Page 24 of John’s Yearning

“Listen up. I’ve decided that you’re advanced enough to engage in a covert super-secret operation. Nobody, and I mean nobody can find out what this mission is. It’s vital if you want to pass this test. Understood?”

Both grinned. “Cool!”

“During this mission, assume that anybody might be armed and dangerous, because they may be. This is a live-ammunition event. Anybody could attack you at any time, human or vampire. Their weapons will be real, as will their bullets and their intention to harm you. Trust no one, except me and each other. Everybody is a suspect until you can prove he’s not.”

They nodded eagerly, their eyes wide with excitement.

“Take the utmost precaution in whatever you do. Treat this as a real mission, not a training exercise. Keep your cover. Nobody can find out you’re not human. Use every skill you might find necessary.”

“Yes, of course,” Damian said rather impatiently. “Come on, don’t be so mysterious. What’s the goal?”

John let out a slow breath. “The goal is to crack a child trafficking ring and save a dozen girls aged nine to twelve.”

“Wow!” Benjamin exclaimed and bumped shoulders with his brother. “Awesome!”

“Who’re the bad guys?” Damian asked.

“That’s for you to find out.”

“Got it,” Damian said.

John motioned to his car. “I’ve got the facts in a file.” He motioned them to follow him to his car. He’d brought the file with him to hand it back to Donnelly after telling Savannah that Scanguards wasn’t taking the case, but all that had changed now.

It took a half hour to relay all the pertinent facts to the twins, and for them to photograph those pages from the police reports that they deemed important. Then he gave them their final instructions.

“The last girl disappeared four days ago. Buffy Rice. She’s the freshest lead. That’s why I want you to start with her. We need to look at her environment, at the people who know her. Her mother runs a cyber security company and employs two programmers, Alexi and Rachel. I want you to split up and take one each. Find out what they’ve been doing every minute since Buffy’s disappearance. Look into their background, their finances, their habits. Anything odd, I want to hear about it. I’ve got their details here.” He pulled out his cellphone to scroll to the email Savannah had sent him.

“Is Alexi a girl’s name?” Damian asked.

“He’s a guy.” John suppressed a chuckle. Figured that Damian would want to investigate a girl. “Enjoy, he’s all yours. Benjamin can take Rachel.”

Benjamin grinned and winked at his brother. “Better luck next time, bro.”

Damian shrugged it off.

John copied the names and addresses for Alexi and Rachel and texted them to the twins. Their cellphones chimed, and they both looked at their displays.

“Got it,” they said in unison.

“Clock’s ticking,” John said. “Check in with me every couple of hours, whether you’ve got news or not. I want to know where you are at all times. Stay safe.”

As he watched the twins saunter to their cars and get in, he could only hope that nothing bad would happen to them. Amaury would have his hide if harm came to his sons. But Scanguards had left him no choice. He had to help Savannah. Not because of that kiss or her offer of sex, but because his heart was breaking seeing her eyes tear up whenever she spoke of Buffy. She needed her daughter safely back in her arms. And once he’d achieved that, he would be at peace again, too. He would be able to go back to his lonely life and continue to live night by night. Do his duty to Scanguards. And maybe one day get over the loss he’d suffered.

Maybe by saving this little family, he could make up for having failed to save his own.

11

Outside of New Orleans, four years earlier

John stood at the door to the guard room and watched his men, a dozen well-trained and heavily-armed vampires, march past him after receiving their orders for the night. As leader of the king’s guard, he was responsible for them, and for the safety of his king and queen, and their three hybrid children.

The triplets, David, Zack, and Monique were celebrating their sixteenth birthday, and tonight’s celebration meant that a large number of guests were expected at the royal estate north of New Orleans. Which meant extra security was needed tonight. It also meant that he was required to remain here all night and most likely the entire morning, rather than return to his home in the Garden District, a home he and his blood-bonded mate Nicolette shared. A home that would soon hear the laughter of their first child.

John looked over his shoulder when he heard footsteps approaching from another corridor. Cain, his king, but also his best friend, walked toward him, a smile on his face.

“Evening, Cain,” John greeted him. “You look relaxed.”

Cain winked at him. “Faye has that effect on me. Besides, I might be able to get rid of those kids soon. When do you think I can ask them to move out? I mean, they’re sixteen. They should be able to live on their own, right?”