Short, Lethal and Claimed

It was just a dream.

It was just a dream.

It was just a…

Dream, Jill told herself as she sat up, struggling to catch her breath as her hands fisted in the sheets and…

It was just a dream, she repeated to herself as she closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. She was fine. She was safe and she…was not in her cell, Jill realized, the silk sheets in her hands slowly slipped free as she opened her eyes and took in the large, unfamiliar bedroom. The island? It had to be, Jill told herself as she pushed the covers aside and moved to climb off the bed when she felt it, cold metal wrapped around her ankle.

Definitely had to be the island, Jill told herself even though she knew that the Council wouldn’t bother using chains on her. Not if she was really on the island. There wouldn’t be anywhere for her to go, Jill thought, licking her lips as she glanced around the room and-

“Good morning, Princess.”

Definitely not a dream, Jill realized as she found herself staring at the man that she should have staked when she had the chance.

“What are you doing?” Logan drawled, already sounding bored with this conversation.

“Planning my escape,” Jill murmured absently as she took in the metal cuff wrapped around her ankle before she moved her attention to the chain attached to it, taking in the way that it pooled on the floor beneath her feet before it ran along the length of the bed where it disappeared around the corner.

“Shouldn’t you lie to me and do everything within your power to try to persuade me into letting you go?” Logan asked as she shook off the last tendrils of the dream that she couldn’t quite remember but left her feeling…off and focused on the problem at hand.

Getting the hell out of here before it was too late.

“I really don’t see the point in lying, do you?” Jill said as her gaze flickered to the incredibly handsome vampire sitting in the large leather chair across the room, watching her through silver eyes that she’d once found captivating before taking in the rest of the large bedroom, noting everything from the floor-to-ceiling windows completely covered by black shades to the fact that there didn’t seem to be a lock on the bedroom door.

“You’re not going to pin all of your hopes and dreams on your father and brother coming to rescue you?” Logan murmured as she once again found herself wondering how she could have ever been stupid enough to fall for his bullshit, only to remember the reason why and-

She was done letting old memories ruin her life.

“If they knew where I was, you’d already be dead,” Jill pointed out, hating the way that her body reacted to the sound of his soft chuckle.

There was something seriously wrong with her, Jill thought, biting back a sigh as she moved to stand up only to end up grabbing onto the bed when her legs gave out on her, forcing her to close her eyes when her head began spinning. As she struggled to breathe through the nausea suddenly assaulting her, she realized something important.

She was an idiot.

“How?” Jill asked, wondering how he’d managed to have her drugged inside a Sentinel Compound.

“You’re going to have to be more specific, Angel,” Logan said, using the endearment that reminded her of just how pathetic she really was.

It was the reminder that she needed to get her to focus. Slowly exhaling, Jill opened her eyes to find him watching her closely before she shifted her attention back to that bedroom door, wondering how she was going to get past all the guards that he most likely had stationed outside that door. Then again, she should probably figure out how she was going to get past him first.

“What did they give me?” Jill asked, slowly exhaling as she moved to stand up again.

“You think you were drugged?” Logan asked, sounding curious as her grip tightened around the edge of the mattress while she waited for her legs to stop threatening to drop her on her ass and-

She’d refused to eat anything before they’d transferred her, terrified that they were going to drug her to keep her sedated and take away her only chance to escape, Jill thought as she struggled to make sense of what was happening.

She remembered the night before when they told her that she was being sent to a Sentinel island in the morning.

She remembered pacing her cell all night.

She remembered the moment that she finally accepted the fact that she was on her own.

She remembered the large men dragging her out of her cell and down the long tunnel while she’d begged them for a chance even as she prepared herself to do whatever it took to escape, knowing that if she let them drag her off to that island that there would be no coming back.

And she remembered the moment they shoved the thick steel door at the end of the tunnel open and the flash of pain that exploded in her chest that followed and then…

Nothing.

Having a pretty good idea what happened, Jill ignored the large man watching her and forced herself to move, using her hold on the bed as she struggled to get her legs to cooperate. As soon as she reached the foot of the bed, Jill slowly exhaled as she released her hold and willed her trembling legs to take her across the room to the large bathroom so that she could look for the injection site for whatever drug they gave her in private only to fall to her knees with a pained gasp.

“What did they inject me with?” Jill asked, slowly exhaling as she closed her hands into fists against the soft carpet while she struggled not to panic. Whatever they gave her was still in her system, Jill realized as she closed her eyes and swallowed hard, praying that it wasn’t about to knock her out again.

“Nothing,” came the absently murmured response that had her shaking her head in disgust because she should have known better. He really was an asshole, Jill thought as she took a deep breath and opened her eyes only to close them again on a wince when the move caused pain to shoot through her suddenly sensitive eyes.

“How long have I been here?” Jill asked, deciding that it was in her best interest to find out everything that she could about her new prison.

“A month.”

“And where are we exactly?” Jill asked as she thought about his answer. They’d kept her drugged for a month, which meant that it was probably going to take a few days before whatever they gave her made its way out of her system. That wasn’t going to work for her. She needed to get out of here before they had a chance to drug her again.

“Manhattan,” Logan murmured as she moved to stand up, only to quickly decide against it when her legs refused to cooperate and resigned herself to crawling across the bedroom floor, no doubt entertaining the asshole determined to make her life a living hell.

She-

“Any other questions?” Logan asked as he picked her up, causing her chain to rattle softly as he carried her back to the bed.

“Which one worked for you?” Jill asked as she was forced to turn her head and bury her face against his chest when a fresh wave of nausea had her stomach turning.

“It would probably help if I knew what you were talking about,” Logan said as he placed her down on the edge of the large bed.

“The demon or the shifter,” Jill said, fisting her hands around his shirt to stop him from moving as she sat there, keeping her forehead pressed against his chest as she willed her head to stop spinning.

“What about them?” Logan asked, thankfully staying where he was while she slowly exhaled.

“Which one of them was yours?” Jill asked even as she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d managed to get to them without the Council finding out.

The Sentinels didn’t trust easily, and those that they allowed within their fold were watched closely. For a Master, especially one on their most wanted list, to get to one of their men without the Sentinels finding out would have taken a miracle or someone determined to do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

“Neither one of them worked for me.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Jill asked as she slowly exhaled, wondering why she was getting worse.

“No,” Logan murmured softly as he stepped back and cupped her face in his hands when her head dropped forward and sitting up suddenly became impossible.

“What’s wrong with me?” Jill managed to get out on a weak mumble as her head spun faster.

“You’re not finished yet,” Logan explained as a numbing sensation slowly spread over her body.

“Finished what?” Jill asked in a daze as she found herself falling onto her side and looking into silver eyes brighter than she’d ever seen them before.

“Dying.”

 

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