Tall, Dark & Heartless (Pyte/Sentinel #3)(58)

He watched as the Master ran his hands down his youthful face and couldn't help but wonder how difficult the Master was struggling not to kill everyone in sight. On a good day, the Master had a hell of a time behaving rationally and this sure as hell wasn't a good day.

The Pyte, correction, two Pytes, he reminded himself had escaped tonight. Not that anyone but him knew that the woman had been changed. They'd missed all the signs and if it hadn't been for the hallway surveillance cameras he would have missed it too, but he saw her eyes flash red when the male touched her. It was quick and easily missed, but thankfully he'd caught it. It was the only thing that was going to save him at the moment.

"How did this happen?" the youthful looking man demanded as he shoved another vampire out of his way so that he could pace the length of the room. Lucan quickly took in his Master's short ruffled blonde hair, untucked baby blue long sleeve shirt and the oversized khaki cargo pants and nearly sighed with annoyance. What was the obsession his Master had with looking forever like a college kid?

Granted, his Master would always look like a twenty year old man. There was nothing he could do to change that, but his appearance, or rather the style he dressed himself caused too many problems as it was. His Master enjoyed the fact that others underestimated him. He believed his youthful face gave him the element of surprise.

There was some truth to that. Most vampires, shifters or demons easily dismissed him when they first met him. They didn't put up as much of a defense against the Master as they should. The way his Master behaved also made it difficult for others to take him seriously. It didn't help that he preferred to act like a typical twenty year old guy, partying, pushing off his responsibilities and chasing tail, he mused as his eyes landed on Greg.

The Master was very unpredictable. He could go years, even decades without giving their nest a passing thought and then one day he'd show up and make their lives a living hell with his rages and insanity. Lucan honestly could care less about the rest of the nest. They were just another responsibility that he'd been saddled with. The only thing that mattered to him was repaying his debt to the insane Master that had saved his life, a debt that made him as much a prisoner as the Pyte and his woman.

"How did they escape?" the Master demanded, his eyes flashing silver as he continued to pace the room, pausing only long enough to take his anger out on whichever unfortunate man was in front of him at the time.

"I believe I can answer that for you, Master," Greg said, shooting him a look of triumph.

It didn't surprise him that the human would take great joy in Lucan's downfall. He wanted Lucan's position and as far as Lucan was concerned he was more than welcome to it, but not before his debt was paid and he was freed. He'd more than earned his freedom and by making sure that the Master was forever protected would guarantee that he would be able to walk away and that he'd paid his debt in full.

"The fault is mine, Master," Lucan said, cutting the human off before he could make his announcement and judging by the scowl the human sent his way he had been looking forward to announcing Lucan's failure.

"You?" the Master demanded, unable to hide his surprise.

Lucan gave a sharp nod as he continued. "I had several of the minions injected with a very potent aphrodisiac and gave the Pyte the blood in hopes that he would impregnate the female." Something they no longer needed to count on thanks to the woman's transformation.

Once they were able to capture her they would discard the male and focus on creating the army that would protect his Master and grant his freedom, something that he thought would never come. When he'd discovered his Master's plans to capture a Pyte, he'd struggled against the hope that within a few short decades he would have his freedom, but now that the female had been changed he struggled with the knowledge that soon, very soon if he had a say in the matter, he would have his freedom. Then no one would ever own him again and he'd be his own man for the first time in his life.

"How did that aide in their escape?" the Master asked as he moved towards him and Lucan forced himself to relax and accept the blow that he knew was coming. It was a trick he'd learned as a child when his human master would "teach" him how to become a better servant.

"Their scent enticed most of the guards to leave their stations as well as the others," Lucan explained as the Master came to a stop in front of him. He was still furious with his men for not listening to him. He'd given them strict orders to ignore the scent, which really should not have been a problem since he had the drugged minions locked away in the lower level and away from his men. Their scent should never have reached his guards, but somehow it did.

"You're telling me that I lost my property because my men were f**king?" the Master roared as he grabbed Lucan by the throat and forced him to his knees, the one thing that the Master knew that he could not tolerate, but tolerate it he did even as a surge of memories shot through his mind, dropping him to his knees faster than the Master could.

Without needing to be told, Lucan dropped his gaze to the ground. Even after all these centuries he could not force himself to look up and meet his Master's eyes and he hated the Master for it.

"Where is my property now?"

"I don't know," Lucan said tightly even as he fought for control. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to tear his Master's throat out with his teeth, but somehow he forced himself to remain where he was, reminding himself that he had not earned his freedom yet. He refused to take it like some thief in the night. He'd worked for too long to simply take it. When he'd earned it the Master would give it to him.