Tall Dark & Heartless, Page 35
R. L. Mathewson
Page 35
The man was too violent and out of control, which was why Lucan kept his mouth shut and didn't complain when the Master would leave their small compound without a word, leaving everything on Lucan's shoulders. Truthfully there wasn't much to do except guard the Master's favorite minions.
Their territory was small compared to most. When Lucan first came into this life, their territory had rivaled some of the most powerful Masters at the time, but years of neglect and focusing too much attention on other things had cost them. If it hadn't been for Lucan's watchful eye they would have nothing and his Master would have probably ceased to exist long ago.
With a Pyte, that could all change. They could take back their territory and expand into the areas the shifters and demons used as their playground. It would also make anyone think twice about going against his Master and that would make all of this bullshit worth it. Four centuries of babysitting a Master who was prone to kill or torture anyone and everyone over the smallest slight had taken its toll on him. He would love to ensure that his Master was safe and to do that, he had to ensure that this plan worked. He needed this plan to work.
"No f**king," he said on an exasperated sigh when he heard the men begin to moan. He needed the aphrodisiac to remain undetected and if the men found release, their blood would be tainted by the increase in hormones and this plan would fail and he couldn't allow that.
*********
"It's time to eat, Danni," he said, wishing like hell that he didn't have to do this for her, but he didn't trust her to be able to get control fast enough to hide what she was. So, that meant bagged blood was out, at least for now.
As soon as her strength was up, they were going to make their move. Once the chain was off he would be useless for a good five to ten minutes, shorter if he did it with a stomach full of blood and had some extra blood on the side. Then again if she took too much from him and they cut his supply short it would take a hell of a lot longer to re-grow his foot and they'd be f**ked because there was no way the vampires outside their door would miss the scent of blood. He would have removed his chain sooner, but there had barely been enough blood as it was for Danni's transformation.
"I'm not hungry," she bit out through clenched teeth as she rubbed her hands roughly down her face as she paced right in front of the door.
"You need to feed," he said, getting to his feet and walking towards the clearly agitated woman. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what had the woman on edge. She was a fresh turn who needed blood, more frequently and for the last. . . . well, he didn't know how long it had been, but he was willing to guess it had been at least twenty hours since she fed from him. She refused to take any blood from him when she clearly needed it.
He caught the scent of human males and knew by the way Danni licked her lips that she smelled them too. It shouldn't bother him that she was responding to other men, but it did. He didn't like the idea of her holding onto another man as she drank from him while the bastard touched her. No, it wouldn't do for her to feed from another male.
She'd only feed from him and only while they were stuck in this hell, but once they got out of here he was going to have to take her somewhere well away from everything and everyone and make damn sure that the stubborn woman could protect herself. He'd also have to help set her up with blood delivery and then he'd have to go into hiding for a century or two or at least until the Sentinels forgot about him.
He'd ignored part of his sentence and changed someone into a Pyte. Granted, he hadn't been thinking about the Sentinel Council when he changed her and even knowing what they had planned for him didn't make him regret saving her. Losing Danni would have been a blow that he knew damn well that he never would have recovered from. He couldn't imagine living for eternity with her loss on his shoulders.
As long as he got her out of here before their captives figured out what he'd done, everything would be alright. He'd f**ked up and given her his curse, but maybe she would luck out and never face the bullshit he had. In fact, he planned on making sure that she remained safe for the rest of her life. He'd set her up in a small town without any shifters or demons within a two hundred mile radius so that he wouldn't have to worry about someone detecting what she was.
He'd have to check up on her from time to time to make sure that she was okay. That was fine. He knew how to stay good and gone so that no one, including Danni, would know that he was around. He'd also have to move her to a new location when the locals started noticing that she wasn't aging, but he'd handle that when the time came. The only thing that mattered now was getting her somewhere safe and to do that they needed to keep her little change a secret.
"Danni, you need to feed," he said, stepping into her path and blocking her, but of course she just walked past him.
"I'm not hungry," she snapped.
