THREE. ELEVEN. TWELVE. THIRTEEN. FOURTEEN. FIFTEEN. SIXTEEN. SEVENTEEN. EIGHTEEN. NINETEEN. TWENTY. TWENTY‑ONE

EIGHTEEN

SPADE LEDHYKSO ANDKRATAS INTO THE trailer, where there were clamps and other such restraints attached to a reinforced wall.

Bones took my arm. “Let’s go. ”

Bones jumped into the back of the second truck and lifted me up. As soon as I passed through the mock crate, I gaped. This interior was so vastly different from the other rig that I just stared.

Two couches were clamped in place to the floor, as were two chairs and a refrigerator. There was even a rug tacked down.

“My God, ” I breathed. “It’s a frigging RV! ”

“This is what my men will be staying in, when they’re not with Hykso and Kratas, ” Bones replied briskly. “No need for them all to be cramped inside the one truck. We’re just borrowing it to get back to the airport. ”

The axles made a wheeze underneath us as the truck was put into gear. There was a lurch and then intermittent jerking as we drove away.

Bones folded his arms and stared at me. I fidgeted, hating how loaded the silence was.

“You know I had no intention for things to go that far with Tate, ” I began. “I just wanted to get us closer to Hykso, and get them distracted before I chucked those knives…”

“And a brilliant toss it was, pet. Blades landed right in Kratas’s eyes. He fired at you blind. ”

I winced at his tone. “I’m sorry, ” I said, and he knew I wasn’t talking about blinding the other vampire.

Bones stalked around the small room. I didn’t need vampire senses to feel the anger pouring off him, but I wasn’t sure if it was directed at me, at Tate, or at the war that had put us in the limo in the first place.

“We should talk about this, ” I said, steeling myself for whatever incriminations he heaped on me. After all, I was only supposed to have kissed Tate during this charade. Not made out with him for over ten minutes while clad in only a sweater and my underwear. Yeah, if the situation were reversed, I’d be pissed, too.

Bones spun around. “I rather doubt talking will help. You did what you felt was necessary. I’m very brassed off by your methods, though I can’t argue with your results. ”

He walked over in a measured, deliberate way that was no less predatory for its slowness. When he was only a few inches away, his hand traced down the sleeve of my shirt, and I couldn’t help but flinch. There was something almost menacing in the way he touched me.

“Where did he kiss you? Touch you? ”

I looked him in the eye.

“It didn’t mean anything, Bones. It was nothing like how I feel with you. ”

“Ah. ” Bones’s reply was soft, but his eyes went green. Whether that was anger or something else, I had no idea.

He leaned closer, his mouth almost brushing my neck. I couldn’t help but shiver, wondering what he was about to do.

“He kissed you here. ” Bones’s voice was a low growl. “I suspect he touched you here”‑ he touched my breasts through my shirt‑ “and I can smell his hands here”‑ while kneeling and running a hand along the outside of my thigh.

I didn’t move, holding myself still the way prey does while it tries not to catch the attention of the hunter.

“I almost killed him tonight. ”

Bones breathed the words so close to my skin that gooseflesh broke out on me where they landed. I didn’t say anything, sensing that whatever control Bones had used in not doing that before was at its breaking point now.

“I’ve never been jealous before I met you, ” Bones went on, still in that same soft, menacing tone. “It burns, luv. Like silver through my veins. Some nights, watching you with other men on your jobs, I think it will drive me mad. ”

His hands were still stroking my legs with a light, scary sensuality that made me want to cringe back‑ and edge forward at the same time. My whole body seemed to be holding its breath. Despite his outwardly calm demeanor, there was something boiling up in Bones that would break free any moment, I could feel it.

“It was just an act, ” I said again.

“Oh, I know that, ” Bones replied at once. Those glittering green eyes met mine. “Tate wouldn’t be alive now if it wasn’t. I know you only did this to get Hykso, but Kitten. ” His voice deepened. Hardened. “No matter the cause, don’t you dare, ever, let someone handle you in such a way again. ”

Then, to my complete surprise, Bones yanked my underwear down.

“What are youdoing? ” I gasped.

“What does it look like I’m doing? ” he muttered even as he spread my legs.

Of all the things I’d expected, this would have been last on my list. “But you’re, er, still mad at me. ”

“Right you are, ” was his somewhat muted response as a deep lick made my knees weak.

I was about to say this wasn’t a fair way to fight, when Bones grasped me around the waist and lifted me. Color rose to my cheeks, because my legs were around his shoulders and my head almost reached the ceiling.

“Bones, ” I managed to say. “Stop. Let me down. ”

Ruthlessly his tongue continued to tease me. “No. You’re mine, and I’m taking you now. ”

I didn’t want to respond to him. It seemed…wrong to do this while he was still mad, but if this was a new way to fight, I was losing the battle. A short cry wrenched from me as Bones’s fangs rubbed my clitoris, not piercing it, just applying pressure. It felt incredible, inciting me to arch against him to feel it again. And again. Then repeatedly, gasping in ecstasy at the sensations bombarding me. Talking things out suddenly felt very overrated. Bones knew just what I loved, and I couldn’t stop myself from getting lost in the sensations.

“Tell me you want me, ” he growled.

“God, yes, ” I managed, aching for him to be inside me.

“Say it. ” It was a demand even as his mouth continued to torment me. I dug my fingers into his hair and almost tore him away from my flesh.

“I want you, ” I rasped. “Now. Don’t you dare say no to me. ”

A harsh laugh tickled me. “Wouldn’t dream of it. ”

Bones set me down, dragging his mouth up my skin until my feet made contact with the floor. As soon as they did, I pushed him back toward the couch. He fell on it with me on top of him. I slid down, yanking his pants off, and then wrapped my mouth around him.

His flesh was cool, like marble come to life. I took him in until I couldn’t fit any more, then began sucking with deep, rough pulls.

Bones moaned, his back arching. “Harder. ”

I increased the pressure. His hands tangled in my hair, then clenched into fists as I drew harder still.

“Bloody hell, that’s so good, ” he said in a choked tone. “I can’t wait. ”

He lifted me, ignoring my protests, and settled me on his hips while thrusting deeply into me. Filling me until it almost hurt. The jostling of the truck increased our friction as he moved with hungry, rapid strokes.

