Tall, Dark & Furious (Pyte/Sentinel 6)

“What the hell are you doing?” Ethan asked as he shoved the shower curtain aside and grabbed a towel off the rack above her head.

“Trying to figure out what that beeping is. It’s been driving me out of my fucking mind all day,” Jacob said, frowning as he slowly looked around the bathroom only to sigh with relief when his gaze landed on her.

Chapter 20

Westdrom, Maine

“Well, this is interesting,” Kale said as he watched the large Sentinel take in the smoldering mess that had drawn his attention.

“What the hell do you want, Quinn?” Lukas asked as he glanced around them, taking in the empty dirt driveway, the charred remains of cellar doors, and the watery soot-covered mess the fire department left behind.

“Wondering what you’re doing out of your territory,” Kale said as he watched the Sentinel that had been handpicked by the Council to watch over Rerum, or rather watch over one person in particular.

“This is my territory,” Lukas said, shifting his attention to the small path to the right that cut through overgrown briars tangled with fallen branches and about fifty years’ worth of overgrowth.

“Who’s babysitting the bait?” Kale asked, still wondering why the Council had allowed Jill to leave the compound alive.

“Don’t fucking care,” Lukas said, heading towards the trail.

“Fair enough,” Kale said, only to follow that up with, “They’re all dead,” stopping the Sentinel in his tracks.

“How many?” Lukas asked, glancing back at him.

“Six shifters,” Kale said as he watched the Sentinel that had done a hell of a job keeping this secret from the Council. While most Sentinels lost their twins in the womb, the ones who survived were usually brought into their world and protected for the rest of their lives, which made him wonder why this Sentinel had abandoned his sister.

“She’s not here,” Kale said, watching as the large Sentinel glanced back at the charred house that had once belonged to his maternal grandmother.

“You’re sure?” Nathan Lukas asked, glancing back at him.

“Positive.”

“Any idea why they were at my house?”

“Not yet,” Kale said, but he would.

He’d known when Caine asked him for this favor that there was more to it, but it didn’t matter, not when the Pyte was finally giving him a chance to get his hands on the little prick that had made his life a living hell.

*-*-*-*

“We’re going to starve,” Samantha announced with a forlorn sigh, as she closed the last cupboard while Trace finished the rest of the blood that she’d heated for him with a grimace.

“We’re not going to starve, wife,” he said, placing his cup down in the metal basin.

“We really are,” she said, slowly exhaling as she stood there, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, looking lost in thought as he had to once again wonder how she’d survived this long without him.

“Rabbit or deer?” he asked, watching as her eyebrows drew up in confusion.

“Rabbit or deer?”

Nodding, he asked, “Which one do you want?”

“For what?” Samantha asked, frowning up at him.

“To eat, wife,” he said, wondering why she looked confused.

“You…you want me to eat Bambi and Thumper?” she asked, blinking up at him.

Not sure what she was talking about, Trace found himself glancing around the room that was obviously used to make food and found himself wondering how he was supposed to cook the meat without a fireplace. That led him to wonder how his father heated the house in the winter. Sighing, Trace glanced around the room looking for an ax only to find his wife rubbing her hands roughly down her face with a, “We need to figure out where we stand.”