Citações
1
Author’s Note:
Readers have long asked me if I’d ever write Bones’s side of the story, and I said no because I didn’t “hear” Bones in my head the same way that I heard Cat. Well, a couple years ago, Bones finally started talking to me, and wow, did he have a lot to say. I thought I knew everything about him, and Bones proved me wrong. Writing this also showed Cat in a brand-new light for me, as well as Ian, Spade, and others. Reliving their story through Bones’s perspective made me laugh, cry, and fall in love with him and Cat all over again. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
When you read, you’ll notice that I updated the technology to today’s time because I didn’t want to confuse readers by not mentioning things that are commonplace now. I also didn’t want to pull readers out of the story by keeping the now-defunct technology of the early 2000s. Example: Bones had a beeper as a receiver for Cat’s panic alert back in the original version (Gen Z, you’ll have to look up what a “beeper” is.) I laughed out loud when I re-read that part, and it’s not supposed to be a funny scene. So, I thought upgrading the technology was a better choice. I also gave Cat a cell phone in this version. Her not having one back when HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE was first published was unusual, but not unheard of. Today, however, the average middle schooler has a cell phone, so a college student like Cat would definitely have one, too.
Finally, since this is told through Bones’s point of view, there are slight changes in context and dialog. Anyone who’s been in a relationship knows that couples can have two versions of the same incident, and both will swear that their version is correct. Such is the case with how Bones remembers things versus how Cat did. Hey, I’m not going to tell Bones that he’s wrong. This is his story, and he’s sticking to it.
—Jeaniene Frost
* * *
Tonight, Bones hunted.
Devon was his prey. According to Bones’s sources, Devon ran the books for an undead cabal that operated from Mexico all the way to this poor imitation of a high-end nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. Devon was supposed to be here tonight, hence Bones sitting in the frayed, fake-velvet booths of the club’s VIP area. The music was atrocious, and so loud that the humans had to shout in order to hear each other. With a vampire’s heightened senses, the annoying beat felt as if it were being pumped directly into Bones’s skull.
He was, as the cliché went, getting too old for this. At least when it came to frequenting human nightclubs. When it came to hunting, Bones’s two-centuries-plus was to his advantage. The same held true for his other pursuits.
One example of those pursuits flashed a smile at him as she came nearer. She was attractive enough, if he ignored the heavy chemical scent of perfume she’d doused herself with. But he couldn’t ignore the way her eyes were dilated from something other than feminine interest.
“Hi,” she purred, leaning over his table to better display her décolleté. “What do you say to buying me a drink, sexy?”
Shagging might be his favorite pastime, but Bones never touched a woman under the influence of drugs. She was also now blocking his view of the club’s entrance. If Devon slipped in, Bones wouldn’t know it. Normally, he’d let her down gently, but lives were on the line.
“I’d say lay off whatever drugs made your pupils larger than olives,” he replied with a rudeness meant to send her away.
She huffed and straightened, clearing his line of sight to the door. “Bastard,” she snapped before stalking off.
Bones hefted his glass in salute. “Right you are.”
Two more women and a man made similar advances over the next hour. He sent them away as well. He’d just rebuffed his latest admirer when a glimpse of almost luminescent skin caught his eye.
Vampire, was Bones’s first thought as he studied the woman entering the club. Her hair was a crimson splash that hid her face as she waited while the bouncer checked her identification. Must be a young-looking vampire, for the bouncer to double-check her license. After a moment, she was allowed to pass.
Bones only caught glimpses of her as she threaded her way through the crowd. She wore oversized denim trousers with construction-style pockets, long black gloves, and a nondescript white top with elbow-length sleeves. If not for its scooped neckline, he wouldn’t have caught sight of her distinctive skin, especially since her long red tresses shielded most of her face.
Push your hair back, Bones thought. Show me your face…
Wait, who cared what the vampire looked like, if she was even a vampire at all? He had his doubts now. Yes, her skin held that faint tinge of incandescence that usually meant “vampire,” but she moved like a human, and she also had too much flush in her skin for a vampire’s stationary pulse.
Must be a human with unusually lovely skin, nothing more. Bones finished his whisky and left cash for his bill. A tour of the club was now in order. Devon could’ve slipped in when he was distracted by the redhead. That wouldn’t do.
An hour later, Bones was back in the booths with their elevated view of the entrance. Devon hadn’t shown up yet, and it was approaching midnight. If this were a vampire club, the evening would just be starting, but this was a human establishment so it would only be open another two hours.
Perhaps his intelligence on Devon had been wrong. Vampires had been known to lie to stop the pain when a silver knife was shoved into their sternum—
Ash blond hair caught Bones’s eye as a man walked into the club. He moved with distinct, purposeful grace, and his skin held the same faint tinge of luminescence as Bones’s own.
Devon. Finally.
The redhead he’d admired earlier suddenly came toward Bones with an unsteady gait. Before Bones could send her away, she dropped into the seat across the table from him.
“Hello handsome,” she said, her faint slur turning a poor impression of a seductive voice into a terrible one.
“Not now,” he replied shortly.
She blinked as if she’d never been rejected before. With her beauty, she probably hadn’t. Dark red brows arched over storm-cloud gray eyes while very little makeup graced her high cheekbones, elegant nose, and luscious, full lips. No perfume masked her scent, either, allowing him to catch a subtle mix of sweet cream, vanilla, and…cherries.
“Excuse me?” she said.
He could no longer see Devon now. Lovely or no, he wouldn’t let her cost him years of hunting.
“I’m busy, so off you go.”
She touched his hand. Her warmth erased any doubt as to her humanity, as did the heartbeat he could now hear from her nearness. She stammered out something he ignored until she finished it with “Want to fuck?”
As soon as she said it, a horrified look crossed her features. Her hand also paused midway to her mouth as if she’d been about to physically attempt stuffing the words back.
His lips curled. Not afraid to say what she wanted even if it embarrassed her, was she? Under other circumstances, he’d make her forget that embarrassment in the nearest, darkest corner, but now wasn’t the time.
“Bad timing, luv. Be a good bird and fly away. I’ll find you later.”
At that, she got up and walked away, shaking her head. Bones didn’t spare her another look. His gaze was all for the blond vampire moving through the crowd with the arrogance of an apex predator surrounded by prey.
