by Tina Folsom
“Fuck!” The bullet had gone through Logan and struck her too.
And with Logan’s left arm incapacitated, and his right still holding onto the dead man’s switch, he couldn’t fight Viktorov. John tossed a look in the direction he’d flung the vest. It had landed at the edge of the parking lot, near an embankment covered in bushes and trees. Far enough away.
“Logan!” John screamed. “Let go of the switch.”
Still covering Buffy with his body, he watched as Logan followed his command, then slammed his now available fist into Viktorov’s face, before gripping the gun.
John stayed down on the ground for another few seconds, but nothing happened. There was no explosion. He turned his head to look at the vest. It still lay there intact.
He lifted himself off Buffy and ripped her blindfold off, before lifting her into his arms.
Logan was now pinning Viktorov to the ground and Savannah had picked up the gun and was pointing it at her assailant, though it was clear she was hurting.
With Buffy in his arms, he ran to her.
“I’ve got her,” he said and dropped Buffy to her feet.
Buffy immediately wrapped her arms around her mother, and John took the gun from Savannah’s hand. She cast him a weak, but happy smile. Then he pried her hand away from the wound at her side and looked at it.
“He only grazed you,” John said with relief. “I’ll heal you once we’re done with him.” Then he stroked over Buffy’s hair. “Take care of your Mommy for me, okay, Buffy?”
“Yes.”
He turned to Logan and stared down at Viktorov. “You can let go of him now, Logan. I’ve got him. Thanks.” He lent Logan a hand to help him up while he pointed the gun at Viktorov. “The bullet went right through you. I’ll give you blood to heal the wound if you want.” He knew Stealth Guardians healed fast, but vampire blood would speed up the healing process even more.
Logan nodded gratefully. “Appreciate it, man.”
Then John leaned closer to Logan and dropped his voice, “Make sure Savannah and Buffy don’t see what I’m about to do.”
“Sure thing.”
Logan walked past him to take care of the two most important people in John’s life. Soon, he would be able to take care of them himself, but first, he had to deliver justice to a man who was pure evil.
John glared down at the man and extended his fangs. Shocked, Viktorov stared at him and tried to crawl backwards, hoping for escape. There would be none. John’s gaze fell on the dead man’s switch that lay nearby. He focused on it. It had broken apart when Logan had dropped it. It was a fake. Viktorov had never planned on killing Buffy. He’d only used the suicide vest as a threat so Savannah would comply.
John glared at Viktorov. “Only place you’re going is to hell.” He put the safety on the gun and dropped it behind him, then jumped onto Viktorov. The predator had just become the prey.
Viktorov screamed. “What are you?” He lifted his hands, trying to shield himself.
John growled. “I’m your worst nightmare.” He swiped his claws across his victim’s torso, leaving four long bloody cuts that laid bare muscle and sinew.
“Ahhhhh!” Viktorov screamed in pain.
“Since I’ve got your attention now, let’s talk! Where are the names and addresses of the people who were to take delivery of the kidnapped girls?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he claimed.
Another swipe with his claws, this time in the other direction, and Viktorov yelled out in pain again.
“Your torso will look like a checkered tablecloth when I’m done with you,” John warned. “Now talk! The names! The addresses! Give them to me, and I’ll let you go.”
Viktorov whimpered. “On my phone. There’s a list.” He motioned to his jacket pocket.
John reached inside it and pulled it out. The screen was locked. He reached for Viktorov’s right hand and pressed his thumb on the button, unlocking the cell phone. “Where?”
“In the notes.”
John navigated to it, and scrolled through the notes. Dozens of names and addresses, all in Russia, were listed there together with the names of the girls and a dollar amount.
“You sick fuck!” John hissed.
“It’s all there. Now let me go.”
“You’re right, it’s all there.” He shoved the phone into his pocket, then pressed Viktorov’s right hand flat onto the ground, palm up and sliced off his thumb with his claws.
Among Viktorov’s screams of pain, John explained calmly, “So I can unlock your phone again later. You know, when you’re dead.”
“No! You promised!”
“Oh, yeah, forgot to mention: I don’t keep all my promises either.” He leaned closer, holding the struggling asshole to the ground. “I should let you suffer longer, but you’re lucky: there’s a woman here and her child, and I don’t want them to have to listen to your screams for much longer. But then, you wouldn’t understand that, would you? Because you love to see women and children suffer.”
John sliced through Viktorov’s torso with both hands now, the sharp barbs at the ends of his fingers leaving deep cuts until he hit bone. Viktorov’s screams were blood-curdling, but John couldn’t stop. He had to make him pay for the pain he’d caused those children and their families, for the pain he was still causing some of them.
When he felt Viktorov’s ribcage, he ripped it open, bones cracking. Then he plunged his claws into the cavity and grabbed the bastard’s still beating heart. He squeezed it, then ripped it out. Looked at it, then dropped it.
It was done.
John sat back on his heels, his heart pounding, adrenaline flowing, his chest heaving, when he suddenly felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He whipped his head to the side. Savannah looked past him at the mutilated corpse.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “Thank you for saving Buffy. And for killing him.”
He turned his body fully and wrapped his arms around her legs, pressing his face into her thighs, while he took several steadying breaths. Her hand was gentle, when she stroked his hair. After a moment, he lifted his face to look at her.
“You shouldn’t have had to see this.”
“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.”
“Same thing,” Deirdre claimed. “I protected innocents by killing their tormentors.”
John suppressed a smile. Deirdre was right. She’d done the right thing.
Samson sighed and exchanged a look with Gabriel, then gave him a sign to continue.
“You’ll undergo our bodyguard training, learn the rules we live by,” Gabriel said. “That will have to be enough.”
