Tall, Dark & Heartless (Pyte/Sentinel #3)(39)

It wasn't too surprising. Thanks to her migraines, lights and often smells overpowered her senses, making the pain in her head worse. As hungry as she was, and God was she hungry, she decided that she'd rather empty her full bladder and get in a quick shower before she was hit with a migraine and knocked on her ass. She slowly got to her feet as her eyes landed on Caine. He stood against the section of wall facing the door that she thought of as his spot while he watched her through narrowed eyes.

Great, she thought dryly, he was pissed at her again. Whatever. She was too hungry and annoyed with the loud sounds and overpowering smells to really care. She didn't know why he was so pissed. She was the one that got her ass fried, not him, so she really couldn't fathom why he was in such a pissy mood.

They might have punished him too by taking away his blood, but one look at the cooler by his side let her know that wasn't the case. Whatever had his panties in twist would have to wait because she didn't have the patience at the moment for any nonsense. She walked over to the toilet and shot Caine a glance, but thankfully he looked the other way.

As soon as she was finished she unbuttoned her shirt and dropped it to the ground, well away from the shower. She turned on the water and made quick work of scrubbing herself from head to toe. Once she was finished she was a little surprised that the migraine she knew was coming hadn't made an appearance yet. It was odd, but she wasn't going to bitch about it.

That was one of the worst things about having less than a year to live. The damn migraines robbed her of precious time, knocking her on her ass and leaving her helpless as she watched time pass her by. All too soon she knew that she wouldn't know anything but pain and misery and she'd be begging for a quick death, but not yet. As long as she was able to, she was going to fight.

"Notice anything odd yet?" Caine asked, drawing her attention.

She looked over her right shoulder to find him leaning against the wall less than five feet away from her as he ran his eyes over her. It was a little unnerving to have Caine looking at her like that, but not as frightening as her body's reaction to him. An odd, yet sweet odor in the room teased her nostrils and made her stomach coil in anticipation. When she felt herself become wet she had to bite back a curse, knowing that Caine would smell it.

When his eyes flashed red seconds later and a soft growl filled the room she knew he smelled her arousal. Since there was nothing she could do to hide her reaction to him she decided that she would simply ignore it. She frowned as his words weaved their way through her mind. She looked around the room, noting the small plastic crate half-filled with food that oddly didn't tempt her ravenous stomach. Her eyes moved to the left and widened in surprise when she spotted the long black cable that should be attached to her ankle coiled into a loose pile in the corner of the room.

Her eyes shot down to her ankle as she tried to remember when it had come off. The last thing she remembered was watching Caine float to the ceiling and then pain, intense pain like nothing she'd ever known before her world went black. She looked up to find Caine still studying her and knew that he'd been responsible for removing the wire.

"Thank you for saving my life," she forced herself to say even as she turned her face away from him and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing like hell that he hadn't interfered.

If he hadn't interfered her death would have been painful, but quick. She almost wished that he had just left her to die. It wasn't as if she was in a rush to get it over with, but she knew what was waiting for her and soon. She'd waited too long to go see her doctor about her migraines and general weakness and now she was paying the price. She had brain cancer with mets, cancerous tissue, running down her spine and around her heart. It wouldn't be too long until the pain became too much and she wouldn't be able to get out of bed. As much as she wanted to get out of here and keep fighting she didn't want to face that future.

She would die in a bed in a Sentinel sickroom by herself. The few friends that she had would probably visit, but in the end she had no one. Her parents were long dead, they hadn't had any other children and all their family had long ago died. She didn't want to die alone. At least if he had allowed her to die she would have died with him by her side. She could have found comfort in having the only person that ever meant anything to her by her side when she drew her last breath.

Oh, God.....

Her chest heaved almost painfully as she tried to draw a breath, but couldn't. The grief that had threatened to overtake her since she heard the faithful words uttered from the doctor's mouth broke free. Before she knew it a loud agonizing sob broke free and she was helpless to stop it. The last person she wanted to see her like this was Caine. He'd be disappointed that she wasn't strong. She needed to be strong. She needed-

"Shhh," Caine whispered in her ear as his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against him. "It's okay, Danni."

"I'm just tired," she lied, humiliated that he was seeing her like this. She didn't want him to think that she was weak. She wasn't. There was nothing weak about her and she would face this like she faced any mission, head on and with no regrets.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were dying, Danni?" he asked quietly, but there was no mistaking the rage in his tone.

She bit her lip as she struggled against the urge to turn in his arms and cry against his chest the way she did when she was a child and her whole world seemed to be falling apart around her. But she wasn't a child anymore and more importantly, she could no longer seek shelter in his arms.