Bones flew up to the ceiling. His all-black attire plus the darkness around the booths meant that no one noticed. Once there, he went behind the network of lights. Anyone who looked up would only see the constant flash of strobes or the roving beams of spotlights. Not the dark figure behind them.
His perch gave him a clear view of Devon. The other vampire paused by several women during his slow sweep of the club, leaning in to catch their scent, brush their skin, or run his fingers through their hair. Devon made it seem subtle, almost accidental, but shoppers in a grocery store tested their produce in much the same way.
Devon was picking out his next meal.
Bones’s jaw tightened when he saw Devon catch a glimpse of the redhead. He’d hoped she’d leave the club after his refusal, but she’d done a circle of the place as if looking for him, and then sat at the bar. When Devon saw her, he stopped talking to the petite blond he’d been conversing with and stared.
Distractingly lovely, isn’t she? Bones thought, feeling an odd twinge of anger. Yes, vampires were territorial over their possessions or their people, but the redhead was neither to him. Still, that twinge grew when Devon left the blonde and went straight over to her.
He couldn’t hear what Devon said over the pulsating music. He could only watch as Devon leaned behind the redhead and spoke. She turned around, annoyance clear on her features.
Good. Send him on his way!
A bright smile wreathed her face, turning up the dial on her already irresistible beauty. Whatever she said had Devon sitting next to her and signaling the bartender for a drink.
Anger surged again. Bones told himself it was fueled by sympathy, not more irrational jealousy.
Bad choice, pet. He intends to eat you in an entirely different way than I did.
Her choices soon worsened. Within half an hour, the redhead was following Devon out the door. Bones slid across the ceiling to a corner, and then jumped down and left the club. Once outside, he flew high to avoid being spotted and kept his aura tamped down so that Devon couldn’t detect it.
The redhead could barely walk as she followed Devon to his car. Clearly, she’d had too much to drink. Devon didn’t care. He smirked as he helped her into the passenger seat, and then climbed into the driver’s side and pulled away.
Bones stayed high as he followed the Volkswagen. No surprise, Devon drove to a deserted, wooded area. Bones dropped lower, tensing when the car stopped. Almost immediately, the passenger door opened, and the redhead stumbled out.
Bones was low enough to hear Devon laugh when she staggered away, screaming. Drunk as she was, she only made it a few meters before she tripped and fell. Not that she would have been able to escape Devon even if she’d been sober. No human could outrun a vampire.
Bones dropped even lower as Devon walked over to the girl. His back was to Bones, but from the new green glow bathing the redhead’s features, he’d released the inhuman light in his gaze. Seeing it, she whimpered and crawled backward faster.
Don’t fret, luv, Bones thought grimly. I’m coming. Just need to catch him unawares so you don’t get hurt in the process.
“Don’t hurt me!” she cried out when Devon knelt next to her and grabbed her by the back of the neck.
“It will only hurt for a moment,” Devon hissed.
Bones braced against the nearest tree trunk, about to springboard off it to maximize his speed to knock Devon away—
The redhead’s hand whipped out, ramming something into Devon’s chest. Before Bones could react, she gave it a vicious twist, and Devon collapsed on top of her. She kept twisting until Devon shriveled into a vampire’s true state of death.
Bones was too stunned to do anything other than stare.
What the bloody hell was this?
“You were right,” she said in a tone that no longer bore a hint of a drunken slur. “It only hurt for a moment.”
Bones’s disbelief gave way to anger. All the answers he’d sought for the past several years, gone. All because of a lovely, murdering redhead who’d fooled both him and Devon, though only one of them had lived to regret it.
She shoved Devon’s body aside. No hysterics, no remorse, and she’d shown no hesitation before stabbing Devon, either. If she had, Bones could have stopped her. But no, she’d been swift and merciless. This wasn’t her first kill, especially with how brisk and businesslike she was as she opened the trunk and hefted Devon’s body into it.
Little chit must be a professional. He’d be sure to use that to his advantage when he met her again. He’d been her first intended victim, after all.
I promised to find you. I’ll keep that promise.
She whistled as she closed the trunk and got back into Devon’s car. Bones flew high and followed her. He had no idea who she was, but he was going to find out.
Author’s Note:
Readers have long asked me if I’d ever write Bones’s side of the story, and I said no because I didn’t “hear” Bones in my head the same way that I heard Cat. Well, a couple years ago, Bones finally started talking to me, and wow, did he have a lot to say. I thought I knew everything about him, and Bones proved me wrong. Writing this also showed Cat in a brand-new light for me, as well as Ian, Spade, and others. Reliving their story through Bones’s perspective made me laugh, cry, and fall in love with him and Cat all over again. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
When you read, you’ll notice that I updated the technology to today’s time because I didn’t want to confuse readers by not mentioning things that are commonplace now. I also didn’t want to pull readers out of the story by keeping the now-defunct technology of the early 2000s. Example: Bones had a beeper as a receiver for Cat’s panic alert back in the original version (Gen Z, you’ll have to look up what a “beeper” is.) I laughed out loud when I re-read that part, and it’s not supposed to be a funny scene. So, I thought upgrading the technology was a better choice. I also gave Cat a cell phone in this version. Her not having one back when HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE was first published was unusual, but not unheard of. Today, however, the average middle schooler has a cell phone, so a college student like Cat would definitely have one, too.
Finally, since this is told through Bones’s point of view, there are slight changes in context and dialog. Anyone who’s been in a relationship knows that couples can have two versions of the same incident, and both will swear that their version is correct. Such is the case with how Bones remembers things versus how Cat did. Hey, I’m not going to tell Bones that he’s wrong. This is his story, and he’s sticking to it.
—Jeaniene Frost
* * *
Tonight, Bones hunted.
Devon was his prey. According to Bones’s sources, Devon ran the books for an undead cabal that operated from Mexico all the way to this poor imitation of a high-end nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. Devon was supposed to be here tonight, hence Bones sitting in the frayed, fake-velvet booths of the club’s VIP area. The music was atrocious, and so loud that the humans had to shout in order to hear each other. With a vampire’s heightened senses, the annoying beat felt as if it were being pumped directly into Bones’s skull.
He was, as the cliché went, getting too old for this. At least when it came to frequenting human nightclubs. When it came to hunting, Bones’s two-centuries-plus was to his advantage. The same held true for his other pursuits.
