For a moment, Kale considered tearing her attacker’s throat out, but this wasn’t his problem. The humans could handle their own trash, Kale decided, heading back towards the lobby as he debated calling in a team to help him grab Andrew Vane since his father had probably already tripled security in the building after he’d left. He could-
“Kale?”
“Yes?” Kale said, shoving a drunk out of his way as he headed for the lobby doors.
“Her second blood results were just run through the system. Grab her,” Izzy said, making him groan because he wasn’t in the mood to deal with any of the Council’s bullshit tonight. If they were so damn curious about the little girl, then they could send a team to retrieve her body.
“Already gone, sweetheart,” Kale drawled as he stepped outside the hospital and-
“She’s a Pyte, Kale. Grab her,” was all Izzy had to say to have him turning around and heading back into the emergency room.
“Hey!” the drunk snapped as Kale shoved past him and made his way back through the double-security doors.
As soon as he stepped back inside the emergency room, his attention locked on the little girl that wasn’t going to make it out of this hospital alive. He didn’t stop to ask Izzy how it was possible that the little girl was a Pyte, because he simply didn’t care.
He didn’t care that what Izzy said should have been impossible or that she was a child. She was a Pyte, dangerous, and there was no way in hell that he was going to allow her to live. As he approached her, Kale thought of another time and another little girl left broken and dying because he hadn’t had the balls to do the right thing.
Never again.
He would never let what happened to his sister happen to another child. He’d made her a promise and he was damn well going to keep it. He didn’t give a fuck what the Council wanted. They could have all the Pytes that had already reached their immortality and pretend that they were keeping the rest of the world safe, but he knew better.
“Kale?” Izzy said, trying to get his attention, but he barely heard her as he reached the bed and shoved the curtains shut behind him.
Eyes shifting to silver, Kale reached down and wrapped his hand around the small, pale throat and-
“Son of a bitch!” Kale snarled as he tore his hand away from the delicate throat that he’d planned on snapping in two, to drag his sleeve up the arm that felt like it had just been seared by a hot iron only to forget how to breathe when he saw it.
“Oh, fuck no…” Kale bit out while he watched a black mark etch itself across his wrist while he ground his teeth against the pain tearing through his arm.
In a matter of seconds, he was good and fucking marked.
“Kale? Kale, what’s going on?” Izzy demanded while Kale stood there, staring down at what appeared to be a trinity knot tattooed on his wrist as he shook his head in disbelief because this couldn’t be happening.
Chanting that lie in his head, he quickly grabbed the small arm closest to him and tore off the cast only to feel his stomach drop when he spotted the matching mark on the little girl who had just ruined everything.
Absolutely fucking everything.
“Kale? Answer me!”
“I’m fine,” Kale said weakly as he stared down at the angry mark on the pale, delicate arm of the little girl that he was now mated to and realized that he was anything but fine.
This couldn’t be happening.
“They’re sending a team,” Izzy said while Kale stood there, dumbly nodding while he stared down at the little girl as he made a decision.
“Cancel the team.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s already dead,” Kale bit out as he reached for her.
Chapter 4
Upstate New York
Williams Mansion
“How’s the baby?” came the question that nearly destroyed Caine.
“He’s fine,” Michael, the Sentinel doctor that had been assigned to stay at the mansion since they’d realized the cancer was back, said with a reassuring smile as he finished his exam while Caine stood there, trying to hold it together.
Twenty-five days…
For twenty-five days, he’d been forced to sit by his mate’s side praying that she’d open her eyes again only to fucking lose it every time her heart stopped. Every time it stopped, it took longer for it to start again and Caine wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take before he slipped into bloodlust and stayed there.
He watched as Danni worried her bottom lip as she moved a trembling hand to the soft swell of her belly where their son suffered right alongside her. “Is he…is he suffering?” Danni asked, making Caine bite back a curse because he knew how much the question had cost her.
“I don’t believe so,” Michael said with a warm smile as he reached over and gave Danni’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Why don’t you rest for now and I’ll check on you later?”
With a hesitant nod, Danni rolled over onto her side and faced the window, her hand gently caressing the soft swell of her belly. For a moment, Caine stood there watching his mate while the doctor placed everything back in his bag. Before Michael reached the door, Caine said, “Can I speak to you in the hallway?”
“Of course,” Michael murmured as he sent Danni a pitying look before he left the room.
Forcing a warm smile for his mate, Caine leaned down and kissed her cool forehead. “I’ll be right back,” he said, closing his eyes as he savored her scent before he pulled back and-
“Save him,” Danni said, making him frown as she wrapped her trembling hand around his.
“What are you talking about?” Caine asked as he knelt down by the side of the bed as he looked into her beautiful violet eyes, something that he hadn’t been sure that he would ever be able to do again.
“I want you to save the baby, Caine. If something happens to me, I want you to make sure that our son is okay,” Danni said, her voice breaking as she held on tightly to his hand.
“Danni, I-”
“I don’t want him to live like this, Caine. As soon as it’s safe, I want you to do whatever it takes to save our baby.”
