PS02 - Without Regret (9 page)

but for some reason she did and she had to wonder again what long term affects the drugs were going to have on her system.

Chris sighed, rubbing his hand over the angry patch of scar tissue on his neck, almost absently. “I sense you’re determined not

to answer our questions.”

She simply shrugged, hoping they were annoyed enough to let her the hell out of here.

“Then perhaps we should explain to you who we are,”

Chris said, sounding almost reluctant. “It might help you understand what we’re up against and why it’s so important that you

talk to us.”

“Do whatever you want,” she said in a bored tone. She really couldn’t care less who they were. Besides, she was too tired and

aggravated to pretend that she cared at the moment.

Chris looked at her for a long moment as if trying to figure out where to start. Letting her go would be a nice start, she thought,

wondering exactly how many games they were going to try and play before they just got to the damn point and demanded her

program so she could tell them to go to hell.

“What I’m about to tell you is probably going to scare the hell out of you,” he said, pausing to gauge her reaction. There was

none other than annoyance. She really couldn’t think of any bullshit line that he could give her that would convince her to give

him her program and she had absolutely no doubt that’s what this was about.

“There’s more to this world than you know, Isabella.”

He paused, probably for drama, she thought as her eyes drifted towards the partially open door, wondering if she could make a

run for it. “I’m sure you’ve realized by now that you’re different than everyone else,” Chris said, drawing her attention back to

him.

She just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes when she realized what he was doing. Of course he was giving the “Join

our cult” speech. What better way to get their hands on her program and probably her money as well than to have her join

them?

They’d probably orchestrated this entire thing, she thought bitterly as she ran her fingers over the two pin size scabs on her

neck. Part of her felt flattered that they went through so much just to get her hands on her and her program, but the other part of

her was pissed to be played with.

“There’s a good explanation for the way you feel, because you are different,” Chris said. “What I’m about to tell you is going

to sound crazy, but please hear me out.”

“Sure,” she sighed, gesturing lazily for him to get on with it. The sooner he was done the sooner she could get some sleep, she

hoped, so she could clear her mind and figure out a way to get herself the hell out of this mess.

“Look, I know you’re probably really pissed about being here and scared,” he said, licking his lips, “but you don’t need to be.

The first thing you should know is that I will never let anything happen to you. You’re safe.”

Because he thought she was his wife, she reminded herself, wondering if she could use that against him.

“I know this is going to be a lot to take in at once and I wish there was a better way to do it but right now there’s no choice in

the matter, Izzy,” he said and she just barely stopped herself from correcting him about her name. If she wanted to get some

time to clear her head then she needed him to hurry the hell up with his little sales pitch.

“The first thing you need to know is that you’re not human,” he said, sounding so damn serious that she had the hardest time not

rolling her eyes at him.

“You’re a Sentinel,” he announced, giving her an expectant look.

She carefully blanked her expression as she stared back at him. When she didn’t react in any way he shared a look with his

“father” before proceeding. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that you’re faster and stronger than the people around you,” he said and

Isabella couldn’t help but wonder if the man was high.

Stronger? Her?

Um no, she thought. If anything she’d always thought of herself as weaker than most people. She’d always been smaller than

everyone else, even as a baby. When her mother had been pregnant with her and her brother the doctors expressed their

concern that she was too small and probably wouldn’t survive. After a second and third opinion her parents had resigned

themselves to her loss.

They hadn’t even bothered buying a crib or clothes for her. All of their focus went to her unborn brother. Her father had

decorated the nursery into a boy’s dream room with exotic animals painted all over the walls, dinosaurs toys and sports

memorabilia. Her mother filled the drawers and closet full of little boy clothes and actually started a pregnancy journal for

him. She wasn’t even mentioned in the book.

When her brother hadn’t survived the birth her parents had been distraught. She knew they’d never expected that outcome and

that her brother’s death had hurt them because they’d fallen in love with him the moment they found out about him. When she

came out kicking and screaming they’d simply resigned themselves to her existence. Not that they’d ever have to say it, but she

knew they blamed her for her brother’s death.

She knew it in the way they looked at her and pretty much ignored her. They provided her with the basics, roof over her head,

clothes and food and minimal care until she could start doing things for herself. They hadn’t cared what she did just as long as

she stayed out of their way. The only times they concerned themselves with her was when the police or FBI came knocking on

their door because she may have hacked into one or a few hundred companies. Of course she knew there was nothing to worry

about since she’d covered her tracks.

It also helped that her parents had no clue about what she was up to. Not that they tried to help her or were even upset when she

was dragged out of the house in cuffs, but then again what parent was going to think their eight year old daughter was really

responsible for crashing a large company’s server? She hadn’t been worried that the charges would stick. Even then she knew

she had a special touch with computers that no one else could understand. She’d covered her tracks well. If it hadn’t been for

the damn dial up connection (which she thanked god every day that she no longer had to use) they wouldn’t have had anything

on her.

Thankfully the judge had been computer illiterate at the time and couldn’t fathom a young child doing the damage the team of

highly paid lawyers was accusing her of. Granted the next five judges had a hard time thinking it was a coincidence, but then

again they didn’t have any real evidence against her, which really was a blessing since the public defenders she kept getting

stuck with didn’t really seem to know what they were doing. Even she had to admit that it was a little unnerving when they kept

mumbling, “oh my god, oh my god” over and over again during the trial.