One example of those pursuits flashed a smile at him as she came nearer. She was attractive enough, if he ignored the heavy chemical scent of perfume she’d doused herself with. But he couldn’t ignore the way her eyes were dilated from something other than feminine interest.
“Hi,” she purred, leaning over his table to better display her décolleté. “What do you say to buying me a drink, sexy?”
Shagging might be his favorite pastime, but Bones never touched a woman under the influence of drugs. She was also now blocking his view of the club’s entrance. If Devon slipped in, Bones wouldn’t know it. Normally, he’d let her down gently, but lives were on the line.
“I’d say lay off whatever drugs made your pupils larger than olives,” he replied with a rudeness meant to send her away.
She huffed and straightened, clearing his line of sight to the door. “Bastard,” she snapped before stalking off.
Bones hefted his glass in salute. “Right you are.”
Two more women and a man made similar advances over the next hour. He sent them away as well. He’d just rebuffed his latest admirer when a glimpse of almost luminescent skin caught his eye.
Vampire, was Bones’s first thought as he studied the woman entering the club. Her hair was a crimson splash that hid her face as she waited while the bouncer checked her identification. Must be a young-looking vampire, for the bouncer to double-check her license. After a moment, she was allowed to pass.
Bones only caught glimpses of her as she threaded her way through the crowd. She wore oversized denim trousers with construction-style pockets, long black gloves, and a nondescript white top with elbow-length sleeves. If not for its scooped neckline, he wouldn’t have caught sight of her distinctive skin, especially since her long red tresses shielded most of her face.
Push your hair back, Bones thought. Show me your face…
Wait, who cared what the vampire looked like, if she was even a vampire at all? He had his doubts now. Yes, her skin held that faint tinge of incandescence that usually meant “vampire,” but she moved like a human, and she also had too much flush in her skin for a vampire’s stationary pulse.
Must be a human with unusually lovely skin, nothing more. Bones finished his whisky and left cash for his bill. A tour of the club was now in order. Devon could’ve slipped in when he was distracted by the redhead. That wouldn’t do.
An hour later, Bones was back in the booths with their elevated view of the entrance. Devon hadn’t shown up yet, and it was approaching midnight. If this were a vampire club, the evening would just be starting, but this was a human establishment so it would only be open another two hours.
Perhaps his intelligence on Devon had been wrong. Vampires had been known to lie to stop the pain when a silver knife was shoved into their sternum—
Ash blond hair caught Bones’s eye as a man walked into the club. He moved with distinct, purposeful grace, and his skin held the same faint tinge of luminescence as Bones’s own.
Devon. Finally.
The redhead he’d admired earlier suddenly came toward Bones with an unsteady gait. Before Bones could send her away, she dropped into the seat across the table from him.
“Hello handsome,” she said, her faint slur turning a poor impression of a seductive voice into a terrible one.
“Not now,” he replied shortly.
She blinked as if she’d never been rejected before. With her beauty, she probably hadn’t. Dark red brows arched over storm-cloud gray eyes while very little makeup graced her high cheekbones, elegant nose, and luscious, full lips. No perfume masked her scent, either, allowing him to catch a subtle mix of sweet cream, vanilla, and…cherries.
“Excuse me?” she said.
He could no longer see Devon now. Lovely or no, he wouldn’t let her cost him years of hunting.
“I’m busy, so off you go.”
She touched his hand. Her warmth erased any doubt as to her humanity, as did the heartbeat he could now hear from her nearness. She stammered out something he ignored until she finished it with “Want to fuck?”
As soon as she said it, a horrified look crossed her features. Her hand also paused midway to her mouth as if she’d been about to physically attempt stuffing the words back.
His lips curled. Not afraid to say what she wanted even if it embarrassed her, was she? Under other circumstances, he’d make her forget that embarrassment in the nearest, darkest corner, but now wasn’t the time.
“Bad timing, luv. Be a good bird and fly away. I’ll find you later.”
At that, she got up and walked away, shaking her head. Bones didn’t spare her another look. His gaze was all for the blond vampire moving through the crowd with the arrogance of an apex predator surrounded by prey.
Bones flew up to the ceiling. His all-black attire plus the darkness around the booths meant that no one noticed. Once there, he went behind the network of lights. Anyone who looked up would only see the constant flash of strobes or the roving beams of spotlights. Not the dark figure behind them.
His perch gave him a clear view of Devon. The other vampire paused by several women during his slow sweep of the club, leaning in to catch their scent, brush their skin, or run his fingers through their hair. Devon made it seem subtle, almost accidental, but shoppers in a grocery store tested their produce in much the same way.
Devon was picking out his next meal.
Bones’s jaw tightened when he saw Devon catch a glimpse of the redhead. He’d hoped she’d leave the club after his refusal, but she’d done a circle of the place as if looking for him, and then sat at the bar. When Devon saw her, he stopped talking to the petite blond he’d been conversing with and stared.
Distractingly lovely, isn’t she? Bones thought, feeling an odd twinge of anger. Yes, vampires were territorial over their possessions or their people, but the redhead was neither to him. Still, that twinge grew when Devon left the blonde and went straight over to her.
He couldn’t hear what Devon said over the pulsating music. He could only watch as Devon leaned behind the redhead and spoke. She turned around, annoyance clear on her features.
Good. Send him on his way!
A bright smile wreathed her face, turning up the dial on her already irresistible beauty. Whatever she said had Devon sitting next to her and signaling the bartender for a drink.
Anger surged again. Bones told himself it was fueled by sympathy, not more irrational jealousy.
Bad choice, pet. He intends to eat you in an entirely different way than I did.
Her choices soon worsened. Within half an hour, the redhead was following Devon out the door. Bones slid across the ceiling to a corner, and then jumped down and left the club. Once outside, he flew high to avoid being spotted and kept his aura tamped down so that Devon couldn’t detect it.
The redhead could barely walk as she followed Devon to his car. Clearly, she’d had too much to drink. Devon didn’t care. He smirked as he helped her into the passenger seat, and then climbed into the driver’s side and pulled away.
Bones stayed high as he followed the Volkswagen. No surprise, Devon drove to a deserted, wooded area. Bones dropped lower, tensing when the car stopped. Almost immediately, the passenger door opened, and the redhead stumbled out.