My head fell back and I moved with him, lost in blind sensation. Bones sat up, catching my nipple in his mouth. He sucked on it until it was almost numb with pleasure, then switched to my other nipple, giving it the same sweet, rough attention.

My nails raked down his sides. His mouth slid to my neck as he pressed me closer to him. I cried out at the feel of his fangs on my neck, grazing but not breaking my skin.

I held him closer to my throat. “Bite me. ”

He licked there instead. “No. You’ve lost too much blood tonight. ”

I didn’t care. I wanted my blood inside him. It was a need almost as strong as the desperation that each new thrust within me brought.

“Do it, ” I moaned. “Show me I’m yours. ”

His arms lashed around me even as he moved faster. “Youare mine, ” he ground out, sealing his mouth over my pulse.

I barely had a chance to smile at my victory when his fangs slid into my neck. A hot swell of passion flooded me, making me dizzy, but for more reasons than the single swallow Bones took before he closed the punctures.

He kissed me, the metallic taste of my blood flavoring his mouth. I clung to him while the escalating intensity seemed to make my whole body boil.

“Your turn, Kitten. ” His voice was rough with lust. “Show me I’m yours. ”

My teeth sank into his neck. Bones’s hand wound in my hair, holding me closer, inciting me to bite harder, until his blood filled my mouth.

I swallowed. Bones tugged my head back to kiss me again, our mouths tasting of sex and each other’s blood. There was something primal about that, his anger, and the seething urge I had to prove to him that no one else mattered.

Don’t stop. Don’t stop.

Maybe I said it out loud. Maybe I didn’t. Either way, Bones flipped me over until he was on top of me, moving with ever‑ increasing intensity.

“I can’t stop. ”

It was the best fight we’d ever had.

The strobe light of the control tower pierced the darkness with sweeping circular beams. It had snowed earlier. I was freezing even with my double pants, double sweaters, and jacket. Bones hadn’t bothered to don anything over his clothes except his black leather coat, but that was probably more from habit than need for warmth.

The strobe light turned off. Our signal.

In the darkness, Bones circled the base in whirls of aerial speed, too fast and random for anyone with a bulky weapon to target, and if they had anything smaller, it wouldn’t matter. I was clasped in his arms, closing my eyes against the dizzying dips and turns. We could have just driven up, but Bones was being extra paranoid. He didn’t want to risk the chance that one of Patra’s people had somehow followed us from the wreckage of Hykso’s plane and was waiting near the compound with a rocket launcher like Max had.

The guard’s faces on the roof were masks of carefully controlled shock as first Bones appeared out of the dark, landing, striding toward them without even a falter in his step. Right behind him was Ian, who carried Tate. Then came Tick Tock and Zero.

Don had argued about Ian knowing where the compound was, but Bones brushed him off. He didn’t think Ian would betray the location to anyone, so Ian was here, letting go of Tate as soon as he touched the roof. Ian looked around with mild curiosity. His being herewas ironic, of course, considering how Don had sent me to capture or kill Ian just a little over a year ago. How things had changed since then.

The six of us went inside. No one had been shot at and nothing had exploded. So far, so good, if you asked me, though truth be told, I didn’t know why we were here in the first place. After our, um, argument in the back of the tractor trailer, Bones had said he needed to see Don. I’d asked why, of course, but he had a really effective method of distracting me. Then there had been the interesting scene at the private airport, where Bones green‑ eyed an unsuspecting pilot into flying us to Tennessee. So now here we were, and I still didn’t know what Bones wanted to talk to my uncle about. Guess I’d find out soon enough.

I’d avoided looking at Tate since we met up with him, Ian, Tick Tock, and Zero a few miles from here. There was a big awkward factor between us now. For his part, Bones didn’t act any differently, even though he would have been able to sense and hear my mental discomfort. Therefore, I was taken aback when Bones announced that he’d meet me in Don’s office, saying he wanted to find Juan and have a word with him.

“Okay, ” I managed, torn between going with him just to keep Bones as a shield between me and Tate, and staying because of how cowardly that was. I picked staying. Whoever said I took the easy road? Not me.

Ian cast a meaningful look at Tate and then grinned. “I’ll go with you, Crispin, ” he said.

I began walking toward Don’s office. It didn’t surprise me that Tate followed. I heard Bones let out a sardonic snort right before the elevator doors closed. Yeah, he wasn’t surprised by Tate’s actions, either.

Tick Tock and Zero kept pace behind us. I glanced back at them, once again struck by their dissimilarity in appearance. If ever there was a pair of vampires who looked less alike, it was the albino‑ ish Zero and the chocolate‑ skinned Tick Tock.

“Where did the two of you meet Bones? ” I asked, struggling to fill the silence before Tate did.

“Poland, ” Zero replied.

“Australia, ” Tick Tock said.

I’d never been to either place. Tate’s comment that I didn’t really know Bones after spending just one year with him out of the two hundred and fifty he’d lived echoed in my mind. Then I squashed it. I know what counts, I reminded myself firmly.

“So, how are you and Crypt Keeper doing? ” Tate asked in a casual tone.

“Fine. ” My voice was clipped.

Tate stopped walking and grabbed my arm. “How long are you going to pretend nothing happened, Cat? ”

“Don’t! ” I said to Tick Tock, who’d already cleared his knife from his belt. “Back down, guys. I can handle this. ”

Zero’s fangs slid back into his gums, and after another hard stare, Tick Tock put away his knife. Then I rounded on Tate, looking him full in the eye.

“It was a job, Tate. Things went further than they should have, but we got our targets and that’s what matters. Now, before you permanently burn our friendship, would you pleasestop reading anything more into it than it was? ”

“I know what I felt, ” Tate said roughly. “You can pretend all you want, Cat, but for a while there, you weren’t acting, and you can’t say you were only thinking of me as a friend. ”

I had a moment of warning at the power filling the air before I heard Bones’s mocking laugh.

“Just as I suspected, ” he snorted from the other end of the hallway. “Knew it wouldn’t be two minutes before you’d make that claim, but you’re barking mad if you think you’ll ever come between me and my wife. ”

Tate folded his arms. “I already have. ”

Bones came closer. More of that cracking power filled the air. Ian just leaned against the wall in the hallway and smiled, like he was enjoying the show. Zero and Tick Tock moved aside, until nothing stood in Bones’s way to Tate except me.

“What are you about to do? ” I asked low.