Deirdre nodded. “It’s good enough for now.” Then she sighed. “How are the girls Logan and I brought back from Russia?”
Deirdre and Logan had transported almost a dozen other girls back from Russia, in addition to the ones John and his team had rescued from the ship in Vladivostok.
Samson gave her a bittersweet smile. “Physically, they’re mending. Maya is doing her best to make sure they heal. But emotionally, there will be scars. Particularly the ones who were in Russia for a few months, are in bad shape. They endured weeks of sexual abuse. We haven’t been able to return them to their parents yet. Some of them are so distraught that we are worried they’ll harm themselves, given the chance.”
John’s heart broke for the girls. “Have you thought about erasing their memories?” It was a gift vampires possessed, but used only in dire circumstances.
“We’ve discussed it with Maya and Dr. Drake. Both are of the opinion that it’s the best way, rather than having these girls undergo years of therapy. We’re taking care of it later tonight.”
“I’m glad,” John agreed. “And with what explanation will you send them back to their parents?”
“We’re working on that with Detective Donnelly. They’ll need to know the truth, or at least part of the truth. But we can’t tell them everything.”
John knew that Donnelly would come up with something that worked for everybody and threw no suspicion on Scanguards or revealed what had really happened.
“And Viktorov’s money?” John asked.
“Thomas hacked into his accounts and transferred all of it out. He wired Savannah’s ransom money back to her. The remaining money is going to a fund to benefit victims of sex trafficking.”
“Good.” Then John looked at Deirdre. “You probably don’t know yet, but we’ve dealt with all the people who were involved in the trafficking stateside.”
“You didn’t kill the kidnappers?” she asked.
“Only Viktorov himself. We handed Otto Watson, the hacker, over to Donnelly. He’ll receive a reduced sentence in exchange for his cooperation. The two kidnappers, the ones who kept the girls at the port in Oakland, will do hard time. Donnelly will keep Scanguards out of it, and the police chief and the mayor are backing us up.”
“You should have killed those two,” Deirdre said.
“I would have, had they touched the girls,” John confessed, “but I don’t kill indiscriminately. Don’t worry, they’re paying for their crimes. And they’ll have nightmares for the rest of their lives.”
Before handing them over to Donnelly, John had made sure that they knew what he was, and that he would rip their throats out if they ever breathed a word about vampires. He could have erased their memories, but he wanted them to know that vampires existed, and that the two kidnappers were on his personal shit list.
“So it’s over, then?” Deirdre asked.
“Yeah, it’s finally over.”
Though for John, life was only just beginning. He’d gotten a second chance, and he was grabbing it with both hands and holding on with all his might.
39
Eight months later
Dressed only in a pair of jogging pants, which he’d slipped into after showering upon returning home just before sunrise, John stood in the kitchen of his house and opened the pantry. Then he looked over his shoulder and stared at Buffy. She was dressed, her hair neatly combed, and ready for school.
“Are you sure you want peanut butter and banana? That can’t taste good.”
Buffy let out a long-suffering sigh, like a teenager annoyed at her parent. She even rolled her eyes as if she’d practiced it a thousand times. “I don’t criticize your taste in blood. Believe me: peanut butter and banana is awesome. Way better than jelly.”
He smirked. “I’m gonna have to take your word for it, my little slayer.”
A smile flashed across Buffy’s face, just like it always did, when he called her by her nickname. Since the night he’d saved her and her mother, Buffy knew all about vampires, and the nickname was a joke between them. She’d accepted him without question and trusted him one hundred percent.
He grabbed a banana and turned back to the counter to prepare Buffy’s sandwich.
“John, can I ask you something?” she asked.
“Sure, fire away.”
“Ahm…”
When she hesitated, he turned to look at her. “Something wrong? Is somebody giving you trouble at school?”
“No, no, school is fine. You don’t have to beat anybody up for me.”
He shook his head and laughed. “Good, ‘cause I’m not going to beat up a bully; I’d rather teach you how to take care of him yourself.” When she didn’t say anything, he asked, “So what did you want to ask?”
She shrugged. “I forgot.”
But her expression said otherw
ise. And Buffy wasn’t a shy kid. When she wanted to know something, she asked a question, no matter how direct or embarrassing it might be.
He was ready to sit her down and ask what was wrong, when he heard the bedroom door open and close. The sound of bare feet on the wooden floor reached his ears and made his heart leap.
“Mommy’s awake,” he said and winked at Buffy.
He wrapped the sandwich and turned to the door. Savannah, dressed in a long white silky bathrobe entered the kitchen. He let his eyes roam over her, and his cock jerked at the lovely sight. She was getting more beautiful every day, her belly ripe with his child, her skin healthy and glowing.
“Morning, Mommy,” Buffy said cheerfully.
“Morning, baby,” she replied and embraced Buffy, stroking her hand over her head and squeezing her, while her eyes locked with John’s. “Morning, my love.”
“Morning, darlin’,” he murmured.
You look sexy as hell, he added with his mind, sending those words to her via their telepathic bond, so Buffy wouldn’t have to witness how totally smitten he was with her mother. Not that they could hide their love for each other, or wanted to, but kids could be funny when it came to their parents displaying too much physical affection for each other.
And you’re blind. I’m not sexy, I’m fat.
Smiling, Savannah looked at her daughter. “Ready for school, Buffy?”
She nodded. Then she went on tip-toes to whisper to her mother, even though she should know by now that his vampiric hearing would pick up the words nevertheless. “Mommy, I wanted to ask him, but…”
“…you’re afraid he’ll say no?” Savannah finished the sentence.
Buffy nodded.
“But you want it. Just ask him. I know he wants it too.”
“Are you sure?”
Savannah nodded and chuckled. Finally, Buffy turned around and looked up at him. “John?”