Bones was low enough to hear Devon laugh when she staggered away, screaming. Drunk as she was, she only made it a few meters before she tripped and fell. Not that she would have been able to escape Devon even if she’d been sober. No human could outrun a vampire.
Bones dropped even lower as Devon walked over to the girl. His back was to Bones, but from the new green glow bathing the redhead’s features, he’d released the inhuman light in his gaze. Seeing it, she whimpered and crawled backward faster.
Don’t fret, luv, Bones thought grimly. I’m coming. Just need to catch him unawares so you don’t get hurt in the process.
“Don’t hurt me!” she cried out when Devon knelt next to her and grabbed her by the back of the neck.
“It will only hurt for a moment,” Devon hissed.
Bones braced against the nearest tree trunk, about to springboard off it to maximize his speed to knock Devon away—
The redhead’s hand whipped out, ramming something into Devon’s chest. Before Bones could react, she gave it a vicious twist, and Devon collapsed on top of her. She kept twisting until Devon shriveled into a vampire’s true state of death.
Bones was too stunned to do anything other than stare.
What the bloody hell was this?
“You were right,” she said in a tone that no longer bore a hint of a drunken slur. “It only hurt for a moment.”
Bones’s disbelief gave way to anger. All the answers he’d sought for the past several years, gone. All because of a lovely, murdering redhead who’d fooled both him and Devon, though only one of them had lived to regret it.
She shoved Devon’s body aside. No hysterics, no remorse, and she’d shown no hesitation before stabbing Devon, either. If she had, Bones could have stopped her. But no, she’d been swift and merciless. This wasn’t her first kill, especially with how brisk and businesslike she was as she opened the trunk and hefted Devon’s body into it.
Little chit must be a professional. He’d be sure to use that to his advantage when he met her again. He’d been her first intended victim, after all.
I promised to find you. I’ll keep that promise.
She whistled as she closed the trunk and got back into Devon’s car. Bones flew high and followed her. He had no idea who she was, but he was going to find out.
38
The next two days passed in a blur, so much that Bones forgot to get Charles a gift until Cat left for class on Monday. Then, Bones rushed to an antique dealer known for carrying items that dated back to Charles’s days as a human. His mate had dropped everything to fly in from England to see him, and to verify a potential Judas in Hennessey’s line. The least Bones could do was have a proper welcome gift for him.
Bones hit a traffic snag on the way back that he would have sped around if the road wasn’t partially blocked by police cars. No need to waste more time dealing with the law chasing him, especially since so many cops now wore body cameras. Besides, Charles wasn’t due to arrive for another hour, and Cat wouldn’t be over until an hour after that.
Half an hour later, he realized he was wrong when he saw a vintage red Corvette parked along the road that bordered the woods leading to the cave. No one who could afford that sort of vehicle would leave it unattended on this deserted stretch. When Bones stopped, one sniff confirmed Charles had been driving it.
His plane must have arrived early. Eh, well, Charles was one of the few people who knew the way to the cave, and where to go once he was inside it. At least Cat wasn’t here yet…oh fucking hell, was that her truck up ahead?
It was, and it, too, was empty. Bones didn’t hear any crunching leaves in the woods, either. Cat wasn’t on her way to the cave. She was already in it, as was Charles, and Bones hadn’t told her that his mate was coming.
Please, let them not have killed each other!
Bones flew to the cave, his heart clenching as he entered it. Had he already lost one of the two people he loved most in the world? He tore around the corner that led to the living room area—and stopped short. Disbelief made him stare, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Charles was lying on the ground with Cat straddling him. Rage almost stole Bones’s vision until he realized that Charles was facing the wrong way for anything sexual to occur. Charles’s head was also bloody, and Cat’s hands were filled with blood-covered rocks. When Cat saw him, she gave Bones such a look of relief that this couldn’t be a case of illicit passion no matter what position they were in.
Still, the rabid part of Bones that roared to life at the sight of Cat atop another man allowed only one thing to come out of his mouth.
“Charles, you’d better have a splendid explanation for her being on top of you.”
Cat leapt off him. Charles jumped up nearly as quickly, his long, spiky black hair wet from blood. More crimson streaks stained his ecru-colored skin, and Charles’s whisky brown eyes shot Bones a baleful look as Charles slapped at the dirt covering his white shirt and expensive gray trousers.
“Believe me, I’ve never enjoyed a woman astride me less,” Charles said with a rude glance at Cat. “I came out to say hallo, and this she-devil blinded me by flinging rocks into my eyes! Then, she attempted to split my skull before threatening to impale me with silver if I so much as twitched. It’s been a few years since I’ve been to America, but I daresay the method of greeting a person has drastically changed!”
Cat’s guilty expression confirmed every word. Bones rolled his eyes, but he was beyond relieved. This wasn’t the best introduction, but it could have been much, much worse.
“I’m glad you’re alive, Charles, and the only reason you are is because she didn’t have any silver. She’d have staked you right and proper otherwise. I warned you that she has a tendency to shrivel someone first and introduce herself afterward.”
“That’s uncalled for,” Cat muttered.
Bones snorted. “Right. Well, Kitten, this is my best mate Charles, but you can call him by his chosen name, Spade. Charles, this is the Cat. You can see for yourself that everything I’ve told you about her is…an understatement.”
Cat gave him a quick glower before she held out her hand to Charles. “Um, hi.”
Charles gave her hand a stunned look before taking it with a bellow of laughter. “Well, hallo to you, too, darling! Pleased to meet you now that you’re not flogging me unmercifully.”
“I warned you to wait for me,” Bones said in a low voice.
“You should have been more emphatic,” Charles replied in the same bare whisper.
“Spade.” Cat looked uncomfortable as she said Charles’s vampire name. “You’re white. Isn’t that…politically incorrect?”
This time, Charles’s laughter held an edge. “I didn’t choose that name as a racial slur. It was how the overseer in the penal colonies used to address me. A spade is a shovel, and I was a digger. He never called anyone by their names, only their assigned tools. He said we weren’t worthy of more.”
Understanding flashed over Cat’s features. She shot a quick glance at Bones, and he nodded. Yes, that nod confirmed. He’s one of men I knew back when I was human.
“Sounds very demeaning,” Cat replied to Charles. “Why’d you keep that name, then?”
