Page 20 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

Worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, the little boy shook his head as he reached over and cautiously poked the bun while his brother brought the cheeseburger closer and smelled it. After a slight hesitation, he took a bite and groaned only to have his little sister reach over and snatch the burger out of his hand and took a bite, earning a glare that had Jill’s lips twitching.

That was followed by the little boy pulling another cheeseburger out of the bag along with some fries, which he shoved in his mouth before his brother could make sure that they were safe. “What are these?” the little boy asked, shoving another handful of fries in his mouth.

“French fries,” Jill said, watching the little boy nod absently as he shifted his attention to his burger and took a bite while his brother shifted his attention to the Coke bottles.

“It’s soda,” Jill said, watching as he opened the bottle, letting her know that he was at least familiar with bottles and took a tentative sip, winced only to glare when his little brother stole it from him.

Grumbling, the teenage boy grabbed another burger, took a bite while his little brother took a sip of Coke, released a satisfied sigh and a murmured, “This is yummy,” before taking another sip.

“Have you guys ever had sugar before?” Jill asked as she watched the children shift their attention to the rest of the junk food.

“What’s sugar?” the little boy asked as he tore open a chocolate candy bar and took a huge bite.

That was followed by another groan and Jill deciding that this was a really bad idea. “Why don’t we put some of this away for later?” Jill suggested with what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she moved to take away some of the junk food only to have all three children snatch up as much junk food as they could and hug it against their chests while they glared at her.

“I’m not going to take your food from you, but I think we need to slow down before you get sick,” Jill explained as she reached for a bottle of Coke only to have the teenage boy snatch it out of her reach.

“It’s ours,” the little boy said, taking another big sip from his Coke before his sister reached over and stole it from him right around the time that Jill decided that it was time to have another talk with Logan.

CHAPTER 12

“Well?” Logan said as he took in the large walk-in closet that had been turned into a cozy little nook.

“They’ve been fed,” Gray said as Logan took in everything from the battery-operated Christmas lights strung along the walls to the thick mattress that she’d asked for her that he’d been curious about pushed up against the back wall with an ungodly number of pillows, a down comforter, a battery-operated lantern, and dozens of books stacked neatly against the wall.

Nodding absently, Logan shifted his gaze back to that mattress as he asked, “How many chairs came with that dining room table that she ordered?”

“Eight,” Gray said as he moved to join him in the doorway.

“Any problems?” Logan asked, deciding to take a closer look at that mattress.

“She shouldn’t be here,” Gray said after a slight hesitation.

“And where should she be?” Logan asked as he grabbed hold of the thick mattress with one hand and pulled it up so that he could look underneath it.

Nothing.

“With the Sentinels,” Gray said as Logan used his hold on the mattress to pull it away from the wall and felt his lips twitch when he found what was left of the missing chair.

Shaking his head, Logan said, “Not until I remove my mark,” as he took in the small pile of crudely made stakes.

“They’re going to send her to the island whether you find a way to remove her mark or not. They’ll never trust her again.”

“Probably not,” Logan murmured as he reached over and picked up one of the stakes.

“She’s a distraction.”

“For who?” Logan asked, absently turning the stake over in his hand as he looked up and met the shifter’s silver gaze. Clenching his jaw tightly shut, Gray averted his gaze as Logan absently flipped the stake in his hand as he considered the shifter.

This wasn’t the time to fuck around.

Not when he was finally close to ending this, but even knowing that, Logan couldn’t make himself send her away. Everything that he did, every decision that he made, and every fucking moment for more than eight hundred years was focused on making the men who took Elizabeth from him pay, but now…

“She’s not going anywhere,” Logan said, tossing the stake in his hand one more time before he handed it to the shifter. “I want a camera in here within the hour,” Logan said as his gaze flickered to the battery-operated Christmas lights and lantern before adding, “And a light.”

“Anything else?” Gray asked, stepping out of the way so that Logan could walk past him.

“Get me Tomas,” Logan said, deciding that it was time to finally end this. With that, he followed Jill’s chain into the hallway, across the large living room, down the hallway and into the dining room that he was using as his office, where he found her waiting for him.

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