Suddenly, she was gripping him as tightly as he held her. “Something could happen to you with Max.”

  He snorted. “Not a chance. You’re right that Max wouldn’t dare take me on. If he did, I’d bend him in half the wrong way and deliver him to you in a box.”

  “But if Annette and I fail, I can’t just stand there and watch Ian kill one of my guys,” she whispered.

  Tate made an insulted noise that Bones ignored as he drew back to look her in the eye.

  “There’s another way around that as well. Once I’m free of Ian’s line, I’m free to take my people-and my possessions-with me. You don’t like it,” he added as her jaw tightened, “but the fact remains that in the vampire world, you’re considered mine by right of blood and bed. I’ll claim your men as mine, too. Then, Ian couldn’t kill them without risking a war with me.”

  Cat waved in Tate’s general direction. “But you haven’t fed from or fucked any of them, and unless things are about to get downright freaky, that’s not gonna change!”

  “I would rather die,” Tate muttered.

  “You’re already covered since Annette is under my line,” Bones said without looking away from Cat. “When she shagged you, that made you her property, which also makes you mine by default, though I won’t be proud to say it.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tate puff up like an enraged blowfish. “I’m not some fanger’s boy toy!”

  Annette laughed, low and knowing. “According to vampire law, you’re my boy toy if I say so.”

  “You should’ve read the fine print before hopping into bed with her, Tate,” Cat said coldly. “You’ll be lucky if I don’t pay you back by tattling to Don about it, too. But right now, we’ve got bigger issues. Okay, Bones,” her gaze swung back to him. “Does biting Juan and Cooper cover us if things go south with Ian? Or does Annette have to bang them, too?”

  He could already guess Juan’s preference, so this answer would disappoint him. “Biting them will suffice.”

  “Okay.” Cat squared her shoulders. “I don’t want to call myself anyone’s ‘property,’ but if it’s do that or watch one of my men die…then fuck my pride.”

  Tate gave her a look that Bones could well relate to, even if seeing it made him want to knock Tate’s head off.

  Cat stood. “Let’s go to the compound so you can bite Juan and Cooper. Then, Annette and I will take the guys to play bait-and-switch with Ian’s men while you and Rodney get Noah. When am I supposed to meet up with Ian after this?”

  “Midnight, which gives you time, because after you capture Ian’s guards, you need to go to a spa.”

  Cat looked more shocked than she had at hearing that Ian had found her. “A spa? Why on earth would I do that?”

  Annette started to roll her eyes, and then stopped at the look Bones gave her. Cat wasn’t used to determining things by scent. It was her only truly human trait.

  “You need at least an hour in a steam room to sweat my scent from your pores. If you went to Ian as you are now, he’d know from one whiff that you were double-crossing him with me. Don’t fret, everything’s been arranged.”

  “Oh.” She took in an experimental sniff, and then nodded. Thanks to their blood sharing last night, she’d now be able to smell things nearly as well as a vampire for the next few days. She’d also be faster, stronger, and quicker to heal. He hadn’t done it to be practical, but he was glad of those benefits now.

  Cat gave a falsely cheerful smile. “Okay, looks like I’ve got a date with Ian’s men, then a steam room, and then Ian.”

  “And me,” Annette said in a purring tone.

  Bones gave her a sharp look.

  Annette waved it off. “You already know that’s the best disguise, Crispin. If I go as your representative, and Cat pretends to be my date, the guards will be far less suspicious of her presence when we bring in her men.”

  Annette was right. From the tightening of her mouth, Cat knew it, too.

  “Let me guess: I’m supposed to be the super horny date who also suggests a ménage with Ian’s guards, too?” Cat said.

  Annette let out a surprised, if approving, laugh. “That would be the fastest way to get them to lower their weapons.”

  Cat shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve faked being easy to get a vampire to drop their guard.”

  No, she’d been hunting vampires that way for years. Still, so much could go wrong. Having a good plan only mitigated the danger. Nothing could erase it.

  “This is gonna be some night,” Tate muttered.

  For the second time that morning, Bones agreed with him.

