Tall, Dark & Furious (A Pyte/Sentinel Novel Book 6)

by R. L. Mathewson

  “My blood is dangerous,” she said with a shrug as she glanced around the small bathroom, taking everything in while he ran his gaze over her, noting the old Mickey Mouse tee-shirt that was a little too small for her and the faded flannel pajama bottoms that hung off her.

  “How?” he asked, trying to figure out if he was dealing with a shifter or a demon, something that he needed to figure out soon.

  “It kills,” she mumbled absently, which really didn’t tell him much since ingesting anything other than human blood would kill him.

  Sighing, he decided that it was time to get some answers.

  *-*-*-*

  “Son of a bitch!”

  “That looks like it hurts,” Indie said with a sympathetic wince only to mumble, “Sorry,” when a pair of angry silver eyes narrowed on her.

  Deciding that it would probably be for the best if she focused on something else, she absently dried the back of her hand on her pajama pants, shifted to get more comfortable in the small rust-stained bathtub that he’d put her in and-

  Sighed, when he grabbed her hand and poured the rest of the water over her palm. When nothing happened, he glared down at the small metallic vial in his hand before he tossed it aside and reached for the cross again. After making sure that the facecloth was wrapped securely around the bottom of the cross, he pressed it against the back of her hand. When nothing happened, he carefully shifted the facecloth lower and-

  “Goddamn it!” he snapped, dropping the cross on the stained linoleum floor to join the rest of the stuff that he’d either poured on her or pressed against her skin, with another, “Son of a bitch!” as white smoke rose off his hand.

  Again.

  As he shoved his hand back in the sink full of cold water, Indie shifted her attention to the black duffle bag on the floor near the tub and-

  Immediately wished that she hadn’t when she spotted all the really sharp things waiting for her. Licking her suddenly dry lips, Indie scooted back in the bathtub until the back of her head touched the cracked tiled wall and the cuff securing her to the small handrail bit into her wrist. Really hoping that he didn’t use the serrated knife that looked like it would hurt next, she wrapped her arm tightly around her knees and couldn’t help but wonder if she’d be better off trying to get to Boston on her own.

  Maybe she should-

  “What do you eat?” he asked, leveling a silver-eyed glare on her through the bathroom mirror.

  “Food,” Indie said as she shifted her attention to the small metal handrail that she was handcuffed to, wondering if she’d be able to pull it away from the wall.

  “What kind of food?”

  “Meat and vegetables,” she said, shifting her head to the side, looking for any bolts or screws holding that bar.

  “Raw meat?” he asked just as she spotted the remains of a rusted nail that she wasn’t going to be able to work loose with her fingers.

  “No,” she said, deciding that it would probably be for the best if she didn’t tell him what the sight of blood did to her.

  “Do you eat sugar?”

  She opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn’t allowed to have sugar when something occurred to her, something that had her licking her lips and doing her best to act casual as she cleared her throat and said, “I don’t know.”

  Chapter 12

  Westdrom, Maine

  “Well, that was fun,” his wife said when they finally rolled to a stop while Trace sat there, telling himself that everything would be fine, but something, mainly the way that she’d barely managed to avoid hitting that tree and so many other things along the way, told him that he was lucky to be alive. Even knowing that he couldn’t die hadn’t been enough to save him from fearing for his life at every terrifying turn.

  “Trace, are you okay?” Samantha asked when he could only stare at her in disbelief.

  “I-I think we should walk from here,” he finally managed to get out, which earned him a glare.

  “It wasn’t that bad.”

  “It was the single most terrifying experience of my life,” Trace said, nodding solemnly as he ran his trembling hands roughly down his face.

  “Lightweight,” Samantha said, sighing heavily as she reached behind her and grabbed her satchel.

  “What is this place?” Trace asked, frowning as he looked around and realized that he didn’t recognize anything.

  The road which should have been a muddy mess filled with horseshit and garbage was black, smooth, and looked like stone, the walkways were a pale gray with buildings taller than he’d ever thought possible filled with more glass than he’d ever seen in his short human life lining either side of the road and everything was clean.

  Everything.

  He’d never seen a road without horse shit before, he mused as he glanced at the walkways and-

  “Are we at a whore house?” he asked, not particularly happy that his wife knew that such places existed.

  “Why would you think this was a whore house?” Samantha asked, frowning as she followed his gaze and-

  “Oh,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck with a sigh. “It’s not a whore house.”

  “That woman?” Trace asked, watching as the woman in question pulled herself tightly against a short man with thinning red hair so that she was pushing her breasts up against him as they continued devouring each other where everyone could see them.

  “Is just really friendly,” Samantha said, nodding as she returned her attention to her bag.

  “What are we doing here?” Trace asked as he returned his attention to the building in front of them.

  “I have to take care of something,” Samantha said as she reached over and opened her door, leaving him to do the same. It took a few tries, but he finally managed to open his door just as his wife reached his side.

