Page 128 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“He was supposed to be number fifty-five, but imagine my surprise when I went to slit his throat and found myself markedinstead,” Elizabeth said with a soft sigh, making Jill frown as she found herself thinking about the moment when Joshua stopped breathing after they’d moved him to the sick bay and-

He’d lost too much blood.

Instead of being upset, her father and the Sentinel doctor had been relieved because it meant that there wasn’t enough blood in his system to mix with Kale’s blood. It wasn’t until Joshua opened his eyes that they’d realized that her father’s blood had magnified Kale’s blood during his transition.

If her father hadn’t given Joshua his blood…

“I know why the transitions aren’t working,” Jill said, watching as Elizabeth relaxed back against her chair as she considered her.

“I’m waiting,” Elizabeth said, gesturing for her to begin.

“You almost didn’t survive your transition,” Jill said, needing to make sure before she said anything else.

“And how would you know that?” Elizabeth asked, watching her curiously as Logan made his way across the room and sat down across from her.

“Because you lost too much blood,” Logan murmured, looking lost in thought as he placed his hand on the tabletop and began drumming his fingertips against it.

“Pierce got carried away with the knife,” Elizabeth said as her gaze shifted to Logan. “You were supposed to come back.”

“I did,” Logan said as a deep sadness swept over her.

“Not soon enough,” Elizabeth said with a bittersweet smile.

“You wanted Kale to change you,” Jill said, having absolutely no doubt in her mind that she’d waited for Logan to come back with Kale and refused to let anyone else give her blood while she’d lay there dying until it was too late. It meant that she was weaker than most shifters.

While every shifter could potentially change a human, surviving the transition wasn’t always guaranteed, but withAlpha blood, the chances of survival were stronger and if she’d been able to get her hands on Kale’s blood after her transition…

“I still do,” Elizabeth said as she considered Logan for a moment. “I might be willing to spare your son if you tell me how long it will be before the guest of honor arrives.”

“And who would that be?” Logan drawled.

“Kale, of course,” Elizabeth said as she reached over and slowly ran her fingers through Emma’s hair in a move that reminded them what was at stake.

“And why would he be coming?” Logan asked, leaning back in his chair as he continued drumming his fingertips against the table.

“Because you called him for help just like I knew you would,” Elizabeth said with a smug expression as she leaned back in her chair only to frown when Logan chuckled.

“I didn’t call Kale,” Logan drawled as his eyes flashed silver.

“Who else would you call?” Elizabeth asked, looking bored.

“A really fucking pissed-off Pyte,” Logan said as relief washed over Jill, knowing that her father was on his way. If they couldn’t get the children out of here safely, her father would.

“You forgot one very important thing when you decided to fuck with my family,” Logan said, keeping his furious gaze locked on Elizabeth.

“And what’s that?” Elizabeth asked coyly as she moved to grab Emma by her throat and-

“I always have a Plan B,” Logan said as he suddenly grabbed hold of the table and threw it aside. In seconds, he had his hand wrapped around Elizabeth’s throat and was picking her up out of her chair and slamming her against the wall before anyone could react.

“Run, min smael,” Logan said as he glanced down at Emma. “Go!” he yelled, startling her into moving.

“Grab the boy!” the shifter holding her snapped as his grip tightened around her arm. In seconds, he was pulling her towards the pool, leaving Jill struggling to pull away as she turned around only to forget how to breathe when she saw Gray raise his gun and-

Flinched when the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the large room. When she didn’t feel excruciating pain tearing through her body, Jill slowly exhaled as she glanced back at the shifter trying to force her into the pool in time to watch him drop to the floor. Swallowing hard, she swung her gaze back to Gray to find him watching her through silver eyes as he slowly lowered his gun.

“Save your son,” Gray said as Jill turned around and watched the shifter guarding Caleb reach down and-

“No!”

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