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

that happen,” said Remington.
    “How do we stop him coming back?” asked Sin.
    Aedan glanced around the table and raised a hand for silence, and Val caught herself admiring him again. He had the hands of an artist, not a killer. His long, strong fingers should be holding a paintbrush, not a stake or whatever the hell he used to kill vampires.
    “It’s being taken care of. His soul will be at rest. You have my word,” Aedan said, his tone sincere.
    “What exactly does that mean?” Remington asked. His trademark scowl was in place, and Val knew he wasn’t pleased by what he was hearing.
    “His medical examination is being overseen by someone in the Brethren’s employment. It was expedited, and by sunset tonight he will have been cremated and the ashes blessed. That’s all.”
    “I’ll not have his body desecrated.”
    “He will be treated with all due care and respect. Better a hurried preparation than an unholy resurrection.” A note of pain entered Aedan’s voice. “Trust me when I tell you, you do not ever want to have to face a fallen comrade who has returned to fight for the other side.”
    Val’s fingers twitched as she fought her sudden need to touch him and offer him some sort of comfort.
    Sin asked the question they all wanted to know the answer to. “Why would he do that to Nick?”
    “Several reasons and you’re not going to like any of them.” Aedan ticked off each point on his fingers as he went through the list. “First, he intended to knock you all for a loop. If he’d managed to bring Nick over to his side, it would have caused you all a great deal of grief. You can’t tell me it would have been easy for any of you to destroy Nick if you had to face him again. He would still look, sound, and act like your friend. Secondly, he clearly wants to gain access to Paladin. If Nick had risen as a vampire, he’d still have all his memories from this life, and none of his former loyalties. He’d have given up every name, code, and snippet of information Christoph needed. Knowing Christoph, though, his biggest reason would be outright revenge. I’ll bet that Nick was part of the crew that went to Oregon to take down that nest. Am I right?”
    Val nodded. “He was part of a five-man team.”
    “And you were the leader.” Aedan made it a statement, and she wondered how much he already knew. “Which is why he’s going to leave you to last, Val. He wants you to feel what he did. He intends to make you suffer the loss of the people that were under your protection.”
    “Over my dead body,” she vowed.
    “I’m hoping it won’t come to that. In fact, I intend to stick around and help, if you’ll have me. There’s a lot I can teach you about hunting vampires.” He looked directly at Jase and grinned at the other man. “And I’m sure there’s a few things you lot can teach me, too. The Brethren only hunt one type of monster. I’m damned curious to know what else is out there that I don’t know about, yet.”
    Remington and Sinjin exchanged glances, and then both of them looked straight at Val. She could see the unspoken question in both their faces. They wanted her opinion. If she said no, they’d send Aedan on his way. They were going to trust her judgment. She looked over at the man who had helped her last night, and she knew what her answer was. “I’d like to have Aedan on board for this.”
    “Good.” Remington nodded once in agreement. “Since you bunch went and started stirring up all this supernatural crap, I haven’t had a single good night’s sleep. I’m glad to have a ringer with us on this one. We’ve been playing catch-up too long.” Remington pushed back his chair and stood up before nodding to Aedan. “I’ll leave you to it. Welcome to Paladin’s Division S, Mr. Doyle.”
    Aedan visibly relaxed once Remington had left the room. “You’re going to have to bear with me a bit, everyone, as this isn’t my usual sort of thing. I’ve read enough about Paladin