No, she couldn’t, yet he might have to, and the realization made him feel like he’d swallowed ashes. Ian’s stubbornness was one of his defining characteristics, and he’d already decided to “acquire” Cat. So, nothing that Bones did, including claiming Cat under his line, might stop Ian short of his own death.

  “If it comes to that, at least I’ll know it was my only choice,” Bones finally replied.

  Cat gave him a searching look, and then dropped her hands and the subject.

  Bones was glad. It didn’t bother him to plot against Ian, especially since his sire was being a complete prat, but the other thought was more upsetting than he cared to admit.

  After several minutes of silence, they finally reached the underground stream beneath the campus. Cat stared at it in amazement while Bones paused at the water’s edge.

  “This is where we meet Mencheres.”

  As if he’d been waiting to hear his name, an old metal door screeched in one of the tunnel walls, and Mencheres ducked down as he stepped through it. Cat gasped as she felt the outer rims of Mencheres’s aura. It grew as the other vampire approached, until Bones’s entire body was humming, and more impressive was that Mencheres was still holding much of that aura back.

  “Grandsire,” Bones said, using the term Cat had mentioned. “Thank you for coming.”

  Mencheres embraced him. Bones didn’t flinch as that power sizzled into his skin, but that was only because he expected it.

  “Bones, it has been too long,” Mencheres said.

  Cat was staring at him, taking in Mencheres’s long black hair, obsidian eyes, and skin the same color as the Egyptian deserts he’d grown up in. Despite his vast age, Mencheres looked to be in his late twenties, and when he smiled at Cat, it softened the inherent regalness of his features.

  “This is Cat,” Bones said when Mencheres released him.

  She held out her hand. Mencheres shook it, not offended when she let go with a smothered yelp. He was doubtless used to people reacting that way to his crackling power.

  “I’m leaving Ian’s line,” Bones stated. Mencheres had traveled too far for Bones to waste his time with meaningless pleasantries. “Ian wants Cat, and she wants to murder one of Ian’s people, so you see why I need to divest my loyalties and be Master of my own line.”

  Nothing changed in Mencheres’s expression as he looked from Bones to Cat. Then, he said, “Do you truly believe that killing your father will make any part of your life better?”

  Bones was surprised by the question, but not as much as Cat. She nearly rocked back on her heels.

  “Yes,” she said when she recovered. “Hell yeah, in fact. For starters, I would no longer have to worry about hit men sighting my head in their scopes, and for another, I think killing him would be really, really satisfying.”

  “Vengeance is the emptiest of actions,” Mencheres murmured.

  “Beats suppressed rage,” Cat retorted.

  “I didn’t say it was her father she wanted to kill,” Bones noted, arching a brow. “How did you know that?”

  Mencheres gave him an amused look. “You already know how.”

  Bones sighed. “Ah.”

  “And?” Cat said while tapping her foot.

  Right. “Mencheres sees things. Visions, glimpses of the future, that sort. It’s one of his powers.”

  From Cat’s expression, she was having trouble believing that. “Got any stock tips?” she quipped. “I could sure use some. The government doesn’t pay shit for salary.”

  Mencheres’s lips twitched, but then his expression became smooth as glass as he said, “Are you going to claim Cat as one of yours, Bones? Is that why you wanted to meet in secret? To ask for my support should you and Ian go to war over her?”

  “Yes,” Bones replied.

  Cat was still looking at Mencheres with open skepticism. When Mencheres’s expression became pointed as he stared back, Bones realized he’d forgotten to warn her about something else.

  “Kitten, Mencheres can also read humans’ minds, and from his current expression, he can also read half-breed’s minds.”

  “Whoops,” Cat said with a newly sheepish look. She must have been thinking something snarky indeed. Then, her gaze narrowed. “But he can’t read vampires’ minds, I take it, or you wouldn’t have phrased it that way.”

  “No, not vampires’ minds, unless you’ve been hiding that ability?” Bones added with a slight grin at Mencheres.

