Tall, Dark & Heartless (Pyte/Sentinel #3)(13)

For days he lay there unable to move as the townspeople had their fun. They wanted to see who could kill him and made it into a game with a small purse of copper coins as the prize. It didn't matter what time of day it was there was always someone doing their best to win the prize. If it hadn't been for a group of rowdy young men determined to win the prize he would have probably been there for years.

They'd been so eager to win the prize and prove themselves that they'd ignored the soldiers' warning and unchained him. He continued to lay there, taking their abuse for several minutes, waiting for them to come closer and when they did he attacked. He'd ripped into the smallest of the men's throats, drinking greedily as he did his best to hold on and ignore his victim's friends frantic attempts to pull him off. With every drop he felt his body strengthen and his wounds begin to heal. By the time he released the first body he was back at half strength and easily able to take down the other men.

When the last body hit the ground Caine went into hiding, but he didn't leave the city. He refused to leave the city until every single person who'd taunted him, humiliated him and attacked him was dead. Instead of burning the city down and killing everyone like he wanted, needed to, he forced himself to be patient.

For five years he was a ghost, the local nightmare parents used to scare their children into being good as he had his revenge. He forced himself to stretch it out as long as possible, knowing the wait was almost as bad as what he had planned for each and every one of them. Everyone lived in fear of the invisible monster that lived among them. They never knew when he would strike next. Sometimes he'd take his revenge several nights in row, loving the scent of fear the town gave off, craving it and sometimes he'd allow days, weeks, even months go by before he struck again.

If any of his tormentors dared to leave the town before he could have his revenge he hunted them down. Before they made it to the town border he took his revenge on them and made an example out of them. He saved the woman's husband for last, making him live in a town full of corpses and taunting him as he hunted him. He stretched out the man's death for days before he finally ended it.

But that didn't take away his anger. If anything it only pissed him off more to no longer have a target for all his anger so he took it out on anyone who dared to cross him. He became the demon he'd been accused of being, attacking and killing without warning. He'd hated the world, but mostly himself for what he was.

For so long he'd wished he'd died the instant that first sword sliced through his ribcage and into his heart, freeing him from this existence. He was tired of constantly looking over his shoulder, wondering who would try and turn him into their lapdog or take up the challenge the villagers had failed so many years ago. It was something he would never wish upon anyone, especially the little girl who used to make him smile.

"I'm not turning her," Caine said firmly, meeting his eyes so there was no confusion in the matter.

"What if I told you that if you didn't turn her then I would kill her?" Greg asked with that damn smug tone again.

Caine simply shrugged. "Then kill her."

Chapter 5

"Then kill her," Caine said as if she was nothing and although she agreed with his answer his could-give-a-shit attitude still hurt like hell.

Sometimes it was really hard to believe that she used to think the world of him. But maybe it was for the best that he didn't give a damn whether she lived or died since it would probably save her from weeks, if not months of torture and unbearable pain.

"What do you think about that, Danni?" Greg asked, sounding amused. No doubt he thought she was going to beg for her life. The idea was actually laughable, not that anyone here would get the joke, but her.

"I think you should really stop trying to compensate for that small dick you've been given. It's getting kind of sad," she said, not bothering to move off the bed she found herself on since she knew what was coming.

He didn't disappoint. Within seconds electricity was shooting up her leg and throughout her body as she did her best not to scream. She wouldn't give him that pleasure again. She knew the key was to piss him off enough that he'd kill her, but to make sure he didn't know how much it hurt. Otherwise he'd probably prolong the inevitable.

When the last surge of electricity faded away she took a deep breath and forced herself to throw her legs over the edge of the mattress and sit up even as her body protested in agony. It was the only way she could guarantee their plans didn't work, not that she doubted they'd just drag another woman in here for their sick plans, but it would give Caine a chance to figure out an escape plan.

The one thing that gave her peace was knowing they couldn't simply steal his blood and create another Pyte or an army of stronger vampires. When she was thirteen, she pestered Caine for weeks with questions about his abilities until he finally gave up and answered all of her questions. From what he told her, she knew that his blood would only be able to create a potent enough mix one time in order to create another Pyte. The key was to feed at the same time and keep feeding until he tasted his own blood in the person's blood otherwise that person would die a very painful death. The same process could be used for creating stronger vampires, but his blood would be considerably weakened after his first change.

Caine would never change anyone. Ever. She found that out when she asked him to change her when she was fourteen because she didn't want to grow boobs, because they would get in the way of playing basketball. After all the color returned to his face and he could sort of meet her eyes again he explained that he would never change anyone and that she'd just have to learn to live with boobs. Of course she accepted his explanation calmly before she kicked him in his shin and stormed off.