Bones arched a brow. “Nothing, pet. Why? ”

Because you look like you’re about to play soccer with Tate’s head, I said to him silently. And that’s not going to happen, even if he is being an idiot.

My uncle came out of his office, looked at the vampires lined up in the hallway and Tate’s defiant stance, then coughed.

“Cat, Bones, glad you arrived safely. Won’t you come sit down? I have some whiskey I was about to open up. ”

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Don drink, but I was glad for the tension dissipater. Bones smiled.

“A nip would do me just fine, old chap. ”

I laced my fingers in Bones’s as we went inside, which was a good thing, because I almost tripped when Bones said, “You, too, mate, ” to Tate.

The three of us filed into Don’s office. I took a seat on the couch and Bones sat next to me. Tate stood, his posture stiff and unyielding.

Don looked over each of us in turn before he sighed. “Why do I feel like I just interrupted a potentially nasty scene out there? ”

“It doesn’t matter, they’re done now, ” I said to Don, glaring at Tate to let him know he’d better stick to that. “It was a vampire pissing contest, but it’s over. ”

“Right you are, luv. ”

Bones leaned over to place a light kiss on my cheek. Then he dropped the bomb.

“I can read humans’ minds now, Don. Therefore, I know the dilemma you’re in, but the way out is right in front of you. It’s commendable you haven’t used your assets for monetary gain before, but desperate times call for desperate measures, don’t you agree? ”

“What? ” I gasped, both confused by his last sentence and astounded that Bones had told Don about his new power.

My uncle didn’t blink. “I won’t expose the public to Brams. Synthetic vampire blood made into medicine is too experimental. In the wrong hands, it could turn the entire population into superhuman killers. ”

“What are you two talking about? ” I demanded again.

“Don’s in a bind, ” Bones replied. “His government’s implemented deep budget cuts, and he’s looking at closure in a year or two. He didn’t want to tell anyone for fear of lowering morale. ”

My jaw dropped. Don’s face confirmed it. “How could you have not said anything? ” I gasped.

Bones tapped his chin and gave Don a calculating look. “Smart of you to realize how destructive Brams could be, but you don’t need it. What’s got the politicians in a twist today? Terrorism. Scares ’ em sackless. What can you offer that no one else can? An interrogator guaranteed to get all the facts, names, places, and plots quicker than they can say full‑ scale retaliation. ”

Bones paused to let his words sink in. I was still shocked that Don had held back something as important as closing from the rest of us.

“You’re offering to do that? ” Don asked, openly skeptical.

Bones chuckled without humor. “Not me. Tate. Ship him to wherever their most stubborn hostage is, have him green‑ eye information out of the bloke, then sit back and sell him out to the highest bidder. You’ll be flush inside of two months while providing an invaluable service to your country to boot. Best of all, the Geneva Convention can kiss your arse, because the hostage‑ and his holders‑ won’t even remember how it happened. ”

“You bastard! ” Tate burst, advancing on Bones in a fury.

“Sit down, soldier! ” Don shouted in a tone I’d never heard him use.

Tate halted in his tracks, staring at me. “He’s only doing this to get me away from Cat. He doesn’t give a shit about our operation, this country, or anything else but her! ”

“That’s not the question, is it? ” Bones asked icily. “Doyou care about your operation, this country, or anything else but her? I seem to remember you saying your love for her wouldn’t interfere with your job. Prove it. ”

I knew then that Bones had planned this ever since he’d ripped the roof off that limousine. Don’t get mad, get even didn’t begin to cover it.

Don stood up. “Well, Tate? What’s your answer? ”

Tate gave Bones a look of pure hatred. “You order me to go, Don, and I’ll go. ”

Don sighed. “You’re the finest man I know. You’ll prove that everything I believed about integrity being corrupted after turning into a vampire was wrong. ” Don’s gaze flicked to Bones. “I’ll need someone to replace him. Cat’s gone too much now, and Dave isn’t enough. ”

Bones didn’t flinch. “Let me have Tate ’round another week, then you can ship him off and I’ll provide you with a replacement. ”

Don turned back to me. “Go on, Cat. I’ll handle things from here. ”

Even though this was for the best, I felt anguished for Tate. I knew what it was like to be forced to walk away from the person you loved. I just wished that with this absence, Tate would fall in love with someone else. Maybe being away from me would wake him up to the fact that there were plenty of great women out there, instead of always having the person he thought he wanted dangled just out of his reach.

“Damn you, ” Tate growled to Bones.

“I hope…” The proper words failed me, so I just mumbled, “Take care of yourself, Tate, ” and walked out the door with Bones beside me.

NINETEEN

WE DIDN’T LEAVE RIGHT AWAY, WHICH WAS Bones’s idea, not mine. I went to my office while Bones went off to talk to Juan. When the two of them came back fifteen minutes later, Juan looked paler, but he also seemed to be excited.

“What’s up, buddy? ” I asked him.

Juan glanced around my office. “Bones, aqui? Ahora? ”

Bones gave him an impassive look and shut the door. “Si. Listos? ”

Juan’s eyes met mine, and then he nodded. “Si. ”

I was still translating when Bones grabbed Juan and buried his fangs deeply into his neck. What thehell? Then what they’d been saying penetrated. Bones, here? Now? Yes. Ready? Yes. Oh God. Juan must be the vampire replacement Bones had just promised Don. Talk about not wasting any time.

Juan’s legs buckled and his eyes fluttered closed. He lost consciousness, his body rapidly going into shock from the mass amounts of blood leaving it. Bones held him, sucking harder at his neck. Juan’s face drained of color even as Bones’s became pinker, almost flushed. If I touched him now, I knew he’d be warm, though his new temperature would only last as long as it took for Juan to suck his blood back out of him.

Juan’s heartbeat slowed. What had been a fast, nervous beating when Bones first bit him turned into lazy, lethargic buh‑ booms with growing spaces in between. After a minute, Bones raised his head.

“Kitten, hand me that letter opener. ”

It took me a second to shake myself from seeing my friend dying in front of me, but then I passed the requested item over. Bones took it and plunged it into his own neck, blood spilling out from the unusual fullness of his jugular. He put Juan’s head there, forcing his blood into Juan’s mouth.