“Danni, I can’t do-”
“Please!” Danni begged, her voice breaking as the first tear rolled down her beautiful face. “Just save him, Caine.”
Leaning over, he brushed his lips against hers as he whispered, “No.”
When she opened her mouth to argue, he cut her off. “I’m going to save both of you.”
“I’m dying, Caine,” Danni said around a broken sob as Caine pulled back.
Shaking his head, Caine said, “No, you’re not.” Because there was no way that he was going to lose her. Not now. Not after everything they’d gone through. This wasn’t fucking over yet. He was going to figure out why the cancer came back and he was going to destroy it once and for all. Then, he was going to-
“Yes, I am,” Danni said as she reached over and cupped his face in her hand before he could stand up. “I’m dying, Caine. I don’t know how much time I have left, but I know that I don’t want this for our son. He doesn’t deserve this.”
“No,” Caine said with a stubborn shake of his head as he pulled back, “This isn’t over yet.”
“Caine, I-”
“It’s not over,” Caine said as he leaned back down and kissed her, putting everything that he had into that kiss and praying that it was enough to let her know just how much she meant to him.
This wasn’t over yet.
Not by a long shot.
Placing his hand over her belly where their son was sleeping, Caine said, “Don’t give up on me yet, Danni. Not yet. I can’t lose you,” as he stood up and forced himself to walk away before she saw just how close he was to losing it.
As soon as he was in the hallway, Caine closed their bedroom door behind him and headed for the Sentinel waiting for him. “I want answers,” Caine bit out as he allowed his eyes to shift, turning everything red as he focused on the Sentinel that better have answers this ti
me.
“I’m not sure what to tell you, Caine,” Michael said in a sympathetic murmur. “We’re doing everything that we can.”
“Bullshit!” Caine snapped as his fangs tore through his gums and he stepped in front of the Sentinel. “She’s getting worse.”
“I know, but we’re doing our best. At this point, nothing is working and we’re trying to figure out how to fix it,” Michael said with a helpless shrug that only managed to piss Caine off more.
“She was healed,” Caine bit out, getting into the much smaller man’s face. “The cancer was gone.”
“The cancer was still there, Caine.”
“No, it wasn’t. It was gone. All the tests came back negative and then suddenly the cancer is back and stronger than ever and the Council doesn’t have an answer,” Caine said, wondering what game they were playing and they were definitely fucking playing with them. As long as Danni was sick, the Council had them exactly where they wanted them and they all knew it.
“The cancer is an aggressive strain, Caine. It was the same problem that Danni had when she was human. The problem was that she wasn’t turned properly. She needed more blood than you were able to give her and even then, it probably wouldn’t have been enough to kill the cancer. It survived her transformation and mutated into a stronger strand. It’s learning to adapt to everything that we throw at it. Right now, we’re able to buy some time, but eventually, we’re going to need to find something to destroy the cancer once and for all. Hang in there, Caine. We’re going to figure this out. Danni’s strong, she’s a fighter, and she’s not going to let this thing take her down without a fight,” Michael explained as Caine stood there, absently nodding.
“What do you think will happen if I lose my mate, Sentinel? Because I can promise you that what I did in the past will look like fucking child’s play compared to what I’ll do if I lose her,” Caine drawled, watching as the Sentinel went still before he turned around and headed downstairs, done playing by the Sentinel’s fucking rules.
He was fucking done playing this game.
With that in mind, Caine headed downstairs as he heard Madison quietly join Danni to keep her company. Knowing that she was in good hands, Caine went looking for the human that better not let him down. He found the doctor in the clinic with Indie, smiling down at the small woman in a way that was probably going to get his throat ripped out if Ethan ever saw them. He didn’t know much about the vampire, but he knew enough to know that the vampire wanted her.
When Noah looked up and saw him standing there, that smile slowly died and was replaced with concern. “Is she okay?” he asked, already moving to go have a look for himself as Caine glanced at Charlie, the large German Shepherd curled up in the corner.
“She’s fine for now. I need to have a word with you,” Caine said before leveling a glare on Indie. “Alone.”
With a murmured, “Excuse me,” Indie left with Charlie following her as Noah watched her go.
“You’re playing with fire, human,” Caine drawled as he closed the clinic door, knowing that it wouldn’t be enough to stop most of the inhabitants in the mansion from hearing what he had to say, but then again, he only cared about making sure that one of them didn’t know what he was about to do.
“He hasn’t marked her yet,” Noah said, taking him by surprise and letting him know that the human had more balls than he thought.
That was good, Caine thought as he added, “Yet,” with a pointed look. Before the human could respond, Caine said, “I want you to do something for me.”
“And what’s that?” Noah absently asked as he grabbed the file that he’d been showing Indie and moved to put it away when Caine’s next words stopped him.
“Save my family.”
Chapter 5
One Month Later…
“Whatever you do, don’t start crying again,” someone said as Ashley struggled to open her eyes only to add, “He really seems to hate that.”
“Who?” Ashley tried to get out, but between the grogginess and the soul-crushing pain that was currently tearing her body apart, she barely managed a weak grunt.
