PS03 - Tall, Dark & Heartless (48 page)

"Good," Izzy said with a sniff.

"Does it not bother you that I could possibly be going off to meet my death and that you might never see me again?" he

demanded in mock outrage and this time Kale did roll his damn eyes.

This was just pathetic.

Like he'd allow the bastard to make his little Izzy a widow or hurt her in any way. Nothing was going to harm the Sentinel

male while he was stuck with him. Having the male along was a complication, one he apparently couldn't shake or Izzy

wouldn't use
Tattletale
for him ever again. That was a reminder that he needed to figure out what the woman was up to and he

knew that she was up to something.

Once she found out that Chris and Ephraim wanted to tag along she couldn't blackmail his ass fast enough to push her mate

and father-in-law on him. If it hadn't been for her program he would have simply snuck out of the compound with her bowl of

chocolates and sent her a text message telling her hell no, but he needed
Tattletale
. Having that program at his disposal would

cut time off his jobs and bring him closer to his goal that much faster. He'd do anything to reach his goal, even put up with the

bastard who'd better damn well make sure that he didn't hurt Izzy in any way.

"Just make sure that you pick me up a yummy surprise when you come home," she said, clearly dismissing the possibility

that she might lose her mate and showing so much faith in her man that for a minute there he was actually envious and wanted a

little of that for himself.

"Are you going to worry about me?" Kale asked in an offhand tone as he pressed a kiss to Jessica's cute little button nose.

"Of course I am!" Izzy snapped, taking him by surprise.

What. The. Hell?

He was a goddamn mercenary and she was worried about him? That was fucking insulting. He was over nine hundred

years old and she actually thought that-

"If you touch the yummy treat he gets me I will kick your-"

With a groan, Chris ducked his head and cut Izzy's little cute tirade off with a kiss. Kale knew the man wasn't doing it

because he cared in any way, shape, or form for him, but for the little girl in his arms. Chris had a strict no swearing rule

around his daughter, one that he actually didn't mind following since he decided that his precious goddaughter was going to

grow up perfect and ladylike.

A small moan and a loud groan to his right caught his attention and he looked over in time to see Ephraim give Madison a

proper kiss goodbye. Honestly, he didn't know what the big deal was. They were only going to be gone for a few days. God,

these people were pathetic, he thought as he gave Jessica extra baby kisses to last him until he could hold her again.

********

while she leaned back against the elevator wall and tried not to think about Jill.

She overreacted when she found out what happened between Jill and Logan and instead of asking Jill what happened she

went off the deep end. She wasn't happy about it, but she normally wouldn't have reacted like that. These damn hormones had

her crying one minute and ready to kill someone the next and unfortunately for Jill the hormones had hit her hard when she

found out.

If she didn't truly think that Jill was better off away from the compound then she would never had agreed with Ephraim,

but she really was better off away from here. They all would be soon, but Jill especially. Over the last couple of months Jill

had receded into herself, losing her luster for life and becoming increasingly quiet. She also spent a lot of time downstairs in

the lockup unit at night and now she knew why. The only thing that she didn't know was how that bastard manipulated Jill into

doing something so stupid, but she planned on finding out shortly.

"This plan is perfect," Izzy said, shifting Jessica in her arms as she continued to rummage through the large backpack that

Marc was struggling to hold. "Yes!" Izzy said triumphantly as she pulled out two king size Milky Ways and promptly handed

one over to Madison, saving her the trouble of snatching it out of Izzy's hand.

With a sigh, Madison opened her candy bar and enjoyed a large bite. She was really going to miss being able to eat food.

As soon as her babies were born her body would no longer be able to process food, which of course was why she was

planning to eat everything in sight until the moment they decided that it was time to leave her. It's what she did when she was

pregnant with Marc. When he decided that he'd had enough, she was sitting in the finished basement back at the old house,

eating a bag of caramel popcorn dipped in fudge while Chris struggled with his physical therapy to regain control of his legs.

Since Ephraim had warned her that she would no longer be able to eat once the baby was delivered she made damn sure to

enjoy every last kernel.

"Dad and Chris are going to be mad," Marc said, shifting nervously as he struggled to zip the oversized bag back up and

throw it over his shoulder.

"No, they're not," she said, lying since she knew they'd be furious and they'd be forced to barricade themselves in a room

for a few weeks and hope that by the time they found the courage to leave the safety of the room that Ephraim and Chris had

mellowed out and didn't spank the hell out of their asses.

"They'll be happy with our surprise," Izzy said, lying her ass off.

Even if they managed to pull this off, the guys were still going to be pissed that they took this chance, but they had to do

something. Madison couldn't take this any longer. Before they came to the compound she'd never spent all day cooped up

inside. She was used to taking walks, enjoying the fresh air and the sun. As nice as the compound was, she couldn't stay here

any longer, especially since she knew they could very well be stuck here for another year.

That was not happening.

They were grabbing Joshua, hopefully, and getting the hell out of here and in a few hours they'd be in their new home

where they could do whatever they wanted and go wherever they pleased. Tomorrow morning they'd send for Grandma and Jill

and she'd wring Jill's neck for this recent bullshit, but then they'd move on and hopefully Jill would have learned a valuable

lesson. They were still going to have to figure out a way to erase the bastard's mark off her neck without hurting her.

Speaking of the bastard.......

As soon as the elevator doors slid open she spotted him lying on his cot, resting peacefully while her poor sister was

forced to leave the compound. When she started to waddle in his direction, just to poke him gently in the heart with a stake a

few times, Izzy grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away.