  42

  It didn’t take long to get Cooper and Juan up to speed on the new developments. It took even less time to bite each of them, and then get them loaded into the back of a construction van that Rodney provided. Annette drove, with Cat riding shotgun. They were headed to the rendezvous point with Ian’s guards, so Bones and Rodney went to Noah’s.

  Bones stared at the tidy, single-story house with beige walls and forest green trim. Noah was home; Bones could hear his heartbeat. He should go inside, snatch Noah up, and leave, but a new, insidious thought had Bones waiting in their spot a block away until Rodney’s gaze grew heavy enough to feel.

  “Something I should know about?” Rodney drawled.

  Yes. That Ian can’t use Max against Cat if Max is dead.

  It would be wrong, of course. A betrayal, even. Cat trusted Bones to retrieve Noah and leave. Not steal the vengeance she’d been dreaming about since she was sixteen. But could he really continue to let Ian have such a mighty tool against Cat, especially if Bones could simply…remove it?

  Rodney sighed. “You want to kill him, don’t you?”

  Bones let out a short laugh. “Noah? Not anymore.”

  Rodney nudged him. “I wasn’t talking about Noah.”

  Bones looked away to meet Rodney’s eyes. No judgment marred their depths. Only empathy.

  “Hell, I don’t blame you,” Rodney went on, his tone lowering. “Max hired someone to blow Cat’s head off. That’s more than enough motivation, but there’s more to it, isn’t there?”

  A humorless smile twisted Bones’s lips. Rodney knew him too well. “Yes. Max might be the only thing that Cat can’t refuse.”

  She left you once, and she’ll do it again…

  Annette’s words taunted Bones despite him trying to forget them. Cat loved him, but needing vengeance against her father was as much a part of her as her glowing green eyes and red hair. If Ian offered Cat that-and Ian was more than ruthless enough to do it-then Bones wasn’t sure if Cat could refuse. Furthermore, Bones couldn’t snatch Max up and deliver him to Cat himself without tipping off Ian that Bones had betrayed him.

  But if Bones killed Max, and claimed it was self-defense because Max inexplicably attacked him…Ian might believe that. Cat might, too. War would then be avoided, Cat would get her revenge by proxy, and Max could no longer be used against her, all with one twist of his blade.

  Bones looked away from Rodney to stare at the silver knife holstered in his belt. Had the legendary Eve felt this tempted when she looked at that apple…?

  “Movement,” Rodney whispered.

  Bones’s head snapped up. A car parked at the end of Noah’s street, and the hum from the still-running engine wasn’t the only thing sending vibrations through the air. A vampire was behind the wheel, his red hair gleaming in the setting sun.

  Max.

  Bones moved toward him without thinking. He was at Max’s door before the other vampire could open it, and a pair of gut-wrenchingly familiar gray eyes met his.

  “The fuck?” Max yelped.

  The blade was now in his hand. Bones didn’t remember pulling it out, but the knife’s sharp edge bit into his skin from how tightly Bones gripped it.

  Kill him.

  “Oh, it’s you,” Max said, visibly relaxing. “Didn’t recognize you at first. Bones, right? What, Ian didn’t think I could handle picking up one human on my own?”

  “You know Ian.” The rasped words barely made it through Bones’s clenched jaw. “Always a contingency plan.”

  Max glanced at his door, which Bones still blocked. “Mind if I get out?”

  “Not at all,” Bones said, and moved aside, shielding his knife with his body.

  Max got out and stretched as if relieving a kink. Bones stared as Max’s chest thrust toward him with the movement, nearly begging to be his knife’s new sheath.

  Kill him, kill him now!

  Cat’s face flashed in his mind, her jaw set as she glared at Tate. I trust him. Bones wouldn’t say they were clean unless he was sure, and that’s enough for me…

  Bones sheathed his blade in its holster with a muttered curse that made Max’s brows shoot up.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Yes. I can’t murder you where you fucking stand because the woman I love trusts me, and I won’t betray that.

  “Nothing,” Bones gritted out. “Leave. I’ll get the human.”

