PS03 - Tall, Dark & Heartless (26 page)

With a sigh, Chris pulled her back down onto his lap. "Is there a reason why you're here, other than to get tips that is?"

Chris asked innocently, earning a scowl from Kale.

Kale snorted with amusement. "I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you, Pup, she only screamed your name three times."

She felt Chris shrug behind her. "I'm having an off day."

"It sounded like she was faking it," Kale pointed out with a twinkle in his eyes as he continued to snack on her chocolate.

"Really? You think so?" Chris mused, "Because it kind of sounded like she was holding back to me. Maybe you should

leave for a half hour so that we can find out."

"Kale, is there something you needed?" she asked when he opened his mouth to bait Chris into an argument, something he

seemed to enjoy.

He nodded absently as he searched through the now half empty bowl of chocolates. She threw a glare over her shoulder,

telling Chris with one look that he better have that bowl refilled within the hour.

"Why the hell are you giving me that look? I'm not the one coming between you and chocolate. Make him fill it up."

She rolled her eyes at that little idea. "Because he'll eat it all before he gets back to the compound," she said in a duh tone.

"So true," Kale admitted with a drawn out sigh. "Plus, I don't have time at the moment, which is why I'm here."

She turned her attention to Kale as he set the now mostly empty bowl down. "I have a job and I need your help, Izzy."

"What's the job?" she asked, getting to her feet and walked over to Kale. She gestured for him to get out of her seat, but he

simply ignored her. Too tired to get into a shouting and pushing match with him, she settled for sitting on his lap.

When he threw Chris a triumphant grin she of course elbowed him in the chest. Other than let out a grunt of pain he didn't

react as he wrapped an arm around her.

"She already has too much on her plate. Go peddle your bullshit elsewhere," Chris said, getting to his feet and no doubt

coming to pull her off Kale's lap when Kale's next words stopped him.

"It's about your missing Pyte, or rather......
Pytes
."

Chapter 21

"You lost my property!" the Master roared as he shoved a trembling vampire against the tiled wall of the room that once

held the Pyte and the woman.

The vampire whimpered as he shook his head. "It wasn't me, Master! I swear!"

With a feral growl the Master crushed the young vampire's neck before he dropped him and whirled around, leaving the

vampire to suffer, but not die. The Master was being generous today, Lucan mused as his eyes shot over to the reason. Greg

stood in front of the other minions as he shot Lucan a smug grin.

Normally the Master would have torn every vampire and minion he could get his hands on apart until Lucan was left with

little choice but to intervene. He'd have to calm the Master down before he either killed everyone or ran them off. Their

numbers were already embarrassingly small. They didn't need to lose anyone else, especially with a war going on and the long

list of enemies the Master had acquired over the years.

Not that their small army was keeping anyone from attacking, they weren't, but there were rules in their world and

attacking another Master without a damn good reason could get you staked. However, the minute the Master no longer had any

followers he would cease to be anyone's Master and he would be open game and there would be nothing that Lucan could do to

protect the insane man then.

He watched as the Master ran his hands down his youthful face and couldn't help but wonder how difficult the Master was

struggling not to kill everyone in sight. On a good day, the Master had a hell of a time behaving rationally and this sure as hell

wasn't a good day.

The Pyte, correction, two Pytes, he reminded himself had escaped tonight. Not that anyone but him knew that the woman

had been changed. They'd missed all the signs and if it hadn't been for the hallway surveillance cameras he would have missed

it too, but he saw her eyes flash red when the male touched her. It was quick and easily missed, but thankfully he'd caught it. It

was the only thing that was going to save him at the moment.

"How did this happen?" the youthful looking man demanded as he shoved another vampire out of his way so that he could

pace the length of the room. Lucan quickly took in his Master's short ruffled blonde hair, untucked baby blue long sleeve shirt

and the oversized khaki cargo pants and nearly sighed with annoyance. What was the obsession his Master had with looking

forever like a college kid?

Granted, his Master would always look like a twenty year old man. There was nothing he could do to change that, but his

appearance, or rather the style he dressed himself caused too many problems as it was. His Master enjoyed the fact that others

underestimated him. He believed his youthful face gave him the element of surprise.

There was some truth to that. Most vampires, shifters or demons easily dismissed him when they first met him. They didn't

put up as much of a defense against the Master as they should. The way his Master behaved also made it difficult for others to

take him seriously. It didn't help that he preferred to act like a typical twenty year old guy, partying, pushing off his

responsibilities and chasing tail, he mused as his eyes landed on Greg.

The Master was very unpredictable. He could go years, even decades without giving their nest a passing thought and then

one day he'd show up and make their lives a living hell with his rages and insanity. Lucan honestly could care less about the

rest of the nest. They were just another responsibility that he'd been saddled with. The only thing that mattered to him was

repaying his debt to the insane Master that had saved his life, a debt that made him as much a prisoner as the Pyte and his

woman.

"How did they escape?" the Master demanded, his eyes flashing silver as he continued to pace the room, pausing only

long enough to take his anger out on whichever unfortunate man was in front of him at the time.

"I believe I can answer that for you, Master," Greg said, shooting him a look of triumph.

It didn't surprise him that the human would take great joy in Lucan's downfall. He wanted Lucan's position and as far as

Lucan was concerned he was more than welcome to it, but not before his debt was paid and he was freed. He'd more than

earned his freedom and by making sure that the Master was forever protected would guarantee that he would be able to walk

away and that he'd paid his debt in full.