  He returned it. “That power would have saved me from many poor decisions in the past, but no. Just humans and half-breeds, it appears. Now, have you told Cat what pretext you’d use to claim her as yours in the vampire world?”

  Bones bit back his groan. Normally, he appreciated Mencheres’s bluntness, but on this topic, he would have preferred an abundance of discretion.

  Cat caught Bones’s reaction and glared at him. “Oh, you’d better tell me whatever this is.”

  No chance that she wouldn’t be angry by it. That’s why he didn’t bother coating it with pretty lies first.

  “Every vampire is territorial, as you know. I found you, I bit you, and I shagged you, all before Ian ever laid eyes on you. So, in the vampire world, that makes you my…my property, should I claim you as such-”

  “Son of a bitch!” she shouted. “Your plan is to growl over me like I was a slab of meat you didn’t want to share?”

  He sighed. “I don’t see you that way, so why does it matter what loophole I utilize? Frankly, I don’t know why Mencheres brought it up in the first place.”

  Twin black brows arched. “Because I refuse to side with you unless she is fully aware of the ramifications.”

  “And he didn’t need mind-reading abilities to know I’d be pissed by them,” Cat snapped. “Neither did you, which is why you left that detail out. No way, Bones. No. Way. Go on, declare your independence and be Master of your own line, but you are not calling yourself my Master, loophole be damned.”

  Anger sharpened his tone. “You do realize you’re being a hypocrite? The day before yesterday, I truthfully swore to Don to take your orders while on mission, and yet here you are, refusing to let strangers even think that you’d heed mine.”

  Her mouth opened…and stayed that way while shame flitted across her features. Then, she closed her mouth with a click.

  “There has to be another way of stymieing Ian without using sexist ‘property’ loopholes.”

  Mencheres shrugged. “They’re not sexist. If Bones were a woman and you a man, the claim would be the same. Discriminating based on gender is a human failing. Not a vampire one.”

  “Whatever,” Cat muttered. Then, a crafty expression replaced her frustrated one, and her smile slowly unfurled.

  Bones tensed. Whatever this was, he’d bet his undead life that he wasn’t going to like it. “What?”

  “You’re going to tell Ian that you found me,” Cat said, her smile widening. “And you’re going to offer to bring me to him.”

  33

  Serves me right, Bones thought as he entered the compound the next day. Cat had hated the plan he came up with the last time they were here, and now their positions were reversed.

  Don wasn’t surprised to see them at his office door. The security checkpoints they’d passed on their way into the compound had alerted him to their presence. If anything, Don looked pleased, and right he should be. He had his best fighter back in his stable with the promise of even more on the way. Bones was surprised that Don wasn’t whistling a merry tune.

  “Come in,” Don said. “I’m just going over the pathology reports from the other day. You have quite a massive component in your blood, Bones,” he added, looking his way now. “We could practically get rid of our other in-house vampires if we siphon a pint a week from you.”

  Bones snorted. “Going to tap me like a tree? Bit of a greedy bloodsucker yourself, aren’t you?”

  Don’s mouth turned down at the comparison. Bones didn’t care. The sod had everything he wanted, which was more than Bones could say at the moment.

  “We came for a reason,” Cat said. “You may as well call in Juan, Tate, and Cooper, too. That way, we’ll only need to go over this once.”

  Don’s brows rose, but he asked no questions and simply summoned the other team members. The three of them waited in silence the short five minutes it took for them to arrive.

  “You all know that I’m half vampire,” Cat stated to her men. “What you didn’t know, and neither did I until recently, was that the vampire who raped my mother is Don’s brother.”

  Gasps sounded from them, covering the low growl Don made. Cat ignored all of it.

  “You also remember Liam Flannery from that New York mission. His real name is Ian, and he’s the vampire who made Bones. He also made Don’s brother, Max. Don’s known that for years, too. It’s the real reason we were sent to bring Ian in. But, Ian got away, and after we tangled, Ian got all excited about my being a half-breed and decided he wanted me as his new showpiece. Bones says Ian won’t hesitate to use people I care about against me to ensure my compliance, either. There’s a way to get Ian off my back without a bloodbath, but it’s dangerous, and it would involve one of you.”

