“I didn’t do it to betray you.” Annette’s voice was very quiet. “I only sought to save you from future pain.”

  Bones rose, towering over her. “And how is that?”

  “By having her leave before she breaks your heart again.” Annette reached for him, and then drew back when Bones recoiled. “She left you once, and she’ll do it again.”

  Bones snapped on his shields. He couldn’t let her feel his secret fear of that same thing. “Seems you already tried to scare her away, and that backfired in an impressive fashion.”

  Annette’s mouth curled down. “Yes. Her reaction was…unexpected.”

  “Get used to being surprised by her because she’s not going anywhere,” Bones said curtly. “In fact, once this business with Ian is over, I’m asking her to marry me.”

  Annette’s eyes bulged. “You can’t be serious, Crispin!”

  “Lower your voice,” Bones hissed. Her outburst had woken Tate, though thankfully, Cat still seemed to be asleep. “And I’m very serious. I’m only telling you this because while I should kill you for what you did, I have long owed you a life: mine. That’s why you get to keep yours despite your actions, but now, we’re even. So, if you ever betray me again, especially over Cat, I will show you no mercy. Do you understand?”

  She stared at him, incredulity stretching her features into near unrecognizability until a perfect blankness covered them.

  “I understand. I’ll go fetch my things and-”

  “Oh, you’re not leaving,” Bones interrupted. “You’re staying because Ian’s moved up the timetable to tonight, and your atonement to me starts now.”

  Several hours later, Bones sat on the edge of the ruined bed. The blankets were up to Cat’s chin and her hair half covered her face. He brushed that dark swath aside, revealing her alabaster skin, rose-colored lips, and deep scarlet brows that hinted at her hair’s true color.

  “Wake up, luv,” he murmured. “It’s nearly noon.”

  Her eyelids slanted to half mast as she blinked up at him. Then, they opened fully, and she glanced at the pieces of bed frame he’d stacked into the corner-and blushed a vivid scarlet.

  “Ah, there’s my payment,” he said with a throaty chuckle. “The rubies in your cheeks. Are you properly scandalized by your wicked behavior? You’d singe the ears of the priest you confessed to if you were Catholic, especially since you made me swear to repeat all those naughty actions no matter what you said this morning.”

  She pulled the blankets up to cover her face. “God, Bones…some of that was depraved.”

  He tugged it down. “I take that as a compliment, but don’t be ashamed of anything we did, no matter if your prudery is on life support.”

  Her gaze went from his neck to his mouth and back again. “I’ll never look at your fangs the same way again. Part of me wants to apologize to you for holding you back, but the other part wants you to apologize to me because you knew better!”

  He came closer, loving how her heart sped up and her gaze went to his mouth with knowing anticipation. “I still have more to show you, trust me. But regretfully, there isn’t time now. We’re already behind schedule since I let you sleep.”

  She took that as a call to action, jumping out of bed and going into the bathroom. Moments later, the shower turned on.

  “There’s something you should know.” He didn’t bother to raise his voice. With all the blood she’d drunk from him, she’d hear him if he whispered. “Tate’s here. He spent the night.”

  A surprised pause, and then a suspicious, “Why?”

  Because he’s a jealous, spiteful fool who’s eavesdropping on us even now. “He convinced Rodney to drop the others off and bring him back out of misguided concern since things were tense between you, Annette, and me when he left. But when he arrived, you and I were well occupied. So, Annette invited him to stay and entertain her, and he accepted.”

  A loud metallic thud made Bones come into the bathroom. The shower rod was now on the floor, and Cat’s hand was still curled around the curtain. Bones hung the rod back up, noting the new anger leaking from Cat’s scent that not even the steady spray of shower water could hide.

  “’Entertain her,’ huh? Not playing poker, were they?”

  “No,” he said simply. “Why? Are you jealous?”

  Below them, Tate’s heartbeat kicked up as he waited for her answer, too.

  “No!” Cat looked shocked that he’d even suggest that. Then, her gaze darkened. “Why, are you?”

