Don’s heart actually fluttered, and then anger edged through the fear in his scent.

  “All these years, Cat. You’ve been working for the other side this entire time. Bravo, I was completely fooled.”

  “You ungrateful sod,” Bones snapped. “The only reason I’m not picking you out of my teeth this very moment is because of her. She fancies you a decent man, not that I agree, and has in no way betrayed her trust. You can hardly say the same.”

  “A death threat-not the best way to open things,” Cat muttered.

  Then, she fixed her gaze on Don. “I haven’t played you, Don. When I left Ohio, I thought I was leaving Bones behind. He tracked me down and found me only two weeks ago. Yes, I got him out of the cells, but I have never done anything else to betray you or this operation.”

  Don didn’t look convinced. “I should have sensed a trap. No vampire ever surrenders. What I don’t know is how you got your mother to play along.”

  Cat grunted. “She didn’t. Bones told her he wanted to meet her without my knowledge. We knew what she’d do next.”

  A dark laugh escaped Bones. “And she didn’t disappoint. When I got to her house, she’d already called Don, blacked both her eyes, and knocked over every stick of furniture she had.”

  “She is too much,” Cat said with a sigh.

  Bones agreed, but Justina wasn’t the relation he was here to discuss. “Back to you, Don. For most of my years, I’ve had a trade. I find people, and I’m right good at it. Imagine my surprise when I had such a devil of a time finding her. Then, I couldn’t find much about her father, either. Now, failure to locate one, I could see, but two? Both hidden so carefully it was almost as if they were concealed…by the same person.”

  Cat stiffened, and Bones took her hand. No, she wasn’t expecting this turn to the conversation, but that assassin necessitated hastening the revelation.

  “Two things always struck me as strange when she disappeared into the smoke,” Bones said, staring at Don. Sweat beaded the other man’s upper lip, but aside from that, his face revealed nothing. “The first was how you showed up with all her facts and figures the same day she was arrested. Such research takes time, as I know, which meant you’d have to have been keeping tabs on Cat for a while, but how would you know to do that? Only one way. You already knew what she was.”

  Cat’s gasp covered the pained sound Don made, and she overturned her chair with how fast she leapt out of it.

  “Don, what have you been hiding from me?”

  She was halfway across Don’s desk to grab him when Bones hauled her back. If she was going to assault Don, she’d do it with all the facts.

  “Sit down, luv,” Bones said, pulling her onto his lap.

  She didn’t struggle, but she was stiff as a board in his arms, and she glared at Don as if her gaze could yank the truth out of him. “Go on, Bones, since he still isn’t talking.”

  “The second thing that stumped me was how there were no records of recent deaths matching her father’s description at the time her mother was raped,” Bones continued. “Not even any John Doe’s. Ian was the one who solved that riddle. You named him as Liam Flannery, Don, and you sent Cat after him, but Ian wasn’t her usual sort of target, was he?”

  Cat answered when all Don gave was more silence.

  “No, he wasn’t. Get to the point, Bones.”

  He sighed. “I’d rather hoped Don would step in and finish. He owes you that, but he’s probably hoping like blazes that I’m only fishing, aren’t you, old chap?”

  The moniker made Don’s shoulders stiffen. He didn’t like it, which made Bones decide to keep calling him that, and if Don thought Bones was bluffing by only revealing kernels of knowledge, he’d learn that Bones never bluffed.

  “Open the envelope I gave you earlier, Kitten.”

  She fished it out of her bra and unfolded it. Don glimpsed the printout of the old newspaper clipping when she pulled it free from the envelope, and his jaw clenched.

  That’s right, Bones thought coldly. Nothing stays buried forever, especially when it comes to the undead.

  Cat took one look at the photo above the article, and tremors started wracking her. Bones held her tighter, well remembering the shock he’d felt when he first saw Max, too. Their resemblance was uncanny, even in a grainy newspaper photo captioned “Family Celebrates Commendation of Federal Officer.”

