Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Boston, MA

Present Day

“ T hey’re moving her,” came the three words that he’d been waiting for.

For a moment, Logan sat there debating ignoring the minion, but…

“Has she been spotted?” Logan asked as he stood up, only to pause long enough to close his laptop before he stepped away from his desk and made his way to the door.

“No, but the Sentinels have started the final sweep,” the minion that he hadn’t decided whether he was worth keeping around yet said as Logan made his way down the backstairs of the large brownstone he’d purchased after he’d confirmed that they’d brought her to the Boston compound.

“And my men?” Logan asked as he stepped into the gutted kitchen that had been under renovation when he bought the house and made his way past the stacks of two-by-fours, cans of paint, and tools that had been abandoned by the previous owner and made his way to the reason why he’d purchased this house in the first place.

“They’re keeping the shifters and demons waiting for her by the south and west sides of the compound busy,” the minion said as Logan paused by the basement door and typed his code into the security panel he had installed along with the door. A moment later, two small beeps were followed by a click as the thick security door swung open, revealing the pitch-black basement below.

“In five minutes, send the rest of my men to the east and south sides, and when they send in more reinforcements, send men to the west side,” Logan said as he moved to head downstairs when the minion’s next words stopped him.

“Do you want us to grab her?”

“No, let the Sentinels have her,” Logan said as he headed down the old stairs, only to add, “Stay,” when he heard the minion move to follow him. Within seconds, his eyes adjusted to darkness and-

He shouldn’t be here.

Not when he was so fucking close to finally having everything that he’d ever wanted. He should be in New York, making the bastard that destroyed his world suffer instead of wasting time at a rundown brownstone, risking everything just so that he could be near the woman that shouldn’t fucking matter.

Jill Williams was the daughter of a Pyte and the sister to the Sentinel mated to the small woman who gave him the final piece of the puzzle and that was it. She’d been a temptation, one that he’d foolishly believed he could resist, but one taste of her blood had him losing his fucking mind.

He never should have marked her, Logan thought as he made his way across the basement and into the tunnel that had been blocked by four feet of brick and mortar. When he heard the Sentinels arrested her, he told himself that it was for the best and moved on, forcing himself to forget about the small woman that haunted his dreams. He’d called in favors, made plans, and focused on everything that he knew about Pierce and every time he found himself thinking about her, Logan reminded himself that she was just a means to an end that had outlived her usefulness.

He’d barely made it two days before he found himself boarding a private plane and hunting down the vampire that knew Boston better than anyone. Mason spent his youth working the streets of Boston, picking pockets and building a reputation for being able to break into absolutely anything, which is how he drew the attention of pirates.

They decided to put Mason’s skills to good use, bringing him to every port along the east shore to prove his worth before they brought him to Europe where they had him break into churches, castles, and luxury townhouses, amassing a fortune before returning to Boston only to find the Royal Navy waiting for them. They headed north, just far enough to smuggle Mason and half their men into Boston along with the treasure in the dead of night with the task of hiding everything before the Red Coats found them.

They hid the treasure behind walls, in basements, and in tombs only to have one of their men betray them, leaving Mason with no other choice but to come up with another plan. They created tunnels between houses and cemeteries so that they could move freely beneath Boston.

When the Sentinels found out about the tunnels, they built their compound in the middle of the main tunnel, which they used to their advantage, converting some of the old smuggling tunnels into escape routes and destroyed the rest to make sure that they couldn’t be used against them.

All but this one.

Logan made his way down the tunnel he had reinforced after he bought the house and up the short set of stone stairs that led to the abandoned mausoleum a few minutes later, careful to stay out of the sunlight streaming in through the bars. A moment later, he found himself staring across the long-forgotten cemetery at the hidden entrance that he’d escaped from more than a year ago.

For so long, the only thing that mattered was making the men who took Elizabeth from him pay. He’d hunted them, learned their habits, their weaknesses, and everything that meant the world to them, and when the time was right, he brought them to their knees.

All but two.

He was saving Kale for last, which left the man who’d held the knife to Elizabeth’s throat. It had taken him more than five hundred years to find out the bastard’s name, and once he had it, he tore this fucking world apart looking for him only to end up chasing a ghost. No one knew where Pierce was, or what Pack he belonged to now, and every time Logan thought he was close, Pierce would disappear. If it wasn’t for the small Sentinel that was just too fucking adorable for words, Logan would still be tearing this world apart looking for him.

He shouldn’t be here, but he wanted to see his angel one last time, Logan thought as he stood there, slowly exhaling as he ran his gaze over the long-forgotten cemetery. He took in everything from the neglected tombstones to the demons and shifters trying to blend in as they walked the dirt path before his gaze landed on the middle-aged human male sitting on a bench by the path. A moment later, his gaze found the long-forgotten entrance to the Sentinel compound that the Sentinels should have destroyed after his escape.