  At this, she paused. She’d happily put herself in danger every day of the week, but she hated endangering anyone else.

  “In order for her to turn the tables on Ian, he needs to be confident that he’s got something over her,” Bones said when Cat continued to pause. “A valuable hostage, to be specific. Now, Ian’s smart, so he likely won’t kill such a useful bargaining tool, but there are no guarantees. Cat intends to rescue whoever offers himself as bait, and then use Ian’s guards as bargaining chips herself to force Ian to leave her alone. If Ian makes a blood oath promising that, he’ll be bound to it in the vampire world, and he’d also be regarded very poorly if he refused to bargain for his own people. But, until Cat could rescue the volunteer, there’d be no one ensuring their safety.”

  Silence for exactly three seconds. Then, Tate said, “If this keeps a vamp from hunting you, Cat, count me in.”

  Bones gave him a jaded look. Knew your love for her would make you the first to volunteer.

  Don coughed. “Perhaps there’s a different approach-”

  “Me, too,” Juan interrupted. “That undead pendejo can have two worms on the hook instead of one.”

  Cooper shrugged. “Who wants to live forever? I’m in.”

  Cat blinked away tears while Don continued to sputter out objections. “We can hardly risk our top soldiers on a guess-”

  “Save it, old chap,” Bones said crisply. “Not like they’ve been gardening these past years, have they? Besides, I already knew they’d all offer, and here I’ve only just met them. How could you expect anything different?”

  Don glared at him. When that proved fruitless, he rounded on Cat.

  “You can’t take our most valuable team members into a hostile nest the likes of which they’ve never seen. If they all died, it would utterly ruin this operation!”

  “Here and now, decide which is more important to you,” Bones snapped. “Your niece, or the risk to your operation. We all make choices we have to live with. This is yours.”

  Frustration poured from Don like a fog machine turned on high. He didn’t want to admit that he cared so little for Cat, and he also didn’t want to risk his operation, though he was being a bit dramatic saying that this could ruin it.

  “It’s not like the guys are docile lambs,” Cat said, breaking her silence. “They’re not just bait. They’re Trojan horses. Ian’s guards will never suspect how tough they are, and if I didn’t think they could handle it, I’d never let any of them volunteer.”

  Don stared at her. She didn’t blink as she stared back.

  Finally, her uncle looked away. “I pray you’re not wrong about this creature you’re dating, Cat. If he’s playing you, we’ll all go down in flames. He’d better be as good as he is arrogant.”

  At that, Bones laughed. “Oh, I am as good as I’m arrogant, and I’m not ‘playing’ her. After all, I had you pegged. She was sure you’d refuse to let her men do this. I said you wouldn’t.”

  Not because Don cared for her. Because Don knew the truth: his operation could survive without Tate, Juan, and Cooper, but it couldn’t survive without Cat. Not yet, anyway.

  Don sent a baleful look his way.

  Bones only smiled. It isn’t peeling your skin off while you’re screaming, but I’ll take it.

  “We’ll need a few weeks to assemble everything, and the three of you will be busy until then,” Bones said. “You’ll all need your fastest reflexes if things go south. All of you know the price of drinking raw vampire blood, yes?”

  Tate and Juan nodded, but Cooper shook his head. With great sympathy, Cat informed him that it could add decades to his life. Cooper only snorted. Either he didn’t think he’d live long enough for that to be a factor, or Cooper didn’t consider it the disadvantage that Cat did.

  “Drinking vampire blood is the only way to ensure you’ll all be immune to vampire mind control,” Cat said, as if they needed further convincing. “Needless to say, Ian won’t let you keep your helmets on. So, anyone who refuses will have to drop out. I won’t risk your lives or anyone else’s by a vampire green-eyeing you into revealing the real plan.”

  Tate grunted. “I’m up for juicing, but you’ll understand if I refuse to suck the blood off his tongue like you did.”

  Had a sense of humor, did he? Good. He’d need it.