  “Not at all. Just annoyed at Annette’s spite toward you, but that’s been dealt with.”

  Cat was appeased enough to start shampooing her hair. “Tate called me a necrophiliac once,” she said as she lathered the thick mass. “I’ll have to return the compliment when I see him.”

  Bones heard a low hiss on the floor below them. “You just did, Kitten. He’s listening to us.”

  Cat glanced down as if she could glare at Tate through the floor separating them. Then, her gaze shot back up. “You knew he was here last night, didn’t you?”

  Bones snorted. “Yes, and you can forget asking why I didn’t tell you. Not for worlds would I have interrupted us. Tate choosing to stay was his own prerogative, but never fear. I forgot about him at once. You demanded all my attention.”

  As she did now, with suds sliding over her wet, glistening skin. He wanted to catch them with his hands and then clear them away with his mouth, especially the ones that caught in the dark red curls between her legs…

  “I’m going downstairs,” he muttered, forcing himself to look away. “I can’t be so close to you without wanting you, and there isn’t any time.”

  With that, he left, smiling at her disappointed sigh.

  Later, Kitten. That’s another promise.

  41

  Rodney made breakfast, adding a special ingredient to the frittata slices that he gave Bones and Annette. Tate ate his only after dissecting it to ensure that it contained nothing more than eggs, potato, onion, bacon, and cheese.

  “He wouldn’t waste human blood on you,” Annette said in amusement. “You have enough of your own.”

  “Got a little less now,” Tate replied, rubbing his neck. No punctures marks remained. Annette had already healed them.

  Cat came downstairs. Tate started to get up since there wasn’t a free chair, but Bones pulled her onto his lap. Then, he slid the plate Rodney had made for her in front of her.

  “Eat something, Kitten. Can’t have you getting faint on me because you keep skipping meals.”

  “I’m amazed she can walk,” Tate muttered. “You must have given her a gallon of blood to heal her after what I heard.”

  “Is that any concern of yours?” Bones said, holding out a hand to forestall Cat’s reply. “At work you have your seniority, luv, but he’s on personal ground, so that hierarchy doesn’t apply. If he provokes me now, I’ll handle it.”

  Tate looked startled. Bones stared at him, daring him to continue. Tate would know what it was like to feel his spine break if he said another sneering word about last night.

  “I’d keep a lid on it, Tate,” Cat said in a falsely bright tone. “And nice to see you walking without a limp, too, or are you? You’re seated so I can’t tell.”

  “You’re the one who said once you go dead, no one’s better in bed,” Tate shot back. “Thought I’d see if you were right.”

  Rodney’s laughter pierced the tense moment. “You said that? I love it!”

  It was amusing, as was her light flush as Bones winked at her. “Happy to represent my kind, Kitten.”

  She suddenly seemed very interested in her plate, but then, a grin curled her mouth. Tate’s scowl eased into a smile, too, and they exchanged a glance that reminded Bones that they’d been friends for years, not that he could understand why.

  “Christ, Cat, can you imagine Dave looking down on us now?” Tate shook his head while a sudden sheen covered his deep blue gaze. “He probably doesn’t believe his eyes, seeing us eating breakfast with two vampires and a ghoul.”

  Tears sparked in Cat’s gaze, too, and Bones remembered her scent embedded in the large pool of blood back at the cave. Dave must have been the bloke that Lazarus killed that day.

  “I actually wish we’d had you with us then, deadhead,” Tate said, blinking to clear his gaze. “You could have probably saved Dave with that turbo blood of yours. Cat couldn’t get enough in him even though she squeezed that vamp like a sponge. If you can keep that from happening again, maybe it’s worth having you on the team, even though I can’t stand you.”

  Bones’s brows shot up. She’d done what?

  Rodney seemed equally taken aback. Cat and Tate were oblivious as they both sniffed and swiped at their eyes.

  “Kitten, you didn’t tell me you poured vampire blood onto your friend as he died,” Bones said in a very controlled voice. “Did he swallow any of it?”

  Pain knit her brows. “Juan made him swallow a little, but Dave had been missing almost half his throat by then. He bled to death before the blood could heal him all the way.”

