With a muttered "thanks" she grabbed a bottle of water and settled on the mattress with her back against the wall. While she focused her attention on her food he decided to go through the food in the basket, once again and make sure that he hadn't missed anything, mostly to have something to do. Once that chore was done he shoved to his feet, hoping she didn't notice how badly he shook.
He'd gone too long without blood and if he didn't get some soon he was going to slide into bloodlust and there would be nothing to stop him from going after Danni. Hell, her scent alone was driving him mad. All he could smell was her mouthwatering aroma and he wanted a sip, just a sip, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stop there. He'd drain every last drop out of her body before he could stop himself.
Fixing the shower had been a mistake, but knowing that hadn't stopped him from doing it. At the time he'd been more worried about her comfort and warming her up than what the hot moisture in the closed room would do to her scent. Now he couldn't think of anything else.
It was intoxicating.
Even a half hour or however the hell long it had been since their shower, he could still smell her mouthwatering aroma. This was hell. Any other woman and he would have drained her to save himself from this misery, but this was little Danni. When it came right down to it he'd promised to always take care of her. Granted, she'd been five years old at that time and afraid of what the dentist was going to do to her, but he'd meant forever.
No doubt it was the real reason he hung around for so long. He liked to say that it was out of boredom, but the truth was he couldn't leave behind the little girl who once offered him fifty cents to beat the shit out of the dentist for telling her that sugar was bad for her teeth. He smiled at the memory of her crossing her little arms over her chest as she demanded that he take the job. Sometimes he missed that little girl so much that his chest ached for days. Now she was this woman he hardly knew.
He may watch after her and do his damndest to keep her safe, but there was just so damn much that he didn't know about her these days. The few things he knew weren't very helpful. He knew that she was a workaholic and mostly kept to herself. For some reason he didn't think there was much more in her life. She'd have to work on that once he got her out of here. He didn't like the idea of the little girl he used to adore throwing her life away.
There was no use worrying about that now. They had other things to focus on, like getting out of here. Once they escaped he'd set her up somewhere, but for now he needed to put his energy into getting her out of here before he did something stupid like rip her throat out.
His fangs slid down when he knelt in front of the small red cooler. Compared to the aroma she was giving off this bagged blood tasted like shit, but he'd deal with it. He popped a bag to his mouth, closed his eyes and pretended that the cold blood didn't turn his stomach. At least in his room back at the compound he had a microwave. It didn't taste as good as it did when it came straight from the source, but it was better than this cold shit.
"What do you think their new game is?" she asked.
He didn't bother answering her as he finished off another four bags. If it pissed her off he really didn't care. It was either gulp this cold shit down or go for the source that had been haunting him for years. For his own damn sanity he needed to get the hell out of here and away from her.
When he was finally done he walked over to the section of the wall that he called his own and sat down. He didn't bother looking at her as he answered.
"They think they've made progress and as long as we let them think that they'll feed you so that's what we're going to do," he explained, feeling suddenly exhausted.
"I'm not going to sleep with you, Caine," she said evenly.
Sighing, he shook his head. "I wasn't offering."
"Just as long as we're clear."
"Crystal clear," he said, glaring at the woman when she simply shrugged and went back to picking through her food. After another minute he looked away, feeling like an idiot. The damn woman was going to try his patience. They needed to get out of here before he ended up throttling her pretty little neck.
Chapter 12
"Don't make me kill you," Caine growled.
Danni of course ignored his protests and grabbed his hand and gave it a yank that he easily ignored. He narrowed his red eyes on her, but she simply chose to ignore his grumpy mood and gave his hand another tug.
"Come on, get up," she said, eager to get rid of some of the excess energy that she seemed to have. After three days of recuperating and building her strength up she needed to move. She tried pacing the room, but after ten minutes it became painfully obvious, at least to her, that she needed something else to do. Then her eyes landed on Caine and she decided that she was going to live out one of her fantasies.
She was going to kick his ass.
Not because she had any built up animosity towards the man, well, maybe just a little, but because she'd always dreamed of sparring with him for real. When she was a teenager they sparred, but he held back big time and it had been more about her learning than anything. Now she wanted to see if she could give the man a run for his money.
He would totally kick her ass, she knew that. She wasn't an idiot after all. The man was a Pyte. He was stronger and faster and would probably wipe the floor with her in a few minutes, but curiosity was a bitch and it had her giving his hand another yank. When she finally got him to his feet she couldn't help but smile.
"You can't be serious," he said, sounding bored which was a tad insulting, but she didn't care. She was too excited. Finally, after all these years, she was going to see if she had what it took to hold her own against a Pyte.
"Damn straight," she said, backing up and gesturing for him to come at her. "Let's go."
