PS02 - Without Regret (53 page)

lingering odor left in the elevator by another woman, but clearly he wasn’t that lucky.

“Off the elevator,” he said, stepping back and taking the small boy who wouldn’t stop trembling, but thankfully wasn’t crying

with him.

The young man that was practically shaking with rage followed after them. Not many humans impressed him, but this one had.

He’d gone toe to toe with him to save the little boy and hadn’t backed down until the boy’s life became an issue.

“She’s not going with you,” Chris bit out coldly, moving to step in front of Isabella again only to have the woman push him

away and step forward.

“It’s fine, Chris.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I’m going with him and he’s going to let Marc go,” she said, looking up to meet his eyes. “Right?” she asked, but it didn’t

really sound like much of a question.

“Wrong. The boy is coming and so is your mate and apparently my little shadow right here,” he said, nodding towards the man

glaring at him.

“You don’t need him,” she said, reaching out to take the little boy’s hand, but he wasn’t having that. He stepped back away

from her, taking the little boy with him.

“He’s the man who broke into my room,” the little boy whispered and hell, he could have cut the tension that suddenly filled

the room with his claws.

Understanding dawned in Chris’ eyes as he presumably reached for a weapon. The man knew he was going to kill the little

boy. He had no choice. He couldn’t risk this boy doing to another pack what that son of a bitch did to his so long ago.

“Drop all of your weapons and your phone, now,” he said, punctuating his words by allowing his nails to cut into the boy’s soft

skin.

Even though he planned on killing the little boy, he didn’t want him to suffer. He couldn’t do that to a child, even one meant to

grow up and bring nothing but violence and pain to this world.

“Ow!” the little boy cried out.

He watched as Chris went still. A few heartbeats later he began to toss his weapons onto the ground along with his Sentinel

phone.

“Is that everything?”

“Yes,” Chris bit out tightly.

Kale inhaled slowly and when he didn’t scent any silver on the man he jerked his head towards the staircase. It would take

longer to get to the tunnel that way with this little crowd, but he wasn’t taking the chance on the elevator where they could

ambush him.

He forced the trio in front of him as they walked down the five flights of stairs until they came to the tunnel he’d found only the

day before. Over the past three months he’d found other tunnels, but they weren’t as safe as this one so he’d kept searching until

he found a tunnel barely used by anyone.

The trio kept throwing him icy glares over their shoulders as they walked down the ivory tiled covered tunnel. As they walked

he kept an ear out for any alarms sounding and so far he hadn’t heard a damn thing. So far everything had been going smoothly,

a little too smoothly for his comfort.

“Open the hatch,” he said, as they came to the end of the tunnel ten minutes later.

With a scowl that promised all kinds of pain, Chris did just that. He stepped out of the tunnel, taking his mate’s hand into his

with the human following after, but not before the man looked back to check on the little boy.

He stepped out and cursed up a storm as he spotted the four Ramjis demons that had been a royal pain in the ass over the past

three months standing in front of them in a loose circle with guns that were no doubt filled with silver bullets pointed at them.

This was not good.

He’d planned on getting rid of the boy before delivering Isabella and her mate to Logan. Fucking Ramjis and their inability to

create a scent, he thought acidly.

Somehow, some way they’d followed him.

When they sniffed the air and their eyes fell on the little boy with open greed he knew he didn’t have a choice in the matter. He

couldn’t risk them bringing him to a Master or torturing the shit out of the kid in hopes to “Train” him.

“Give us the Pyte,” one of the demons said as every weapon shifted on him.

“No,” he said, moving his foot back and shoving the twelve inch solid metal door open more.

“We’re not going to tell you again.”

“Then I won’t tell you no again. He’s not going with you,” Kale said, praying that he didn’t regret this one day.

“No!” the human shouted as he stepped in front of him.

Kale cursed up a storm as the first gunshot sounded.

Through the blaring sounds of two more shots he heard the sound of an inhuman roar, but he barely paid attention to it. He

released the little boy’s throat and grabbed him by the scruff his neck and shoved him back into the tunnel just as the human

male stumbled back, but Kale was ready for him.

His fangs slid down and as fast as he could manage it he ripped his own wrist open and shoved it into the man’s mouth, forcing

him to take his blood as he gasped for air. He wasn’t sure why the Ramjis demons weren’t filling him with silver and at the

moment he didn’t care.

This human had impressed him and taken a bullet meant for him. It didn’t matter that he’d done it for the little boy, he couldn’t

ignore that kind of debt. It wasn’t a guarantee that it would work, but as his blood poured down the man’s throat he considered

them even. He yanked the man inside and dropped him to the ground.

“Don’t make me regret this,” he said, to the little boy looking up at him with bright blue eyes filled with terror. “Run and get

help!’ he snapped as he shoved the hatch shut, sealing them inside.

“Chris!” Isabella screamed, drawing his attention to the reason why he was still alive.

His eyes widened in shock as the Sentinel male struggled against the hold of two battered demons, but that’s not what shocked

him. The two dead demons at their feet who looked like he’d torn them apart with their bare hands had him cursing.

Shit…….

“Stop!” one of the demons ordered as Isabella let out a cry of pain.

He watched as Chris immediately stopped fighting and looked at his mate. He could practically taste the man’s fear as his eyes

narrowed on the knife at her throat.

A second later when a bullet tore through his shoulder he couldn’t really say that he was shocked.

********

Chris bit out evenly as he reached out and took her hand into his, ignoring the glares from the men as they were ushered up the

backstairs of a modest brownstone.