  Don had been decades younger in the photo, which is why it took Cat several moments to recognize the man with his arm around Max. When she did, her trembling increased while rage erupted from her scent. Then, she hurled the article at Don.

  “Isn’t life just one big joke? I mean, one huge cosmic one-liner! Now I know how Luke Skywalker felt when Darth Vader told him who he was, except you’re not my father, Don. But you’re his brother, so I guess I should call you Uncle Don.”

  28

  Don’s stomach made a lurching sound, as if he were about to vomit. Bones felt no pity. If he had his way, Don would already be bleeding out. Only Cat’s loyalty to her family saved his life, and Don was her family, rotten bastard though he was.

  He’d watch and cheer if Cat decided to kill Don, though.

  “You son of a bitch!” Cat continued to rage. “You sent me out on how many suicide missions when all the while, you knew I was your niece? You and my mother have a lot in common-the two of you should be related!”

  True, that, Bones thought, but Don was finally finished being silent.

  “Why would I think you’d be any different, Cat? Thirty-five years ago, my older brother, who I idolized, was investigating Liam Flannery. Then, he disappeared. We thought Max was dead, and no one at the FBI would tell us about the last case he was on. I later joined the FBI to try and find out what had happened to him. Eventually, I found out what Max had really been chasing. Vampires. I vowed to continue his hunt and give Max justice, but one day, Max showed up. I was shocked that he was still alive. He didn’t look a day older, either, but what really shocked me was how Max told me to forget about Liam Flannery and the vampire underworld, or he’d kill me.”

  Pain strafed Don’s tone before, and his gaze became haunted. So, this was why Don believed that drinking vampire blood turned a person evil. Bones supposed it was easier to believe that than to admit Max must have been evil all along.

  “Six months later, Justina was attacked in the same city I’d followed Max to,” Don continued in a brisker tone. “When I read the description of her rapist, I knew it was Max, and that he’d finally become a vampire. Five months later, Justina gave birth to a child with a genetic abnormality documented at birth. Yes, I suspected your lineage all along, and made it a point to periodically check up on you while I created this department. But when years went by and nothing happened, I forgot about you…until your name came up in connection with a series of strange murders and grave robberies. I was already on my way to Ohio to get you when your grandparents were killed.”

  Cat closed her eyes. Her tremors had ceased, but the anger leaking from her scent hadn’t. Now, though, it was also saturated with pain. She’d never forgive herself for her grandparents’ murders even though they weren’t her fault.

  Don waited until Cat opened her eyes before he spoke, and a sardonic smile twisted his mouth.

  “I also believe that life is one big cosmic joke. Here God had finally given me the one thing strong enough to stop my brother and his kind, and it was his own daughter. That’s why I used you for that purpose while also waiting for the day when you’d turn evil as Max did, but that didn’t happen. When I finally believed you were different, I sent you to capture Liam Flannery, hoping I could use Max’s maker to draw him out.”

  Cat shook off her shock. “Ian turned Max into a vampire?”

  “Seems so,” Bones replied quietly.

  Don didn’t realize the significance. He had no idea that Ian had sired Bones, too. He only gave Cat another hard smile.

  “Yes, and as fate would have it, Liam-or-Ian-got away from you when I sent you after him. I’m guessing revenge for that attempt is why he sent the shooter after you last night.”

  “Ian didn’t hire that gunman,” Bones said, giving Cat a moment to absorb all this. “Ian wants her alive. No, someone else is trying to kill her, and it’s someone here.”

  Don snorted. “And you think you’re going to find out who this mythical traitor is? How? By torturing all the staff?”

  Bones let his contempt fill his voice. “For someone who’s studied vampires for decades, you certainly don’t give them much credit. Forgetting these?”

  The light from the new gleam in his eyes landed on Don’s face, painting it in a green glow. Don looked away at once.

  “Ah, yes, the spellbinding eyes of the nosferatu. Many days, I wished I had the ability to glare the truth out of people, if I could avoid the other consequences of such power.”