  He’d swallowed enough to start to heal him? And they didn’t realize the significance of that? Then again, they wouldn’t. Cat’s experience with ghouls was limited to killing them, and everyone on her team only knew what she did.

  “Tricky,” Rodney said, doing the mental math as well.

  Cat gave the ghoul a hurt look. “It was a lot more than ‘tricky.’ Dave was a friend.”

  Rodney started to speak, but Bones cut him off. “Not now, mate.” They had too much to deal with to add that to their plates, at least for tonight. Then, Bones turned to Cat. “The timetable’s been moved up. While you were sleeping, Ian rang me and said he’d discovered your location.”

  Cat tensed, muttering “Shit,” under her breath.

  Bones nodded. “I would have preferred another two weeks to get your men up to speed, but the die is cast. I told Ian I’d found you myself just last night, and I’d have hostages for him later today. Ian’s assembling a welcoming party for you tonight. Bloke always did like to do things the flashy way.”

  “Okay, tonight,” Cat said with a sigh. “I’ll tell Don, we’ll get the rest of the guys assembled, and we’ll finally settle things.”

  If only it were that simple. “Actually, there are a few problems. Ian wasn’t satisfied when I told him I had three of your men as collateral. He wanted more, and he’s dispatched someone to get it.”

  “What’s more?” Cat said, her gaze sharpening.

  “Noah,” Tate replied before Bones could. “And that’s not even the punch line.”

  Bones gave Tate a look that made the impertinent lad shut up. “Your rash bloke is correct, Kitten. Ian intends to kill one of your men in front of you, both as incentive for you to heed his demands, and as payback for you killing his butler, Magnus. Ian’s saving Noah for the coup de grace because he doesn’t know you’ve broken up with him, and he sent your father, Max, to get Noah since Max apparently offered to do it.”

  “What?” Cat shot up from his lap as if she’d been fired from a canon and began to pace. “Don’s already watching Noah’s place, right? We’ll catch Max in the act, that piece of shit, and then I’ll kill him. It’ll make my whole existence.”

  As he’d feared, as soon as she realized her father was involved, she could focus on little else.

  “If we do that, Ian will know we’re playing him false. How else would you have a team of vampire hunters at the ready?”

  Emerald blazed in her gaze. “I don’t care.”

  Of course she didn’t. She’d never admit it, but from the moment she found out the circumstances of her birth, she’d brainwashed herself into believing that if she could only murder her father, then her mum would finally love her.

  “I’m not endangering you that way,” Bones said flatly. “Why do you think Max offered to go? He’s probably intending to set Noah up as his own blackmail, and then kill you on sight.”

  “You don’t know that,” she said stubbornly.

  “No, Ian doesn’t know that,” Bones countered. “I do. That’s why I’m sending Rodney to ensure Noah’s safety. Rodney will grab Noah first and deliver him to Ian. Ian won’t kill Noah-he thinks he’s too valuable. Max, on the other hand, would do just that-or worse-to enrage you into coming after him.”

  She gave him a frustrated look as logic finally penetrated her bloodlust. Then, craftiness filled her gaze.

  Bones stiffened. Nothing good could come of that look.

  “You go, Bones. Rodney, nothing personal, but if Max shows up sooner than expected, I want someone there who’ll scare Max into not pulling any tricks. That’s you, Bones. You’re not just an old, powerful vampire with a badass hitman reputation. You’re also higher up in Ian’s line, and Max knows it. He wouldn’t dare try anything with you around, but without you, I have visions of Noah’s tombstone dancing in my head.”

  As if that were the worst bloody thing that could happen! “No, I’m going to be with you, helping to capture Ian’s guards. Your men aren’t able to do that themselves yet since their training was cut short. Annette can accompany Rodney to get Noah, if you’re concerned about Max trying something.”

  Cat looked at him as if he’d sprouted a second head. “As if it would break Annette’s heart if Noah died! Or yours, either, but the death of an innocent guy whose only crime was once dating me does mean something to me!”

