Tall, Dark & Heartless (Pyte/Sentinel #3)(45)

Caine would fight them tooth and nail and never give in no matter what they did to him. He had centuries of experience on his side and could probably withstand most things, but she didn't. She couldn't even handle a migraine. How was she supposed to handle torture? She couldn't and she knew it. They'd break her and that disgusted her most of all.

*********

Boston Compound

"I didn't think you'd come."

"I almost didn't," Jill admitted with a shrug. "I shouldn't be talking to you like this," she said, knowing that was an understatement.

Her brother and father would flip out, but it was hard to care when talking to Logan was the only thing that helped her relax most days. As much as she loved her family, and she did, sometimes she just needed a break from being everything to everyone. She always had to be the listener, the shoulder to cry on, the one everyone could count on for anything. It didn't help that she was all alone and now that she was at the compound she had no job, no friends, nothing to keep her busy or distracted.

Out of everyone here, she was the only one that didn't belong. She was neither a Sentinel nor an employee of the Sentinel Council. She was just the daughter of the Pyte that worked for them and the sister of the Sentinel in charge of training. Every day since she arrived several months ago it had been a battle not tell her family goodbye and head back home to her life and her job, but she couldn't leave them. They needed her and it didn't matter that it was a constant struggle for her to stay here. She would never hurt them.

There was very little need for her. She helped out with her niece and spent time with Marc so that he wasn't lonely and visited Joshua every day, but other than that it was a struggle to fill her days. She would have liked to spend more time with Madison and help her since she was nearly nine months pregnant with twins, but Madison spent most of her time with Ephraim who was still having a hard time with what happened to Joshua. When Madison wasn't with Ephraim, she was with Chris since they were best friends. It made Jill feel left out, but she was used to it, well at least it didn't hurt as much as it once did.

Then there was Isabella, Chris' mate. She really liked Isabella and loved spending time with her. Isabella was open, honest, sweet and funny, but unfortunately for her, she was also a busy mom who ran the IT department for the Sentinels and was expecting another baby within a few short months. If she wasn't working then she was with Chris. If Eric or Kale were at the compound then Izzy was spending time with them. Kale was Isabella's B.F.F. as she'd heard Izzy refer to the cranky Alpha several times, probably to annoy the hell out of him, and Eric was the one she loved to beat at video games.

Jill didn't play video games, didn't go out on patrol, wasn't married, didn't work here and had no reason to stay other than just to make sure that everyone was alright. Simply put, she didn't belong here, but every time she tried to bring it up she was swamped with guilt so she sucked up her misery and contented herself with leading a pointless life at the moment. The only thing that made this situation somewhat tolerable was the vampire in the glass cage before her.

"What's wrong, Angel?" Logan asked softly in that incredibly sexy voice that she could listen to day and night.

"Nothing's wrong," she lied, leaning against the mixture of glass and metal bars as she forced a smile, but it didn't go far.

"Then why do you look seconds away from crying?" he asked soothingly as he reached through the large square section of bars in the thick glass wall and took her hands into his. "Come on, Angel, talk to me," he said as he caressed the back of her hands with his thumbs.

Instead of pulling away like she knew that she should, she angled herself towards him and welcomed his touch. She looked up into his beautiful baby blue eyes that were several shades lighter than her own and her father's and couldn't help but melt. This was wrong for so many reasons.

She was human and he was a vampire that would probably be staked as soon as the council was done with him. There was no future and at the moment none of that mattered. He soothed her in a way that no one ever had before. He also made her feel whole and needed. She knew this was foolish, but she couldn't help wanting to be near him.

Staying away from him during the day was a struggle, one she fought with constantly. She knew what would happen if her brother, Chris or her father or Eric for that matter caught her with him. They'd probably take away her access to this floor. There was also a chance that they'd send him away. She didn't want them to send him away so during the day she forced herself to be patient. When the majority of the Sentinels left for patrol and the IT department called it a night she came to visit Joshua. She'd sit outside his cell for a while before she would finally allow herself some time with Logan.

"I'm fine," she said, forcing a smile.

Logan released one of her hands so that he could reach through a higher opening in the bars and cup her face in his hand. "No, you're not," he said quietly.

Her smile slipped as she opened her mouth to argue, but there was nothing to say. She wasn't fine. This whole situation wasn't fine. She wanted her brother back and out of that cell. She wanted to see her father with a carefree smile again and she wanted to matter in some way. She needed to do something, anything that mattered. She hated feeling useless mostly because it reminded her of her birth mother, Candy. She never wanted to be like that woman and this situation came damn close.