  “It might be for the best if you waited in the car?” she suggested with a hopeful look on her face that had him narrowing his eyes on her even as he tested the word “car” in his head.

  “No,” he said, careful to keep his breaths shallow so that he was able to avoid the scent of anything that might set him off.

  “That’s what I thought,” she muttered with a heavy sigh as she turned around and headed back the other way, leaving him to follow as he glanced at what he was assuming were also cars and-

  “Why are the other cars placed between two white lines?” Trace asked, shifting his attention to the white line coming out from beneath the back of her car.

  “Because they don’t have my skills,” Samantha said with a sad shake of her head.

  “They also managed to keep theirs straight while yours is at an angle,” Trace pointed out.

  “Skills, Trace, skills,” Samantha said, making his lips twitch as he glanced towards the building they were standing in front of and read the words written across the building in perfect black lettering.

  Westdrom Police Department.

  Not sure what that meant, he glanced around them as he slowly exhaled and-

  “Trace?”

  Felt like his skull was about to split in two as a whole new world of scents slammed into him when he made the mistake of taking in too much air with his next breath. Once the scents began assaulting him, the sounds that he’d managed to block out quickly followed. Shaking his head, he stumbled back against the car as he struggled to stay in control.

  “Are you okay?” Samantha asked as she worried her bottom lip.

  Unable to answer, he slowly exhaled as sounds continued to slam into him, making him feel like his head was about to explode as the scents of humans, body odor, dust, dirt, rotted food, and a thousand odors that he’d never encountered before battled for his attention. His eyes shifted red and-

  “Oomph!”

  “So, I’m just going to run inside and take care of a few things,” his small wife explained as she yanked open the car door and somehow managed to shove him back inside the car so that he was slumped over onto his side with a weak groan.

 
“I’ll only be a few minutes, so just sit here and try not to drain anyone, okay?” Samantha said with a sigh, as she stood up only to shake her head with a mumble that caused the pain in his head to double as she opened a hidden cabinet in front of him, pulled out something black and placed it on his face, covering his eyes with a “That should help,” and a hopeful smile.

  When he only glared at her through the black thing on his face that made everything darker, she shifted nervously, cleared her throat, and mumbled, “Right,” with a nod as she rubbed her hands down her face with another sigh and a muttered, “This isn’t going to end well,” to herself as she closed the door before he could stop her and made her way to the large building.

  As he watched her walk away, his breaths came faster, his body trembled as his fangs slid down, his vision began to go black, and-

  His wife suddenly stopped, shook her head with a muttered, “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” turned around and walked back towards him as the black haze that had been threatening to take over only seconds earlier disappeared, and he realized something important.

  She was his salvation.

  Chapter 13

  Rerum, New Hampshire

  “Did you miss me, Angel?”

  “This really can’t be happening,” Jill said, shaking her head in disbelief even as she shoved herself back away from the asshole that had played her so well. She pressed her back against the door and-

  “It’s locked,” Logan said, sounding amused as she shifted to the right so that she could press her back against the soft leather seat and moved to put her feet down only to realize that she was too short to reach the floor.

  Short girl problems, Jill thought with disgust as she shifted so that she could place her feet on the seat and worked her cuffed hands beneath her, biting back a groan as she brought her feet back and-

  “How long have you had a Sentinel watching you?” Logan asked, drawing her attention to the seriously pissed off man standing outside her door.

  “Oh, crap,” Jill mumbled with a wince when she realized who it was.

  “Open up, buttercup,” Lukas, the Sentinel that had been assigned to watch over Rerum and who she secretly suspected had a stick up his ass, drawled as she sat there, closing her eyes in resignation because this was only going to end badly for her.

  “Looks like this will have to wait, Angel,” the man that had ruined everything said and before she had a chance to ask him what he was talking about, the door behind her was yanked open and she found herself pulled out of the car and shoved behind the large man that had taken it upon himself to make her life a living hell.

  “Fucking leech,” the large Sentinel bit out, as she shifted her focus to her cuffed hands only to end up sighing when she realized that she’d left her bag in the car that was currently driving away and leaving her to face the jerk with nothing better to do than glare at her, which he was currently doing.

  “Thank you,” Jill said, resigning herself to whatever lecture she was about to get so that she could call it a night, go home and…

  She honestly had no idea what she was going to do now.

  “That was unbelievably stupid,” Lukas noted with a heavy sigh as he grabbed hold of her arm and began walking, giving her no choice but to do her best to keep up or risk being dragged through the streets and something told her that he really didn’t care either way.

  “Thought you learned your lesson,” Lukas drawled, as he continued to head down the street.

  “I didn’t do anything,” Jill said with a heavy sigh, as they walked towards the old fire station.

  “Really? Because it looked like you were meeting with your Master in my town,” Lukas said dryly, as they walked over to the large side door and in seconds, he was dragging her inside and towards the back stairs.

  “He’s not my Master,” Jill said, wondering why she was even bothering to have this conversation.