"Uh huh," he said, watching as she discretely scented the air and licked her lips in a way that had his c**k twitching and forcing him to fight back the urge to kill any male that caught her interest.
He gritted his teeth in irritation. She shouldn't be affecting him like this. She wasn't his and he sure as hell didn't want to keep her, but he couldn't help the way his body and mind were responding to her, like she was his. The only explanation that he could come up with was the change. He'd never changed anyone before. He was just having a primitive reaction to the fact that his blood flowed through her veins. Once they got out of here his reactions to her would lessen and he wouldn't care what the hell she did or with who she it with, just like before he changed her.
So that wasn't entirely true. He'd cared who was around her, a little. He didn't like the losers she spent time with, but he never interfered, and no he didn't count the little "talks" that he had with Greg as interference. He just really enjoyed beating the shit out of the little prick and of course he would have to make it a special point to hunt the little bastard down once he was freed and have another little talk with him. Only this time he wouldn't stop talking to the bastard until he was screaming his name in agony with his last breath.
"Back the hell off, Caine. I said I wasn't hungry so leave me alone," Danni said as she forced her eyes away from the door and continued her pacing.
"No, what you are is about five minutes away from bloodlust," he drawled as he reached out and grabbed her by the arm only to have her shove his hand aside and move to the other side of the room where she folded her arms over her chest and leaned her forehead against the wall, keeping her back to him.
"Danni," he said tightly. They didn't have time for this shit. They might have been able to keep their captors in the dark so far, but he doubted that would last very long. She needed to feed and get her strength up to his level if they were going to have any chance of getting out of here. He wanted her out of here before they figured out what she was. If he could get her out of here and leave them believing that she was human then she'd have a chance, but God help her if they found out that she'd been changed.
Not only would she have to worry about this Master coming after her, but every power hungry Master in the world, because he knew without a doubt that word of her transformation would slip out. Either vampires who wanted a new Master or thought she would be able to change them, make them more powerful, would spread the word or the minions under this Master's protection would give away the information in hopes of being rewarded with immortality. The only way to avoid all the unwanted bullshit that would follow was to get her strength up and get her the hell out of here and fast.
The man was too violent and out of control, which was why Lucan kept his mouth shut and didn't complain when the Master would leave their small compound without a word, leaving everything on Lucan's shoulders. Truthfully there wasn't much to do except guard the Master's favorite minions.
Their territory was small compared to most. When Lucan first came into this life, their territory had rivaled some of the most powerful Masters at the time, but years of neglect and focusing too much attention on other things had cost them. If it hadn't been for Lucan's watchful eye they would have nothing and his Master would have probably ceased to exist long ago.
With a Pyte, that could all change. They could take back their territory and expand into the areas the shifters and demons used as their playground. It would also make anyone think twice about going against his Master and that would make all of this bullshit worth it. Four centuries of babysitting a Master who was prone to kill or torture anyone and everyone over the smallest slight had taken its toll on him. He would love to ensure that his Master was safe and to do that, he had to ensure that this plan worked. He needed this plan to work.
"No f**king," he said on an exasperated sigh when he heard the men begin to moan. He needed the aphrodisiac to remain undetected and if the men found release, their blood would be tainted by the increase in hormones and this plan would fail and he couldn't allow that.
*********
"It's time to eat, Danni," he said, wishing like hell that he didn't have to do this for her, but he didn't trust her to be able to get control fast enough to hide what she was. So, that meant bagged blood was out, at least for now.
As soon as her strength was up, they were going to make their move. Once the chain was off he would be useless for a good five to ten minutes, shorter if he did it with a stomach full of blood and had some extra blood on the side. Then again if she took too much from him and they cut his supply short it would take a hell of a lot longer to re-grow his foot and they'd be f**ked because there was no way the vampires outside their door would miss the scent of blood. He would have removed his chain sooner, but there had barely been enough blood as it was for Danni's transformation.
"I'm not hungry," she bit out through clenched teeth as she rubbed her hands roughly down her face as she paced right in front of the door.
