“I’m afraid you will have to use the manacles on Boroskov,” she whispered. “If we leave him here until May is safe, will he escape?”
“No.”
He could see that she was still adjusting to his new self-assurance, but she didn’t question him. “Very well. I’ll take the others outside, and wait for you. Then we shall escort Lewis, Oscar, and Irene to my hotel and go in search of May.”
Quentin hid a smile of love and admiration. His dear, headstrong Johanna. She couldn’t help but take command. She might have suffered a few doubts in the course of this day’s work, but she’d rally in the end. She was too strong to do otherwise.
Just as she’d made him strong with her love.
“I’ll be right with you,” he said. As she turned to gather the patients, he caught her and pulled her into his arms. In full view of their gawking audience, he kissed her soundly.
“For Fenris,” he said. “And for me.”
Quentin held nothing back. Every one of his inhuman senses worked in perfect harmony, as they hadn’t done in years. It was almost ridiculously easy to follow Boroskov’s trail to the place where May was hidden. He had no need of Harper’s psychic abilities.
If not for the girl, he would have left Johanna and Harper behind. But they needed to be a part of this, and so he let them follow.
The old warehouse, at the edge of the Barbary Coast, was guarded by a small army of Boroskov’s henchmen, who looked ready to put up a nasty fight. The Russian wouldn’t have left so many if he had been as confident as he pretended. But even in this he’d miscalculated.
Quentin felt no reluctance to face them, no fear of what he might do once unleashed. Nor was he inclined to explain to them their master’s incapacitated condition. He knew a more efficient way of gaining their surrender. His anger, and his strength, were under his complete command.
He didn’t bother to Change. He pushed Harper and Johanna behind him, expecting their obedience, and stalked his prey with bared teeth and a hard, predatory stare.
Boroskov’s men couldn’t have known what he was, but they recognized danger. Like the mob from the Springs, they shifted and muttered among themselves, brandishing knives and pistols as if those alone could hinder a werewolf.
They had no hope of stopping the reborn Quentin Forster.
The assortment of thugs, footpads, and ruffians kept up their bluff until he was within spitting distance, and then the first of them broke and ran. One fired his pistol; Quentin effortlessly dodged the bullet. Another three split off from the group and dashed around the nearest corner.
Of those who remained, two might have been quite a challenge for an ordinary man. Quentin dispatched one of them with a handy facer before the fellow knew what was coming. The second lunged with a wicked, long-bladed knife, and was rewarded with a dislocated shoulder. The pitiful remnants of Boroskov’s army thought better of their erstwhile loyalty and took to their heels.
May was loosely tied up in a small office inside the warehouse. If she’d had a personal guard, he’d heard the commotion outside and made himself scarce.
The girl stared at Quentin in astonishment, struggling against her bonds.
“You came!” she cried, gamely fighting back tears. “I knew you would. I knew—” She paused. “Quentin? It is you?”
Quentin snapped the ropes with a flick of his fingers and lifted her into his arms. Johanna and Harper rushed to his side.
“It’s me, little one.” He kissed her forehead and passed her into Johanna’s arms. “You’re safe. We’re all safe.”
Johanna hugged May and met Quentin’s gaze over the girl’s head. Her eyes blazed with pride and affection.
“Yes,” she said. “We are whole again.” She set May back and wiped the girl’s tears with her thumb. “And there is more, liebchen. Your mother has come home.”
The first promise of dawn lay upon the eastern horizon when they arrived at Johanna’s hotel. The three they’d left behind were waiting in the lobby: Lewis and Irene in a matching pair of armchairs by the window, Oscar sprawled and snoring across one of the hard settees. A jubilant greeting followed, but it was not to be the happiest.