Tall, Dark & Heartless Read online

Page 8

 

  He waited quietly as she walked around the edge. When she was leaning over the edge with her back to him he snuck up behind her as quietly as he could and just as she was about to turn he ran the last several feet separating them and shoved her.

  The sounds of her falling and the accompanying screams had been music to his ears. He would have loved to sit there listening to her scream for help, but he knew what would happen to him if anyone discovered what he'd done so he ran. He ran to where he knew the rest of the kids were playing and circled around so it seemed that he came from the opposite direction. He made sure that no one could connect him with Danni's "accident. "

  To this day he still remembered the unholy roar that startled every single living creature for miles. Birds seemed to burst out of tree tops into the sky as animals scattered in a desperate rush for escape. Even the Sentinel adults were startled. They'd quickly gathered up all the children and escorted them through the woods with their weapons drawn.

  While the other children had been scared he had to work damn hard not to smile. All he could think of was Danni's pitiful screams as he ran that mile back to the compound. Every pregnant woman and every child, Sentinel and human, were placed in the downstairs training room with guards set up at every exit, prepared to fight the rogue demon they thought was on the property, but Greg knew better.

  He wasn't at all surprised when barely five minutes had passed since the lockdown and Caine came storming in with Danni crying in his arms. When Greg saw the makeshift splints on Danni's small arm and leg, a small snort of laughter escaped him before he could stop himself.

  Caine's red eyes, which still scared everyone to this day, narrowed on him and Greg did his best to appear innocent, not that he was afraid. He knew his parents and every Sentinel in the compound would protect him from the crazed Pyte. Besides, no one had seen what he'd done so he knew he was in the clear. He watched with relish as Danni cried and screamed as they set her bones. He would have loved to watch them put her in casts, but by that point everyone had been ushered out of the room.

  It wasn't until later that night when his parents were out on patrol that he learned very differently. He'd woken up to find a very angry Pyte hovering over him. Caine never touched him, but then again he didn't need to. The things that he promised to do to Greg if he ever touched Danni again had been enough to leave him shaking and crying in his freshly pissed soaked bed.

  From that day on he maintained his distance from Danni, but he watched her. Always. His hatred for her only intensified after that day. For years he waited for an opportunity to get to her, but the Pyte was always there, always watching. When the two seemed to have a falling out he thought for sure the wait was over, but he learned very differently when he went to make his move on the bitch one night during training. It was the first time Caine made good on all those threats he made years earlier and beat the living shit out of him.

  After that he backed off, waiting for the right opportunity and fearing he would never get it because of the Pyte. He began hitting the shifter and vampire hangouts looking for any information on how to solve his little Pyte problem.

  Word spread and soon he found himself in front of a Master who was only too happy to help Greg for a price, but then again Greg had a demand of his own. He was going to correct the problem of his human birth.

  After the Master explained what he wanted, Greg was only too happy to help and provide the incentive they needed. A year ago he'd put his plan into action and befriended the little bitch. Somehow he'd stopped himself from killing her, reminding himself that he needed her, but it had been difficult.

  Soon they were dating and he almost had her trusting him, but then the bitch had to walk out into that alley and find him f**king another woman and his plans had been blown to shit. It had taken a few months, but he finally managed to set up a trap for the both of them, one that he liked better than his original plan.

  He knelt beside Danni and pressed the gun to her head, wishing he could pull the trigger, but unfortunately they needed her. So he'd just have to resign himself to making her life a living hell.

  Chapter 4

  Caine came awake gasping for air as his hands shot to his face, seeking out the damage, already knowing there would be none. His blood and time had done their work, allowing him to heal.

  As his breathing slowed down he became aware of the thick metal cuff locked around his right ankle. He dropped his hands from his face as he sat up and took in his new surroundings.

  What the hell. . . . . . .

  He looked around the large off-white tiled room and couldn't help but frown when he spotted Danni lying on a twin mattress on the floor. She was dressed in a man's dress shirt and had a thick black bracelet around her right ankle with an unusually thick black wire running from it to the wall. Reluctantly he looked away from her to take in the rest of the room while wondering why he wasn't in bloodlust and attacking her.

  His body required blood to heal. Although his body could heal on its own through a pain coma, as it had just done, his body always required ingested blood to make up for what he lost. By all rights he should have woken up already in the throes of bloodlust and attacked whatever was available. The fact that it was Danni in the room with him, whose blood he craved night and day should have guaranteed that he attacked her.

  Instead of feeling the need to feed he felt oddly full, which meant that someone fed him when he'd been out cold. Whoever had masterminded this, obviously wanted her alive otherwise they wouldn't have fed him and that meant that whatever they had planned for him involved Danni.

  "Shit," he muttered, coming to his feet as he scanned the rest of the room.

  One thing was clear. Whoever captured them was well set up to handle prisoners. In one corner there was a shower built into the wall with a drain in the floor as well as a toilet a few feet away offering zero privacy. Towels and toiletries lined the wall on the other side of the toilet. In the opposite corner was a metal door, and the only exit from the room. He didn't need to walk towards the door to know that his chain would stop him short before he reached it.

  Curious, he looked down at the thick chain and wasn't too surprised to discover that it was made of titanium, one of the very few metals he couldn't break. He scanned the ceiling and nearly growled when he spotted the cameras planted just out of his reach.

  He flipped off the cameras as he scanned the room again, hoping he'd missed something. But after a minute, it became obviously that the door held their only escape. He looked down at his ankle, absently noting that whoever had chained him up had also stripped, cleaned, and dressed him. He was now only wearing a pair of gray boxer briefs. Caine focused his attention on the cuff, looking for a way to pry it open.

  After a few minutes he gave up and focused his energy on trying to pull the chain out of the wall where it was secured, only ending up more pissed off. Whoever had planned this had done their homework.

  The sound of several locks clicking drew his attention back to the door. Caine smelled the ass**le seconds before he stepped into the room.

  "Well, well, look who's awake," Greg mused as he stepped to the side, allowing a vampire carrying a medium sized red cooler to step into the room. The vampire shot him a nervous glance before his eyes landed on Danni and stayed there.

  Caine felt his eyes begin to burn as the man licked his lips hungrily. The scent of his arousal drifted towards Caine. A low menacing growl erupted from his throat, echoing loudly in the room, startling the man, but not enough to make him look away from Danni.