“You fucked Sunshine?” Tate rudely burst out.

  Cat’s brow arched. Clearly, that was her question as well.

  “We meant nothing to each other apart from a few shags,” Bones replied, answering all of them.

  Cat’s eyes flashed green as she glanced at Belinda, and then her hands curled as if grabbing imaginary silver blades.

  “Can’t blame you there. That ride might be worth the bite marks,” Juan murmured in Spanish.

  “Where she’d bite you would make you forget to fake that fresh-off-the-boat accent,” Bones replied in the same language.

  Juan stared at him, and then burst out laughing. “You know?” he said, still in Spanish. “Don’t tell the others. I get away with so much acting like a B-movie Latin stereotype.”

  He probably did, and Bones could appreciate using people’s preconceived notions against them. God knows he’d endured many of those preconceptions as a Brit living among Yanks.

  “That’s rude,” Cat said sharply, not understanding a word.

  “Sorry, Kitten,” he said in English.

  Juan gave Cat a friendly pat. “He speaks Spanish better than I do, querida,” he said, adding even more of an accent on that last word and then winking at Bones over Cat’s shoulder.

  Bones flashed a smile. If none of them had guessed, far be it for him to spill Juan’s secret.

  “Seems there’s a lot of things I don’t know about Bones,” Cat said, her tone competing with her scent for sourness as Belinda started rubbing against the glass like a large blond feline while mouthing “please” at Bones.

  “Quit it,” Bones said coldly. “If you’re in there, then you tried to hurt her, so you could shrivel to dust for all I care.”

  Belinda’s pout retracted and her fangs came out. Ah, there was the girl he remembered.

  “However, your stay could improve if two things happen,” Bones went on. “The first involves the lovely lady at my side. She would have to agree. The second would be your total cooperation, because if you failed at that, it would mean your gruesome, prolonged death. Are we quite clear?”

  Belinda gave a curt nod and stopped polishing the glass with her body. Cat shut the screen with a look of disgust.

  “I vote for her gruesome, prolonged death,” she said, and strode away with fast, angry steps.

  Bones followed her. She went to the furthest end of the sublevel, in front of the “receiving” cell he’d once occupied. Then, she turned to him.

  “You and her? Gross.”

  He sighed. “This was before you, Kitten. It meant nothing.”

  “Clearly it meant something to her,” Cat muttered.

  “Then kill her,” Bones said bluntly.

  She looked shocked. “What?”

  “Can’t say I’d blame you,” Bones went on. “If you like, I’ll kill her myself. I truly don’t care.”

  “I don’t murder people just because I’m jealous,” she said, still giving him that are-you-serious? look.

  He was, and this wasn’t about jealousy. Belinda had tried to kill Cat. Bones could slaughter her without losing a wink of sleep.

  She finally realized he was serious because she let out a sigh. “Fine. You must think she can be useful, so I’ll be adult about this, even though the thought of you two makes me want to hurl. So, distract me from that by telling me your idea.”

  Bones did. When he was done, Cat let out a dark laugh.

  “You can be a real sick puppy sometimes.”

  “Is that a yes?” he countered.

  She grunted. “It is from me. Now, to convince Don.”

  An hour later, Don scowled down at them from his skybox in the training room. Tate, Juan, and Cooper were on one side of the open space, and Cat, Bones, and Belinda were on the other. Bones had Belinda gripped to him, and she stared at Cat’s men as if they were candy-covered jugulars.

  Cat shook her head but said, “If you guys are ready, then take a knife, each of you. But only one.”

  They did. None of them were in their bulky tactical gear or helmets, either. They were dressed in the same clothes as earlier, which was sweats and tee shirts.

  Cat glanced at Bones, her gaze asking, ready?

  He was. “Remember what I told you,” he said quietly to Belinda, and then released her.

  She ran straight for Cat’s men as if she were starving, which wasn’t far from the truth. Bones had given her a cup of blood before this session, but only a shallow one. Her real meal would come only if she performed as agreed.