Dave came in the door, an odd expression on his face. Thin crimson lines streamed into Juan’s slack mouth. The air became charged, like there was an electric storm nearby. Bones held Juan to his throat, the letter opener still piercing his skin. Juan’s lips twitched. His mouth began to fasten of its own volition onto Bones’s neck. The letter opener fell unneeded to the floor, because Juan was biting at him now. With single purpose, he clutched Bones, chewing into the pale neck.

Juan sucked on Bones’s throat, tearing his flesh and swallowing in ravenous gulps. Bones held him, his lips in a tight line as Juan’s blood was given back to him irrevocably altered. Finally he grasped Juan and tore his mouth away, wrestling him to the ground and pinning him. Juan struggled, his teeth snapping and starting to curve with the first hints of fang.

“No you don’t, mate, ” Bones said.

Dave moved toward me, standing in the way of the now‑ insensible man who would kill anyone out of sheer, blind hunger.

Juan continued to thrash for another minute before he shuddered violently. Then his whole body went limp and his last few heartbeats went forever silent.

Bones grunted in weariness and rolled off him. Changing a vampire weakened him of power. Not to mention he’d just been sucked dry.

“You need a refill, ” I stated, and went to pass by Dave to get some plasma from our in‑ house blood bank.

“Don’t. ”

Bones was on his feet before I could blink.

“Just…stay right here, Kitten. ”

Understanding dawned. The last time he’d changed someone over, I’d gone away for “just a minute” and ended up being tortured and nearly killed.

“I’ll get it. ”

The offer came from Dave, who seemed to remember.

“No, you won’t, ” Bones said. “You’ll stay right here on the very slim chance our friend wakes up and makes a go for her throat. That way I wouldn’t have to kill him. Call Ian, have him bring the blood up. ”

Jeez, he was being cautious. The odds of Juan rising so soon and overcoming Bones were near absolute zero, but I didn’t argue. Dave made the call. The fact he also didn’t argue meant he must be equally paranoid.

“Why aren’t we just putting him downstairs in the secured cell? That’s what it’s there for. ”

“Because, Kitten…” Bones put Juan’s lifeless body on the couch and stayed close to him. “We’re leaving, and we’re taking him with us. ”

It was several hours and a dizzying free‑ flying jaunt from the compound back to our cars later that we rounded the last curves on our driveway in the Blue Ridge.

“Where will we put Juan? ”

Three cars behind I could hear him howling, cut off the next moment by the slurping sound of him feeding from the plasma bags I’d packed. He’d just risen. Five vampires were in the car with him, and three of them were Masters. No, he wasn’t going anywhere.

“The cellar, ” was Bones’s reply. “It’s reinforced, and we’ll have Tick Tock, Dave, and Rattler take turns staying with him. Within a week, he’ll be himself. ”

Until then, Juan was a danger to anyone with a pulse.

“We’re not going to have enough room if everyone stays. ”

“Three of the couches have pull‑ outs and the rest will make do with blankets and the floor. Each one of them has endured worse, believe me. ”

“We’re the ones with the urgent problems and it’s our house they’re staying at, we should take the floor, ” I noted. “It’s only polite. ”

Bones snorted. “Right. In my own home on Christmas? I think not. ”

Yes, it was after two a. m. and therefore officially Christmas Day. This wasn’t the romantic, private evening I had planned, but oh well. We were together.

I leaned over and kissed his neck, letting my breath tickle his ear. “Merry Christmas, ” I whispered.

Bones put the car in park and stopped me when I began to draw back. His hand curled around my neck as he dipped my head back with a slow, deep kiss that made mereally wish we were alone.

It was interrupted when Ian rapped on our side window.

“If we’re supposed to wait outside in the cold while you two snog in the car, I’d just as soon have flown home. ”

My mouth opened in outrage when my mother trotted by and muttered, “Thank God somebody said it. ”

The humor of that struck me and I laughed. My mother, agreeing with the vampire who’d sired Max? Now that was a Christmas miracle if I’d ever heard one.

“I’m sorry, Ian, did I forget to ask your permission before I kissed my wife? ” Bones countered. “Wanker. ”

“Guttersnipe. ”

Ian said the insult with a trace of a smile. Far from being offended, Bones chuckled, giving me a last kiss before he got out of the car and grasped Ian by the shoulders.

“I’m glad you’re here, mate. ”

Ian had a self‑ deprecating smile. “Do you know why I am? Because for once, you asked for my assistance. You’ve never done that in all the centuries I’ve known you. That’s why I threw in my lot with you, bloody usurping sod though you are. ”

Ever since I first met Ian, I hadn’t understood why Bones tolerated him, but seeing the two of them like this explained a lot.

“You could have walked away, Ian. Just as you could have over two hundred and twenty years ago when I was imprisoned at the colony. I didn’t thank you then and I haven’t since, yet it is long overdue. Thank you, Ian, for changing me into a vampire. I am forever in your debt. ”

Ian’s eyes flashed with emotion. Then he arched a jaded brow, recovering.

“About bleedin’ time. I expect it to take another two centuries before you’ll apologize for threatening to kill me over Cat? ”

Bones laughed. “You’ll shrivel waiting for that apology, mate. ”

“Let’s hatch a dastardly plan, then, ” Ian said with amused grimness. “Or Patra will ensure that we’llall shrivel. ”

Vlad showed up at our house, remarking that he’d been in the neighborhood. I doubted that, but I wasn’t about to call him a liar, especially since he’d proved to be a useful source of information. Still, part of me wondered if he’d shown up just because it irritated Bones. Vlad seemed to have a devilish sense of humor that way.

“Whatever happened to Anthony? ” he asked after hearing that Hykso and Kratas were being held hostage. Unfortunately, according to Spade, so far they hadn’t proved to know a wealth of information.

“I’ll be shipping pieces of him back to Patra, ” Bones replied. “Along with pieces of the other blokes. It’ll give her people something to think about. ”

The sick part of me wondered if Bones would cover those boxes with Christmas wrapping paper. Talk about getting an unwanted present. Here’s hoping Patra didn’t have something similar in the works for us. Nothing said “home for the holidays” like opening a present full of body parts.

“That’s it! ” I shot straight out of my seat, struck with an idea like a proverbial light bulb had gone off.

Bones arched a brow at me, not knowing what it was. My thoughts must have been whirling too fast for him to catch.