  Max’s gaze narrowed. “That’s my job-”

  “Not anymore,” Bones cut him off, his power slicing into Max in all the ways he couldn’t allow himself to. “I’ve got it.”

  Max backed up while frustration bubbled from his sugar and sandalwood scent. “That’s nice, but Ian told me to do it.”

  Bones’s laugh made Max jump as if he’d been stabbed, which, sadly, he had not. “No, Ian didn’t. You volunteered to come here. So did I, and I win.”

  Bones bit out the last two words while his gaze dared Max to argue any further. For an instant, Max’s cavalier mask slipped and Bones saw the rage behind it. Then, that mask was back, and Max smiled as if he had not a care in the world.

  “Eh, saves me a trip, I guess, so have at it.”

  Max got back into his car. Bones didn’t look away until he could neither see Max nor hear the vehicle. Then, he went up to Noah’s house and rapped twice.

  Noah opened the door with a harried smile. “Whatever you’re selling, pal, I was just leaving-”

  “I’m not selling anything,” Bones interrupted him.

  Noah stopped, recognition dawning as he gave Bones a more thorough look. “Wait, I know you. You’re the groomsman from the wedding who kept staring at Cristine.”

  Bones let out a dry laugh. “Yes, and you’re about to have a truly bad evening, but believe me when I tell you-it could have been worse.”

  The small plane Bones had chartered landed at the private airport in Long Island, New York five hours later. From there, it was only a thirty-minute drive to Ian’s new house in Brookville. This time, Bones didn’t pull right up to the mansion’s stately entrance. He had to wait in a line of cars that filled the entirety of the estate’s acre-long driveway.

  Noah sat next to him, silent as the grave. Bones had commanded him not to speak. He’d commanded him not to fear, too, so Noah’s widened gaze was from curiosity, not terror. He even smiled as he looked at the statues interspaced on either end of the long driveway, framed by the tall trees that formed a natural privacy barrier around the property.

  Bones wasn’t smiling, especially when it took him another twenty minutes before he finally made it to the entrance. There, young vampires doubled as valets, and Bones accepted the ticket that was handed to him when he opened his door.

  “Park it very close,” Bones said, pressing a thick wad of bills into the attendant’s hand.

  The attendant beamed. “Yes, sir!”

  Bones nudged Noah, who had paused to stare at the large fountain with stone nymphs cavorting beneath the fountain’s intricate sprays. “Come on, mate. Follow me.”

  Where to go was easy to deduce. A line of vampires went through the stone archway into the exterior courtyard, which had been completely transformed. Now, it was tented and shaped like an ancient receiving hall, with torch-bearing stone gargoyles and exotic flower arrangements lining the hall. At the end of it, Ian had even attached large double doors that opened into what had previously been the expansive back yard, but was now a huge, tented stadium. A small arena was at the center, surrounded by rows of seats, benches, and couches that rose up at least four stories, surpassing the height of the mansion.

  “Crispin!”

  Ian had the best seat, of course, in a balcony-styled theater box one level up from the arena. He shooed away the scantily-clad women draped over him to stride down to Bones, a wide smile wreathing his face.

  Silk flowed from Ian’s collar in a style not poplar since both of them had been human. His ivory jacket was also inspired by the late seventeen hundreds, and his shoulder-length auburn hair was fuller from styling. He might have even put eyeliner around his turquoise eyes, too, or was it arrogance that made Ian’s gaze appear even brighter than normal?

  “I see you brought my package,” Ian said, the barest glance indicating Noah. “Max told me you swooped in and grabbed him.”

  Bones shrugged. “Never arrive to a party without a gift.”

  Ian laughed, and then beckoned to the trio of vampires that had trailed him. “Put that with the others, and show Crispin to a good seat,” he directed them. Then, he grinned at Bones. “You’ll enjoy the show. Until then, enjoy the refreshments.”

  With that, Ian walked away, and Bones was directed to a seat on the second level of the arena, not far from where Ian was. As soon as he sat, a human woman covered only in strategically-placed jewelry sauntered over.

  “O-negative,” she cooed, holding out her wrist.