  Cat’s soldiers ran at decent speeds, avoiding Belinda’s charge. They were also smart enough to run in different directions so she couldn’t corral them. Then, Tate darted behind Belinda and flung his blade. It sank into her back at heart level, and Belinda glared at him as she tried to swipe it free.

  “That’s great if you’re intending to kill vamps, but I told you to treat this like a test run for Ian’s guards,” Cat said in a highly disapproving voice. “If you murder everyone, then what hostages am I supposed to bargain with?”

  Tate had the grace to look abashed. “Sorry. Knee-jerk reaction.”

  Belinda finally angled her arm enough to yank the knife from her back. “Asshole,” she muttered, flinging the knife at Tate’s feet.

  Bones gave Cat a pointed look. “This is why I insisted on changing out the knives from silver to steel. Knew one of them might panic and go for the kill instead of the capture.”

  Cat gave her men another scowl. “Your objective is to restrain Belinda by non-lethal means. If you can’t manage that in the next couple weeks, then you’re off this mission.”

  “And if you haven’t restrained me within the hour, then I get to taste one of you,” Belinda said, licking her lips. “Mmm, fresh blood. I haven’t had that in over a year.”

  Her soldiers swung appalled looks Cat’s way, but her gaze was harder than the steel in their hands.

  “There’s your motivation to take this seriously. Now, who’s going to be happy in an hour? Her? Or you guys?”

  Her soldiers exchanged grim looks, and then charged Belinda. Bones watched, impassive, as the next hour ticked by. Juan was knocked unconscious halfway through when he paused to leer at Belinda’s breasts after she distracted him by tearing her top off. That left only Tate and Cooper, and with their ability to kill taken away, they proved to be outmatched even though Belinda was hardly a Master. This didn’t bode well. Any one of Ian’s guards would be tougher than Belinda.

  When the hour was finished, Cat’s expression was dark as thunderclouds while Tate and Cooper were shamefaced, and Juan was still unconscious. Belinda smiled, her fangs showing.

  “I won, so I want my victory spoils.”

  “I said you’d get your prize,” Bones agreed coolly. “Didn’t say when, though. Just that it would be due to you.”

  Belinda began cursing him in Flemish. He hadn’t realized she was Dutch. Then again, they hadn’t talked much during the brief time they’d spent together.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Tate said, interrupting Belinda’s insults as he limped over to her. “Bite away, bitch.”

  Cat turned ashen. “Tate…”

  “Don’t,” Tate said curtly. “You trusted us to take her down, and we failed you. You think her biting me is gonna hurt more than that?”

  Cat looked away, blinking, but she set her shoulders and said nothing else.

  Belinda wasn’t quiet. “Who says you’re the one I want?” she challenged Tate.

  He grunted. “Don’t care. I’m the one you’re gonna get. You understand chain of command, suck head? I’m on top, so you get my vein and no one else’s.”

  A sense of honor as well as bravery. No wonder Cat tolerated the lovesick sod. If Tate lived long enough to become a vampire, he’d be a strong one…or Bones would kill him for his open pining after Cat. Whichever came first.

  “I guess you’ll do, then,” Belinda said. “Come here.”

  “Wrist only,” Bones said when Tate bent his neck. He wasn’t taking any chances that Belinda would “accidentally” tear into Tate’s jugular.

  She pouted. “I like the throat better.”

  “Argue again, and you’ll get nothing,” Bones replied with a look that made Belinda’s objection turn into sullen silence. He might not know much about Belinda, but she knew about him. That’s why he’d chosen her versus one of the other two captured vampires. They hadn’t heard of his reputation for ruthlessness. Belinda had, so she knew death would be a mercy compared to what Bones would do to her if she violated their agreement.

  Tate’s pulse kicked up when Belinda grabbed his wrist.

  She only smiled. “Don’t worry, gorgeous, you’ll like it.”

  Tate scoffed. “Not on your afterlife, bitch.”

  Her laugh was low, knowing, and smug. “We’ll see.”

  A moan sneaked past Tate’s lips as her fangs sank into his wrist. She must have given him quite the dose of venom, because Tate’s eyelids fluttered next, and then he swayed more than he had when Belinda clocked him earlier. Tate forced his eyes open and stared at Cat as Belinda slowly drank his blood.