Charles’s smile turned to glass. “So I’d never forget.”
Now she looked uncomfortable for a different reason. Bones redirected the topic.
“Charles has potential information on a flunky of Hennessey’s who might prove useful.”
Cat brightened. “Great. Should I grab my work clothes and get ready to go?”
“You should stay out of it,” Charles said instantly.
Bones glanced heavenward. If You’re at all kind, don’t let her erupt…
“Is it a vampire thing to be a chauvinist?” Cat asked with all the anger Bones had anticipated. “Or just an eighteenth century one? Wake up and smell the modern age, Spade. Women are good for more than cringing and waiting for men to rescue them!”
“And if Crispin felt differently for you, I’d bid you good fortune and tell you to have at it,” Charles replied. “Yet I know firsthand how devastating it is when someone you love is murdered. There’s nothing worse, and I don’t want him going through that.”
Some of the anger drained from Cat’s features. “I’m so sorry that vampires killed someone you loved—”
“It wasn’t vampires.” Pain and rage splintered Charles’s tone. “A group of French deserters cut her throat.”
Cat’s mouth closed and shame flashed over her features. Was she finally realizing that horrible deeds were not exclusive to vampires, and assuming they were was both bigoted and wrong?
“I’m so sorry,” Cat said again, her tone softer this time. “But I’m not like everyone else.”
She glanced at Bones after she said it, her gaze silently asking, does he know?
Bones nodded even as Charles said, “So I’ve heard, and you certainly caught me off guard earlier, but whatever your extraordinary lineage, you’re easy to kill. That pulse in your neck is your greatest weakness, and if I’d had a mind to before, I could have flipped over and torn it out.”
Now Bones’s glance heavenward was irritated. Vengeful, aren’t You?
Instead of getting angry, Cat smiled. “You’re pretty cocky. So am I, when it comes to certain things. We’ll get along just fine. Wait here.”
With that, Cat dashed off toward her weapons’ cache, ignoring Bones calling after her.
“Where’s she off to?” Charles wondered.
Bones sighed. “To hand you your arse, and for the record, if I thought I had a chance of keeping her out of this business with Hennessey, I would. Woman’s stubborn beyond reason.”
Charles gave him an amazed stare. “Stubbornness won’t keep her alive. You almost never involve me in your hunts, and I’m a Master vampire. I’m astounded you’d allow her near this…”
Charles’s voice trailed off when Cat returned with a wide smile and a handful of her throwing knives.
“Okay, you’re a big, bad vampire who’s gonna rip my throat out, right?” she taunted. “You see I’m armed—and these are steel, not silver since I don’t want you to end up smelly—but you don’t care since you’re all that and I’m just an artery in a dress. If you get a mouth on my throat, you win, but if I plug your heart first, I do.”
Charles looked at Cat as if she were barmy. Then, his gaze swung to Bones. “Is she joking?”
“Not at all.” This was hardly how he’d imagined their first meeting would go, but it would silence Charles’s arguments.
“Dinner’s getting cold,” Cat said with a wider smile. “Come and get me, bloodsucker.”
Charles glanced at Bones again.
Bones swept out his hand. Have at it, mate.
Charles lunged at Cat, feinting right before aiming for her throat. He’d almost reached it when two rapid thuds had him coming to a dead stop while staring at his chest in disbelief.
“Well, strike me pink!”
“I don’t know what that means, but okay,” Cat said in a cheery tone.
She had a right to be pleased. Two hilts speared Charles right in the chest. If they’d been silver, he’d be either dead from the double heart puncture or paralyzed with agony, making him an easy kill. Either way, she’d won.
Charles yanked the knives out and met Bones’s knowing gaze.
“I don’t believe it,” Charles whispered.
Bones grunted. “Same thing I thought when I first tangled with her. She has a real talent with knives. Good thing she hadn’t practiced throwing them before she met me, or I might not be here.”
Charles shook his head. “Indeed. All right, Cat.” He turned his attention back to her. “You’ve made an excellent point that you’re far deadlier than you appear. I also see I can’t sway you to leave this business with Hennessey alone, and Crispin clearly has confidence in you, so I bow in defeat.”
Charles punctuated that with a bow worthy of his aristocratic heritage, and Cat laughed in delight.
“What were you before they sent you to prison? A duke?”
Charles straightened to his full height of six feet four inches. “Baron Charles DeMortimer, at your service.”
Then, he turned to Crispin. “I have the information we talked about, if you’re truly set on taking her on a hunt tonight.”
“He is,” Cat said before Bones could respond. Her gray gaze was almost alight from eagerness. “Who am I going after?”
The next two days passed in a blur, so much that Bones forgot to get Charles a gift until Cat left for class on Monday. Then, Bones rushed to an antique dealer known for carrying items that dated back to Charles’s days as a human. His mate had dropped everything to fly in from England to see him, and to verify a potential Judas in Hennessey’s line. The least Bones could do was have a proper welcome gift for him.
Bones hit a traffic snag on the way back that he would have sped around if the road wasn’t partially blocked by police cars. No need to waste more time dealing with the law chasing him, especially since so many cops now wore body cameras. Besides, Charles wasn’t due to arrive for another hour, and Cat wouldn’t be over until an hour after that.
Half an hour later, he realized he was wrong when he saw a vintage red Corvette parked along the road that bordered the woods leading to the cave. No one who could afford that sort of vehicle would leave it unattended on this deserted stretch. When Bones stopped, one sniff confirmed Charles had been driving it.
His plane must have arrived early. Eh, well, Charles was one of the few people who knew the way to the cave, and where to go once he was inside it. At least Cat wasn’t here yet…oh fucking hell, was that her truck up ahead?
It was, and it, too, was empty. Bones didn’t hear any crunching leaves in the woods, either. Cat wasn’t on her way to the cave. She was already in it, as was Charles, and Bones hadn’t told her that his mate was coming.
Please, let them not have killed each other!
Bones flew to the cave, his heart clenching as he entered it. Had he already lost one of the two people he loved most in the world? He tore around the corner that led to the living room area—and stopped short. Disbelief made him stare, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Charles was lying on the ground with Cat straddling him. Rage almost stole Bones’s vision until he realized that Charles was facing the wrong way for anything sexual to occur. Charles’s head was also bloody, and Cat’s hands were filled with blood-covered rocks. When Cat saw him, she gave Bones such a look of relief that this couldn’t be a case of illicit passion no matter what position they were in.
