“That’s not true,” she mumbled weakly as his words sank in.
“You leave and you’ll either be dead by morning because someone got a little overzealous or you’ll end up a Master’s pet. Then again you might just killed in crossfire as they fight over you. If you’re lucky you’ll only be tortured and used for your skills.”
“You’re saying that I don’t have many choices,” she said quietly, realizing that he was right. She didn’t know how to fight never mind fight what was out there waiting for her.
“You walk out that door and you’re as good as dead or you release me and I can protect you and get you safely to an island where no one will ever find you and you can live a full life and be productive,” he said, sounding calmer. “All you have to do is let me go, Munchkin, and I can protect you.”
“And be a prisoner?” she asked, wondering where the hell the upside was.
“It’s better than being dead. Then again if you don’t do whatever they want you to do you’ll probably wish that you were,” he bit out coldly as he yanked uselessly on his cuffs.
She shook her head. “This can’t be it. There has to be another choice. Why can’t I stay in this country? I heard someone talk about a compound. Why can’t I stay there and work?”
For a moment he didn’t say anything, but she didn’t miss the way his expression became guarded. “Oh my god, that is an option, isn’t it? But you don’t want me to stay. You’re the one who wants me to go away,” she said, knowing it was the truth as the words tumbled out of her mouth.
“You’re weak, Munchkin,” he said harshly. “If anyone ever gets their hands on you-“
“You’re afraid that I’ll talk about something. Something you don’t want anyone to know about,” she concluded, cutting him off.
When he didn’t answer her she knew she was on the right track. She leaned back against the wall as she racked her brain for an answer. What could be so damn important that he’d be willing to sacrifice her happiness and freedom for?
The answer hit her hard.
His family, or rather one person in particular “You’re doing this to me to keep your brother safe, aren’t you?” she asked, feeling sick to her stomach. Not because he would do anything to keep his brother safe.
If she had someone that she loved more than her own life she would do the same, but the fact that he thought she would sacrifice a little boy to save her own ass hurt.
“I’m doing this to keep them all safe.”
“You don’t need to send me away. I would never-“
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t talk because we both know that you’d spill everything within the first f**king minute anyone threatened you,” he yelled.
“Oh, really?” she snapped, stepping closer to the bed so that she could glare down at him. “You know me so well, huh?”
“I know that the first time your comfort was threatened you spilled your f**king guts,” he said with disgust.
“And what exactly did I spill, Chris?” she demanded.
“You gave up information about your program and your password!”
She rolled her eyes. “Whipdee f**king doo, Chris.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously on her as he gave his cuffs another hard tug.
“Let me explain to you why none of that mattered. First off, that password only paused my program, but the program is still running in the background. You should also know that the password I gave you was a onetime deal, Tattletale will never obey it again. Know that at any point I can go and activate that program again from anywhere so try not to piss me off,” she said, enjoying the look of shock on his face.
“Secondly, who cares if you know what my program does. You don’t have it, do you? You have no idea where it is and you will never find it,” she said, rubbing it in.
She was about to walk away when she decided to impart one more piece of information just to piss him off. “You should probably know that Tattletale has already hit your system and if I wanted to I could sell your little group down the river whenever I felt like it so keep that in mind the next time you threaten to lock me up on an island.”
“You’re bluffing,” Chris bit out, but he didn’t look too sure. Good. Let him squirm, she thought as she headed for the door.
“Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, Munchkin, because the minute I get out of this your ass belongs to me!”
*********
“Shit,” Kale muttered when he picked up Logan’s lingering scent. Of course the bastard was in town, he thought inwardly cursing his dumb luck.
Logan’s interference was the last goddamn thing he needed, especially right now. For the first time in centuries he was considering breaking his word on a contract. Normally he was focused and allowed nothing to come between him and his job, but today…..
Today he was sitting in a bar, sipping a piss warm beer and contemplating killing a little boy, a boy he couldn’t allow a Master to get his hands on or allow to reach true immortality, instead of hunting down one Isabella McGuire. He had a good idea where she was and where she was headed, but he couldn’t make himself leave.
Not quite yet.
Was there really a point in leaving and finishing this job? Once he did what needed to be done he would be the most wanted man on earth by the Sentinels. They’d capture him, torture his ass and behead him. That is of course if the boy’s parents didn’t get to him first, which they would.
Marc Williams was the beloved child of an ex-New Hampshire State police detective and ex-high school history teacher. They were well respected upstanding members of the community and the parents of three adult children. Of course they were also the subject of a great deal of gossip, which was how he gathered his information.
They weren’t aging.
Ephraim Williams came to Rerum, New Hampshire over fifteen years ago and Madison over ten years ago and they both still looked to be in their mid-twenties according to a group of little old ladies who were selling burnt cookies in front of the post office for the church explained earlier. That had confirmed it to him that he was dealing with a pair of adult Pytes.
The other piece of gossip had floored him. The female, Madison, was pregnant with twins according to her grandmother, who’d called everyone in town to share the news. It was the last thing on earth that he wanted to hear and made things a thousand times more complicated.