Page 92 of John’s Yearning

“No, I had to. Now I feel safe again.”

He rose and pulled her into his arms, then looked to where Buffy stood, holding Logan’s hand, looking at them.

“We’ll have to tell her what you are,” Savannah said. “But I think she’ll be fine.”

“She’s a brave little girl.” He smiled at Buffy, then turned his head back to Savannah. “We know where the kidnapped girls were supposed to be delivered to. We’ll go after them. Take them out.”

Savannah clung to him now. “Please stay with me and Buffy. Let somebody else do it. You’ve done enough.” She pressed her lips to his, and he kissed her back for a brief moment, then severed his lips from hers and looked deep into her eyes. Despite everything she’d seen him do, the violence she knew he was capable of, she had no reservations about him. She still wanted him. Still loved him.

Slowly John nodded. “I’ll stay with you. And with Buffy. You’re my family now.”

Savannah was right, he didn’t have to take out the Russian pedophiles on Viktorov’s list himself. Besides, he already had somebody in mind who would be more than willing to go after them. And eliminate them one by one.

38

Ten days later, John entered the V lounge of Scanguards’ headquarters. There were few people around, but in the far corner, in front of the fireplace, he saw Samson, who’d requested his presence. Next to him sat Amaury and Gabriel. However, John was surprised to also find Deirdre among them. He hadn’t heard that she was back, although he’d seen news reports from Russia, confirming that her mission was a success.

“Take a seat, John,” Samson invited him and pointed toward the bar in the middle of the lounge. “Drink?”

John declined with a wave of his hand. He wasn’t drinking bottled blood these days. Just like Amaury and Samson, who only drank from their mates. Gabriel, whose mate was a vampire, had a half-empty glass of blood in front of him; same as Deirdre, who drank from hers through a straw.

“Evening, all. Deirdre, good to know you made it back.”

To his surprise, she smiled at him. She looked content and relaxed, and perfectly at ease. “Why wouldn’t I? Logan has always been a great driver. Though I must admit, now that I’m not a Stealth Guardian anymore, I understand that it can be a little disorienting for other creatures to travel in the portals.”

“It was the easiest way to get you into Russia,” Amaury said. “Particularly with all the weapons you insisted on taking with you.”

“I like to be prepared.”

“Give us a full report. I’ve seen your field reports, but I’d like a summary. Is it done? All of it?” Samson said.

Confidently, Deirdre nodded. “Logan and I found every single man on the list we found on Viktorov’s phone. And not just the ones who were supposed to receive the last shipment; we were able to find the clients for previous shipments too.”

“How did you take them out?” John asked. “The news reports out of Russia were kind of sketchy.”

“Let’s just say they all died a violent death. I made sure they knew why they had to die. Wouldn’t be much point in killing them silently, would it now?”

Gabriel and Samson raised their eyebrows, but Amaury simply grunted. John could only agree with Deirdre’s actions. They’d all deserved it for kidnapping and then abusing innocent children.

“It was very satisfying to see them beg for their lives,” Deirdre continued. “I let them suffer a little, you know, pretend that they could buy their way out of it. They really thought that their money could save them.”

As it had turned out, most of the men were Russian oligarchs, many of them connected to the Kremlin and its corrupt government.

“Looks like you enjoyed this a little too much, Deirdre,” Samson said.

She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Nobody said I wasn’t allowed to enjoy my job. And it is my job now, isn’t it?” She cast John a quick look. “A real job this time, not a pretend one like the one you gave me.”

Samson looked at John. “Yeah, about that, John. You could have told me that you wanted to offer Deirdre a job here.”

“You thought she wasn’t ready. And I knew she was.”

“Well, next time you want to hire somebody, make a better case for it.” Then he looked back to Deirdre. “As for you, Deirdre, yes, you’ve got a job here.”

“Chief assassin?” she suggested.

The three Scanguards bosses exchanged eyerolls.

“This was a one-off,” Gabriel said. “We don’t employ assassins. This is a security company. We protect people.”