Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
“ W hat is wrong with you?” came the horrified demand that had Jill’s lips twitching as she finished adjusting the comforter decorated with dinosaurs on the twin bed Logan’s men brought in a few minutes ago.
“Stop squirting me with shampoo!” Shane snapped, which was followed by the sounds of Caleb giggling and a horrified gasp as Jill grabbed the laundry basket filled with the pink bedding that she’d washed this morning and focused on the last bed.
Jill took her time making the bed they’d brought in for Emma, doing her best to make it look inviting before she placed Emma’s teddy bear on top of the pillow only to rethink the move and tucked it in instead. She did the same for Caleb’s teddy bear before focusing on the large bed she decided to leave in here for Shane.
She’d replaced the white comforter and sheets that she’d originally asked for with a combination of blue and green sheets, blankets, and a green and blue plaid comforter. She’d added extra pillows, his own nightstand so that he didn’t have to worry about his little brother and sister filling it with crayons and containers of playdough, and his own bookshelf. She’d considered putting the twins in another bedroom so that Shane could have his own room, but something told her that wouldn’t go over well.
Once she finished straightening his pillows, Jill sat down on the edge of the bed and-
Logan kept them safe, Jill thought, slowly exhaling as the bathroom door opened and the teenage boy that refused to let her help with the twins stumbled into the bedroom, completely soaked and covered in what appeared to be a mixture of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and was that toothpaste in his hair? Yes, it was, Jill realized, her lips twitching as she raised her hand and pointed at the two small children behind him and said, “They still have shampoo in their hair.”
Frowning in confusion, Shane turned his head and-
“Stop doing that!” he said, looking absolutely defeated as he watched in horror as Caleb held a bottle of body wash over his sister’s head and squeezed, adding an unhealthy amount of body wash on top of the shampoo that appeared to be running down her hair and onto the floor around her.
“But you missed a spot,” Caleb said, blinking innocently as he gave the bottle another squeeze that had Shane’s shoulders dropping in defeat.
“I can help if you want,” Jill offered, already knowing the answer.
Sighing heavily, Shane muttered, “We don’t need your help,” as he reluctantly went back into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and-
“Leave the hand soap alone!”
She gave him a week before they broke him, Jill thought as she made her way around the large bedroom, her chain softly clinking as she straightened their toys. Once she was done, she made her way to the bookshelf she’d filled with books for Emma and Caleb and took her time selecting a book. By the time the bathroom door opened again, she was sitting on Shane’s bed, absently flipping through the pages of the book she’d hoped would do the trick.
“We have our own beds?” Caleb asked, throwing her a questioning look.
“Do you like them?” Jill asked, watching as Caleb walked over to his bed and ran his hand reverently over the comforter.
“The floor’s fine,” Shane bit out as he reached up and wiped a glob of body wash off his forehead.
Grabbing hold of his dinosaur comforter and teddy bear, Caleb dragged it over to Shane’s bed and said, “I like this one better,” as he climbed onto the large bed and settled in next to Jill. That was followed by Emma grabbing her comforter and teddy bear and joining her twin brother, leaving Shane standing there, glaring at the twins before he grumbled something to himself and headed back into the bathroom.
“This is comfy,” Caleb said with a satisfied sigh.
“I’m glad you like it,” Jill said as she closed the book on her lap.
“What’s that?” Caleb asked, shifting closer to her so that he could get a better look.
“It’s a book about teddy bears,” Jill said, watching as Caleb reached over to trace the title with his fingertips.
“Is that what it says?” Caleb asked, throwing her a questioning look.
“Do you know how to read?” Jill asked as her gaze shifted to Emma to find her shaking her head as she hugged her teddy bear tightly against her chest.
“We’re not allowed to learn how to read,” Caleb said, placing his teddy bear on the bed between them so that he could pull the large book onto his lap.
“What about Shane?” Jill asked, watching as Caleb shifted the large book so that it was between him and Emma.
“He’s not allowed to read either. We’re still being punished for what Liam did,” Caleb said only to end up worrying his bottom lip between his teeth when Emma threw him a panicked look as she frantically shook her head.
“Would you like to learn?” Jill asked, knowing better than to push them for answers that they weren’t ready to give her thanks to Ephraim.
When he came into her life, he’d been patient with her, probably more than she deserved, taking his time to earn her trust and making her feel safe for the first time in her life. He never pushed her for answers that she wasn’t ready to give him and he never once made her feel like she was anything less than his little girl. She-
God, she missed him so much.
“I wanna read the book about dinosaurs,” Caleb said, pushing the large book onto his sister’s lap and shoved the comforter away so that he could crawl off the bed and race across the room to grab the thick dinosaur book off the shelf.
When she felt the bed shift next to her, Jill looked down to find Emma moving closer to her and holding up the book. “Do you want me to read to you?”
With a nod, Emma placed the book on her lap, grabbed her teddy bear and settled in closer to her. Unable to help but smile, Jill opened the book and began to read, which earned a gasp from Caleb as he raced back to the bed to join them.
“Wait for me!” he said, tossing the book on the bed before climbing onto the bed and joined them, snuggling in closer to his sister. Jill kept her tone warm the way that Marc used to like it when he snuggled in her bed late at night so that she could read to him.
While she read the adventures of the teddy bear family living in the forest, Shane walked into the bedroom and made his way to his corner, a muscle in his jaw clenching every step of the way. Without a word, he sat down and after a slight hesitation, he dropped his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.
