Guarding Valentina [Paladin Protection Agency 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Free Page A

it again.
    Watching someone die was hard enough. Watching someone lose their soul in the seconds before their death was a horror that he’d never forget. He’d have to see to it that Nick’s body was dealt with before sunset tomorrow night, or there’d be another vampire walking the streets of Seattle. Worse, the fledgling would rise still retaining all the knowledge and skills of a Paladin employee. It would appear that Christoph’s revenge plan was finally underway.
    He’d observed as Val had arrived at the scene, and he’d admired the way she’d switched from casual passerby to focused professional in the blink of an eye. He’d covered half the distance between them by the time her companion’s body had hit the pavement, but he hadn’t been fast enough to reach her before Christoph had.
    Aedan shifted his position slightly so he could get a better look at Val through his binoculars. Someone had given her a towel, and she’d dried her dark hair enough that it was now falling in damp waves that came just to her jawline. Her body was concealed beneath a metallic silver blanket, but he had seen the way the wet material of her shirt had clung to her curves. She was a woman-warrior, cut from the same cloth as the Morríghan, the Irish goddess of battle, beautiful and dangerous.
    “You’d be smart to stay away from that one,” he told himself, already aware he intended to do the exact opposite. It wasn’t her beauty that had inspired him to kiss her before he left. It was the brief moment he’d seen into her mind as she had apologized to her dead companion. Despite her sharp words and the dark world she walked in, she still had a tender and compassionate heart. He’d felt her grief and her guilt at the other man’s death, and it had been that glimpse of her soul that had captured his interest. She was a kindred spirit, a fellow soldier in a dark and never-ending war. One he was fast growing tired of fighting.
    His eyes strayed to the bandage that now covered the bite on her neck, and he felt a stir of concern. It bothered him that Christoph had tasted her and then left her alive. That wasn’t normal vampire hunting behavior. The bastard was playing a game, Aedan just knew it. But to find out what the stakes were, he was going to need to talk to Val and her superiors. And before he could do that, he was going to need permission to disclose the Brethren’s existence.
    He stayed and watched as the police laid out their tape, took their photographs, and got Val’s statement. He had no idea what her story would be, but he was pretty certain that she wouldn’t be mentioning the fact that her attacker had been a vampire.
    He stayed until the streets were empty and the pale light of a false dawn crept over the sky. Only once he was certain it was too close to sunrise for Christoph to return did he head back to his hotel. He was going to need a hot shower and a few hours of sleep. He knew that while he slept other members of his organization would quietly see to it that Nick’s body never rose again. Once he got permission to give Paladin’s people the truth, he would have to pay them a visit and explain to them just how much trouble they’d gotten themselves into when they’d raided that vampire nest in Oregon. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his unshaven jaw. It was going to be a very long day.

Chapter 2
     
    Val had been ordered to take the day off and rest. Yeah, right. Like that is going to happen. She’d lost a teammate and been turned into a vampire hors d’oeuvre. She didn’t need rest. What she needed was payback. That didn’t mean she was going to advertise her disobedience, though, so she kept a low profile as she slipped into the operations room of Division S and snagged a chair in the back corner. Her strategy worked for all of ten seconds.
    “Val?” Jase lifted his head and sniffed the air before turning in her direction. “I thought you were supposed to be off duty?”
    “That new nose