  Bones let her get half a dozen swallows before saying, “That’s enough,” in a tone that brooked no argument.

  She withdrew her fangs, licking the blood from them. Tate didn’t grab his wrist. He didn’t move at all. He just kept staring at Cat, who shifted with guilt as if it was her fault that her soldier was being snacked on, and not his.

  “Close the holes,” Bones said when Belinda made no move to stop the blood dripping from Tate’s wrist.

  Belinda bit her finger and held it over the holes. They disappeared moments later.

  Tate finally spoke. “Is this why you can’t stay away from him, Cat? Because of how a vampire bite feels when they’re not trying to make it hurt?”

  Cat gasped in outrage.

  Bones only snorted. “You’d like to believe it was only that between her and I, wouldn’t you?”

  “How could you even think such a thing?” Cat sputtered.

  Because he can’t bear the fact that he had over four years to win your love, and he failed. “Don’t bother, Kitten,” was what Bones said. “Let him comfort himself with whatever lies he fancies. Belinda, time-out’s over. Back to your cell.”

  Belinda didn’t argue. She didn’t even glare at Bones, which was more than could be said for the malevolent look Tate shot him as they started toward the exit.

  Juan’s voice stopped them when they were almost out of the training room. “What’d I miss?”

  Cat barked out a laugh. “Trust me, buddy. Don’t ask.”

  36

  It took Cat’s men four days of training several hours a day before they were able to stab Belinda in such a way that they’d incapacitate her, but not kill her. It was a difficult trick, especially since Belinda was fighting with everything she had, but by the week’s end, Belinda’s treats were extra blood bags for cooperation instead of feeding from the vein for victory.

  Cat appeared more relieved by that than Tate, Juan, and Cooper. She hated her men risking themselves for her, as if she hadn’t done the same for them countless times. Bones didn’t point that out, though. She’d only argue, and besides, he had more important topics to discuss.

  “You haven’t asked, and there’s been little time, but you need to know who we’re picking up from the airport, Kitten.”

  “You said it was the first vampire you ever made,” she replied as they turned into the “arrivals” section of the terminal. “Or did I remember that wrong?”

  “You didn’t, but there’s more to it than that.”

  “What, she’s an old flame, too?” Cat said in a joking tone.

  The oldest one. “You could say that.”

  Cat’s expression went from amused to shuttered in a blink. “Can’t wait to meet her,” she said with an edge in her tone.

  He well understood her jealousy, but he’d had carnal relations with most of the female members of his line, and he could hardly shun them because Cat wouldn’t fancy that fact. Furthermore, he needed his people with him as a show of strength when he left Ian’s line, so Cat would have to deal with his ex-lovers eventually, and one sooner rather than later.

  “Remember I told you that when I was human, one of my clients saved my life by convincing the judge to ship me to the Australian penal colonies instead of hanging me?” At Cat’s nod, Bones went on. “That client was Annette. Two decades later, when I returned to London as a vampire, I looked for the people who’d shown me kindness. Madame Lucille was dead by then. So were many of the prostitutes I’d grown up with, but Annette was still alive. I offered her this life, and she accepted it. She is who we’re picking up now.”

  Cat forced a smile, but her mouth was tight. “And she’ll be staying with us while she’s in town? How cozy.”

  He couldn’t have Annette spotted if she stayed at a hotel, and besides, denying hospitality to the senior-most member of his line was a severe insult. Even Ian wouldn’t do such a thing.

  Bones parked at the section designated for Annette’s airline carrier. Then, he grasped Cat’s hand. “Don’t let my history with her trouble you. You’re the only woman for me, Kitten. Believe it.”

  She squeezed back, her smile looking less like a mask. Then, a familiar graze of power had Bones opening his door.

  “She’s here.”

  Cat stayed in the car as Annette approached. She was dressed in an elegant indigo suit, with her strawberry-blond hair in a deliberately messy knot. When Annette saw him, her smile crinkled the delicate lines by her eyes. She’d been in her late thirties when he changed her, but with the harsher conditions of the seventeen hundreds, she looked a decade older. Still, her beauty hadn’t dimmed. It only ripened. Cat obviously agreed. Her mouth thinned into a tight line when she saw her.