When she finished reading the teddy bear book for Emma, Jill placed it on the nightstand and began reading the dinosaur book for Caleb. Before she was finished, Caleb and Emma were fast asleep next to her and Shane was slouched in the corner, making her heart break for him.
She climbed off the bed, careful not to wake Caleb and Emma and-
Watched as Logan quietly walked into the room and made his way to the corner. Without a word, he scooped Shane up in his arms and carefully laid him down on the bed while Jill grabbed the blanket folded over the end of the bed and placed it over him. She watched Logan’s expression soften as he gazed down at the children and-
“You’re late, Angel,” Logan said, clearing his throat as he looked away.
“Well, now I’m waiting on you,” Jill said as her gaze dropped to his hands and found herself with one more question to add to the list.
“You’re not healing,” came the announcement that had his lips twitching as he sat there, too fucking exhausted to do anything more than close his eyes as he dropped his head back against the leather chair and slowly exhaled.
“No, I’m not,” Logan murmured, ignoring the pain shooting through his fingers as he absently flexed them.
“Is there a reason why?” Jill asked as the sounds of her chain sliding across the floor filled the large bedroom.
“Probably,” Logan said, knowing without a doubt now that it was because of her.
He’d gorged on bagged blood on the drive home from the airport, knowing Magnus’ reputation well enough to know that he’d use the cuffs to send the children one last warning before he handed them over to Pierce. The blood should have kicked in with the first jolt of electricity and healed him before the next only it never happened. He’d felt every fucking jolt of electricity that surged through his body, boiling his blood as it burned his skin, leaving him struggling not to lose his fucking mind, but he needed those cuffs off the children. He had no idea how many more remotes were out there and he wasn’t about to risk Magnus getting his hands on another one.
As soon as they were off, Logan made his way to his room, stumbling every fucking step of the way until he finally made it to the bathroom, where he stepped into the shower and turned the cold water on before passing out. When he woke up a few hours later, the excruciating pain that had knocked him on his ass was gone, replaced by a dull ache. The blisters that had formed all over his body were gone and the skin that had been burned off was replaced, leaving behind patches of painful red skin.
“Are you going to share with the rest of the class?” came the question that had his lips twitching.
“Not today,” Logan said, more than a little fucking tempted to negotiate with her for more blood.
“I have a theory,” Jill absently murmured, sounding thoughtful.
“Are you going to share with the rest of the class?” Logan drawled as he opened his eyes to find the stubborn woman sitting on the floor by the door.
“It depends on how this conversation goes,” Jill said as he found himself running his eyes over her, taking in everything from her long dark hair that was pulled up into a messy bun at the back of her head to the loose strands that teased her sun-kissed skin and found himself absolutely fucking mesmerized.
She was so incredibly beautiful, Logan thought as he allowed his gaze to move down, taking in the way the black sundress hugged every decadent curve and found himself mourning the loss of her red hair and pale skin. For the past two years, he’d thought about her, imagining just how good it would feel to run his fingers through her red hair, the way it would feel to have the silky strands slide over his skin as he traced every curve of her body with his mouth.
He’d lost count of how many times he woke up with his hand wrapped around his cock as her name was ripped from his lips and-
Christ, she was dangerous.
“How are you still alive after drinking my blood?” Jill asked, watching him curiously.
“Disappointed that I lived, Angel?” Logan drawled as he debated sending her away.
It would be the smart thing to do.
He could send her away, have Tomas look after her to keep her safe while he finally took care of Pierce and once he was gone…
This hold that she had on him would be destroyed.
“You knew that my blood was safe,” Jill said, looking away as she thought that over.
“Yes, I did,” Logan said, watching as she slowly nodded.
“And if another vampire drank my blood?” Jill asked as she glanced back at him.
“Would never survive,” he said, watching her as she appeared to think that over.
“And why is that exactly?” Jill asked, shifting to get more comfortable.
“Next question,” Logan said because the last thing that he needed was for her to know just how much power she had over him.
“I haven’t seen Gray for a while,” she said, sounding bored as she leaned back against the wall with a sigh that had him going still.
“He’s busy with something else at the moment,” Logan said as he tried to make sense of the odd sensation tearing through his stomach before it suddenly disappeared, letting him know that this connection that he had with her was still weak. “Are you going to tell me why you don’t like Gray?”
“Next question,” Jill said, absently gesturing for him to move on.
Nodding slowly, Logan sat there, considering her for a moment and decided to ask the one question that he’d been wondering about for a while now. “Why were you so different when you were at the compound?”
“Why did you let yourself get captured?” she countered, making his lips twitch.
“What makes you think that I let myself get captured?” Logan asked, watching her arch an eyebrow as she gave him a pointed look.
“Are you telling me that you didn’t let yourself get captured?” Jill asked, shifting so that she was facing him.
“Now, why would I do that, Angel?” Logan drawled because that’s exactly what he did. He’d needed information and he knew that Izzy Williams was the only one that could get it for him and once he had it, he found himself staying for an entirely different reason.
“You tell me,” Jill said while Logan sat there, studying her for a moment, watching the way that her fingers nervously toyed with the hem of her dress and the way that she continued shifting as a sense of nervousness spread over him.
“But that’s not the question that you want to ask me,” he said, watching as she went still.
“No, it’s not,” Jill murmured in agreement as she slowly exhaled and-
“How did I die?”