"Behave," Izzy said. They followed slowly after Marc as he made his way to Joshua's cell. It was only because she knew

that Ephraim would probably take his rage out on the vampire when he discovered that they were gone that she allowed Izzy to

drag her away.

As soon as they stepped in front of Joshua's cell she felt her heart break for her baby. There he sat all alone, looking both

handsome and miserable. She loved all her children, but Joshua was and always would be her little guy. He was the one who

used to make her smile when things were bad and who was always there for her. Before he was shot and changed by Ephraim

and Kale into God only knows what, he was well on his way to becoming a brilliant doctor for the Sentinels. Now he simply

sat in his cell, saying nothing and barely acknowledging any of them. It was sad, but hopefully he'd respond well to their new

home.

"Joshua," she said as Marc nodded and moved over to the security pad and waited for her signal to open the cell. "We're

going to the new house today and we're taking you with us."

When he didn't go into a rage she took that as a good sign and nodded to Marc, who couldn't press in the code fast enough.

They all missed Joshua and couldn't wait to have him back. As the door slid open he stood up and walked towards them. She

nearly sighed with relief as he took a left and headed towards the back staircase.

They didn't know what he'd become, but whatever it was, she knew that her little guy was still inside somewhere waiting

to come back out and be with them. Izzy threw her a pleased smile as she followed after the man who used to be her best friend

and Madison couldn't help but hope that things were going to get better.

Twenty minutes later she watched as Izzy typed in the code for the secret exit that would take them out to Boston Common

where they'd be able to blend in, hail a taxi or two and get out of town. They knew from the surveillance tapes and

eavesdropping on the men that this was one of the few exits that the mercenaries still after Izzy didn't know about, but of course

the men refused to risk them by taking this chance and trying to escape.

When Marc reached for the door to open it Joshua stilled, it was subtle, but she noticed it. She opened her mouth to ask

him what was wrong when she caught the scent that filled her with dread. Izzy realized what was going on, but too late, as she

tried to slam the door shut and escape to another exit.

"I wonder what we have here," Chris drawled lazily as he carefully shoved the door open and reached for his mate. With

a wince, Izzy turned and tried to waddle away, but her mate was faster. Unfortunately for Madison, her mate was a hell of a lot

faster. He had her scooped up in his arms before she could turn around.

"It's not what it looks like!" Izzy said on a squeal as Chris scooped her up.

"I told you they were up to no good," Kale said cheerfully from the doorway as he reached out and grabbed hold of Marc

by the back of his neck as the boy smartly tried to make his escape.

Her eyes shot over to Izzy just in time to catch her subtle nod. Good, they were in agreement; they were going to have to

kick the shifter's tattletaling ass.

Chapter 40

"Are you comfortable?" Chris bit out tightly as Izzy continued to shift on his lap until she was sitting sideways with her

legs draped across Kale's lap. The shifter glowered in their direction as he continued to nibble on a large chocolate peanut

butter candy bar.

"No, but.....," Izzy said, leaning forward and snagging the candy bar away from the shifter with a cocky little grin that

shouldn't turn Chris on given the circumstances, but it did. "Now I am," she said, sounding pleased as she took a huge bite of

the candy bar and made a show of savoring it.

The shifter released a menacing growl that had Jessica giggling from the safety of her car seat where she was strapped in

tightly and secured to the thick divider of the cargo van. Marc noticeably started at the sound as he reached out and took

Jessica's little hand into his to offer the happy infant comfort.

"Actually, you know what? I'd be even more comfortable if you just went ahead and unchained Joshua now," she said in

that damn smug tone that grated on his nerves and caused his cock to twitch with need.

He shot a look over to his brother whose legs and arms were bound tightly in chains and secured to the other side of the

van. The man might look as docile as a puppy, but Chris hadn't missed the flash or silver and red when the tunnel door opened

and revealed the little sneaks. There was more to his brother than any of them knew and he sure as hell wasn't risking his

family to find out.

"Not happening," Chris said, wondering if his father would be willing to trade places with him, but then again he'd have to

deal with Madison's gloating as he drove so he decided that perhaps he'd better stay right where he was.

"Give it back," Kale said, reaching to snatch it out of Izzy's hands only to have the woman shake her head as she sighed

contently and took another bite.

Kale noticeably fumed as he forced himself to pull his hand back. The woman had them all by the balls and she knew it,

too. After the shifter confirmed Chris' suspicions that his mate was up to something they put off their trip and waited by the

door that his mate had shown a little too much interest in lately.

For two hours he waited, anticipating the five minute spanking he was going to give her ass as he took her only to have his

plans destroyed by his devious little mate. Instead of scooping her up in his arms, he should have searched her before her

sneaky little hands could pull out her Smartphone. In less than a minute she was able to send out a program that fucked with

their phones and more importantly, Kale's tablet, which held all the information they needed to go after the Pytes.

So instead of spanking their asses like they deserved they were forced to grovel to the damn women and break speed laws

in two states to get everyone to their new home where they'd drop them off before they could go after the Pytes. It added an

extra twelve hours to their plans and he should be pissed, but he really wasn't. Well, he was, but he was also relieved.

His family was leaving the compound and was going to be tucked away somewhere safe and that's all that mattered. Well,

that and the fact that once he finished this mission his mate was going to get the sound spanking that she so richly deserved.