Tall, Silent & Lethal (Pyte/Sentinel #4)(57)

“I’m not going in there,” she ground out even as she absently wondered when her vision would go back to normal, because this whole seeing everything in shades of red thing was really starting to freak her out a bit.

Ignoring her, as he had been doing for the last six hours, Chris continued. “The plan is to get you inside and up to the penthouse without notice and preferably before the sun sets in twenty minutes. Once inside-”

“I’m. Not. Going. In. There,” she bit out, sick and tired of being ignored and bossed around.

They swore up and down that they weren’t kidnapping her, but every time she tried to leave or asked them to just let her go, they’d refused. She just wanted to go off somewhere by herself and process everything, to mourn Marta, make peace with what happened to her, but they refused to let her do that. She understood their fears, well, most of them, but she wasn’t going to hurt anyone and she sure as hell wasn’t going to go around announcing that she was now a freak of nature. She just….

She just wanted to be left alone.

“Okay,” Chris said, nodding as he pursed his lips up in thought. “Then let me put it this way, I want to get home to my very pregnant mate and children. I can’t do that until I have you and your mate,” he said, gesturing towards Christofer, who was sitting in the back of the van, still staring down at that creased paper in his hands while she tried to secure their freedom and seriously pissing her off, “secured in that building. The longer that you drag your ass and pout, the longer that my mate and children go without my protection,” he snapped, sounding seriously pissed off and startling her, because up to this point he’d been relaxed and even tried to coax a smile from her a time or two.

“Chris,” Ephraim sighed heavily from the front of the van, sounding like an exasperated father dealing with his child, which if everything they’d told her was to be believed was the case.

Chris rubbed his hands over his face as he muttered a, “Sorry.”

“Izzy is only a few weeks away from having twins,” Danni, the only female of the group, explained absently as she pulled out a gun and double checked the barrel. “Prolonged time away from her and their babies turns this big baby into a prick,” she finished, shooting Cloe a wink as the rest of the men, all but Christofer and the man sitting across from her who wouldn’t stop glaring at her, chuckled.

“We’ll explain everything once we get inside,” came the muffled announcement from her left, which had her turning her head to her left and her jaw dropping.

“Sorry,” Caine said with a shrug as he paused in draining the bag of blood that she’d refused, “but I skipped lunch.”

“T-that’s okay,” Cloe mumbled, not really sure what to say as she swiftly turned her attention straight ahead at the bastard glaring at her, but that was definitely better than watching a man slurp down some O positive, she decided, trying not to cringe or gag.

“We need to get inside,” Danni announced once Caine had managed to drain the bag.

With a nod, Caine tossed the empty bag back to Chris who caught it with a flick of his hand and shoved it into the front of the black backpack sitting between him and the seriously pissed off man who wouldn’t stop glaring at her. At this point she seriously had to wonder what that was about. She opened her mouth to ask him what his problem was, but a slight growl and a flash of silver eyes had her rethinking that decision and deciding that perhaps getting out of the van and away from the perpetually angry bastard was for the best. Of course, that didn’t mean that she was planning on going along with their plans to lock her up.

With a feigned sigh of resignation, she nodded and said, “Fine. Let’s go inside,” making sure to sound putout.

“Let’s do it,” Chris said, gesturing for Caine to unlock the door and climb out.

She forced herself to sit there, waiting for her turn to jump out when all she wanted to do was to shove her way to freedom and make a run for it, but she knew better. They’d just grab her and carry her ass inside and she wasn’t having that. Trying to hide her excitement, she waited and watched as Christofer stepped out of the van, looking somber as he stood there, hands in his pockets as he stared down at the pavement while he waited for everyone else to climb down. If he hadn’t come close to killing her, she’d probably feel bad for him, but-

Okay, fine. She did feel bad for him. He’d just lost his sister, someone that Cloe knew that he loved very much. She still didn’t know all the details, mostly because he’d refused to talk to anyone right now and no one else would say anything except that it had been unexpected. Cloe certainly hadn’t expected the feisty old woman who’d made her laugh to pass on so soon. She’d been so full of life, so kind and sweet. She hadn’t even known Marta that long and she was going to miss her terribly. She couldn’t even begin to fathom what Christofer was going through right now.

“Let’s go, princess,” Chris said, gesturing rather impatiently for her to step out.

“That’s not my name,” she said evenly as she carefully climbed out of the van, keeping her eyes downcast to hide the red glow as well as to hide her intentions.

“Aw, but you’re such a dainty little princess,” Chris said mockingly, petting her head condescendingly as she stepped out of the van. He reminded her of an older boy in foster care she used to know named Brian, who used to love nothing more than to torment her when none of the adults were around.