Guarding Valentina [Paladin Protection Agency 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Susan Hayes Page B

resting firmly on her shoulders. “She has— had a raging crush on Jake, our resident computer wizard.” She reached up and pressed a hand to the chill surface of the glass and then had to stifle a scream as Christoph appeared in front of her, his body language mirroring her own, his hand mated to hers on the other side of the glass. He’d traveled so fast she hadn’t seen him move at all.
    “She wasn’t as sweet to taste as you were,” he crooned through the glass. “Won’t you let me have another taste?”
    “Fuck off!” Val snarled, and Christoph’s response was a malevolent smile that made her blood run cold.
    “I’d rather fuck you, sweet Valentina. And I will, one day soon.”
    “That’s never going to happen,” Aedan vowed as he joined her at the window and she felt him reach his arm around her, dragging her back.
    “Ah, the dhampir steps out of the shadows at last. Whatever are you doing with the likes of him , Valentina? He’s worse than I am.”
    “Aedan has a pulse, and he doesn’t go around killing off my coworkers. Even if he was a serial killer, that would still make him better than you.”
    Christoph laughed and stepped back from the glass to make a bow. “At least I don’t pretend to be other than I am. That one was born bad, my dear. Just the way the Brethren likes them. It makes it easier to turn them into killers if they already have blood on their hands.”
    The vampire blew her a kiss through the glass, and her stomach turned as she saw the smudges of blood on his fingertips where they’d touched his mouth.
    “I’ll come visit you again soon. For now, I have business elsewhere.” He turned his head to sneer at Aedan. “You can’t save her. You can’t save any of them.”
    “I’m going to kill you, vampire,” Aedan declared , and Val caught the gleam of his sword reflecting in the glass.
    “Not tonight you’re not,” Christoph mocked Aedan, and then he simply disappeared. Between one heartbeat and the next, Christoph vanished, leaving them alone once more. Val turned and ran for the door, intent on getting to Ingrid. She needed to know if the other woman was truly dead, or if she’d suffered. Her promise to stay inside was forgotten until she slammed into Aedan’s body as he rushed past her to put himself between her and the door.
    “No!” he told her, and the arms wrapped around her were like bands of steel.
    “Let me go damn it! He’s gone! I need to go out there!”
    “He’s not gone, Val. He’s waiting for you to do something stupid like go out there! I’m not going to give him the chance to hurt you, so forget it!”
    She screamed in frustration and lashed out at the only target she had, Aedan. “She’s dead because of me, so don’t you dare call going out there stupid ! It’s the least I can do for the poor girl after getting her killed! And you! What else have you been keeping secret from me? What did he mean you have blood on your hands already?”
    She glowered at him, their gazes locked as he restrained her. With a howl of fury, she stomped down on his foot and twisted, risking bruises as she tore herself free of his grip and staggered backward to put a few feet between them. Her eyes flicked to the doorway behind him, and he moved to intercept her, growling her name.
    She feinted to the left and then dropped her shoulders and lunged to the right. Part of her knew it was pointless, but she needed to try. She had to vent some of the pain and anger she was feeling. If she couldn’t get her hands on Christoph, she’d settle for the man who’d been keeping secrets from her.
    Aedan caught her in his arms again, using her momentum against her as he swung her around and slammed her into the nearest wall. Her lungs emptied with a whoosh as his body pressed hard against hers, crushing her against the plaster.
    “Stop fighting me!” he ordered her as his hands grabbed hers and he wrenched away the knife she’d still been holding. It fell to the floor