Bones dropped his hands from her back, giving her arms full range of motion. Now, she could shove him away or stab him, so everything that happened would be her choice. He tangled his hand in her hair, tilted her neck, and dipped his mouth to it again.

  She let out an extended moan as his fangs sank in deep and he drew in a long, sweet swallow. She swayed against him, but her knife didn’t waver. One thrust into his heart would paralyze him, and one twist after that would kill him.

  Bones drew in another mouthful, letting it coat his tongue so he could savor every drop before he swallowed. The tip of her blade dug in until it broke his skin, searing him with the unmistakable burn of silver.

  Still, he didn’t stop. If you make these my last moments, I’m living them to the fullest, Kitten.

  That burn disappeared as her knife clattered to the ground. Then, her arms slid around his neck, and she pulled his mouth tighter against her throat.

  “I can’t do it,” she whispered. “I love you too much…”

  Nothing he’d ever felt compared to that moment. He was flying and drowning and shining and burning.

  I love you…I love you…I love you…

  “I love you, too, Kitten,” he murmured when he finally lifted his head, but she couldn’t hear him. She’d passed out.

  Sirens cut through the other sounds. The police had arrived, which meant that her team wouldn’t be far behind. He’d meet those lads soon enough, but not now. He had other plans for the rest of the night.

  Bones cradled Cat to him and flew up into the moonless sky.

  15

  Cat still snored, and she still stole all the covers. Doing that back in his chilly cave made sense, but this was summer in a house that wasn’t even cold. Not that it mattered. She wrapped herself up in the comforter as if trying to become the world’s first half-vampire, half-human burrito.

  Bones lay next to her, the front of his body warmed by her heat, and his back cool because she’d hadn’t left him a scrap of fabric. She used to share the edges of her blanket, at least. No more. Good thing he had several pillows, or she might have sleep-swiped those out from under him, too.

  Eventually, her breathing changed from slow, even breaths to shorter, lighter ones. She was waking up. A pity. He would have preferred holding her another several hours. He’d been so relaxed that, covers or no, he’d almost fallen asleep himself.

  Her eyelids fluttered open. For a second, she stiffened as she looked around at the light gray walls of the bedroom, which were adorned with mismatched floral prints provided by the Airbnb owner. Then, the tension left her as she glanced down and saw his arms. Both were around her, holding her against him.

  “Where are we?” she asked in a quiet voice.

  “In the house I’m renting in Richmond,” he replied.

  At least she hadn’t leapt out of bed, which he’d half expected. She wasn’t a morning person under the best of circumstances-another vampire trait she shared.

  “How long have I been out?”

  He didn’t need to glance at his mobile. “Four hours, give or take. Long enough for you to steal all the covers. I’ve been listening to you snore and watching you cocoon into the bedspread, and I realized this is what I’ve missed the most. Holding you while you sleep.”

  That got her into an upright position. She never had been comfortable with emotional honesty. Then, she touched her throat as if expecting to feel the evidence of his former bites, but Bones had already healed the holes.

  “You bit me.”

  Bones met her gaze. Faint accusation swam in the gray depths, but confusion lingered there, too.

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  “Why?” she asked with a slight edge to her tone.

  He’d thought about that since it happened, so he answered with the truth. “Many reasons. Shall I list them all?”

  “Yeah,” she said with more of that edge.

  Did she even remember telling him she loved him? Apparently not, from the defensive set to her shoulders and the shields he could practically see her layering herself with. Ah, well. He knew it even if she was still lying to herself about it.

  “Primarily, to prove a point. You could have killed me. By rights, you should have. You had a vampire sucking the lifeblood out of you and a silver knife in your hand. Only a fool wouldn’t have wielded that blade…or someone who cares far more than she’s admitting to.”

  Anger flushed her cheeks. “You bit me to test me?” With that, she leapt out of bed. Then, she swayed before steadying herself. “You’d have been sorry if I had sliced up your heart. How could you be so stupid? You could have gotten killed!”