  “Left to myself, I could give a rot if Noah dies,” Bones replied with brutal honesty. “I won’t deny that. But you’d suffer for it, and that I do bother about.”

  That crafty look was back in her eyes, with reinforcements. “I’ll take Annette. She can come as backup to help me and the guys take Ian’s guards captive. That leaves you free to go with Rodney to get Noah.”

  Bones stared at her. No, she wasn’t joking, which meant she was barking mad. “You think I’d let you attack a group of vampires you’re not even intending to kill-which makes it bloody harder-while I’m off securing your pet vet?”

  “It’ll work better this way,” she said with infuriating blitheness. “The guards won’t know who I am at first, thanks to my brown hair. Once they do, they won’t try to kill me. Ian would be furious at being denied his prize, and they’d know that. So, I’m safer with them than with anyone else.”

  Annette gave a concurring shrug. “It may indeed work better. Ian’s guards would be less likely to suspect an ambush if they thought we were also there for their…entertainment.”

  In theory, they were both correct. Two lasses were less threatening than a bunch of blokes, especially when one of those lasses had a heartbeat. And Ian’s guards would rather stake themselves than explain to Ian why they’d killed his coveted new prize. It truly might be safer, except for one thing.

  “After yesterday, I have cause to wonder if you’re offering this with ulterior motives, Annette. So, let me tell you what will happen to you if any harm comes to her.”

  Bones pinned Annette’s gaze with his as he drew out a knife and scored a deep rent in his palm. Blood clung to the blade and dripped between his fingers.

  “On my blood, I swear I will cut you off from my line.”

  Annette gasped. It was the worst punishment a vampire could inflict on another vampire since it would leave Annette defenseless in a world where the vulnerable were often preyed upon by the powerful. But Annette could always get a new protector, so Bones had to make his threat even more terrifying.

  “I’ll also offer a standing reward to anyone who makes your life an unbearable hell,” he went on, hardening himself against the devastation in her gaze. After yesterday, he couldn’t trust her loyalty. He could only trust her fear. “Do you understand?”

  Annette didn’t seem capable of speech, so she nodded.

  Cat winced, giving Annette a pitying look. She knew the hierarchy in the vampire world, and blood oaths were unbreakable bonds, so she understood the magnitude of what Bones had done.

  Bones turned to Cat. “Now Annette can accompany you with your men, and I’ll go after Noah with Rodney.”

  Instead of being relieved, Cat looked miserable as she stared at Annette, then Tate, then Rodney, and finally back at Bones. Her heart began beating faster, and anxiety turned her scent from vanilla and cream to sour fruit and spoilt milk.

  “Bones.” She took his hand with fingers that trembled. “None of you needs to risk dying for me at all. Ian only wants me because being a half-breed makes me rare, but if I’m a full-blown vampire, then I’m nothing special. So do it. Change me over. Make me a vampire-”

  “Fuck no!” Tate shouted, leaping up from his chair.

  For once, he and Bones were in complete agreement. “No, Kitten. I won’t.”

  Shock suffused her features, followed instantly by anger. “Why not? Do it, dammit! Or was Annette right? Does fucking a warm body mean that much to you?”

  She wouldn’t bait him into letting her sacrifice herself in the second-most permanent way possible. “You’re used to leaping before you look, but not this time. You don’t want this, luv. You think you have no choice, but I’ve told you time and again that there is always another way.”

  “Yeah, a way that can get you and the people I care about killed,” she said in anguish.

  His hands tightened on hers. “If you truly desired to change over, then I would do it. You know that. But not like this. Once you do this, it’s done, and then even the most poignant regret afterward is wasted.”

  She said nothing, which only hammered home that he was right. She didn’t want this. If any part of her did, she’d still be howling her objections to his refusal. Now, to address the other part of what she’d said.

  He released one of her hands to tilt her head back, caressing her ear with his lips. “And if I were really just so fond of your flesh being warm, I’d throw you into a hot tub before I shagged you. You’d be ninety-eight degrees in twenty minutes, so sod Annette and her nasty little comments.”