"The fault is mine, Master," Lucan said, cutting the human off before he could make his announcement and judging by the

scowl the human sent his way he had been looking forward to announcing Lucan's failure.

"You?" the Master demanded, unable to hide his surprise.

Lucan gave a sharp nod as he continued. "I had several of the minions injected with a very potent aphrodisiac and gave the

Pyte the blood in hopes that he would impregnate the female." Something they no longer needed to count on thanks to the

woman's transformation.

Once they were able to capture her they would discard the male and focus on creating the army that would protect his

Master and grant his freedom, something that he thought would never come. When he'd discovered his Master's plans to capture

a Pyte, he'd struggled against the hope that within a few short decades he would have his freedom, but now that the female had

been changed he struggled with the knowledge that soon, very soon if he had a say in the matter, he would have his freedom.

Then no one would ever own him again and he'd be his own man for the first time in his life.

"How did that aide in their escape?" the Master asked as he moved towards him and Lucan forced himself to relax and

accept the blow that he knew was coming. It was a trick he'd learned as a child when his human master would "teach" him how

to become a better servant.

"Their scent enticed most of the guards to leave their stations as well as the others," Lucan explained as the Master came

to a stop in front of him. He was still furious with his men for not listening to him. He'd given them strict orders to ignore the

scent, which really should not have been a problem since he had the drugged minions locked away in the lower level and away

from his men. Their scent should never have reached his guards, but somehow it did.

"
You're telling me that I lost my property because my men were fucking
?" the Master roared as he grabbed Lucan by the

throat and forced him to his knees, the one thing that the Master knew that he could not tolerate, but tolerate it he did even as a

surge of memories shot through his mind, dropping him to his knees faster than the Master could.

Without needing to be told, Lucan dropped his gaze to the ground. Even after all these centuries he could not force himself

to look up and meet his Master's eyes and he hated the Master for it.

"Where is my property now?"

"I don't know," Lucan said tightly even as he fought for control. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to tear his

Master's throat out with his teeth, but somehow he forced himself to remain where he was, reminding himself that he had not

earned his freedom yet. He refused to take it like some thief in the night. He'd worked for too long to simply take it. When he'd

earned it the Master would give it to him.

"That's not good enough,
dog
," the Master spat, using the name his human Master had given him and further enraging

Lucan. Still, he forced himself not to move even as the Master's hand tightened around his throat and he felt the Master's breath

on his ear. "Is your usefulness at an end, dog? Hmmm? Should I give you the fate that your human master sought to give you?"

The Master chuckled when Lucan began to tremble, but not from fear as the Master intended, but from the struggle to stop

himself from finishing this once and for all. He would earn his freedom. He would fulfill his promise to his mother and earn it.

He would not allow anyone, especially this man, to force him to break his word. No matter how long it took, he would do it.

"I've taken care of it, Master," the last word strangled from his mouth as he closed his eyes and forced himself to reign in

his temper.

"How?"

He opened his mouth to tell the Master that there were now two Pytes instead of one, but something made him hold back.

Perhaps it was the knowledge that if they were unable to locate the male he would still have something to save himself from the

misery he knew his Master would force on him if he failed. So instead, he gave the Master the only thing that would save him

from tearing the Master apart and breaking his word at the moment.

"Kale Quinn."

********

dark country road without careening the car into the woods on either side of the road.

"Can't. Need you," Caine somehow managed to get out as he continued to kiss her neck almost desperately.

"No, you don't, Caine. It's the drugs," she pointed out yet again with an annoyed sigh as his hand once again moved to slide

between her legs and as much as she wanted it, needed it, she couldn't let him.

Having him suddenly cut her out of his life so long ago had been one of the most difficult things she'd ever survived, but

she had barely survived the looks of indifference he gave her through the years. She refused to deal with looks of disgust after

this. She would not allow him to claim that he'd had no choice because of the drugs and she sure as hell wouldn't be treated

like some whore.

He'd made it painfully clear that he didn't want her when he rejected her when she needed him so badly. It was more than

obvious that the very idea of touching her disgusted him. It didn't matter how turned on she was at the moment, she wasn't

desperate enough to sleep with a guy that was drugged out of his mind and didn't know what the hell he was doing.

Her stomach growled viciously, reminding her that she needed to eat soon or she would lose control and go into

bloodlust. The last thing either one of them needed at the moment was for her to lose control. The idea of not being able to stop

herself from doing things she'd rather not do frightened her and she would do whatever it took to avoid doing those things. She

was going to have to find someone to drink from. The idea of attacking some poor unsuspecting person didn't exactly appeal to

her, but neither did acting like a rabid animal.

As she drove and shoved Caine's hands away she kept a lookout for a twenty-four hour diner or gas station. It should

appall her that she planned on attacking some poor defenseless stranger, but at this point she was too hungry to care. She just

hoped that she'd be able to stop before it was too late. It would destroy her to know that she killed someone innocent.

The sooner she got settled somewhere, the better. She needed to find a blood delivery system and soon. The stress from

worrying if she'd overfeed was too much for her, she thought as she tried to shrug Caine off, but the bastard was determined.

He teased her neck with the tips of his fangs, making her shiver as she did her best to ignore her body's reaction to him. It