  Laughter blew out of him in a hiss. Bloody woman wouldn’t recognize irony even if it chewed her arse off.

  “And so could you! Frankly, after years of wondering how you felt, it was worth risking my life to find out. Now, admit it, Kitten. You haven’t gotten over me any more than I’ve gotten over you, and all your denial, lies, or the moron you’re dating won’t change that.”

  She flinched as if he’d struck her. Then, tears sparkled in her eyes before she glanced away.

  “It doesn’t matter. It can’t work between us, Bones. Nothing can change what you are, and I won’t change what I am.”

  Before he shattered her illusions about that supposed obstacle, he needed to know something.

  “Answer me this, Kitten. When it is just you and I, does it bother you that I’m a vampire? I know what the rest of them think-your mum, your boss, your workmates-but do you care?”

  She didn’t even hesitate, and he’d expected her to take a moment to consider that. “No. I don’t care.”

  Sincerity rang through her soft, vibrating voice. If she’d changed from hating all vampires on sight to this, didn’t she realize that they could overcome anything together?

  If she didn’t, she’d learn starting now.

  “You left because you didn’t think I could handle the obstacles before us. Then, you tried to get on with your life because you believed it would never work between us, but I couldn’t get on with mine because I knew we could work. I’ve been looking for you every day since you left me, and I’m sick of being without you. You’ve had your shot at things. Now, let me have mine.”

  She turned around, her expression a kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions. “What are you talking about?”

  “Trusting me, which is what you should have done years ago. I’m strong enough to handle whatever your job or your mum throws at me, so we can beat the odds if you give us a chance.”

  She drew in a ragged breath. “Even if you take out my job and my mother, what are you going to do when I grow old? Hand me some Ben-Gay for my arthritis? You’ll want me to change. You’ll resent it when I refuse, and it will destroy us.”

  Bones got out of bed, holding her gaze with every step he took toward her. “I will never force you to become a vampire. Ever. Nor will I pressure you, guilt you, coerce you, or try to trick you. Is that clear enough?”

  Tears turned her gray gaze into sparkling silver. “So, you’re fine with me getting wrinkled, decrepit, and then dead?”

  She wasn’t ready to hear this next part, but nevertheless, she had to. “Kitten, sit down.”

  She froze as if sensing that the hammer was about to drop. “No. Tell me now. What don’t I know? Am I dying or something?”

  The opposite. “Haven’t you ever wondered how long you would live? Ever truly pondered it?”

  Her laugh was short and sharp. “No. I thought I’d get killed pretty quickly with this job.”

  She wasn’t wrong about its dangerousness, but he forced his anger about that back. This was about her now. Not him.

  “Think past that. You’re half vampire. You’ve never been sick, your body heals faster than any human, and you can’t catch any of the diseases that affect the living. Even poisons and drugs need to be given in massive doses before they affect you, so what makes you think you’d only live to an average age?”

  She drew in a breath to argue. Then, it sputtered out in something that was half gasp, half sob. Beneath her denial, she must have known this, even if everything her mum had taught her about her other nature made her immediately object to it.

  “But I’m alive. I breathe, get my period, shave my legs…for God’s sake, I had an entire childhood!”

  “Yes, and you told me your vampire nature first emerged most notably in puberty,” Bones said in a steady tone. “Probably it was the hormonal surge, the same thing that can trigger congenital defects in humans, that increased your nosferatu traits, and they’ve grown ever since. Your pulse and breathing only make you easier to kill, but you’re not human, Kitten. You never have been. You just mimic them better than vampires do.”

  Her hand whipped out in a slap. “Liar!”

  The blow didn’t even hurt. That’s how little effort she’d put into it because she knew, deep down, that he wasn’t lying.