She’d learned quickly not to expect much from any of the public defenders assigned to her. Although she really wished they’d

been able to get her out on bail, not that her parents would have forked over the money.

Unfortunately for her she seemed to fit in less at juvenile hall than she had at school, which really shouldn’t have surprised

anyone. Short, smart mouthed computer geeks really didn’t do well with large girls who liked to entertain themselves by

playing, “Beat the crap out of the nerd.”

Thankfully she’d learned during her second stay at Juvie that she fit quite nicely behind one of the bookcases in the small

library, which was a good thing since her mouth constantly seemed to get her in trouble. The only thing that she would agree

with Chris was that she was pretty fast, but then again anyone who had to run away from a girl nicknamed Big Bertha would

have to be.

“You’re not really buying any of this are you?” Chris asked, breaking into her thoughts with a heavy semi annoyed sigh, making

her wonder what she’d missed, but not actually caring enough to ask him to repeat himself.

“Would you let me go if I said yes?” she asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

His eyes narrowed on her as he let out, in her opinion, an adorable little growl that would probably scare the hell out of most

women. She really needed to get the hell out of here before she did something stupid like blush.

“Why don’t we go talk out in the hall?” Ephraim suggested, gesturing for Chris to follow him out into the hall.

With one last look of annoyance in her direction, Chris stood up and reluctantly followed his “father” out of the room, giving

her a good view of a rather delicious butt and golden back muscles that she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of. Thankfully the

sound of the door closing caught her attention.

Her eyebrows shot up in disbelief as she looked around the empty sitting room. Did they really think she was going to sit here

and wait for them? She inwardly snorted at that as she crawled over the arm of the couch and headed over to the open window.

Even though they were on the first floor it was a bit of a drop to the ground from the window. They probably had a deep

basement, she decided as she carefully raised the screen as she kept an eye on the door.

By the time they realized what she did she’d be long gone, she thought with a smug little smile.

Chapter 7

“This isn’t working,” Chris said as soon as the door shut behind him.

Ephraim shook his head as he leaned back against the banister. “No, it’s not.”

“She doesn’t believe a word that I’m saying and I haven’t even gotten to the fucked up stuff yet,” Chris said, feeling exhausted.

“If I go back in there and tell her the rest she’s going to resist.”

“I could show her what I really am,” Ephraim offered.

Chris considered the offer for all about twenty seconds before he shook his head. “I don’t want her afraid of you or Madison.”

Anyone else and he would have been on board with that game plan, but this was his mate. He needed her brought up to speed

quickly so she could take her place by his side in protecting his family.

“She’s going to have to find out about us,” his father pointed out.

“I know,” Chris sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “but I’d rather she know that you and Madison play on our team. I think

the best thing is for her to meet the enemy first.”

“She already has,” Ephraim said, suddenly tilting his head to the side, lips twitching with amusement.

Chris didn’t have to ask to know that his father heard something. He also didn’t need to ask what was going on since he had a

pretty good idea of what he heard and headed for the front door with his father keeping pace right beside him.

“Eric told me that she really hasn’t had much of a reaction to any of this, well except being stubborn,”

Ephraim said.

Chris had noticed that and really hadn’t given it much thought until now. But now that he thought about it, it was kind of odd.

From what he knew, she’d been attacked this morning. The knowledge that some fucking leech had put his fangs in his mate had

nearly sent him into a rage. It pissed him off that the bastard died. He would have loved to make an example out of the asshole.

But as a woman who knew nothing of their world he would have understood if she freaked out a little bit, well maybe not a lot.

She was his mate after all. There was no doubt in his mind that he’d been fortunate to be paired with a strong woman who may

look fragile on the outside, but was probably a little ass kicker on the inside. No doubt she’d had a shock this morning and was

in for several more tonight, but she was handling it like a fucking pro. She was just the type of woman he wanted to help guard

his family, but he still needed to tread lightly. He wanted her brought into their world quickly with as little difficulty as

possible.

“How did Madison react when she found out?” he asked, opening the front door and heading to the left.

“She threw biscuits at me and tried to keep me hostage in the shower,” Ephraim said with a careless shrug.

Okay………

“Not really helpful, Dad.”

Ephraim chuckled. “Sorry. All I can say is that everyone reacts differently. Madison became curious and a thorn in my side.

You were too afraid for Madison’s safety to really allow yourself to become afraid and by the time we had our talk you were

more receptive to what I had to tell you.”

“Well,” Chris drawled, “pouring blood down your throat and watching you recover in a couple of hours after having your

throat ripped out and your heart blown out of your chest probably had something to do with that.”

“Probably,” Ephraim agreed, noticeably cringing, probably from the memory of attacking Madison, Chris decided. It had been

one of the most important and by far the scariest nights of his life. Oddly enough he’d never truly been afraid for his own safety.

Not that he was one of those people who thought nothing bad could ever happen to him. Fuck no. If anything he just didn’t give

a rat’s ass. At the time he’d been scared shitless that something was going to happen to Madison.

Back then Madison had been a new teacher at his high school and stuck with all the bullshit duties like watching over assholes

like him in detention. Almost from the start he felt an odd connection to her, which kind of scared the shit out of him since he

hadn’t liked or trusted many people at the time. There had just been something different about her that made him relax. He