He scented the air again. "Great," he muttered as he headed in the direction where their scents were fresher. For a moment he considered calling for backup, but then realized his backup would be the human squad playing dress up and decided against it. The last thing he needed was the added responsibility of watching over them.

With a few exceptions humans really had no business fighting vampires, but just like human parents, Sentinel parents were known to overindulge their children. Considering these little human groups weren't allowed to go up against demons or shifters, one would think their parents would realize their children had no business fighting vampires either, but they figured with the right amount of training and of course a babysitter, that missions like this were perfectly safe.

They weren't.

This little f**k up should prove that. Sentinels not only trained to keep their asses out of problems like this, but they also had a natural ability on their side. They would have sensed the trap long before it sprung. A Sentinel would have caught the subtle earthy smell vampires gave off and would have made damn sure they weren't in the position to be trapped. No amount of training could give any of these humans that advantage.

A half mile later the scent suddenly changed direction. It didn't take Caine long to figure out that they'd gone through the small manhole. He closed his eyes and focused. Above him he could hear the sound of two heartbeats. One of them was racing and giving off a huge amount of adrenaline. The intoxicating aroma had Caine's fangs dropping. He ignored his response and focused on the second heartbeat. It was strong and steady.

He nearly sighed with relief when he realized the second heartbeat was Danni's. Even though he knew one day she would pass away like everyone else he wasn't ready. It probably had to do with the fact that she was the only human he'd known and cared about when she was a child. Whatever it was he wasn't ready for her to be gone. That day would come and when it did he would forget about her like all the rest. Until then he owed it to that little bossy girl, who used to demand extra kisses for bruised knees to make sure it didn't come sooner than it should.

With an annoyed growl, mostly at himself for being such a fool for caring even a little, he climbed up the small metal ladder and punched the manhole cover, sending it flying through the air away from him. He barely registered the loud clatter of the cover slamming into a wall and hitting the ground. All his focus was on the dimly lit alleyway he found himself in.

There was only the barest trace of vampire scent in the alley. It was almost undetectable beneath the heavy cloying scent of fresh blood. He didn't need to see Greg kneeling over Danni's body ten yards away to know that it was her blood. He would know the scent of her blood anywhere. Her blood was the sweetest, most enticing blood he'd ever come across.

When Danni was a child he'd found the scent of her blood pleasant, yet sweet. It had been a temptation, but one he'd easily ignored. It wasn't until she was on the brink of adulthood that her blood began calling to him, tormenting him. Pushing her away had been the only choice, one he made himself believe he never regretted since it saved her life.

"Danni? Danni, wake up!" Greg said, shaking her. Caine knew he should walk away and leave it to the little prick to take care of her, but he didn't trust him.

With a curse he walked over to Danni and shoved the ass**le aside. "Danni?" he said softly as ran his eyes over her. There was a deep gash across her palm, but other than a few fresh bruises and cuts he couldn't see any injuries that would explain why she was unconscious.

"What happened to her?" he demanded, as he leaned over her head and closed his eyes. He slowly moved down her body as he breathed in her scent. He could smell small amounts of blood forming bruises beneath her skin, but nothing serious. He could also scent the aspirin he saw her take an hour ago, but no other drugs. There was absolutely nothing he could scent on her that would explain why she was out. He could smell the low levels of iron in her blood, but that didn't explain why she was out cold.

He opened his eyes as he picked up her hand and concentrated on the deep gash and frowned. There were no defensive marks, no jagged edges or bruising on her hand. Even after all these years he knew Danni would never sit still and allow someone to do this to her and she sure as hell wouldn't leave a wound like this open, drawing every vampire within a ten mile radius to her. Something was very wrong here and he had a feeling the ass**le he was seconds away from killing was the reason.

"What the hell happened to her?" he demanded again, feeling his patience evaporate. His eyes burned with their change as his fangs descended in his mouth. So help him if the ass**le didn't answer him soon he was going to tear his-

"You know she said you wouldn't come. I guess she was wrong," Greg suddenly said, chuckling. "I'm sure she'll be flattered when she wakes up."

"What the f**k did you do to her?" he roared, turning to attack him only to come to an abrupt halt when he came face to face with the barrel of a gun. He didn't need to look to know the gun was already cocked and ready.

It was a trap.

A f**king trap and he walked right into it, he thought with disgust.

Greg didn't hesitate in pulling the trigger, which was the only thing that saved him. If he'd hesitated even for a second Caine would have been on him instead of slamming backwards as the hot bullet tore through skin and bone as it made its journey through his head.

He felt himself drop back, falling limply on his side as his sight blacked out and white hot pain shot through his skull as it was mutilated along the bullet's passage until all he knew was pain and darkness.

**********

"How was that 'talk' for you?" Greg demanded, laughing. He pulled back his foot and sent it flying into Caine's stomach over and over again. "You're my bitch now, ass**le," he said, kicking Caine one last time in stomach before he pulled his phone out.

"Come get him," he said, unable to stop grinning. He'd waited twenty-five years to do that and it had been worth the wait. In fact, after Caine did what the Master wanted, Greg looked forward to doing this again, right before they got rid of him permanently.

His eyes darted over to the secret to his success and he damn near sighed with contentment. She was the key to everything, otherwise he would have killed the bitch years ago.

Even when they were kids he couldn't stand her. She'd been a little know-it-all bitch who always got in the way and had the rest of the kids fooled. They all thought she was so f**king cool because Caine talked to her and spent time with her. While he had to deal with proving himself to the other kids and getting his ass kicked on a daily basis no one dared to look sideways at Danni. She'd been untouchable.

The few times he'd tried to put the little bitch in her place had ended poorly for him thanks to her f**king lapdog. When he was a child, Greg knew that Caine was different. Unfortunately for him he hadn't known the full extent of Caine's abilities until it was too late.

When he was twelve he learned that Caine could hear just about anything from a mile away, if he was paying attention. It was how the bastard discovered Danni was trapped in an old pit hole deep in the woods. They'd been playing tag, the Sentinel version where they mixed training with fun, and while everyone else was running and doing their best to cover their tracks he'd followed the little brat, intent on teaching her a lesson. He couldn't believe his luck when she found an old pit.