“It’s Christmas. Most people are with their loved ones today, ” I said. “Rather than ship bits of Anthony and the other guys from flunky to flunky, hoping they got to someone high enough to pass them onto Patra, how would you like to deliver them in person? ”

Ian leaned forward with interest. Bones stared at me, tapping his chin.

“You know the answer. Go on. ”

“We know that Patra’s been on the lookout for anyone who’d give her information on us. Hell, we’re doing the same thing. So what if an informant contacted Patra through one of the numbers Kratas had, offering to sell information on where she can find us? But this person wants cash up front, in person, and right away. ”

“Patra would assume it could be a trap, ” Mencheres pointed out. “So she’d expect you and Bones to be waiting for her. ”

I smiled. “I’m counting on that. ”

Bones finally caught the plan in my head. “Kitten, no. ”

“It’s an acceptable risk, ” I argued.

Vlad must have picked the idea from my mind, too, because he started to laugh.

“Oh, Bones, maybe you should have married a docile girl who didn’t stray too far from the kitchen. ”

“Get stuffed, don’t you have more publicity stunts to pull? ” Bones shot back. “How about chatting with another writer who can smear your name into greater popularity? ”

“What, did Anne Rice not return your calls, mate? ” Vlad asked scathingly. “Jealousy is such an ugly trait. ”

A noise escaped me before I could choke it off. Ian had no such discretion, and his laugh was clear and hearty.

“Don’t glare at her, Crispin. It was funny, and that’s not even counting the look on your face. ”

Which was far from amused, but after a beat, Bones relaxed and his lips twitched.

“Indeed it was. Right. Let us sort out this plan of yours, Kitten. It may be our best opportunity. ”

Bones selected the members of the vampire entourage who were going with me. When he directed Tate to be one of the five, I was speechless. Then he confounded me even more by choosing Vlad as another.

“Are you kidding? ” I asked when I found my voice.

“If there’s anything your bloke does better than incense me, it’s watch you, ” Bones replied. “He’d give his life for you without the slightest hesitation. It’s the one thing he’s useful for. ”

Tate gave Bones an evil look, but didn’t argue. Vlad watched their exchange with mild curiosity.

“And why do you want me with her? ”

“You’re a ruthless sod who never lets conscience interfere with your objectives, ” Bones said curtly. “It’s a trait I haven’t often admired in you, yet one I’m counting on now. ”

I grabbed his jacket. “Don’t worry about me, just take care of yourself. I want you back in time for dinner. ”

There were two other vampires present who could hear the rest of my message, but I sent it to him anyway. When you get back, I’m going to cover myself in whiskey and nothing else. Then I’ll pour gin all over you. We’re going to drink from each other, in every possible way.

Vlad let out an amused grunt, saying, “Excellent motivator, isn’t she? ” as he walked away. Mencheres kept his features blank. How mannerly. Dave just muttered, “She can’t cook. How’s that incentive? ”

Bones moved closer until his body was tight against mine. There was a distinct hardness to him as he bent me back, his mouth pillaging mine like we had all the time in the world.

When he let me go, my heart was hammering. His eyes were swirling green and he inhaled, absorbing the scent of my arousal.

“I shall scarcely be able to think about anything else. ”

Yeah, well, now neither would I.

“Keep those bottles close, Kitten. I’ll be back before you know it. ”

He gave me one last kiss and walked away with Spade, Ian, and Rodney in tow. I watched them climb into the helicopter and shielded my eyes from the wind of the churning rotors. Dave stood next to me as it lifted off and then faded into the distance.

He broke the silence. “I have to get back to Juan. Rattler’s staying with your mom, Denise, and Randy, and Tick Tock’s going with you. He’s stronger than I am, so it’s better. ”

“I’d rather have you, ” I replied, still staring at the sky even though I couldn’t see the chopper anymore.

Dave shifted, obviously pleased by the compliment. “In several years maybe he won’t be. I’ll see you when it’s over. ”

Tate approached, his short brown hair not even rustling in the wind, and all of a sudden, something cold slithered up my spine. That’s irrational, I told myself. You’re being superstitious, Cat, get a grip.

“What’s wrong? ”

Dave knew me too well. Enough to know it wasn’t the temperature that made me shiver all over. I rubbed my hands over my arms, fixing a fake expression of confidence on my face.

“Nothing. Forgot my jacket, that’s all. ”

Dave gave me a look, but I ignored it. Just as I ignored the paranoid little voice in my head that made me want to call Bones and insist he return.

I’ll be back before you know it.

Comforting words, you would think, but not to me. Those were the last words Bones said to me before I left him all those years ago. That sentence had tormented me during the years we were apart, and now I was afraid him saying it again was prophetic.

Telling myself it was coincidence and nothing more, I went inside. I had a job to do and there was no time for groundless fears. After all, I had enough to be afraid of that wasn’t imaginary.

TWENTY

MANY THINGS WERE CLOSEDCHRISTMAS Day. Restaurants. Bars. Clubs. Malls. Of course, one establishment was notoriously busy. The movie theater.

Today’s six o’clock showing of a romantic comedy starring two big‑ named Hollywood actors was about to get interesting. It helped that this was an upscale theater with balcony seating. More chance to show off the aerial abilities of the undead.

Vlad Tepesh rose out of his seat in the front row as if he’d been pulled by strings. His body was in stark outline against the wide screen behind him. He spread his arms and let the emerald beams in his eyes settle on the shocked faces turned toward him.

“You shouldn’t have come, Reaper. ”

A show hound, Bones had called him. Right now I had to agree. Even his long dark hair swirled around him, blown as if by an invisible breeze. I hid my smile and stood, holding a crossbow at the ready.

“Time to die, suck head. ” Okay, cheesy, but if he was piling on the dramatics, so was I.

“What the fuck…? ”

The guy next to me barely got the words out when I fired four arrows in rapid succession. Vlad spun in midair, dodging the arrows. They landed in the screen right as there was a close‑ up of the actress’s face.

Somebody screamed. Finally, I thought. Jeez, did I have to cut his throat to cause a panic? People were so jaded nowadays.

Vlad flew at me, mouth open and fangs on display. With that, one of the patrons howled out a word.

“Vampire! ”

“Run for your lives, ” I yelled, knocking over several people as I avoided Vlad’s tackle. He caught the edge of my jacket and used it as leverage, throwing me across the theater to crash into the wall. It was a spectacular toss and knocked the wind out of me, causing me to gasp even as I ducked from his fist.