The demons didn’t respond, but then again she hadn’t expected them too. Chris’ attack had unnerved them almost as much as it

had her. She still couldn’t believe what happened. Although it seemed like several minutes had passed from the moment they

pointed the guns on the bastard responsible for all of this to when a knife was placed at her throat it probably was only a few

seconds.

She could feel Chris’ hand tremble and she knew that he wasn’t afraid for himself or even for her, but for his brother. Her lip

began to quiver and she forced herself to be strong. He was going to be all right. He had to be.

He’d only been part of her life for a few months, but she couldn’t imagine her life without him.

“Down the stairs,” one of the men said as they walked into a modestly decorated kitchen.

With one last prayer for Joshua and Marc she took a deep breath and went down the stairs with Chris at her back. She could

hear the shifter’s muffled curses as they dragged him down behind them. Besides being responsible for kidnapping them, she

couldn’t figure out the man’s place in all of this. Had those other men double crossed him? Or simply decided to take over the

job? Whatever the reason they really didn’t like him.

She’d figured that out when the men had taken turns beating the hell out of him.

Something told her that none of the men would have even approached him if he hadn’t been injured and bound. He had a

dangerous aura to him that matched Chris’ and Ephraim’s. While they kicked and punched him he lay there silently. He hadn’t

muttered a single word or sound.

She walked down into a large basement and almost stumbled when she saw what awaited them in the middle of the room, a

small cell with thick bars. Without a word they were ushered towards it. She knew by the way Chris was gripping her hand that

he didn’t want her going in there, but she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t risk them hurting him.

As they stepped into the cell, the shifter was tossed into the cell, landing on the hard cement floor with a sickening thud. She

looked back in time to see the door to the cell slammed shut.

Chris took her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll get you and the baby out of this. I promise.”

“I know,” she mumbled, not really sure there was a way out of this. Her eyes shot to the men leaning against the walls,

watching them. She turned her head and found more men at the back wall.

Praying they wouldn’t see what she was doing, she reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out her phone and held it

beneath her stomach. With one hand she scanned her thumb and before she could figure out how to use her other hand without

giving herself away she felt Chris’ fingers move over the small keypad.

She let out a relieved sigh as she looked up and met his eyes. With a wink he took the phone from her and placed it back in her

pocket.

“It will be okay,” he promised again and she knew their chances of surviving this had just been increased, but there was no

guarantee that they’d be found before someone thought to search her or decided that they didn’t need them and got rid of them.

A small groan caught her attention. She looked down to find the shifter watching them. He’d seen everything.

She felt her heart race with fear as she waited for him to alert the guards, but instead he gave her a subtle shake of his head as

he struggled against his binds to sit up.

It would probably be one of the dumbest things she’d ever done, but she could just leave him lying there bleeding and barely

able to move. She knew she should just turn her back on him after what he’d done, but she couldn’t forget that he’d saved Marc

and hopefully Joshua when he shoved them back into the tunnel and sealed the door.

“What are you doing, Munchkin?” Chris demanded as he tried to stop her, but she simply pulled away and knelt by the man’s

side.

He watched her wearily as she pulled a small pin from her ear and turned her attention to his cuffed hands. It had been months

since Sebastian had shown her how to pick a lock and she hoped she hadn’t forgotten.

When she heard the lock click open she sighed with relief. The second cuff took her a bit longer because of the blood that had

seeped into the lock but she managed to get it off.

“Let me see that,” Chris said with a heavy sigh as he took the pin from her hands and started working on the cuffs binding the

man’s legs together.

“Just so you know,” Chris said conversationally, “if you hurt my wife or child I am going to tear you apart with my bare

hands.”

The man simply nodded. “Understood.”

Chris tossed the cuffs aside and pocketed the pin and she was surprised that none of their guards objected.

Then again they probably wouldn’t do anything as long they didn’t try to escape.

“I’m assuming that you’re Kale Quinn,” Chris said, taking her hand into his.

“Yes.”

As he sat down across from Kale he gave her hand a little tug and sat her down on his lap, never once taking his eyes away

from the man across from them.

“Care to explain why you’re on this side of the bars?”

Chris drawled.

“Because I’m an idiot,” Kale said, sighing heavily.

“That seems to be a common problem for men,” she mumbled, earning twin glares.

Chris laid his hands over her stomach as he nodded his head in the direction of one of the guards. “Any idea what we’re

dealing with here?”

” Ramjis demons,” Kale said with a shrug.

“Shit,” Chris hissed softly as she looked passed the bars and looked at the men. They looked human to her, but then again Chris

said some demons did.

“And who do you work for?” Chris demanded.

“Myself, but I was foolish enough to try and make up a debt to an old friend,” Kale said reluctantly.

“Some friend,” Chris snorted in disgust.

“The fault is mine, not his,” Kale said so quietly that she almost missed it.

“W-was my brother alive when you put him in the tunnel?” Chris asked after an awkward moment of silence.

Kale nodded, looking away. “Yes, but I don’t know for how long. He took a bullet to the chest and stomach.

She felt Chris stiffen behind her.

“Thank you for giving them a chance,” Chris said, his voice breaking along with her heart.

“Don’t thank me. I had my own reasons for what I did,”

Kale said tightly.

Whatever else they said, she didn’t hear or care. She was too busy biting back a scream as pain shot up her spine.

“Izzy? Munchkin?” Chris asked. “What’s wrong?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but that’s when the scream broke free.

“Fuck…..me,” Kale groaned. “I think her water just broke.”

Chapter 46

He didn’t give the sound of gunshots a second thought, thinking that someone had left the door opened to the soundproof firing

range again, but the sounds of his son screaming for help had him dropping the bags of blood and racing out of the basement