“The asshole,” he answered anyway as the bed that she was on was jostled, letting her know that he’d decided to join her, a first for her, but something that she was going to have to ponder later.
Right now, she had other things that she needed to worry about.
“Good job keeping the tears at bay, sweetheart. Appreciate you taking one for the team,” he said dryly as Ashley registered the feel of a large hand giving her head a condescending pat that left her battling the overwhelming urge to slap the owner of that hand.
“So, what are you exactly?” he asked as Ashley felt something placed on her stomach.
Somehow managing a groan, Ashley blinked her eyes open and stared at the blurry object on her stomach until it slowly came into focus and when it did, she couldn’t help but shift a glare at the bastard sitting next to her as he grabbed a handful of M&M’s from the bowl currently resting on her stomach and shoved it in his mouth. When he saw her glare, he shot her a wink and shifted his attention back to the iPad on his lap.
“Well?” he asked as he grabbed another handful of candy.
Deciding that glaring at him wasn’t helping, Ashley shifted her attention back to her body and noted the cast on her left arm, the splint on her right arm, the way that her ribs ached with every breath, and the fact that her legs looked huge beneath the thin blanket covering her and realized that her legs were broken as well.
“Do you remember what happened?” he asked, sounding bored as he swiped a can of Coke off the nightstand and took a sip while Ashley lay there, licking her parched lips as she imagined just how good a Coke would taste right now.
When he caught her staring at the Coke in his hand, he narrowed his eyes and gave her an assessing look. “Even trade. A sip for an answer?”
After a moment, Ashley reluctantly nodded, deciding that she really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Not that she planned on answering all of his questions because she didn’t. What she planned on doing was try to figure out what she was doing here.
With a nod of his own, he shoved another handful of candy in his mouth as he grabbed the bowl and set it aside along with the Coke while Ashley watched him, noting that he was handsome and had one of those easygoing smiles that she’d always really liked. Giving her a reassuring smile, he carefully helped her sit up and made sure to tuck her small body back in before settling back against the headboard.
“So,” he said with that easygoing smile that she liked as he reached back over and grabbed a cup with a straw off the nightstand, “do you remember what happened?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but the only sound that came out was a pained rasp. “A nod or a shake will do,” he drawled as he placed the tip of the straw against her lips.
Throwing him a thankful glance, Ashley took a sip and closed her eyes on a small moan as the cold, sweet, carbonated liquid coated her mouth and sore throat, taking the edge off the headache that was pounding at the back of her skull.
“N-no,” Ashley managed to get out as she kept her eyes closed and slowly exhaled, really wishing that she could take something for the pain. Well, she could, but then she’d just end up in a worse situation than she was in now.
“How old are you, sweetheart?” he asked as she felt the tip of the straw pressed against her lips again.
“Forty-five,” Ashley mumbled around the straw, knowing that it would be a waste of time to lie about her age. Besides, she’d rather make him believe that she was cooperating to buy herself some time.
“Forty-five,” he repeated in a thoughtful tone as Ashley took another sip and nearly moaned when the sweet elixir that she would happily drink twenty-four/seven if she could afford it hit her tongue. Unfortunately for her, and her sugar addiction, she was on a tight budget that consisted of Ramen noodles, generic pasta with margarine when it was on sale, and water fresh from the tap.
“And what are you, sweetheart?” he asked as he took the straw away.
“In a lot of pain,” Ashley managed to get out as she lay there, silently cataloging the pain tearing through her body only to stop when she reached her hip because thinking about it seemed to make it worse.
A lot worse, Ashley thought with a cringe as she tried to shift away from the pain shooting up her legs. “How long have I been here?” she whispered because whispering seemed to be the least painful thing that she could do at the moment.
“We’ve been here for close to a month,” he said, making her groan even as she realized that he’d given her a clue.
He’d said, “We,” which gave her a little hope that she might have an ally in all this. He’d also clued her in to the fact that she wasn’t healing as fast as she should be. Not that she’d ever really healed fast, but after a month, the pain should be dulled by this point.
“Not going to tell me what you are?” he asked as he pressed the straw back against her lips.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Ashley said, only to end up moaning in ecstasy when the sweet liquid coated her tongue and throat again, tasting better and better with every pull on the straw.
How long had it been since she’d been able to enjoy a Coke? Ashley wondered as she continued sipping, not really sure that she’d be able to resist the urge to spill all her secrets for much longer, not if he kept offering her more Coke.
“Nothing, hmm?” he murmured as he took the straw away, and before she could complain, he brought it back and she couldn’t help but sigh with relief even as she noted that the Coke had taken the edge off her hunger.
“Failure to thrive,” Ashley managed to explain as she greedily drank more Coke, repeating the same answer that she gave everyone else when she needed to explain why she’d stopped growing when she’d turned ten, hoping that it would be enough.
“So, you’re human,” he said when Ashley felt him shift on the bed next to her as she went still because this was the first time that anyone had even hinted at the other world that she’d been told to pretend that she didn’t know existed.
Unstoppable Page 3