  “Your skin hasn’t aged a day since you left me. Not one line, not one furrow. Granted, you’re only twenty-seven, and wouldn’t show most signs of aging until later, but there should be some difference”-he touched her face before she batted his hand away-“and there isn’t. Then, there’s the blood.”

  “What blood?” she asked instantly.

  “Mine,” he said with a sigh. “I didn’t have a chance to tell you before because you left two days later, but the night we rescued your mum, you drank about two pints of my blood to make yourself stronger and faster. That alone would add fifty years to a normal human’s lifespan. To yours? Double, easily.”

  Her hand flashed out again. This time, he grabbed it before she could slap him.

  “Bastard!” she shouted. “You didn’t warn me!”

  He didn’t blink from her furious gaze.

  “Would it have changed your decision? You thought we were both going to die that night, not to mention you would have done anything to save your mum. You could also live to be as old as I am without it. Don’t take my word for it,” he added with a sliver of anger he couldn’t suppress. “Go to your boss. Look Don in the eye and ask him what he already knows. All the pathology they’ve done on you over the years, I’m damn sure he knows.”

  She was breathing heavier, and now, the tears in her gaze looked rage-induced. He’d take all the anger he was due and more, but he was far from alone in the blame. Of course her boss knew this. Her mum probably did, too. So would Cat, if they hadn’t made her trip all over herself pretending to be human except for the times it suited them for her not to be.

  “That’s why I have no reason to pressure you into becoming a vampire,” Bones added in a much softer tone. “With your mixed heritage and the occasional consumption of my blood, you’d live as long as you want to, just as you are.”

  She stared at him as if she’d never seen him before. Then, she stalked over to the bedroom door.

  Bones stopped her before she could open it. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Out,” she said as she shoved at his chest with far less than her usual strength. “I can’t look at you right now.”

  The bearer of bad news always bore its brunt. Still… “You’re in no condition to drive.”

  Her laughter rang out, harsh and brittle. “Why don’t you open a vein for me, then? What’s another fifty years, right?”

  He sighed. “Kitten…”

  She swatted away the hand he reached out. “Don’t touch me.”

  Having the future you expected stolen from you and replaced with something far different was brutal. Bones knew that from experience. Ian had done the same to him, and now, Bones had had a hand in doing that to her, even if most of her extended lifespan would come from her lineage instead of his blood.

  “Fine,” he said. “Where do you want to go? I’ll drive you.”

  She closed her eyes. “Take me home.”

  “After you,” he said, and held open the door.

  16

  Dawn splashed the sky with swaths of apricot and gold as Bones pulled up to Cat’s house. She hadn’t said a word during the half-hour drive, and she jumped out of the car as soon as it came to a stop in her driveway.

  “I’ll see you later,” Bones called out after her.

  She didn’t reply. He didn’t expect her to. Understandably, she had a lot on her mind.

  Bones drove away, but he didn’t go back to his rented house. He went to the office space he’d leased along the main route that Cat drove when she went back and forth to Don’s secret compound. If he knew Cat, she’d stew for a few hours, and then confront Don with what he’d hidden from her. Bones had to be ready in case Don didn’t take it well. Justina’s subconscious directive wasn’t the only failsafe Bones had prepared.

  “Rodney,” Bones said after ringing the ghoul. “Standby.”

  “On my way,” Rodney said. He’d been in town since the day after Bones found Cat, just in case of something like this.

  Bones hung up with Rodney and then made the call that he’d put off until now.

  “Crispin.” Sleep thickened Charles’s voice as he answered on the second ring. No surprise that Charles was abed. It was dawn, after all. Bones didn’t waste time on pleasantries. He and Charles hadn’t been on good terms for a year, so his mate deserved to know straightaway why Bones had woken him.

  “I found her, Charles, and I was right. She did stay away because they threatened my life, and she does still love me.”

  A long, shocked silence. Then, Charles said, “I’m very happy for you…and now also very ashamed of everything I said.”