Still, the rabid part of Bones that roared to life at the sight of Cat atop another man allowed only one thing to come out of his mouth.
“Charles, you’d better have a splendid explanation for her being on top of you.”
Cat leapt off him. Charles jumped up nearly as quickly, his long, spiky black hair wet from blood. More crimson streaks stained his ecru-colored skin, and Charles’s whisky brown eyes shot Bones a baleful look as Charles slapped at the dirt covering his white shirt and expensive gray trousers.
“Believe me, I’ve never enjoyed a woman astride me less,” Charles said with a rude glance at Cat. “I came out to say hallo, and this she-devil blinded me by flinging rocks into my eyes! Then, she attempted to split my skull before threatening to impale me with silver if I so much as twitched. It’s been a few years since I’ve been to America, but I daresay the method of greeting a person has drastically changed!”
Cat’s guilty expression confirmed every word. Bones rolled his eyes, but he was beyond relieved. This wasn’t the best introduction, but it could have been much, much worse.
“I’m glad you’re alive, Charles, and the only reason you are is because she didn’t have any silver. She’d have staked you right and proper otherwise. I warned you that she has a tendency to shrivel someone first and introduce herself afterward.”
“That’s uncalled for,” Cat muttered.
Bones snorted. “Right. Well, Kitten, this is my best mate Charles, but you can call him by his chosen name, Spade. Charles, this is the Cat. You can see for yourself that everything I’ve told you about her is…an understatement.”
Cat gave him a quick glower before she held out her hand to Charles. “Um, hi.”
Charles gave her hand a stunned look before taking it with a bellow of laughter. “Well, hallo to you, too, darling! Pleased to meet you now that you’re not flogging me unmercifully.”
“I warned you to wait for me,” Bones said in a low voice.
“You should have been more emphatic,” Charles replied in the same bare whisper.
“Spade.” Cat looked uncomfortable as she said Charles’s vampire name. “You’re white. Isn’t that…politically incorrect?”
This time, Charles’s laughter held an edge. “I didn’t choose that name as a racial slur. It was how the overseer in the penal colonies used to address me. A spade is a shovel, and I was a digger. He never called anyone by their names, only their assigned tools. He said we weren’t worthy of more.”
Understanding flashed over Cat’s features. She shot a quick glance at Bones, and he nodded. Yes, that nod confirmed. He’s one of men I knew back when I was human.
“Sounds very demeaning,” Cat replied to Charles. “Why’d you keep that name, then?”
Charles’s smile turned to glass. “So I’d never forget.”
Now she looked uncomfortable for a different reason. Bones redirected the topic.
“Charles has potential information on a flunky of Hennessey’s who might prove useful.”
Cat brightened. “Great. Should I grab my work clothes and get ready to go?”
“You should stay out of it,” Charles said instantly.
Bones glanced heavenward. If You’re at all kind, don’t let her erupt…
“Is it a vampire thing to be a chauvinist?” Cat asked with all the anger Bones had anticipated. “Or just an eighteenth century one? Wake up and smell the modern age, Spade. Women are good for more than cringing and waiting for men to rescue them!”
“And if Crispin felt differently for you, I’d bid you good fortune and tell you to have at it,” Charles replied. “Yet I know firsthand how devastating it is when someone you love is murdered. There’s nothing worse, and I don’t want him going through that.”
Some of the anger drained from Cat’s features. “I’m so sorry that vampires killed someone you loved—”
“It wasn’t vampires.” Pain and rage splintered Charles’s tone. “A group of French deserters cut her throat.”
Cat’s mouth closed and shame flashed over her features. Was she finally realizing that horrible deeds were not exclusive to vampires, and assuming they were was both bigoted and wrong?
“I’m so sorry,” Cat said again, her tone softer this time. “But I’m not like everyone else.”
She glanced at Bones after she said it, her gaze silently asking, does he know?
Bones nodded even as Charles said, “So I’ve heard, and you certainly caught me off guard earlier, but whatever your extraordinary lineage, you’re easy to kill. That pulse in your neck is your greatest weakness, and if I’d had a mind to before, I could have flipped over and torn it out.”
Now Bones’s glance heavenward was irritated. Vengeful, aren’t You?
Instead of getting angry, Cat smiled. “You’re pretty cocky. So am I, when it comes to certain things. We’ll get along just fine. Wait here.”
With that, Cat dashed off toward her weapons’ cache, ignoring Bones calling after her.
“Where’s she off to?” Charles wondered.
Bones sighed. “To hand you your arse, and for the record, if I thought I had a chance of keeping her out of this business with Hennessey, I would. Woman’s stubborn beyond reason.”
Charles gave him an amazed stare. “Stubbornness won’t keep her alive. You almost never involve me in your hunts, and I’m a Master vampire. I’m astounded you’d allow her near this…”
Charles’s voice trailed off when Cat returned with a wide smile and a handful of her throwing knives.
“Okay, you’re a big, bad vampire who’s gonna rip my throat out, right?” she taunted. “You see I’m armed—and these are steel, not silver since I don’t want you to end up smelly—but you don’t care since you’re all that and I’m just an artery in a dress. If you get a mouth on my throat, you win, but if I plug your heart first, I do.”
Charles looked at Cat as if she were barmy. Then, his gaze swung to Bones. “Is she joking?”
“Not at all.” This was hardly how he’d imagined their first meeting would go, but it would silence Charles’s arguments.
“Dinner’s getting cold,” Cat said with a wider smile. “Come and get me, bloodsucker.”
Charles glanced at Bones again.
Bones swept out his hand. Have at it, mate.
Charles lunged at Cat, feinting right before aiming for her throat. He’d almost reached it when two rapid thuds had him coming to a dead stop while staring at his chest in disbelief.
“Well, strike me pink!”
“I don’t know what that means, but okay,” Cat said in a cheery tone.
She had a right to be pleased. Two hilts speared Charles right in the chest. If they’d been silver, he’d be either dead from the double heart puncture or paralyzed with agony, making him an easy kill. Either way, she’d won.
Charles yanked the knives out and met Bones’s knowing gaze.
