Page 88 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

He glanced back at Jill one last time before he turned around and walked away. He checked on the twins before he made his way downstairs, and after one last glance over his shoulder, he made his way into the library. He turned the light on and made his way to the bookshelves, taking in all the books, looking forsomething that would make sense to him only to settle on a black book with gold lettering.

He found a spot on the floor by the back wall. After making sure that he was still alone, Shane opened the book and stared down at the first word, trying to make sense of it. Slowly exhaling, he began trying to spell it out.

“S…q…u…i…r…e…” Shane said, sounding out each letter as he wracked his head, trying to figure out the word and-

Threw the book across the room before ramming his fingers through his hair in frustration. He was fourteen years old and he had to ask his six year old brother to read to him.

It wasn’t fair.

None of this was.

He-

“Treasure Island,”came the softly murmured words that had Shane going still as he slowly looked up to find Logan moving to sit down next to him. “One of my favorite books.”

When Shane didn’t say anything, Logan opened the book to the first page. Shane watched as Logan turned the book towards him and began reading.

“Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island…”Logan began, the soft timbre of his voice drawing him into the story.

After a few minutes, Shane found himself shifting closer so that he could follow along as Logan read to him and made him realize just how much it was going to hurt when they finally betrayed him.

CHAPTER 43

One Week Later…

“Igot you, Mommy!” Caleb said with a huge smile as he continued to pummel Jill with a pillow.

With a mock glare, Jill grabbed a pillow and sent the little boy racing off the bed, squealing with laughter as Emma joined him, making Logan chuckle as he watched them from the doorway. When Jill caught Caleb, she picked the giggling child up and placed him on the bed where she attacked him with kisses, somehow making the little boy giggle harder.

He watched as Emma grabbed a pillow off the bed and took up the attack on Jill, giving her brother the distraction that he needed to escape. Once Caleb managed to wiggle free, he joined in the attack, making Jill laugh as she fell to the floor. Logan glanced from the pillow attack to the teenage boy on the other bed, trying to read the book that Logan bought for him a week ago when he went into town for supplies.

He watched as Jill and the twins suddenly turned their pillow attack on Shane and chuckled at the look on Shane’s face when he realized what was happening. Shane tried to ignore thembefore he finally gave up and joined the attack, making the twins squeal with laughter as they tried to run away. Jill turned her attack on Shane only to laugh when he grabbed her in a bear hug and brought her to the floor so that the twins could join in the attack.

God, she was so good with them, Logan thought as he watched Jill and-

Christ, he loved her.

He loved all of them more than anything, and that fucking terrified him.

He remembered the pain that he’d felt when he lost Elizabeth and just how fucking much he wished that he could join her and he knew without a doubt that pain would be nothing compared to the pain that he would feel if he lost Jill or one of the children.

He would never survive losing them.

For the past week, he’d watched over her, gorging on blood and fed her so that she could heal faster and worked on the checklist that she gave him, needing the distraction while he tried to figure out how he’d fucked up this badly. She was only supposed to be a temporary distraction, something that he lost himself in and moved on from when he grew bored, but somewhere along the line, she became the most important thing in his life.

“I need a kissy, Mommy!” Caleb said as pure joy exploded in his chest, the same as it did every time Caleb called Jill her that, letting him know just how much she loved them.

He just wished that he knew how she felt about him.

Other than thanking him for saving her arm, Jill hadn’t said more than two words to him over the past week and it was absolutely fucking killing him. He’d caught her watching him curiously a few times, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as though she was trying to figure something out only to walk away a moment later without a word.

He watched them for another minute before he stepped away and pulled his phone out of his pocket as he headed to his room, deciding that it was time for answers. He scrolled through his contacts until he found the number that he was looking for. After a slight hesitation, he pressed send and waited until he heard the call connect before he said, “Tell me what happened with Elizabeth.”

There was a slight pause, and then, Kale asked,“Are you sure that you really want to know?”

“Yes,” Logan said, needing to know the truth now more than ever.

“Why now?”Kale asked, sounding genuinely curious.

---