“We’re playing it that way, huh? Good. I like it rough. ”

I returned the gesture, slamming him so hard into the nearby wall that it caved inward. Insulation and concrete showered those who hadn’t made it out of the theater yet. Then when Vlad sprang forward, I head‑ butted him hard enough to split the top of my hairline. It rocked him back, though, allowing me to ram two blades into his chest. Blood poured from my scalp, causing more screams as the houselights went up and the two of us were clearly illuminated.

Vlad ignored the knives in his chest and yanked me closer, licking the flowing red stream from my forehead.

“Doesn’t hurt now, ” he murmured.

“Overactor, ” I snapped.

A gunshot went off, causing both of us to turn in amazement toward the back of the theater. Sure enough, there was a guy, popcorn all over him, sighting down a barrel at us for another shot. Tate, who was also in the theater, knocked him so hard in the head that I hoped there wouldn’t be permanent damage. The shooter dropped to the floor.

“Americans, ” Vlad muttered over the fresh screams from the remaining patrons. “Every other person in this country’s armed. Good thing that his aim was as poor as his judgment. ”

“Come on, let’s finish this. Flashy ending, isn’t that your favorite? ”

“Oh, Cat, you’re going to make me do something I’ve never done before. ” He laughed, kicking me hard enough to break my ankles before flinging me into the fake velvet seats. They crumpled beneath me even as I sprang to my feet, wincing but still erect. I leapt up as he charged me, causing him to crash into empty air instead of my body.

“And what is that? Be humble? ”

Vlad rolled, yanking the knives from his chest like they were splinters. His eyes flicked to the last of the fleeing bystanders as they trampled one another to get to the exit.

“Nothing can force me to do that. ”

The empty seats around him suddenly exploded into flames. I blinked, taken aback. Tate looked shocked, too. Vlad’s lips curled, and he waved his hands in the direction of the fire. Like candles being doused, the blaze subsided.

“You’re pyrokinetic, ” I breathed. “Impressive. ”

“As are you. ” At last the theater was empty of everyone still conscious.

“Young man, the projector room? ” Vlad prodded Tate.

Tate leapt onto the tiny window, jerking the camera through the opening. It served to block the view of someone dumb enough to stand there and gawk down at us.

“Here, your ankles. ” Vlad lost his offensive posture and walked toward me. “If you’d permit? ”

He held out his hand and glanced at my knives. I knew what he meant. Refusing would be both rude and stupid, since limping after him would hardly look imposing. With a nod, I sliced a neat line in his hand, then held it to my mouth and swallowed.

Vlad watched me with that same faint smile. “You don’t like the taste of blood, do you? ”

“No. Well…no. ”

He must have read the rest of my response in my mind, because he let out a derisive chuckle. “Acquired a taste for Bones’s, have you? Really, he has more intelligence than I’d credited him, binding himself to you. It sorely hinders his competition. ”

“He doesn’t have any competition, ” I answered at once, glancing at Tate.

“That’s where you’re mistaken. I wasn’t talking about your scorned suitor there. ” Vlad gave a dismissive nod to Tate, who bristled. “I meant me. That’s what you’re going to make me do‑ envy Bones, a man I have little regard for. How galling. ”

His self‑ deprecating tone made me smile. Now Tate really glowered.

“You’ll get over it, Vlad. Give it two weeks, you’ll be sorry you even met me. ”

“Perhaps. Shall we take our final bows now? ”

I stamped my feet to make sure my ankles were back to normal, then gestured toward the exit.

“After you. ”

“…in front of the Palace Twenty on Montrose Avenue, where terrified spectators are telling an incredible tale. Hugh, can you pan to the right to show the firefighters? …Witnesses report gunshots, flames, and possible occult‑ related activities during this otherwise quiet Christmas evening…You, yes, you, miss, can you tell us what occurred inside? ”

“He flew! ” a shaking blond girl gasped, grabbing the microphone away from the reporter. “I think he had wings or something…and then she shot him, and the theater started to burn, oh God, I thought I was gonna die! ”

“Okay, clearly we have a distraught observer, let’s see who else we can talk to. ”

The newswoman tried to keep it professional, but then an impromptu tug‑ of‑ war occurred over the microphone as the blonde refused to let go.

“Miss, let me have that back, I’m sure you’ll want to speak to the authorities‑ ”

“There she is, ” she shrieked, pointing at me. “That’s her. She’s the one who shot that thing. She’ll tell you I’m not crazy! ”

The reporter surged forward and the cameraman pointed that large black lens right at me. I gave it one full glance before hurrying into the van under heavy escort. This was live coverage, broadcast nationwide. Hi, Patra. See? I’m on the opposite coast from where the informant is supposed to meet you, and you’d NEVERexpect Bones to be away from my side on a job during Christmas, would you?

“FBI, no one’s allowed past this point, ” Tate barked, shoving the reporter to the side. He pushed the camera down, cutting off any additional views of me or my entourage. After all, one quick look was all we needed. Any more and Patra might notice that Bones wasn’t shadowing me.

Our hysterical witness kept up a steady stream of shrieking until she was dragged to the side by the local police. Either this would work or it wouldn’t, we’d soon find out. Cooper, playing the informant, was supposed to be meeting Patra’s contact within an hour. With luck, Patra would believe Bones and I were both here in Los Angeles.

Tate appeared in the doorway of the van and slammed it closed. Vlad was seated next to me, and Tick Tock and Zero were also inside. Tate gave the command to leave to Doc, our driver for tonight, and sat across from me.

“All right, Cat. If anyone pokes around there, they’ll see the usual cleanup crew and all the brass. There’d be no reason to think Bones wasn’t with you. I’ll be glad to get out of here, no point in painting a target on your head. ”

“It went pretty well, ” I commented, bouncing as the van sped away. We’d change cars two times and then fly the rest of the way. Bones was adamant about that. “I hope his goes off without a hitch. ”

Tate compressed his mouth and said nothing.

“When will you call the Master? ” Zero asked.

It always unnerved me when he called him that. Zero seldom addressed Bones otherwise, no matter how often Bones had urged him to. His milky gray eyes were trained on me expectantly.

“I won’t. He’ll call me when it’s over, maybe in about two hours, maybe more. ”

My stomach twisted with worry. It was all I could do not to snatch up my cell and ruin everything with a fervent, useless plea for him to be careful.