“I don’t believe it,” Charles whispered.
Bones grunted. “Same thing I thought when I first tangled with her. She has a real talent with knives. Good thing she hadn’t practiced throwing them before she met me, or I might not be here.”
Charles shook his head. “Indeed. All right, Cat.” He turned his attention back to her. “You’ve made an excellent point that you’re far deadlier than you appear. I also see I can’t sway you to leave this business with Hennessey alone, and Crispin clearly has confidence in you, so I bow in defeat.”
Charles punctuated that with a bow worthy of his aristocratic heritage, and Cat laughed in delight.
“What were you before they sent you to prison? A duke?”
Charles straightened to his full height of six feet four inches. “Baron Charles DeMortimer, at your service.”
Then, he turned to Crispin. “I have the information we talked about, if you’re truly set on taking her on a hunt tonight.”
“He is,” Cat said before Bones could respond. Her gray gaze was almost alight from eagerness. “Who am I going after?”
CHAPTER 1
I was not spying on my daughter. I wasn’t.
Sure, I was flying to the spot in the woods where Katie was, but that wasn’t to avoid her hearing my footsteps. It was just…convenience. If you came from a line of flight-capable Master vamps like I did, would you dirty your shoes by trudging through the dirt and leaves?
And sure, I was avoiding branches that would snap in a telltale way if I got too close, but that didn’t prove anything. Why ruin the natural sounds of the forest?
Okay, fine, my slowing down and ducking behind a tree when I glimpsed Katie was incriminating, but why couldn’t a mother enjoy a few private moments admiring her recently discovered daughter? Katie was lovely, with auburn-colored hair, the same dark gray eyes as mine, skin like sunlight on snow, and an uncommon gracefulness that was on full display as she danced among the trees.
If I still breathed, my breath would have caught as I watched her. I’d had her in my life less than three years, so I didn’t have the memories most parents had of watching their babies coo in the crib, or laugh for the first time, or take their first steps, but I could watch Katie dance now, and it was indescribably beautiful. No prima ballerina had Katie’s grace, precision, or speed.
And that was why we still had to keep her hidden. Those traits would reveal that Katie wasn’t fully human. Mixed species people might be legal now, but Katie’s particular blend of species had almost caused two undead wars before.
I was about to call out to her when she suddenly turned a pirouette into a roundhouse kick that leveled a nearby birch tree. Another spinning combination took out a larger spruce to her left, and then a ferocious roll-and-kick combo felled three evergreens in a row. As the coup de grâce, she ripped the stump of the nearest toppled evergreen out of the ground, and then held it up by its roots as if the stump were a decapitated head.
Dammit! Katie wasn’t out here secretly dancing. She was practicing killing. Again.
I knew something was up with all her recent “walks.” That’s why I was spying on her—and yes, I had known all along that I was spying. Don’t judge; motherhood was still very new and overwhelming to me. Hell, I hadn’t even known I was a mother until a few years ago, when I found out that—while I was unconscious—my eggs had been harvested, fertilized, and implanted into a surrogate. Sound impossible? So does a half-vampire working for a secret branch of Homeland Security that polices murderously misbehaving members of the undead society, but that was my old job. Unbeknownst to me, I’d also been a guinea pig for a shadowy government official who’d been trying to create a paranormal super soldier. He’d succeeded with Katie, and though she was only ten years old, all the growth hormones they’d pumped into her meant that she looked several years older. The worst part, though, was by the time I found her she’d already racked up a body count that would do a hardened mercenary proud.
I’d spent the last few years trying to undo the brutal tutelage Katie had received when she was the government’s secret weapon, hoping that with time, she would forget much of her early years. My husband, Bones, and I had given Katie as normal a life as we could, especially considering that we were both vampires hiding out from the vampire world because of Katie’s unique combination of species.
We thought we’d been making progress with Katie, yet here she was practicing killing people again despite being told that killing was wrong. Did she think I couldn’t protect her? Or did…did she miss killing people?
If she were human, I could read her mind and know the answer, but Katie was inhuman enough for her thoughts to be locked away. That left me guessing, and I couldn’t come up with any innocent reason for what she was doing. Despair pricked me. Maybe I hadn’t given Katie enough normal to help undo the massive psychological damage done to her. Was that why she was reverting back to her old behaviors?
My lips tightened as I shoved my despair aside. If my daughter needed more normal in order to break free from her horrifying past, then fine. I’d deliver an ass-ton of it.
* * *
Later, I gripped my knife so hard that my knuckles whitened. I’d been in many battles before, but seldom had my nerves been stretched this tight.
“You’d better be worth it,” I said to my prey.
One hard slice later, my hopes shattered. “Mother…fudger!” I swore, altering the curse just in time.
A stifled laugh behind me increased my ire. I whirled to see my mother turning away with her hand covering her traitorously twitching lips.
“I told you to take the turkey out half an hour ago,” Justina murmured.
Yes, well, the meat thermometer hadn’t registered 165 degrees then, and the recipe said poultry had to be cooked to at least 165 degrees. I gave the meat thermometer an evil look. Either it was broken, or it was possessed by the spirit of a vengeful chef bent on destroying my attempts at a nice family dinner. Hey, stranger things had happened.
“Sorry. Dinner’s going to suck, but on the bright side, no one’s getting salmonella from this burnt offering.”
“You’re all vampires, and I’m not fully human, so salmonella can’t harm any of us,” Katie replied. Her tone was faintly quizzical, as if she was trying to hide her surprise that I hadn’t figured that out for myself.
“I know, honey,” I said gently. “I was making a joke.”
“Ah,” she said. Then, she smiled a little too wide. “Of course. Your joke was very entertaining!”
Now I was the one smiling. Despite Katie’s many skills, she had yet to master lying. It was almost comforting.
“Don’t fret,” Bones replied, getting up and moving into the kitchen. “That bird will do nicely with the right roux. Give me a few minutes, Kitten.”
I left the kitchen, defeated by it once again. No matter how many recipes I tried, I still couldn’t cook to save my life.
Bones began whisking the pan drippings while adding wine, spices, flour, and other ingredients. Soon, the aroma was heavenly. His roux, or gravy, as we Americans called it, was so good that it made even the overcooked turkey delicious.
By the end of dinner, I would have called tonight a success, except for what Katie said after taking her plate to the sink: “I’m going for a walk in the woods.”
