Tall, Dark & Heartless

Page 97

"New York?" Kale asked, sounding slightly desperate.
Ephraim shook his head. "No, they're spread out looking for these two."
"We need to get there now!" Kale snapped.
"No shit!" Ephraim snapped back, looking seconds away from attacking the shifter who looked more than willing to throw down.
"I can fly," Caine said, hoping to buy a few more minutes with his mate and shut these two up so that he could listen to Danni's breathing and heart.
"You can fly?" Kale asked, eying him skeptically.
"Yeah," he said hollowly as Danni's heart skipped a beat. "Just find me a plane or helicopter and I can take you where you need to go."
Chapter 48
Upstate New York
The new Williams' Family Mansion
"Just calm down, little man," Chris said again, but he couldn't.
He was barely eleven years old and his mother and sister-in-law were in labor and he didn't know what to do or where to go. No one else was here. No one was supposed to be here because they weren't supposed to be here yet. Uncle Eric hadn't assigned Sentinels to the Sentinel homes that surrounded the property. It was just him, a crying baby, two screaming women and his brother who hadn't said a word or moved since their father chained him in one of the upstairs bedrooms that morning.
"Should I call 911?" Marc asked, already knowing it was a stupid idea, but he couldn't think of anything else to do.
Chris was silent for a moment before he said, "No, don't do that. If something happens and Izzy needs blood they'll give her human blood and it will kill her," he said, sounding sadder than he'd ever heard him before and that actually scared him even more. Chris was tough and could handle anything and he was....
Not.
He couldn't do this. What if something happened to his brothers or what if Izzy died or her baby died? It was too soon for Izzy to have her baby. Sentinel females only carried their babies for four and half months and this was a month too soon. The baby wasn't ready yet, but it was coming and he couldn't do anything for it. If his father or brother were here they'd know what to do.
Even Kale would be better than nothing. Well, for Izzy. He knew the shifter would never hurt Izzy or her baby, but he didn't trust the man with his brothers. The man hated Pytes and that meant he would hate his little brothers, too.
"Where's my baby girl?" Chris asked, his voice cracking and scaring him even more.
"She's lying on the floor," Marc said, throwing a concerned look at the little girl who hadn't stopped crying since she took a tumble to the floor in Izzy's arms ten minutes ago.
Everything had been fine. The women were smiling and talking while they walked around when suddenly Izzy began screaming and fell. Marc saw her try to protect the baby as she fell, but the baby still got hurt and Marc wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to upset his brother anymore than he was, but he was in over his head and didn't want the little girl to be hurt or die, because he kind of liked having her around and it would kill his brother if something happened to her.
"I-I can't stop the bleeding," he said, shooting the little girl a nervous look as her cries intensified and felt his stomach drop. The cut on her forehead wouldn't stop bleeding. He'd tried everything from band aids to ice like his Great Grandma showed him, but she was still bleeding. He really wished she was here right now. He really wished Jill was here too. His sister was smart, sweet and kind and he didn't care that she made friends with that vampire and he didn't know why everyone was making a big deal about it. Jill was always kind and helpful to everyone.
"Why is she bleeding, Marc?" Chris asked, his voice steady, but he knew his brother well enough to know that he was probably panicking.
"Izzy was carrying her when she fell and she hit her head, Chris. I'm trying to take care of her, but mom went into labor when she tried to help and both women need help and...and....I don't know what to do!" he said, feeling close to crying, but he held it back. He was the man of the family right now and he had to take care of everyone.
"What the hell do you mean she's bleeding?" he heard the shifter yell and had to take his ear away from the phone because it was so loud.
"Marc, we're coming home and we'll be there as soon as we can. Just.....just make them comfortable," Chris said before hanging up and leaving him all alone.
He took off his Yankees tee shirt, the one Chris got him last year when they went to Yankee Stadium and bundled it up before he pressed it gently against Jessica's little head. As carefully as he could, he picked her up, but she wouldn't stop crying and Izzy and his mom couldn't take care of her right now because they were both on the floor, holding their large stomachs and screaming every couple of minutes, Izzy more so than his mom.
God, he was so scared. He didn't know what to do, but he couldn't leave them like this. He just couldn't. His eyes strayed to the grand staircase and he knew that he shouldn't do this, but he didn't have any other choice. Joshua was supposed to be a doctor. He was smart and would know how to handle this. No matter what anyone said he knew his brother loved them and was still there. He'd let Joshua go and make him promise to help and he would and this would snap him out of his shock and he'd have his brother back.
It would work out. Everything would be okay, he told himself as he held the baby tighter against him as he walked up the stairs, careful not to go too fast and risk falling with the baby in his arms.
"Shhh, Jessica," he said, not knowing what else to do. "Everything will be okay."
On shaky legs he walked down the hall to the room they set up for Joshua. He shifted the crying baby in his arms and grabbed the keys to unlock the door and set Joshua free. It took a few tries, but he managed to get the door unlocked and opened it.
Joshua sat on the edge of the double bed, looking the same as he had in the Boston Compound cell. He just sat there, not moving or saying anything, but Marc knew that he could hear everything that was going on. It was impossible to miss the sounds of a screaming infant and two women.
"Joshua?" he said, trying not to sound too scared. "I know that you're not happy about what happened to you and I'm sorry," because it was his fault, "but I need your help. Mom and Izzy are in labor and Jessica got hurt and I don't know what to do so I'm," he took a deep breath, "I'm going to let you go and you're going to help them."
When Joshua didn't say anything or react in any way he decided to take that as an agreement. He carefully laid Jessica on floor against the wall and removed his bloody tee shirt away from her face so that she wouldn't think that he just left her. Once that was done he gripped the key tightly in his hand and approached Joshua, looking for any sign that his brother wasn't going to help him. Joshua didn't say anything or even look at him so as fast as he could he unlocked his leg shackles and then the ones attached to his arms. When the last one hit the floor he jumped back and nervously gestured for Joshua to go help.
"Okay, let's go," he said, trying to sound firm as he gestured again to the door.
Slowly, Joshua looked up at him through dull blue eyes that used to light up when he smiled or laughed. A pang of grief shot through him at the loss of the man Joshua used to be. He really missed his brother, he thought as Joshua stood up without a word and headed for the door.