Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

Manhattan, New York

One Month Later…

“ I ’m never drinking A-positive blood again,” Jill said as she stood there, trying to wrap her mind around what she was seeing.

“Thank you,” Logan murmured as Emma finished pouring imaginary tea into the plastic teacup that he held delicately between his fingertips before he dutifully took a sip.

With a nod, Emma went back to coloring while Logan finished his imaginary tea before picking up a red crayon and-

Shot her a wink when he spotted her standing in the doorway.

“Definitely never drinking A-positive blood again,” Jill mumbled as she shook her head in wonder and turned around, making her way back to the living room.

He still wasn’t healing, Jill thought, biting back a sigh as she made her way back to the kitchen island and checked to see if she was still locked out of the iPad that one of Logan’s men left outside her closet for her this morning. He really was making this more difficult than it needed to be, Jill thought as she typed in “Pyte” and clicked on search only to have it blocked seconds later, destroying her hopes that she would be able to trigger Tattletale into finding her.

That was followed by typing in “Sentinel,” “vampire,” “demon,” and “Logan is an asshole” only to have them blocked as well, letting her know that Logan’s men were making sure that she wasn’t able to do anything that would alert Izzy’s program.

She could try sending another email, but since that ended with her getting locked out an hour ago, she typed in “Tattletale” and found herself locked out of the iPad again. Sighing heavily, Jill placed the iPad on the kitchen counter and grabbed the stack of workbooks that she’d asked for off the kitchen island before she made her way towards the back hallway and-

“I know my ABCs,” came the announcement that had Jill’s lips pulling up into a smile as she made her way to the children’s bedroom.

For the past month, she’d been trying to teach the children how to read. Caleb was picking it up easily, tearing through the workbooks Logan’s men found for them, working on his letters on his tablet, and reciting the ABCs to himself when he wasn’t climbing onto her lap with a book and demanding that she read to him. Emma was picking it up easily too. She colored in her workbooks, traced her letters, and flew through the levels on the sight words game that Jill downloaded for her on her tablet and Shane…

Wasn’t willing to try.

When he wasn’t shoving the workbooks she gave him on the floor, he was ignoring her and watching videos on his iPad and apparently, today would be no different, Jill thought, biting back a sigh when she spotted Shane sitting on his bed, glaring down at the iPad on his lap with his headphones firmly in place.

She barely had a chance to step into the room when Shane bit out, “Not happening.”

“It really is,” Jill said with a heartfelt sigh as she dropped the stack of workbooks that she was hoping would entice him next to him on the bed only to have him shove them onto the floor.

“I don’t need to learn how to read,” Shane said, swiping to the next video as Jill sat down next to Caleb on the floor only to have the little boy take that as an invitation to climb onto her lap.

“You want to tell me why a fourteen-year-old boy doesn’t need to learn how to read?” she asked, wrapping her arms around Caleb as he shifted to get comfortable.

“There’s really no point,” Shane drawled as Jill focused on the book that Caleb wanted to show her.

“You could potentially live for thousands of years and you don’t think at some point that you’re going to need to learn how to read?” Jill asked, her gaze flickering to Shane when he released a humorless chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Jill asked, watching as that muscle in his jaw began to clench.

“That you really think that he’s going to let us live,” Shane said, shaking his head in disgust.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jill asked before shifting her attention to Caleb and said, “Why don’t you go play in the living room while I talk to your brother?”

“Can I finish watching my movie?” Caleb asked, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he shot his brother a questioning look.

“Of course,” Jill said with a warm smile as she watched Caleb quickly climb off her lap and made his way to the door.

“Exactly what it sounded like,” Shane said once his little brother left.

“Meaning…” Jill asked as she watched him.

“Go ask the other leech,” Shane said, sounding bored.

“I’m asking you,” Jill said, gesturing for him to get on with it.

“You really want to know?” Shane asked as he tossed the iPad aside and turned to face her.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” Jill said, matching his tone.

Nodding slowly, Shane said, “Fine,” right before he told her everything.

“More sugar,” Logan said when the little girl moved to place the tiny spoon back in the plastic bowl.

With a glare that was just too goddamn adorable for words, Emma released a long-suffering sigh as she scooped up another imaginary spoonful of sugar and dumped it in his plastic teacup. “Thank you, mīn smael,” Logan murmured as he watched Gray step into the room at the same time that he felt his heartbreak only to have the sensation disappear before it had a chance to swallow him whole.

“What happened?” Logan asked as he finished his imaginary tea, knowing that the mutt wouldn’t have come back here without a good reason.

“There’s movement at the brownstone,” Gray said after a slight hesitation.

“You’re sure about that?” Logan asked as he shifted his attention to his laptop and pulled up the security feed.

“Positive,” Gray said as Logan swiped through the security feed, absently noting that Caleb was cuddling on the couch with his teddy bear and the plate of the brownies that Jill baked for the children earlier until he found the live feed of the back bedroom.

“What happened?” Logan asked, dutifully accepting the green crayon that Emma handed him as a sense of dread washed over him before it suddenly disappeared.

The connection to her was just strong enough to tease him and he fucking hated it. He wanted more. He wanted this connection to her, wanted the peace that she brought to wash over him and swallow him whole. He wanted to know that she was safe and he was fucking terrified of doing anything that would make this connection stronger.

She…

Christ, she was slowly destroying him, Logan thought, grinding his jaw as he forced himself to ignore the surge of sadness that swept over him.

For more than eight hundred years, he’d searched for Pierce, tearing this fucking world apart looking for any-fucking clue that would lead him to the man that took Elizabeth from him only to finally track him down with the help of an adorable Sentinel and now…

He was breaking his promise.

“They’re preparing the brownstone,” Gray said, grabbing his attention in a big fucking way.

“When?” Logan demanded as his gaze turned silver.

“Sometime in the past week,” Gray said with a pointed look at the little girl refilling Logan’s teacup.

“Go keep your brother company for me, mīn smael,” Logan said, taking a sip of the imaginary tea as his little shadow hugged her coloring book and box of crayons against her chest and quickly made her way to the door, making sure to put as much space between her and the large shifter as she could.

Once she was gone, Logan asked, “Has Pierce been spotted at the brownstone?”

There was a slight hesitation before Gray said, “Only humans have been spotted so far.”

Nodding slowly, Logan absently drummed his fingertips against the freshly polished table as he watched the shifter’s gaze follow the move, pausing on the patch of red skin on the back of his hand that refused to heal. “What about the New York Packs?”

“They’re not talking,” Gray said as he glanced over his shoulder before releasing a heavy sigh. “They’re too busy trying to figure out where you are so that they can claim the bounty.”

“Any thoughts on helping them with that?” Logan asked, watching the shifter closely.

“No,” Gray bit out between clenched teeth as his eyes flashed silver, which was understandable considering what the New York Packs did to him when he was a boy before they sold him to Pierce. “But I think it’s time that we used the bounty on the children to lure Pierce out.”

It would be the smart thing to do and would end this faster, but…

“There’s been a change of plans. We’re keeping the children out of this,” Logan said, deciding that he was going to have to come up with another plan because there was no way that he was going to risk Pierce getting his hands on them.

“We can end this now,” Gray reminded him.

“The children are under my protection,” Logan said as he glanced at the pink teacup that his little shadow dutifully kept full for him with imaginary tea.

“They’re marked,” Gray said after a slight hesitation, drawing his attention back to the shifter as he allowed his eyes to flash silver and-

“They’re mine.”