  “Don’t fret, you’re not my type,” Bones lightly replied. “Now, then, if there are no other concerns, let’s go to the lab so that Don can put my vein on tap again. Really, old chap,” Bones needled him, “you’re as excited over blood as any vampire. Sure you’re not hiding any family traits?”

  Don glowered at him. “That’s not amusing.”

  No, but the barb was the least he deserved. Ian wouldn’t be after Cat if Don hadn’t sent her after Ian, so this entire fiasco was Don’s fault. He might be pretending otherwise, but Bones hadn’t forgotten that.

  Before they left, Don ordered the laboratory and the hallways leading to it cleared of all non-essential personnel. At least he was heeding Bones’s warning to keep his presence known to as few people at the compound as possible. When that was done, they went down to the Pathology sublevel.

  Juan and Cooper’s heartbeats indicated that they were the normal amount of anxious over drinking his blood, but Tate’s pulse was higher. Not fear, Bones noted as he took in a breath. Excitement. Tate wanted the additional power, and from the frequent glances he stole at Cat, his reason was obvious.

  “Ready for your upgrade?” Bones said with a smile that showed his teeth. “After your first dose, I’m going to beat the seven shades of shit out of you to see how much you can take.”

  Tate gave him an insolent look. “Bring it on. Cat’s been pounding away at me for years. Years,” he stressed. “How long have you spent with her, combined? Only six months?”

  Bones hauled him up until Tate’s feet dangled. He was almost impressed by the nastiness of Tate’s taunt, but that didn’t mean he’d let it go unchallenged, especially since Tate was one of the soldiers who’d whisked Cat away from him.

  Cat yanked on Bones’s arm. “Tate, enough sniping! And Bones, how old are you? Do I need to give you a pair of my panties to hang around your neck so you can wave them at whoever’s making you jealous?”

  “Like you wear panties,” Tate said under his breath.

  Cat punched Tate before Bones could. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I only go without while on a job!”

  Bones dropped Tate, disbelief spearing him as he looked at Cat. Did she…did she still believe that was necessary?

  Don seemed eager for a change in subject. He shoved the nearest chair toward Bones and went to get the IV line.

  Bones sat, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Cat, who seemed part angry, part flustered, and part embarrassed.

  “Kitten, are you still hunting vampires without your knickers?” Bones asked in as careful a tone as he could manage.

  She gave him an exasperated look. “If I’m playing the bait, yes, but if it’s a search-and-destroy, no. Why?”

  Lucifer’s. Bouncing. Balls. “We’ll take about it later.”

  Her brows drew together like building storm clouds. “From your expression, we’ll talk about it now.”

  Everyone waited for his answer except Don, who pretended to be deaf as he inserted the needle into Bones’s arm and opened the line into the waiting blood bag.

  Bones fought the laughter building in him. She’d already fillet him for this, and that’s if he could reply without chuckling. “It’s just that you can expand your wardrobe, luv. Not that I’m advocating that, but then I am biased.”

  She came closer. “What do you mean?”

  He managed to keep his laughter at bay, but only just. “That thing I told you about no knickers making a difference when it came to luring vampires…well…I might have stretched the truth a bit.”

  Her jaw dropped. “What?”

  “Madre de Dios,” Juan breathed, staring at Bones as if he’d just produced gold from straw. “You talked a woman into going without panties for years? I could learn a great deal from you.”

  “You lied to me?” Cat’s face went florid, and she stabbed a finger into Bones’s chest as if it were a silver stake.

  “Now, Kitten, it wasn’t exactly a lie,” he said, still fighting his laughter. “I told you some vampires find that irresistible, and that’s true. I certainly do whenever I’m around you, and besides, do you remember how you were back then? So uptight, prissy, and prejudiced. I couldn’t resist needling you. In all fairness, I never intended it to go on this long-”

  “You perverted bastard!” she interrupted.

  “What a mean trick,” Tate said while Cooper stared at the wall as if he could learn the secrets of the universe from it.

  Bones’s laughter finally burst free. It only made Cat angrier. Bones reached for her, but she slapped his hand.