"You need to feed," he said, getting to his feet and walking towards the clearly agitated woman. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what had the woman on edge. She was a fresh turn who needed blood, more frequently and for the last. . . . well, he didn't know how long it had been, but he was willing to guess it had been at least twenty hours since she fed from him. She refused to take any blood from him when she clearly needed it.
He caught the scent of human males and knew by the way Danni licked her lips that she smelled them too. It shouldn't bother him that she was responding to other men, but it did. He didn't like the idea of her holding onto another man as she drank from him while the bastard touched her. No, it wouldn't do for her to feed from another male.
She'd only feed from him and only while they were stuck in this hell, but once they got out of here he was going to have to take her somewhere well away from everything and everyone and make damn sure that the stubborn woman could protect herself. He'd also have to help set her up with blood delivery and then he'd have to go into hiding for a century or two or at least until the Sentinels forgot about him.
He'd ignored part of his sentence and changed someone into a Pyte. Granted, he hadn't been thinking about the Sentinel Council when he changed her and even knowing what they had planned for him didn't make him regret saving her. Losing Danni would have been a blow that he knew damn well that he never would have recovered from. He couldn't imagine living for eternity with her loss on his shoulders.
As long as he got her out of here before their captives figured out what he'd done, everything would be alright. He'd f**ked up and given her his curse, but maybe she would luck out and never face the bullshit he had. In fact, he planned on making sure that she remained safe for the rest of her life. He'd set her up in a small town without any shifters or demons within a two hundred mile radius so that he wouldn't have to worry about someone detecting what she was.
He'd have to check up on her from time to time to make sure that she was okay. That was fine. He knew how to stay good and gone so that no one, including Danni, would know that he was around. He'd also have to move her to a new location when the locals started noticing that she wasn't aging, but he'd handle that when the time came. The only thing that mattered now was getting her somewhere safe and to do that they needed to keep her little change a secret.
"Danni, you need to feed," he said, stepping into her path and blocking her, but of course she just walked past him.
"I'm not hungry," she snapped.
"Uh huh," he said, watching as she discretely scented the air and licked her lips in a way that had his c**k twitching and forcing him to fight back the urge to kill any male that caught her interest.
He gritted his teeth in irritation. She shouldn't be affecting him like this. She wasn't his and he sure as hell didn't want to keep her, but he couldn't help the way his body and mind were responding to her, like she was his. The only explanation that he could come up with was the change. He'd never changed anyone before. He was just having a primitive reaction to the fact that his blood flowed through her veins. Once they got out of here his reactions to her would lessen and he wouldn't care what the hell she did or with who she it with, just like before he changed her.
So that wasn't entirely true. He'd cared who was around her, a little. He didn't like the losers she spent time with, but he never interfered, and no he didn't count the little "talks" that he had with Greg as interference. He just really enjoyed beating the shit out of the little prick and of course he would have to make it a special point to hunt the little bastard down once he was freed and have another little talk with him. Only this time he wouldn't stop talking to the bastard until he was screaming his name in agony with his last breath.
"Back the hell off, Caine. I said I wasn't hungry so leave me alone," Danni said as she forced her eyes away from the door and continued her pacing.
"No, what you are is about five minutes away from bloodlust," he drawled as he reached out and grabbed her by the arm only to have her shove his hand aside and move to the other side of the room where she folded her arms over her chest and leaned her forehead against the wall, keeping her back to him.
"Danni," he said tightly. They didn't have time for this shit. They might have been able to keep their captors in the dark so far, but he doubted that would last very long. She needed to feed and get her strength up to his level if they were going to have any chance of getting out of here. He wanted her out of here before they figured out what she was. If he could get her out of here and leave them believing that she was human then she'd have a chance, but God help her if they found out that she'd been changed.
Not only would she have to worry about this Master coming after her, but every power hungry Master in the world, because he knew without a doubt that word of her transformation would slip out. Either vampires who wanted a new Master or thought she would be able to change them, make them more powerful, would spread the word or the minions under this Master's protection would give away the information in hopes of being rewarded with immortality. The only way to avoid all the unwanted bullshit that would follow was to get her strength up and get her the hell out of here and fast.