  Bones grunted. “Don’t be. You meant well, and I probably would have told you the same had our situations been reversed.”

  Charles’s heavy sigh filled the line. “No, you wouldn’t. You would have supported me, same as you did when I went mad from grief and hunted Giselda’s killers. You were right to remind me of that, and I think…I kept telling you to move on with Cat because I didn’t want you ending up like me. I haven’t moved on in more than a century, and I didn’t…I didn’t want you to be ruined the way I am.”

  Bones closed his eyes. He should have realized that’s where Charles’s unusual coldness had stemmed from. Instead, he’d been too wrapped up in his own pain to notice how deeply his friend was still hurting, too.

  “You’re not ruined, mate. At worst, you’re scarred, but scars only show the places where we’ve healed back stronger.”

  Something like a strangled laugh escaped Charles. “You, a poetic optimistic? Now I’ve truly seen everything.”

  “Not yet, but would you like to see a slice of Richmond, Virginia, if you’re still in the States?” Bones asked in as casual a manner as possible. “Specifically, the exterior of a building that contains America’s top secret undead hunters?”

  Instantly, Charles’s tone changed to diamondlike hardness. “You think they might try to spirit Cat away again?”

  “I think it’s possible. But they wouldn’t expect a double aerial assault if they attempt to evacuate her by plane, and Rodney’s already in place if they try something on the ground.”

  “I can be there in three hours,” Charles said, sounding fully awake now. “Just tell me where to go.”

  Bones did, then thanked Charles and hung up.

  During the days since he’d found Cat, he’d learned everything he could about her “office.” From the outside, it looked like a small professional complex set three miles off a public side street, with security checkpoints at each mile until you reached the main building. A narrow airstrip and helicopter pad ended at the tree line that surrounded half the site, while a normal-looking parking lot and fence surrounded the rest.

  Yet appearances, as always, were deceiving. Most of the complex was several levels underground, according to the few blueprints Bones had found on it. It had originally been a secret fallout shelter during the Cold War, and had since been repurposed for Don Williams’ clandestine hunting operation.

  Cat drove to work there nearly every day. If she went today and didn’t drive back out, Bones would attack with the kind of savageness they wouldn’t live long enough to be haunted by.

  Two hours and fifty minutes later, Charles rang to say that he was in position. Five hours after that, Cat’s black Volvo blipped on his scanner as she drove by Bones’s office. The transmitter Bones had hidden on it when it was parked at the country club for Denise and Randy’s wedding showed Cat was headed into work.

  Bones left at once, a helmet hiding his features as he followed her on his new Ducati. When Cat turned off the public road onto the complex’s private exit, he passed it by instead of turning there as well. He already knew that cameras monitored everything from fifty meters beyond that exit all the way to the compound, and if Ted’s hacking was correct, the area was also littered with weight-sensors beneath the ground to warn of any intruders who might try to sneak onto the complex on foot.

  But Bones wasn’t trying to storm the property. Just to prevent any planes or unmarked vehicles from leaving it.

  A nerve-grinding hour later, Cat pulled out of the compound and back onto the main road. Bones only caught a glimpse of her face from his hiding point, but she looked flushed with anger. Don must have confirmed his knowledge of her longevity. He’d also let her leave under her own recognizance. Interesting.

  Bones rang Charles and Rodney. “Stand down, mates. So far, all is well, and she’s on her way home.”

  “You let us know if isn’t,” Charles said. “I’ll be there.”

  “Me, too,” Rodney said.

  “Thanks, both of you,” Bones replied. “I owe you.”

  But Bones was wrong. Cat didn’t drive home. She didn’t visit her mum to confront her next, either. She went to Noah’s.

  Ice burned if you held it long enough. That’s what Bones felt as he watched Noah usher her inside his house with a wide smile-a cold, painful, insidious burn. Had he been wrong in assuming that Cat held only tepid affections for the bloke?