He arched an eyebrow as he studied her. "I won't hold back this time, Danni."
"I didn't ask you to," she pointed out as she forced her body to relax the way he taught her all those years ago.
"You're no longer a child, Danni, so I won't hold back. Are you sure about this?" he asked, cocking his head to the side to study her.
"I don't need you to hold back anymore," she gritted out, feeling her body starting to tense. She forced herself to relax once again as they tried to stare the other down.
It didn't take long for her to figure out that he was stalling and why. He didn't want to do this. Whether it was because he didn't want to take a chance hurting her or because he didn't think she was up to the challenge she didn't know and didn't care. Not only was she curious to see how much she could take, but she also wanted to keep her skills up. If they were going to escape then they needed to do it soon and she needed to be ready. The only way to do that was to practice with him and the only way to make him do that was to provoke him. She tried not to smile as she did just that.
"Did I mention that I like your tattoo? It's very cute and let's not forget the piercing. Did you do that for someone special or were you just bored?" she asked innocently, knowing she was on the right track when he clenched his jaw tightly and glared at her, so of course she kept going.
"I especially like the way the tattoo looped around the base before it-"
She was forced to stop talking. It was either that or get her ass kicked, which was probably going to happen anyway, but not this soon. When he swung and she easily ducked the move, she knew he was still holding back. The next weak punch confirmed it. With a bored sigh she ducked out of the way again, dropped to her knees and grabbed him by the goods. It was a very large handful, but she managed to fit the important bits in her hand. She gave him a squeeze of warning that caused him to instantly go still. Sure, he was a Pyte and would heal, but no man wanted his junk damaged.
"Oh, good," she said brightly. "I have your attention."
Of course she ignored his growl of warning. "Next time you hold back I won't," she said, giving him another squeeze that had him sucking in a breath. "Understood?"
She released him after he gave her a firm nod. O
nce her hand was off his boys she moved the hell out of the way, but not fast enough. He had her by the throat and pinned against the wall before she could take her next breath. He leaned in close until his warm breath fanned her neck and ear.
"Is this what you want?" he demanded, tightening his hold on her neck.
"Yes," she gasped even as her elbow shot up to dislodge his hand. When his hand didn't move she tried it again and again until she was left with no choice but to shove him away. When he moved back and dropped his hand away, it was clear that it was only because he allowed it.
"It doesn't matter how many hours you train or how hard you push your body, Danni, you're still human,” he said coldly. "You don't belong here and you sure as hell don't have the skill to stay in the game, Danni."
"Bullshit!" she snapped, getting in his face. "I've survived this long," she pointed out. She knew he was faster and stronger than her and against him she wouldn't stand a chance, but she'd held her own against vampires, demons and shifters over the years and knew she that had what it took to do this job. It didn't matter that she was a human. She was more than-
"Because you've always been surrounded by Sentinels, other demons, vampires, and shifters. You never would have survived this job if you were on your own, Danni."
"Really?" she asked mockingly. "That's kind of funny since I've been patrolling on my own every night for the past eight years," she announced, pleased by the stunned expression on his face.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked weakly, looking slightly surprised at her announcement and for good reason. All humans working for the Sentinels were prohibited from patrolling alone, but she didn't care. The worst they could do was fire her and kick her out of the compound and if they did that she'd just go and do this somewhere else.
"I patrol every single night on my own. I hit the bars, clubs, alleyways and every place I know the Sentinels don't have time to hit. I may not be able to hold my own against a Pyte, but I sure as hell can hold my own against the others," she spat out, moving to walk away from him only to find herself once again shoved up against the wall.
"You little fool," he snapped, his hands tightening on her shoulders as he gave her a little shake. "Why the hell would you do something so stupid?"
"Because it's my job!" she yelled back.
A vicious growl tore through his throat as he shoved her further against the wall and walked away from her. He began to pace in front of her in clipped movements. She forced herself to stand there as his fangs dropped and it became more than obvious that he was having a hell of a time staying in control. As much as she wanted to get in his face and tell him off once and for all, she couldn't. He was on the verge of bloodlust and she knew all too well what could happen if he lost control.
She'd been fourteen the one and only time she'd seen him go into bloodlust. That memory was more than enough to keep her ass against the wall and her mouth shut. If he could calm down, he would have a chance to reign it back in and if he couldn't she'd better pray, because there was nowhere to run and hide this time.
The other time he lost it had been all her fault. He'd told her that she was too young to go patrolling and she hadn't listened. She thought she was ready, more than ready because he had trained her. It never occurred to her that he'd been holding back. So when he went off with a group of Sentinels to patrol she snuck out of the compound, ran to the subway and went to the area she overheard one of the Sentinels say there was a nest of vampires.