  “Yes, well, power has a price, and it always gets paid,” Bones said in a light tone. “Now, shall I let you go, Kitten, so you can bash his head in as you seemed to want to before?”

  Bones dropped his arms from around her, but Cat didn’t move. She only gazed at Don as if seeing him for the first time. After long moments of staring, she shook her head.

  “I should kill you for what you did to me, but I won’t. I understand needing vengeance better than most people. It makes you do rash things, like hunting vampires as a teenager because you’re trying to even the score for your mother. Or sending your niece on suicide missions so that one day, if she lives, you can use her to trap your own brother.”

  Most of the time, Bones loved her deep sense of compassion. Today, he loathed it. What Don had done to her was unforgiveable, and yet here she was, forgiving him.

  “Besides, aside from my mother, you’re the only family I have left,” Cat said with a terrible attempt at a shrug. “I don’t count Max for obvious reasons, so…you can come with us while we look for the traitor. Or don’t come. I don’t care.”

  But she did care. That was obvious, and Don wasn’t a fool. His gaze sharpened as he looked at Cat, and then shuttered as he glanced at Bones.

  Bones stared at him, letting the green bleed out of his eyes so that Don had no excuse to look away. You haven’t won, old chap. Things are about to change.

  “But if you come with us, Don, you can’t interfere,” Cat went on, oblivious to the silent exchange between Bones and Don. “Think you can handle that?”

  Don stood up, deliberately waiting a beat before turning his gaze away to show that doing so was a choice, not a fearful reaction to Bones’s hard stare.

  “I can handle it,” Don said to Cat, but Bones knew the words were directed to both of them.

  Bones bit back his scoff. Oh, I’ll make you prove that.

  “Then let’s do this,” Cat said.

  Tate and Juan weren’t the only employees filling up the hallway outside Don’s door. At least a dozen more were there, and several of them had used the “flashlight” feature on their mobiles to illuminate the dark since the battery-backed emergency lights only cast a faint red glow. Then, their hushed conversations ceased when Cat, Bones, and Don appeared.

  Bones scanned the crowd, searching expressions, measuring heart rates, and scenting the air. So far, everyone seemed to be the normal amount of upset considering the building’s lack of electricity, internet, and ability to leave. Time to increase the pressure and see who cracked.

  Bones let his eyes glow and smiled wide enough to show his fangs.

  Gasps sounded over Tate saying, “We good, Cat?”

  “For now,” she replied, watching as Bones outpaced the employees who tried to run. Then, he corralled them back toward Don’s office.

  “Tate, you and Juan can help,” Cat went on as Bones moved through the group, searching for the scent of vampire, ghoul, or traitor-inducing terror. “We’ll start with the team,” Cat continued. “They all know what I am and where I live, so after Bones is done here, they’re next.”

  “We called in all thirty of them,” Tate confirmed. “They’re in the training room, but they’re armed, Cat. We’ll have to bring them out in small groups, so Mr. Pointy Teeth doesn’t get staked on sight,” he added with a cold glance at Bones.

  Bones snorted. “Think I’d fret about a room full of humans? Let them keep their toys. Will teach them a valuable lesson. No matter how well she’s trained them, they’re still not her.”

  “He can take on all of them when they have silver?” Juan sounded shocked.

  Cat sighed. “With the element of surprise and a closed, barely-lit space? Yeah. Is that necessary, though, Bones? Or time efficient? And you can’t kill any of them; they’re my men.”

  “All in one place is faster than group by group, Kitten. Your culprit will be the one trying hardest to kill me, or the one wetting himself. Either way, don’t fret about your merry men, Robin Hood. If they’re not the traitor, they’ll live to fight another day. Speaking of, this group is clear.”

  With that, Bones left the employees in the hallway and returned to Cat’s side.

  Don gave him an appraising glance. “This will be interesting. I don’t normally get to see a Master vampire in action. I only see their messy end results.”

  “Wrong again,” Bones said pointedly. “You’ve seen her fight, so you have seen a Master vampire in action. You just didn’t realize it because she also has a pulse.”