Granted, ten o’clock at night might be well past bedtime for a human child, but for a household of vampires, it was barely evening. Also, our nearest neighbor was several acres away in this stretch of forested land in Mission, British Columbia, Canada, so she was safe. Still, I tensed.
Going for a walk, my ass!
I had to handle this. I just wasn’t sure how to do so yet.
“Fine, but don’t be gone too long.”
I was not spying on my daughter. I wasn’t.
Sure, I was flying to the spot in the woods where Katie was, but that wasn’t to avoid her hearing my footsteps. It was just…convenience. If you came from a line of flight-capable Master vamps like I did, would you dirty your shoes by trudging through the dirt and leaves?
And sure, I was avoiding branches that would snap in a telltale way if I got too close, but that didn’t prove anything. Why ruin the natural sounds of the forest?
Okay, fine, my slowing down and ducking behind a tree when I glimpsed Katie was incriminating, but why couldn’t a mother enjoy a few private moments admiring her recently discovered daughter? Katie was lovely, with auburn-colored hair, the same dark gray eyes as mine, skin like sunlight on snow, and an uncommon gracefulness that was on full display as she danced among the trees.
If I still breathed, my breath would have caught as I watched her. I’d had her in my life less than three years, so I didn’t have the memories most parents had of watching their babies coo in the crib, or laugh for the first time, or take their first steps, but I could watch Katie dance now, and it was indescribably beautiful. No prima ballerina had Katie’s grace, precision, or speed.
And that was why we still had to keep her hidden. Those traits would reveal that Katie wasn’t fully human. Mixed species people might be legal now, but Katie’s particular blend of species had almost caused two undead wars before.
I was about to call out to her when she suddenly turned a pirouette into a roundhouse kick that leveled a nearby birch tree. Another spinning combination took out a larger spruce to her left, and then a ferocious roll-and-kick combo felled three evergreens in a row. As the coup de grâce, she ripped the stump of the nearest toppled evergreen out of the ground, and then held it up by its roots as if the stump were a decapitated head.
Dammit! Katie wasn’t out here secretly dancing. She was practicing killing. Again.
I knew something was up with all her recent “walks.” That’s why I was spying on her—and yes, I had known all along that I was spying. Don’t judge; motherhood was still very new and overwhelming to me. Hell, I hadn’t even known I was a mother until a few years ago, when I found out that—while I was unconscious—my eggs had been harvested, fertilized, and implanted into a surrogate. Sound impossible? So does a half-vampire working for a secret branch of Homeland Security that polices murderously misbehaving members of the undead society, but that was my old job. Unbeknownst to me, I’d also been a guinea pig for a shadowy government official who’d been trying to create a paranormal super soldier. He’d succeeded with Katie, and though she was only ten years old, all the growth hormones they’d pumped into her meant that she looked several years older. The worst part, though, was by the time I found her she’d already racked up a body count that would do a hardened mercenary proud.
I’d spent the last few years trying to undo the brutal tutelage Katie had received when she was the government’s secret weapon, hoping that with time, she would forget much of her early years. My husband, Bones, and I had given Katie as normal a life as we could, especially considering that we were both vampires hiding out from the vampire world because of Katie’s unique combination of species.
We thought we’d been making progress with Katie, yet here she was practicing killing people again despite being told that killing was wrong. Did she think I couldn’t protect her? Or did…did she miss killing people?
If she were human, I could read her mind and know the answer, but Katie was inhuman enough for her thoughts to be locked away. That left me guessing, and I couldn’t come up with any innocent reason for what she was doing. Despair pricked me. Maybe I hadn’t given Katie enough normal to help undo the massive psychological damage done to her. Was that why she was reverting back to her old behaviors?
My lips tightened as I shoved my despair aside. If my daughter needed more normal in order to break free from her horrifying past, then fine. I’d deliver an ass-ton of it.
* * *
Later, I gripped my knife so hard that my knuckles whitened. I’d been in many battles before, but seldom had my nerves been stretched this tight.
“You’d better be worth it,” I said to my prey.
One hard slice later, my hopes shattered. “Mother…fudger!” I swore, altering the curse just in time.
A stifled laugh behind me increased my ire. I whirled to see my mother turning away with her hand covering her traitorously twitching lips.
“I told you to take the turkey out half an hour ago,” Justina murmured.
Yes, well, the meat thermometer hadn’t registered 165 degrees then, and the recipe said poultry had to be cooked to at least 165 degrees. I gave the meat thermometer an evil look. Either it was broken, or it was possessed by the spirit of a vengeful chef bent on destroying my attempts at a nice family dinner. Hey, stranger things had happened.
“Sorry. Dinner’s going to suck, but on the bright side, no one’s getting salmonella from this burnt offering.”
“You’re all vampires, and I’m not fully human, so salmonella can’t harm any of us,” Katie replied. Her tone was faintly quizzical, as if she was trying to hide her surprise that I hadn’t figured that out for myself.
“I know, honey,” I said gently. “I was making a joke.”
“Ah,” she said. Then, she smiled a little too wide. “Of course. Your joke was very entertaining!”
Now I was the one smiling. Despite Katie’s many skills, she had yet to master lying. It was almost comforting.
“Don’t fret,” Bones replied, getting up and moving into the kitchen. “That bird will do nicely with the right roux. Give me a few minutes, Kitten.”
I left the kitchen, defeated by it once again. No matter how many recipes I tried, I still couldn’t cook to save my life.
Bones began whisking the pan drippings while adding wine, spices, flour, and other ingredients. Soon, the aroma was heavenly. His roux, or gravy, as we Americans called it, was so good that it made even the overcooked turkey delicious.
By the end of dinner, I would have called tonight a success, except for what Katie said after taking her plate to the sink: “I’m going for a walk in the woods.”
Granted, ten o’clock at night might be well past bedtime for a human child, but for a household of vampires, it was barely evening. Also, our nearest neighbor was several acres away in this stretch of forested land in Mission, British Columbia, Canada, so she was safe. Still, I tensed.
Going for a walk, my ass!
I had to handle this. I just wasn’t sure how to do so yet.
“Fine, but don’t be gone too long.”
fb2epub
Arraste e solte seus arquivos
(não mais do que 5 por vez)