up to New Hampshire, grabbed his wife and got them the hell out of here. Instead, he’d made a deal with Rick and stayed here, making sure that things ran smoothly at the signing for the authors that he was assigned to work with this weekend.

  Never. Fucking. Again, he decided as he threw the hotel room door open and rushed down the hall towards the elevator.

  “We’ll find her, Nick,” Rick said, sounding terrified and for good reason.

  If anything happened to Jamie he would tear him apart with his bare hands.

  “This is the last time she goes on a signing without me,” he snarled as he pushed the elevator call button and then once again a few seconds later when the elevator doors didn’t open fast enough.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Rick promised, but that wasn’t good enough for him.

  “Put it in my contract or I’m walking,” he said, ramming his thumb in the call button as he paced in front of the bank of elevators, ignoring the nervous glances from the elderly couple slowly backing away.

  “Consider it done,” Rick said softly, smartly not arguing with him, because they both knew that he wasn’t bluffing.

  He’d do whatever it took to make sure that his wife was taken care of and they both knew it. They also knew that if he left, more than half the authors signed with Rerum would go with him.

  “About fucking time,” he muttered when the elevator doors finally opened. As soon as he stepped inside the elevator he was hitting the Close Door button and glaring at the small group standing in front of the elevator shifting nervously until they finally got the hint and stepped back.

  “I’ll keep you informed,” Rick promised.

  “I wasn’t planning on sitting on my ass while my wife is stuck in a blizzard,” he said, cursing as he reached in his pocket for the keys to his rental and realized that he’d left them upstairs.

  “It’s not safe,” Rick told him like that would make a fucking difference to him.

  “Which is why I’m going after my wife,” he said, hitting the button for his floor.

  “Nick-”

  “I’ll let you know when I find her,” he said, ending the call just as the elevator doors opened for the lobby.

  He hit the button for his floor again as he absently said, “Elevator’s full,” to the small group of people carrying a shit load of luggage. When they looked like they were going to argue with him, he hit the Close Door button and sent them a look that had them quickly backing away from the elevator doors.

  Two minutes later he was shoving his hotel room door open as he tried to call Jamie’s phone. God, he was going to kill her when he got his hands on her. She was an incredibly intelligent woman with a good head on her shoulders and knew better than to go out in weather like this. For fuck’s sake, she’d never driven in snow before.

  “Call me as soon as you get this,” he said, leaving her a voice message, praying that she wasn’t stuck somewhere on the side of the road before he ended the call and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

  He was halfway to the bureau to grab his keys when he realized the shower was running. Frowning, he turned around and spotted the trail of clothes caked with snow leading to the bathroom. Relief slammed into him as he followed the discarded clothing, stepped over the bag Jamie left in the middle of the floor and threw the bathroom door open, not really sure at this point if he was going to throttle her or spank her
for scaring the shit out of him like this.

  He walked in the bathroom, grabbed hold of the shower curtain, threw it open and-

  “I’m pregnant!” Jamie announced with a huge smile as she threw herself in his arms.

  -completely forgot that he was supposed to be angry as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the woman that had just given him the perfect Valentine’s Day gift.

  A Bradford Princess

  “What are you doing?” Sebastian asked, frowning as he glanced at his baby sister as she continued to sit on his bed, absently rolling the baseball that he was hoping to get signed today, in her hands.

  “Nothing,” she said with a shrug.