Her plan had been simple, stupid, but simple. While everyone else was fighting, she was hunting down the nest's Master and planning to take him down in front of everyone so they could see just how good she really was. Once she brought down the Master, she knew they'd allow her to quit school, more like insist that she quit, so that she could train fulltime with them and patrol.
When she managed to sneak past the Sentinel stationed at the front of the abandoned building where the nest was, she knew that her skills were more than good enough. By the time she found Caine and the others fighting the large group of vampires and a few minions, she'd been mentally patting herself on the back for a job well done.
Somehow she managed to sneak into the large room and hide behind an overturned vending machine. At the time she'd assumed it was her incredible skills that allowed her to hide, but now she realized that she'd only managed to get in unobserved because everyone had been too busy to notice her. While they fought, she scanned the room looking for the biggest, toughest vampire that she could find, figuring that one would be the Master.
She wasn't sure if the vampire she decided on was actually the Master, but she went for him just the same. As quietly and quickly as she could, she moved out from behind the vending machine and went after her prey. Unfortunately she never got near the man. Before she knew what was happening, another vampire grabbed her and yanked her back against his chest. She didn't get a chance to put up a fight before he struck.
Just the thought of those fangs slicing through her skin still had the power to make her ill. She let out a blood curdling scream, not sure if she screamed Caine's name or not, but within seconds she was falling to the ground. She landed hard and tried to crawl away only to find herself kicked and stepped on as the fighting shifted closer.
Somehow she managed to crawl to one of the cracked and decaying walls. She huddled against it as she watched in horrified fascination as Caine made the vampire scream and beg for his life before Caine ripped out his throat. Most vampires and Sentinels didn't know that Pytes could drink the blood of vampires, demons, shifters as well as humans. It was something Caine had told her, but up until that moment she'd never seen him drink anything more than bagged blood heated up in the microwave.
She knew the minute his glowing red eyes landed on her and by the way he tilted his head back and sniffed the air that there was something off about him. When he started attacking anything in his path, not caring whether it was a vampire or a Sentinel she thought he was worried about her and wanted to check on her. It wasn't until he went to lunge for her and several Sentinels and the shifters in his group grabbed him and held him back that she realized he meant to finish what the vampire had started.
When she slapped a hand to her wound he went wild in their arms, snarling and growling as he fought to get to her. The survivors of the nest took advantage of the situation and ran, leaving the Sentinels to deal with Caine. She stood up on trembling legs and moved to go to him only to get a good look at the monster he truly was. The moment she looked into his eyes she knew that her friend Caine wasn't there. She also knew that it wouldn't be long before he freed himself and came after her.
She sent him one last look, hoping to see her friend, but he wasn't there. Mumbling an apology she took off running, hoping he'd calm down if she wasn't in the room. She heard some of the men yell after her to run faster and she did the best she could. She ran out of the building, down the street and down the stairs to the subway, praying the entire way that the scents of the trains, dirt and humans would confuse him and that she made it to a train before he found her.
Just as she made it to the bottom step she heard the unholy roar that caused her heart to skip a beat and sent her running even faster. She jumped the token gate, ignored the booth worker demanding that she come back, and kept running until she made it down to the tracks just in time to see a train pull away. Not knowing what else to do, she jumped the tracks and took off running into the pitch black tunnel, praying he'd just assumed that she jumped on the train and left.
When she heard the growl echo in the tunnel she knew that he was still following her. Seconds later she tripped on the tracks and went flying, landing hard on the tracks. Remembering the small space that she usually watched mice run out of, she crawled towards her right, praying that she fit in there. She did, but it was a tight fit.
She moved until her shoulder came up against the rough cement wall and was forced to turn her head all the way to the side to fit. She prayed that she'd be
able to go deep enough so that he couldn't reach her. When she saw the small bright red lights she bit her lip hard enough to keep from screaming. It was stupid, but she didn't want him to think that she was a coward. She knew that if he got his hands on her that she'd fight him until the end.
As his hand closed tightly around her arm she knew it would all be over soon even as she fought desperately to free her arm and grab onto something to keep herself from being dragged out. It was only thanks to one of the Sentinels that managed to follow him that she was still alive today. When she heard the gunshot and felt his hand go lax on her arm she sighed with relief and crawled out to check on Caine and to face her punishment.
Thankfully they shot him in the heart instead of the head. She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle seeing that. She wasn't worried that he'd die. He'd explained all of that years ago. So while several Sentinels yelled at her and threatened to take her over their knees and give her the ass whooping that she deserved she sat by Caine's side and held his hand.
Tall, Dark & Heartless: A Pyte/Sentinel Series Novel Page 11
