Without Regret (Pyte/Sentinel #2)(68)

When she opened her mouth to share her thoughts about that he just kept going, cutting her off. “You are a Sentinel. Your job is to protect humans from the f**ked up world they really live in and yeah, you might want to accept the fact that you are not human. You are supposed to be faster and stronger than a human and be there for your mate, but so far I haven’t seen shit from you.”

“Because you haven’t given me a chance, you ass**le!”

“No, it’s because you’re f**king pathetic. You’re no better than a human and to top it off you’re nothing but a whore.”

*********

“Oh, this keeps getting better and better,” Kale said, chuckling as he looked over Isabella’s most recent credit card activity.

Austin, Texas indeed, he thought with a rueful shake of his head. He already knew that every Master in the world was going nuts by sending in every mercenary they could find to Texas right now. The good news was that it got every second rate mercenary out of his hair for a little while. At least until they figured out they’d been duped.

The bad news of course was that now shifters and demons knew about Isabella McGuire and as soon as they realized what the Masters were planning they would join in on the hunt. He’d hoped to have a little time before the war started, but it looked like time just ran out.

When his cell phone rang a few minutes later he wasn’t entirely surprised.

“She’s headed to Austin, Texas. Where are you?” Logan said in lieu of a greeting, not that Kale expected one from the man. He didn’t.

“Nowhere near Texas,” he said as he passed a sign welcoming him to Rerum, New Hampshire.

“Then I suggest you get on a plane and head in that direction before someone else grabs her,” Logan bit out, sounding pissed again. This just kept getting better and better, he thought.

“You don’t want me to get on a plane and head to Texas.

Trust me,” he said, taking a right onto what appeared to be the town’s main road and hit a red light.

“Why not?”

“Because she isn’t going there.”

“How do you know?” Logan demanded, further insulting Kale.

“I know she’s not on the plane. Think about it, Logan.

By now the Sentinels know we’re after her, they have her and I bet one of your men tipped them off about me taking the contract.”

“My men would never-“

“They would and they did,” Kale said, cutting him off as he waited for the damn light to turn green. “I already received a tip-off about that an hour ago. My point is only one ticket was sold, in her name, bought with credit card.”

“You’re right,” Logan sighed. “Any idea where they really went?”

“No, but I’m hoping to find out. For some reason there are over ten Sentinel homes in this area. I’m a little curious about that, but that will have to wait. It might take me a couple of days, but I’ll find out which home she was in,” he said, taking his foot off the brake when the light turned green only to slam back down on it as a couple of kids on skateboards jumped out in front of him.

“This can’t wait a couple of days, Kale. I need to find her as soon as possible.”

“I’ll do my best, but-“

“Tell me where you are. I can help,” Logan said, sounding desperate, which shouldn’t be a surprise since most of his clients were pretty desperate if they had to call him, but this was different. This was Logan.

“Are you going to tell me what you need her for?”

“No.”

“Then I can’t help you. I’ll get back to you as soon as I have more information,” Kale said, ending the call just as Logan started to make promises they both knew Kale would never allow him to keep.

“Why the hell did I take this job?” he wondered as he caught a scent he hadn’t smelled in centuries. One that caused a growl to break free as he searched for the source and when he found it he had to struggle for the first time in centuries not to shift as he watched the little boy with short black hair and a ready smile cross the street in front of him as he held onto an elderly woman’s hand.

When the little boy waved to him and thanked him for letting him cross it took everything Kale had not to jump out of the car and rip the little boy’s throat out.

Chapter 23

“What did you just call me?”

“What part did you have a problem with? Being called a human or a whore?” Chris asked, knowing he was being an ass**le, but he really didn’t give a flying f**k at the moment.

He saw the punch coming a mile away and easily caught it before it made contact with his jaw. “You’re weak,” he said with open disgust as he shoved her hand away.

“And you’re a hypocrite,” she snapped, stunning him.

“How exactly am I a hypocrite?” he demanded.

“That kiss,” she practically hissed.

“What about it?” he said, wishing that he could stop thinking about it, but he couldn’t. The longer he stayed near her the more he wanted to take her into his arms and do it again and that disgusted him. He didn’t want a weak woman, never mind a woman like his mother.

“I’ve been kissed before,” she announced, making his hands clench into fists, “and I know the difference between a man who’s never kissed a woman before and one that’s been around the block a time or two and I know I wasn’t the first woman you’ve kissed.”