Tall, Dark & Heartless (Pyte/Sentinel #3)(124)

"Jerk," she grumbled as she shifted to get more comfortable. He took the hint and dropped his right hand from the wheel and moved his arm so that it was wrapped around her shoulders and she could move closer to him, which was more than fine with him.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she pressed a kiss against his jaw before she settled back down.

"To Philadelphia, where else?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the long stretch of highway before them.

He felt her go still against him. "Where in Philadelphia?" she asked, trying to feign disinterest as she reached up and traced the tattoo lining his jaw with her finger.

"To the house your parents left you, Danni. Where else?" he asked, wondering if she was going to remember anything from that little run-in with the tree.

She tried to move away from him to sit up, but he wasn't having that. He held her right where she was and after a moment she gave up with a sigh and returned her attention to tracing his tattoo. "How do you know about that place, Caine?"

"You told me about it," he said lightly even though at the time he considered spanking her ass for even thinking about going anywhere without him. She of course made that up to him in spades when she announced to the entire pack that was hovering around her that he was the best lay she'd ever had. That could have been the concussion talking, but he'd decided to believe that it was the truth.

"When?" she demanded, giving up on tracing his tattoo to just snuggle against him.

"When that tree knocked you out, Danni. Don't you remember anything?" he asked, getting slightly worried before he reminded himself that she was a Pyte and therefore there would be no permanent damage. If only that damn cancer would remember that and die and leave his mate alone. He still didn't know what the hell he was going to do to help her with that.

He'd never heard of such a thing. Granted, he only knew of a few other Pytes in existence so this could very well be a common occurrence, but he didn't think so. When he'd turned her he f**ked up. If he could go back and do it all over again he would have done things differently. He never would have allowed her to be captured. He also knew that he would have changed her so that he could have forever with her. He would have made sure to have several large refrigerators well stocked with fresh blood for her so that she could have killed this thing once and for all. He really didn't like the idea of Danni suffering for eternity.

"It didn't knock me out!" she snapped before asking more softly and with a touch of hesitancy, "What exactly did I say?"

That she loved him, but that she'd kick his ass if he ever left her again, which made him feel like an ass**le until she shifted topics and went on for about five minutes in a drunken slur about how big his c**k was and how she loved flicking his piercing with her tongue and feeling it rub inside of her when he made love to her, but she probably wouldn't be too happy to hear that she shared that with about twenty shifters who couldn't stop laughing their asses off. So instead he said, "You only talked about the house your parents left you and how no one knew about it," including him. He'd been surprised and furious to discover that her parents had a little love nest only a day's drive away when their asses should have been with their daughter.

After he got over his initial rage, with the help of knocking a few trees down, he thought over what she rambled on about and realized that it would indeed be the best place to take her. No one knew about it, including the Council, because if they had they would have probably sent Danni packing, since Danni's presence as a child had been a bit of a hindrance on the Sentinels running the compound. They all cared for Danni, but having to watch out for another child whose parents were never there had created a problem.

"We'll go there, get you rested and trained and from there.......we'll see," because he had no clue what they should do or where they should go. They were Pytes and should be able to go and do whatever the hell they wanted, but with Danni's condition, the Sentinel Council and the Master after them they had to be careful. He hated this, hated having her so weak and was scared out of his mind that something would happen to him and keep him from taking care of her.

"Okay," Danni said, snuggling up closer to him.

He pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Everything's going to be fine."

He hoped it would at least, for Danni's sake.

Chapter 46

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"Are you sure this is the place?" Caine asked. He looked around the rundown neighborhood as he helped her out of the truck.

"Yes, this is it," she said, as she looked over the old brownstone. Thanks to the street lamps and her night vision she could see just how badly the old brownstone had faired since the one and only time she came here.

That was about eight years ago and it was shocking to see how much had changed in that time. The beautiful red brick facade that she remembered was now the faded background of graffiti tags. The iron railings and fence had since been ripped out of the ground. The small, yet quaint garden that she remembered staring at while she sat on the brick steps sipping a beer was now a mess of mud, used condoms, broken bottles and about a dozen other things that were giving off a foul odor. She could barely make herself look up at the broken windows and the front door that hung off its hinges at an odd angle.

"Stay here, baby. I'm going to have a look around," Caine said, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he moved to help her back in the truck.