  Cat looked startled to hear him call her a Master. She ever undervalued herself. If she’d been anything less, she wouldn’t have survived Don’s repeated trial-by-fire missions.

  “Well.” Don cleared his throat in the sudden, awkward silence. “Then let’s see what you can do, Bones.”

  29

  Bones thought he’d be through with her team in less than five minutes. It took him nearly ten.

  Cat’s training room turned out to be an impressive mix of a gauntlet, boot camp, triathlon course, and collapsing-building simulator considering that sections of the ground abruptly dropped or slanted without warning. Its purpose was clearly meant to prepare her team for every battle environment, and she’d succeeded. They were the toughest humans he’d ever encountered. The fact that they had such stamina and fortitude without the added benefit of vampire blood was truly remarkable.

  Bones looked up at the glass-enclosed viewing section above the football-sized arena, where Cat, Don, Tate, and Juan had watched the melee. Cat seemed disappointed in her team’s performance, but she shouldn’t be. If he didn’t fly, they might have even had him a time or two. As it was, his skin still burned from their many silver slashes and stabs.

  Don, however, looked stunned. Sod had probably been hoping that Bones would be dead by now. Instead, Bones was standing over the unconscious forms of thirty of her vampire killers.

  “We won’t have enough Brams to heal all of them,” Don said in a dismayed tone.

  “Then I’ll use Bones’s blood,” Cat replied. “Probably need a pint of it, at least, after this.”

  “He’ll just give that to you?”

  Cat shot Don a scornful look. “He climbed into our hell capsule for me earlier, and you think he’ll refuse to donate a little blood? Dumb ass.”

  “They’re clean, Kitten,” Bones called out. “No traitor here. They’re a good bunch of blokes.”

  The man at his feet groaned and tried to get up. Bones gave him a light kick that knocked him back down.

  Cat shook her head. “’Kick ‘em when they’re down’ was always his favorite rule,” she said to Tate. “You’re familiar with the rest of them because I taught them to you.”

  “How can he tell that none of them are involved?” Tate sounded testy. “He’s been in there less than ten minutes, and most of them aren’t even conscious anymore!”

  “I trust him,” Cat replied. “Bones wouldn’t say they were clean unless he was sure, and that’s enough for me.”

  Juan had been silent the entire time, but his inscrutable expression suddenly changed into a wide smile.

  “I don’t care if no one else admits it. That was cool.”

  Bones stifled his laugh. “Let’s finish this, Kitten. The sooner we get through the other employees, the sooner you can get that blood from me.”

  The second sublevel of the compound turned out to be clear, but the moment the elevator doors opened on the third, a familiar scent had Bones pushing Cat back into the elevator.

  “Stay here, Kitten. I smell something.”

  Cat stayed. Tate did, too, muttering “What can he smell?”

  Bones didn’t bother listening to Cat’s reply. He ran past an archway labeled “Pathology,” following the source of the faint vampire scent. Juan and Don followed, but they weren’t the only rapid footfalls Bones heard. Someone else was running, too.

  Bones caught the short, stout Caucasian fellow before he reached the second set of doors in the Pathology lab. Cloud-blue eyes widened with terror as Bones lifted him off his feet.

  “Well, now, what have we here?” Bones purred.

  Those eyes snapped shut at once. Bones pinned him to the wall with one hand and pried the man’s eyelids open with the other. “No, you’re not turning away. Look right here.”

  “Bones has someone,” he heard Cat say, followed by the sound of her rapid stride, but he kept staring into those blue eyes while the stench of the man’s fear overpowered the tinge of vampire that still clung to him.

  “Brad Parker,” Cat whispered as she entered the room. “He’s our head pathologist’s assistant.”

  And their traitor, from the guilt that leaked into Brad’s scent as he heard Cat’s voice. None of the other people had smelled like guilt no matter how terrified they’d been, and if Brad’s heart beat any faster, he’d be in cardiac arrest.

  “Calm down,” Bones said, “and tell me what you’ve been up to. Specifically, which vampire you betrayed her to.”