  Annette smiled at Cat, though, and then she tilted her face up expectantly when she reached him. “Crispin, can I have a kiss after my long flight?”

  Bones pecked her cheek. Annette did the same to him, respecting their new boundaries with the chaste gesture. But the moment Annette’s lips brushed his cheek, Cat was out of the car, smiling in a way that reminded Bones of blood-coated knives.

  He stepped between them and put his arm around her. Cat’s shoulders were stiff, but she managed a smile as he said, “Cat, this is Annette. Annette, meet Cat.”

  Annette shook Cat’s hand. “Delighted to finally meet you, darling. I so hoped Crispin would be able to locate you. Poor dear was positively wretched worrying that something ill had befallen you.”

  Cat’s smile froze on her face, but she said, “As you can see, he found me safe and sound,” in a normal tone of voice.

  Bones’s tension eased. Annette couldn’t know how her remark had hurt since Cat berated herself repeatedly leaving him.

  “Of course,” Annette said in a soothing voice. “And well done, him! Now, I think my bags should be available to retrieve. Crispin, they won’t let you leave your vehicle unattended, so why don’t you wait here whilst Cat and I fetch my things?”

  He hesitated. Cat’s smile was still in place, but her scent was faintly acrid, as if she were trying not to be jealous and failing. He didn’t fancy leaving them alone together this soon, but leaving Cat behind with the car while he and Annette went off would hardly soothe her.

  “We’ll be right back,” Cat said, settling the matter.

  Bones waited and hoped he hadn’t made a mistake. With luck, Annette would diffuse any lingering tension. Annette could charm the scales off a snake when she had a mind to.

  Ten minutes later, Annette approached.

  Cat was further behind, and covered in several pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage. “Blimey, Annette!” Bones said as he ran over to Cat. “You should’ve told me how many bags you had!”

  Annette glanced back as if just realizing that she only held two pieces of luggage while Cat carried at least six. “Oh, do forgive me, Cat! I forgot to split the bags. I’m afraid I’ve grown accustomed to having an underling travel with me.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Cat said in a grating tone.

  Bones took all but the two bags that Cat had wound around her arms. “Sorry about that, luv.”

  “I think she packed bricks,” Cat muttered, but she smiled at him, so things must not have gone too poorly between them.

  Bones loaded the luggage into the new BMW he’d rented. Good thing he’d gotten the SUV instead of the sedan, too. Annette had packed her whole bloody closet, it seemed.

  “When are the rest of our people arriving?” Annette asked once they were off.

  “Today and tomorrow,” Bones replied. “By Friday, everything should be in place.”

  Annette nodded, and then Bones caught her inquisitive head-tilt in the rear-view mirror. “I say, how did Belinda find herself caught in your kitty’s little snare?”

  Bones was surprised by the change in subject, not to mention the topic. He’d mentioned Belinda’s capture in passing to Annette when she gave him her flight details, but he hadn’t expected her to question him in detail about it, let alone during her first meeting with Cat.

  “I haven’t seen Belinda since your birthday six years ago,” Annette went on in that musing way. “Or was it five years ago?”

  Bones stiffened. Belinda had been part of Annette’s “present” to him that year, and he’d rather Cat not know that detail.

  “She got captured after she started running with a group that liked to bring home live meals,” he said in a tone meant to end the subject.

  Annette clicked her tongue. “Terrible. She must truly have changed in the short five years since we three got together.”

  Only iron control kept him from slamming on the brakes. Why the hell did Annette keep going on about this? He shot a glare at her and cracked the ice on his aura, letting her feel his anger. If he were very lucky, Cat would miss the subtext-

  “Answer the question,” Cat said in an acid tone. “Was it six years ago that the three of you all fucked? Or five?”

  Bones nearly groaned. Of course she hadn’t missed the subtext, and five years ago, Bones had been with Cat, as Annette should have remembered. No wonder Cat looked as if she were about to throttle Annette. He was tempted to do the same.