For more than eight hundred and seventy-five years, he’d dreamed about Elizabeth every time he closed his eyes. He thought about how much he missed her, about the last time that he pulled her into his arms, and he thought about how their life could have been if they’d never walked into that alley. He thought about the house that he never got to build for her and the children that he had never been able to give to her, only to have that change two years ago when he spotted the small redhead with the most beautiful blue eyes that he’d ever seen walking into a bar and…

He was absolutely fucking lost.

That was the problem.

He didn’t want to think about Jill, need her, or feel like he was going to lose his fucking mind wondering about her. He needed to watch her go so that he could finally destroy this hold that she had on him and get back to the only thing that mattered.

Finishing what he’d started.

He’d allow the Sentinels to move her to one of their islands where he knew that she would be safe and once she was gone, he would never think about her again, Logan decided as movement to his right caught his attention. He watched the shifters and demons patrolling the abandoned cemetery make their way back to the sidewalk to do another permitter check, letting him know that it was almost time.

Slowly exhaling, Logan shifted his attention back to that door, only to frown as he watched the human begin pacing the walkway that cut across the hidden entrance. Even from here, Logan could smell the anger pouring off him and wondered if he was a minion.

Logan watched as cold grey eyes locked on the door hidden behind overgrown ivory and several long-forgotten monuments as a soft click drew his attention. Logan turned his head only to forget how to breathe when he saw her.

Christ, she was beautiful, Logan thought, swallowing hard as he stood there, unable to take his eyes off Jill as she was led outside and-

Saw the gun too late.

“Please don’t do this!” Jill begged as she was pulled out of the holding cell they threw her in almost a year ago and dragged towards the tunnel that would take her to a future that would destroy her.

“I’m sorry,” the large shifter said, throwing her a sympathetic look as her arms were yanked behind her back.

“You don’t need to do this!” Jill said, biting back a wince when she felt cold steel close around her wrists.

“I know you don’t believe this, but this is for your own good,” the demon that was supposed to escort her to the island said with a pitying look as the panic that she’d been struggling to hold back since she’d realized what was happening threatened to destroy her.

“Look, I’ll leave and di-disappear,” Jill promised as she was dragged across the room towards the steel door while the shifter yanked back the bar and opened it, revealing a dimly lit tunnel.

“They’ll find you,” the demon explained while they dragged her into the tunnel as she struggled to break free.

“Who? I don’t understand why you’re doing this! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Jill snapped as she tried to pull free only to have them tighten their hold on her.

“It doesn’t matter,” the shifter said as they rounded the corner and she forgot how to breathe when she spotted the steel door at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s for your own good,” the demon said, repeating the words that had sealed her fate.

She opened her mouth to beg them to call her father, but…

He’d turned his back on her.

That was fine because she didn’t need anyone. More importantly, she didn’t want to need anyone. She was sick and tired of everyone that she cared about treating her like she was a second thought and she knew that a big part of that was because she was human. She didn’t belong in this world and that was more than fine with her because she didn’t want to belong.

She didn’t want to live forever with all those things that she wanted to forget haunting her every waking moment and tormenting her every time she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to remember all those times that Candy broke her heart when she was little, the things that Candy let happen to her, made her do, or the things that she’d forced herself to do to keep her little brother safe.

She just wanted to forget that Jill Williams ever existed.

She wanted a new life where she wasn’t constantly reminded of her mistakes, where she wasn’t in the way or treated like she was just one more responsibility. She wanted to go somewhere where no one knew who she was. She wanted to live a normal, boring life in a boring town and marry a good man, have children, grow old, and pass away in her sleep, but that was never going to happen if she let them put her on that plane.

As soon as they opened that door, she was going to make a run for it. She was going to do whatever it took to get away from them and then she was going to run, and she was never looking back. She was going to get the hell out of here, away from this compound and everything in this world and she was going to do whatever it took to get that perfectly average life that she’d always dreamed of, Jill promised herself as the door was shoved open.

In seconds, Jill found herself outside with the sun beating down on her and the sounds of the city surrounding her. Slowly exhaling, she raised her foot, moving to take out the shifter’s instep like her brother showed her only to stumble when her legs suddenly gave out. Trying to make sense of what was happening, Jill watched the man that she’d never seen before glare at her through cold grey eyes as her knees hit the unforgiving pavement and her mind registered the sound of a gunshot.

Numbly, Jill looked down, barely aware of the demon and shifter cursing as they reached for her. A weak groan left her as they pulled her back to her feet. Her head dropped forward as she watched in fascinated horror as a red stain appeared on her shirt seconds before it spread across her stomach and-

“Oh, god,” Jill mumbled weakly as everything went black.

A slight jostle had her struggling to open her eyes as she felt herself being pulled into a pair of strong arms as the scent of something burning teased her nose and found herself looking into a pair of silver eyes, blistered skin marring an incredibly handsome face covered in cuts and bruises as smoke rose off his skin and-

“We’re not done yet, Angel,” came the softly spoken words as she felt Logan press his wrist against her lips seconds before warm liquid streamed down her chin. She opened her mouth to scream only to have Logan take advantage and press his wrist tightly against her mouth, ensuring that she didn’t miss a single drop as everything around her slowly faded away.