  “That mark on your neck says otherwise,” Lukas said absently, as he led her through the large gym that he’d set up on the first floor where they used to park the old fire trucks.

  This place had been empty since she was a kid and the town had realized that it couldn’t afford the upkeep of the old building and decided to house the fire department and the police department in one building. There had been some talk of tearing it down a few times over the years, some interest in turning it into a restaurant, but until Lukas moved into town last year, it had remained empty. Her grandmother offered him a room at the old house, but he’d declined and instead bought this old place so that he could be closer to town. She had a feeling that he’d done it to keep a closer eye on her.

  “I thought you knew better than to bring leeches into my town,” Lukas said, heading towards the cast-iron stairs.

  “I have no idea why he’s here,” Jill said, stumbling after him as he gave her no choice but to follow him up the stairs. “Maybe you should be having this conversation with him instead?” she suggested, wondering why he’d grabbed her instead of Logan since he was on the Sentinel’s most wanted list.

  “Because you’re the problem,” Lukas said, leading her through a large kitchen and headed towards the…

  “Wait! What are you doing?” she asked, trying to pull her arm free only to have him tighten his hold and quicken his pace.

  “You’re going to stay here until your father comes to fetch you or the Council sends someone to arrest you. Personally, I don’t care which one happens as long as you’re out of my town,” Lukas said, sounding bored as he dragged her to the first steel enforced door.

  “What the hell are you talking about? This is my home!” Jill said, struggling not to panic, but as they drew closer to that door at the end of the small hallway, it became harder to breathe.

  “This isn’t your home, Miss Williams,” he explained as he punched in a code to unlock the thick metal door. “You were an unwanted guest in my town, but as long as you behaved yourself and stayed out of trouble, I was willing to allow you to stay. You wore out your welcome the moment that you brought your Master into my town and put my people in danger.”

  “I didn’t invite him!” Jill yelled, desperately trying to get away, but he simply ignored her efforts, opened the door when the lock clicked free and pushed her inside.

  “You didn’t have to,” Lukas said, releasing her so that he could pull his phone out of his back pocket. “You’re his property, which means that he has a right to be where you are and that, Miss Williams, will not be in my town.”

  “You can’t do this!” Jill said, trying to make him see reason. “I grew up here. My grandmother’s here and-”

  “And you’re putting her in danger by just being here,” Lukas said with a frown as he cut her off as he stared down at his phone.

  “Look, my father-”

  “Doesn’t have a fucking say in how I run my town and he knows it. He asked me if you could move back and I told him that as long as you didn’t fuck up and bring trouble into my territory, then you could stay,” Lukas said as he put his phone back in his pocket.

  “But I haven’t done anything!”

  “You’ve done enough, Miss Williams,” Lukas said, lazily gesturing around her. “Make yourself comfortable, because it appears that you’re going to be here for a while,” and with that, he was gone and she was left standing there, trying to tell herself that everything was going to be okay, but something told her that it wasn’t going to be okay.

  Not anymore.

  Chapter 14

  Westdrom, Maine

  “Nathan’s going to have me committed,” Samantha said, for some reason deciding that now was the time to start lying to herself because she knew damn well that Nathan was going to kill her.

  Not that she could blame him, Samantha thought as she reluctantly put the car in park and glanced at the large house that she never knew existed until today. She really couldn’t believe that she was doing this, she thought as she looked down at the address Ethan had given her to make sure
that it was the right one only to end up closing her eyes when the words began blurring together. After a moment and another slow, deep breath, she opened her eyes and tried again. She should have run when she had the chance. She could still run now, but…

  “Apologies,” the large man that she should be doing everything in her power to get away from said as he forced himself to release his hold on the center console, which he’d managed to crack in half when she’d been forced to do a U-turn a few minutes ago when she accidentally drove past the driveway that she’d never noticed before.

  “It’s fine,” Samantha said, sighing, because what else was she going to do? she wondered as she climbed out of the car and-

  Was forced to grab hold of the car door and close her eyes when a wave of dizziness threatened to drop her on her ass. She was going to pass out if she didn’t eat something soon. She should have grabbed something to eat before she left, but she didn’t have a chance to do much more than pack a bag and stumble out of the house before the man that she was throwing her life away for could set her house on fire.

  Wondering why she was really doing this, Samantha took a steadying breath and opened her eyes to take in the house where Ethan promised they’d be safe until this was all over. She’d lived in this town her entire life and she’d never heard of anyone living in this area of Westdrom before. Then again, that probably had something to do with the fact that the entire east side of Westdrom was supposed to be a federally protected nature preservation.

  There were no buildings, roads, or houses in this area, except for this one, she amended as she took in the large colonial house before her. It looked just as old as her grandmother’s house, but unlike her grandmother’s house, this house looked well-cared for with a fresh coat of paint, the windows looked new as did the two-car garage, the grass was neatly trimmed, the property was cut back to the woods surrounding the property, and even the small cottage in the back looked like it was well taken care of, and she had no idea what they were doing here.