  “No, thank you,” Bones said.

  His mobile vibrated. On our way, Charles’s text read.

  A knot inside him eased. Charles had inserted himself into the team that was picking Cat up. Not that he’d expect Ian’s men to harm Cat-as if she’d let them-but having his best mate there took away his last, niggling concern on that front.

  Now, to prepare for what came next.

  Bones sat back as if settling in for a boring evening, but in reality, he was measuring the power emanating from Ian’s other guests. He’d certainly invited enough of his people. This stadium had to seat a thousand, and it was filling up, but soon, Ian’s people weren’t the only ones here.

  When the first two dozen vampires that Bones had made came into the stadium, Ian waved at them. When the next two dozen came, he merely nodded. When the next two dozen came, he barely acknowledged them, and when the next two dozen came, he turned and stared at Bones while mouthing, what the fuck?

  Bones’s shrug said, What of it? It’s a party.

  Ian’s gaze narrowed. Displeasure sliced through their connection before Ian’s walls went up and Bones felt nothing. Then, Ian looked away with deliberate chilliness, but he said nothing as the hundred-plus vampires that Bones had made took their seats. With it, the power in the tented stadium changed. Ian might have more people, but Bones had quality over quantity, and he’d also personally trained all of his people to fight, which made them lethal as well as powerful.

  Bones’s skin suddenly tightened as invisible electrical currents crackled through the air. Ian vaulted to his feet as a tall vampire with waist-length black hair and golden bronze skin entered the stadium. The vampires around him immediately backed away, and Mencheres glided through them with all the regality of his ancient, royal lineage.

  Ian embraced his sire, speaking to Mencheres for a moment before ushering him personally to the seat behind his. Then, Ian snapped his fingers, and Mencheres was surrounded by servants bearing wine, delicacies, and of course, blood. When Ian finally walked away, he paused to throw a smirk at Bones.

  Bring anyone you want, that smirk said. I have Mencheres.

  That indeed would’ve been enough, except Ian didn’t know that Mencheres had decided to remain neutral when it came to Cat. Bones inclined his head at Mencheres, who responded with the subtlest nod. Now, to wait for the real guest of honor.

  Ten minutes before midnight, a helicopter circled the property. Then, the tented ceiling and walls rippled as it landed nearby. Ian’s shields slipped and Bones felt excitement crackle through their tie. At once, the stadium hushed as Ian’s people felt it, too. Then, his sire snapped his walls shut and arranged himself on his chair like a king.

  “Bring the Red Reaper in!” Ian commanded.

  The trio of vampires serving him rushed to obey. Moments later, they returned, holding open the twin doors that separated the tented hallway from the stadium.

  Cat strode into the stadium.

  43

  The hush that had fallen over the crowd turned into an eruption of murmurs. A strangled sound left Bones’s throat, too. Cat had dyed her hair back to its natural scarlet, the color as vivid as freshly spilled blood across her pearlescent skin. Her black dress was cut ballerina high, showing off her shapely legs while swaths of silk teased her thighs like feathers as she walked. The front was even more daring, with only two strips of silk hugging her breasts in vertical lines. If not for the double-sided tape, one wrong move would bare her breasts as completely as the halter bared her back, and high heels were her only other clothing.

  I’ll make sure she doesn’t have any sleeves, Ian had told Bones earlier. That’s where she keeps her knives.

  Anyone could now see that Cat had no knives, which is why Bones had picked out this dress and packed it with Cat’s spa supplies. Ian wouldn’t fret about concealed weapons while Cat was wearing this. She couldn’t hide a safety pin on it.

  Cat spotted Ian and glared up at him. “So you’re behind all this? Serves me right for not twisting that knife in your heart. Come on down here, and I’ll fix my oversight.”

  Ian only grinned. “Your prior, prissy pants suit didn’t begin to do you justice, Catherine. You are simply dazzling.”

  Cat made a rude noise. “Once and for all, my name is Cat. Now, I came for a reason, and it wasn’t to hear that you liked my dress. Where are my men, and what do you want? It must be a real doozy for you to track me down and blackmail me.”