“We’ll be halfway to Mencheres’s house by then. ” Vlad stretched his legs. “A good thing, too. I’m hungry. ”

“We’ll all be better when we reach Mencheres in Colorado, ” I said. “Vlad, you’ll get your dinner, Tate, you can see Annette, and I’ll see Bones sometime before midnight. At least we’ll have a few minutes of Christmas together. Maybe. ”

God, how I wanted to be at our own home with no one but Bones around. Not shoved in a van surrounded by five vampires on my way to one of Mencheres’s many houses. Life. You could only make plans for it, not dictate orders to it.

“Doc. ” I rapped on the metal panel. “Step on it, will you? ”

The sounds of a helicopter brought me bolting out of my chair with a glance at the clock. Eleven fifty‑ one, Colorado Mountain Time. Jeez, Bones had cut it close.

Not bothering to throw on a coat, I went outside in my thin cardigan, shivering as the helicopter landed. Snow flurries were swept away by the churning rotors that whipped hair into my face. They slowed and the side door opened, revealing Spade, Rodney, and Ian.

“Someone get me a bloodygood set of irons, I’m sick of sitting on this sod, ” Ian spat. His chestnut hair was flying almost as much as mine.

Three of Mencheres’s vampires scurried to obey. The other half dozen went to assist Spade, Rodney, and Ian as they restrained a struggling, cursing figure.

“Angel, fetch your husband and have him give us a hand, ” Spade sang out. “Where is the lazy sod‑? ”

He stopped at the look on my face. Ian halted as well, giving a brutal blow to the unknown vampire they carted like so much luggage.

“Where’s the other chopper? We were delayed, so Crispin should have beaten us here. ”

Ian had never sounded so edgy. As if in slow motion, I raised the cell phone in my hand. I’d been clutching it for the past several hours waiting for his call. Nerveless fingers punched in those ten numbers, and then I waited again for that metallic buzzing that served as a ring.

Mencheres came to stand next to me, but I didn’t look at him. All I could do was stare at the helicopter rotors like I was transfixed. My heartbeat was so loud, I almost couldn’t hear the phone as it rang.

One…two…three…four…

God, please. I’ll do anything, please. Let him be all right. Let him be all right.

Five…six…seven…

He has to answer, he has to!

Eight…nine…ten…

There was a click and then background noise. I didn’t wait for more, but screamed his name.

“Bones! Where are you? ” I couldn’t hear his voice, just more residual sounds. “Can you hear me? ” I yelled even louder. Maybe we had a bad connection.

“Yessss…”

It was a hiss that drove straight through me, chilling me more than the snow falling around me. The voice wasn’t masculine, and it had a distinct Middle Eastern accent.

“Who. Is. This? ”

Each word was a growl coming from the center of me. I saw Spade grip my arms, but I didn’t feel it.

A woman laughed, low and vicious. Her voice is deeper than I imagined, I found myself thinking. What else was I wrong about? Why am I sitting on the ground?

If she said anything else after her next four words, I didn’t hear it. I knew I was screaming, that Mencheres snatched the phone from me, and Spade jerked me toward the house even as I fought to stay outside. My eyes were still fixated on the slowing helicopter rotors as if they could magically change everything. They can’t stop, the thought streaked through my mind. If they stop, then Bones won’t come out of that chopper. Someone, turn them back on! Turn them back on!

No one did. They halted with a last, lazy rotation even as Spade forced me inside the house. Something exploded in me then, more powerful than the wordpain could ever encompass, and all I could hear in my mind was Patra’s taunting, brutal, satisfied question.

Is this the widow?

TWENTY‑ ONE

I WAS SEATED NEXT TOSPADE, ANGUISH IN MYsoul gouging me like a rabid monster trying to claw its way out.

But to Spade, I simply asked, “What happened? ”

Pink tears streaked his face. “Cooper waited at the train station, and about ten minutes later, we saw Anubus sneaking up on him with several Master vampires. We wanted Anubus alive, so Ian and I secured him while Rodney and Crispin fought the rest of them. Then one of the sods managed to run off, so Crispin told Rodney to fall back with us while he went on to skewer the wretch. He was supposed to meet up with us here. We reckoned he’d beat us, since he didn’t have to take the long way with a hostile prisoner. I’m so sorry, angel. So damnably sorry…”

Mencheres strode into the room, and the rush of animosity that swept over me left a small, detached part of me curious. Why are you mad at him? This was all yourfault.

“It’s not safe here, ” he announced. “Patra may have learned our location from Bones, so we have to leave. ”

“Could she have lied? ” I was grasping at straws, but drowning hands reached for anything.

Mencheres cast a look at me that was no less sympathetic for its briefness. “I know her well enough to know when she’s lying. She was not. ”

We cleared out in a hurry. Randy, Denise, Annette, and my mother were on their way here when a phone call from Spade had rerouted them. He didn’t say why, which I was grateful for. I could hardly bear to think the words, let alone hear them out loud again.

“…all of my people moved at once, we are taking no chances, ” Mencheres snapped into his phone before throwing it to the ground and smashing it to pieces.

Another vampire hurried to hand him a fresh one. “The number is new, ” the lackey said, bowing to him and then, oddly, to me. I didn’t acknowledge it. He could have shriveled at my feet and I wouldn’t have cared. For now, I was letting myself be hustled by the current of people around me.

We left by the same helicopter Ian, Spade, Cooper, and Rodney had flown in on. My eyes were dry, staring at nothing. That’s all I seemed to see no matter what I looked at. Nothing.

With a lurch we were airborne. Tate called Don and told him what happened, ending with a warning for him to evacuate. Whatever my uncle said in reply was drowned out by the sounds of the helicopter and my own apathy. What was there to care about anymore? My heart was in pieces.

“Cat, ” Tate sighed when he hung up, putting his arm around me, “Don said‑ ”

He stopped and stared almost stupidly at his chest. The knife I’d pulled from my coat and jammed into him was less than an inch from his heart. I smiled, feeling my face crack like pottery that dried too quickly.

