Tall, Dark & Heartless

There was very little need for her. She helped out with her niece and spent time with Marc so that he wasn't lonely and visited Joshua every day, but other than that it was a struggle to fill her days. She would have liked to spend more time with Madison and help her since she was nearly nine months pregnant with twins, but Madison spent most of her time with Ephraim who was still having a hard time with what happened to Joshua. When Madison wasn't with Ephraim, she was with Chris since they were best friends. It made Jill feel left out, but she was used to it, well at least it didn't hurt as much as it once did.

Then there was Isabella, Chris' mate. She really liked Isabella and loved spending time with her. Isabella was open, honest, sweet and funny, but unfortunately for her, she was also a busy mom who ran the IT department for the Sentinels and was expecting another baby within a few short months. If she wasn't working then she was with Chris. If Eric or Kale were at the compound then Izzy was spending time with them. Kale was Isabella's B.F.F. as she'd heard Izzy refer to the cranky Alpha several times, probably to annoy the hell out of him, and Eric was the one she loved to beat at video games.

Jill didn't play video games, didn't go out on patrol, wasn't married, didn't work here and had no reason to stay other than just to make sure that everyone was alright. Simply put, she didn't belong here, but every time she tried to bring it up she was swamped with guilt so she sucked up her misery and contented herself with leading a pointless life at the moment. The only thing that made this situation somewhat tolerable was the vampire in the glass cage before her.

"What's wrong, Angel?" Logan asked softly in that incredibly sexy voice that she could listen to day and night.

"Nothing's wrong," she lied, leaning against the mixture of glass and metal bars as she forced a smile, but it didn't go far.

"Then why do you look seconds away from crying?" he asked soothingly as he reached through the large square section of bars in the thick glass wall and took her hands into his. "Come on, Angel, talk to me," he said as he caressed the back of her hands with his thumbs.

Instead of pulling away like she knew that she should, she angled herself towards him and welcomed his touch. She looked up into his beautiful baby blue eyes that were several shades lighter than her own and her father's and couldn't help but melt. This was wrong for so many reasons.

She was human and he was a vampire that would probably be staked as soon as the council was done with him. There was no future and at the moment none of that mattered. He soothed her in a way that no one ever had before. He also made her feel whole and needed. She knew this was foolish, but she couldn't help wanting to be near him.

Staying away from him during the day was a struggle, one she fought with constantly. She knew what would happen if her brother, Chris or her father or Eric for that matter caught her with him. They'd probably take away her access to this floor. There was also a chance that they'd send him away. She didn't want them to send him away so during the day she forced herself to be patient. When the majority of the Sentinels left for patrol and the IT department called it a night she came to visit Joshua. She'd sit outside his cell for a while before she would finally allow herself some time with Logan.

"I'm fine," she said, forcing a smile.

Logan released one of her hands so that he could reach through a higher opening in the bars and cup her face in his hand. "No, you're not," he said quietly.

Her smile slipped as she opened her mouth to argue, but there was nothing to say. She wasn't fine. This whole situation wasn't fine. She wanted her brother back and out of that cell. She wanted to see her father with a carefree smile again and she wanted to matter in some way. She needed to do something, anything that mattered. She hated feeling useless mostly because it reminded her of her birth mother, Candy. She never wanted to be like that woman and this situation came damn close.

While Candy would have been more than happy with other people taking care of her and supporting her, Jill was not. She liked to earn her own money. It was the reason why she turned down her father's offer of a trust fund. She wasn't useless and refused to let anyone think that she was.

There was a time when it wouldn't have bothered her to have someone else take care of her, but after Ephraim came into her life, things changed. He treated her with respect, didn't hesitate to tell her when she was being foolish, but most of all he was the kind of man that she wanted for herself one day. She wanted a man to love and respect her. She knew the only way that would happen is if she respected and loved herself and that would never happen if she led a pointless life.

"Shhhh, Angel, don't cry," Logan said soothingly. Until then she hadn't realized that she was. This was humiliating. She was strong, independent and didn't give into drama or any nonsense anymore. She certainly never felt sorry for herself, but it looked like she was doing just that.

"I'm sorry," she said, clearing her throat awkwardly. "I should go."

He shook his head. "No, you should stay," he said as he gently pulled her face closer until he could brush his lips over hers through the bars, startling her.

"Stay," he whispered against her lips.

"I can't," she said, but made no move to leave.

"Stay with me, Angel," he said, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip and God help her but she couldn't say no. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. She needed him almost desperately.

"Okay," she said with a small nod as she allowed him to kiss her again.

Chapter 17

"How much do you want me to give them, sir?" Jonathan, a vampire who'd been a doctor when he was human, asked.

"As much as you can give them without killing them," Lucan said, not bothering to look up from his computer screen, but he didn't need to look up to know that the five "volunteers" for this little project noticeably relaxed. He could smell the stench of fear in the room weakening with every passing second.

"It needs to stay in their system for at least ten minutes to make sure that it hits their bloodstream," Jonathan explained.

"Leave it in for twenty minutes before drawing their blood," Lucan said, not bothering to watch as Jonathan injected each minion with a large dose of the aphrodisiac.

As the drug did its work he double checked the Master's holdings and looked into what the other Masters' activities were. Several months back all the Masters grudgingly agreed to form an alliance, all in the hopes of bringing down the Sentinels, shifters and everyone else that got in their way. While the Master had been giddy at the prospect of going to war and finally ridding the world of the Sentinels, Lucan had been against the entire thing.

An alliance done right could have been beneficial for everyone, but that's not what the others had in mind, especially not his Master. His was one of the weakest and for many reasons. He had no shifters under his control. He only had a small army of vampires that Lucan had to keep in line, but they feared the Master because he was prone to emotional outbursts. His Master also had an annoying habit of thinking with his c**k and focused too much of his attention on the minions under his control for sex, for everything else the Master simply ignored them.

This situation with the Pyte was one of those times when Lucan was forced to step in before the Master got in over his head and with the minion in charge it was definitely headed that way. For any other Master, Lucan would have commended him on acquiring a Pyte. It was a smart move that would not only guarantee the Master's ability to keep his territory protected, but it would also allow them to rid his territory of any unwanted shifters and demons. If he did it right, the Master would also be able to shove the Sentinels out of the area as well, but he knew his Master would f**k that up.