“That was a warning. The next one won’t be. Did you think you could just slide into Bones’s place and I wouldn’t miss a beat? You lay your hands on me again and I’ll finish you, Tate. ”

I meant every bitter word. If there was one person happier than Patra right now, it was Tate. He’d hated Bones from the moment he’d met him, and that wasn’t even counting when he shot him at first glance. I’d be damned if I was going to let Tate dishonor Bones’s memory by petting me like a lapdog. Whatever chance he thought he’d gained by Bones’s death, he was wrong.

Tate yanked the knife from his chest without a word. He wiped the silver clean on his pants and then handed it back to me.

“I’m here when you need me, ” he murmured, and got up to move to the rear of the craft.

No one else spoke after that, the whole two hours north to Canada.

We landed in a frozen grass field a hundred yards from a house surrounded by thick trees. It was bitterly cold, or maybe it was just me. I couldn’t seem to remember what warm felt like.

“Cat, we must talk, ” Mencheres stated, holding out a hand that I ignored as I hopped down from the helicopter.

“What time will Denise and my mother be here? ”

He folded his arms, oblivious to the stiff wind. “Dawn. They were picking up supplies on their way. ”

“Whatever it is you want to talk about, can it wait until later? ”

My emotional armor was on with full reinforcements, but that wouldn’t last. I needed to be alone so I could break down, I didn’t want to do it with an audience.

Mencheres nodded.

“Afterward, of course. I shall get you settled until then. ”

“Don’t bother. Dawn’s in less than two hours and I won’t sleep. I just want to be alone. I don’t have to tell you this has been the worst day of my life. ”

I started walking toward the tree lines.

“Where are you going? ” Mencheres called out.

“It’s hard to be alone with a passel of vampires scuttling around me. I assume you consider this place safe since you brought us here, so I’m taking a walk. ”

There were mutterings of objections behind me from varying voices. As my response, I held up my middle finger and kept walking.

The pines were thick in places. Tracks in the snow showed many different species called this frigid area home, and at this hour, it was quiet.

As I walked, I let myself remember the first time I saw Bones, bent over a table at a club with the lights reflecting off his hair. How he’d called my bluff when I drove him to a lake under the pretense of seduction. Waking up chained inside a cave, hearing him mock me with a Tweety Bird impression. His face when he first saw my eyes glow and he realized I’d told him the truth about what I was. That smug grin he gave me after I challenged him to a fight to the death. Our first kiss. The first time we’d made love. And the smile he’d given me the first time I told him I loved him…

My rapid pace carried me miles away. When I saw the cliffs, I started climbing them without much thought as to why. Judging from the low‑ hanging moon, there was still about forty minutes until dawn. Soon after that, Denise and my mother would arrive. I didn’t want to see them. I didn’t want to see anyone.

I’d climbed for twenty minutes before I found a wide enough ledge to sit on. A blast of wind made me rub my hands together, and the red diamond caught my eye. My engagement ring for a wedding that would never happen.

I got up and stared out over the ledge. The rocks below seemed mesmerizing, the distance to them somehow not far or frightening. After a moment, my eyes closed, and I felt myself take a step forward. And then another one.

“It must be difficult for you. ”

At the first syllable, my eyes snapped open. Vlad was seated on a ledge almost thirty feet below my perch, watching me.

“Yeah, it’s difficult that the man I loved is dead. How brilliant of you to notice. ”

Vlad rose. “Oh, I didn’t mean that. I meant it must be difficult for you to decide what you are. I never had to wrestle with that. When I changed into a vampire, I couldn’t revert back to my humanity under any circumstances. Yet you wake up every day trapped in yours. As I said, difficult. ”

What the hell was he rambling on about? “I said I wanted to be alone, Vlad. Get out of here. ”

“That’s not why you’re really here, Catherine. ”

“Don’t call me that, ” I said out of habit, then shook my head. Like it mattered now what he called me?

He gave me a contemptuous look. “Why not? Stand ing on that ledge is Catherine Crawfield, not Cat, the Red Reaper. Catherine has no obligations, no responsibilities, and she’s decided to follow her husband to the grave. In the end, it appears you’ve chosen your human side. How interesting. ”

“That’s not what I’m doing, ” I snapped, and then stilled.

Wasn’t it? I’d walked out in the freezing cold, climbed a cliff, and was teetering on the edge of it with my eyes closed. Falling at this height would likely knock my head off, so there would be no chance of anyone bringing me back, as a ghoul or anything else. Who was I kidding? I’d known just what I was doing as soon as I left that helicopter, even if I’d refused to acknowledge it until now.

You could do it, the thought teased me. Don will look after your mother, your team will be fine with two vamps and a ghoul to lead them, Denise has Randy…It’s not like before when you left Bones and had people depending on you. You can go to him. You’re ready.

“You’re ready, Catherine? ” Vlad baited me, using that name again as he picked the thought from my mind.

“Fuck you, Dracula, ” I snapped. “No wonder Bones didn’t like you. You’re pissing me off as well. ”

“We didn’t care for each other, but we did respect one another. Would Bones want you to do this? Is this whathe would have done, if you’d been killed? ”

No.

The answer came to me without needing a moment to ponder it. I knew what Bones would do if the tables were turned. If Max had murdered me, Bones would’ve been as shattered as I was now, but as a vampire, he wouldn’t have allowed himself the option of suicide. No, not until he’d tracked down each player in my death and treated them to a horrible payback first. Only after he’d extracted his revenge would Bones have allowed himself to even think about his own death. That’s how vampires were.

But Vlad was right. I had an excuse. I was half human. I could wrap that humanity around myself and leap off this cliff into Bones’s arms on the other side. But vampires had no such luxury. If I were a vampire, I’d have no choice but to climb off this cliff and commit myself to a bloody retribution, broken heart or no. But if I was human, I could go ahead and jump.

Vlad gave me an assessing, unmerciful rake of the eyes as he listened to my internal struggle.

“So then, what are you? ”

Since I was sixteen and my mother told me about my father, I’d wrestled with that same question. The sound of my heartbeat seemed to mock me. Each breath I took was a taunt. Yeah, I had many similarities to a human, and yes, I wanted the peace of that free fall to the other side where Bones waited for me. God, how I wanted it! But I wasn’t human. I hadn’t been since the day I was born, and I couldn’t let myself pretend to be human now.

“Well? ” Vlad asked with more emphasis.

I gave one last regretful glance at the ravine’s rocky bottom before meeting Vlad’s eyes.

“I am a vampire, ” I said, and backed away from the ledge.

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