“You’ve probably raped so many women that you don’t even remember my mother,” she growled to Max.

  He smiled nastily at her. “You never forget your first, and she was my first as a vampire. Beautiful brunette, big blue eyes, and nice round tits. We fucked in the backseat of my car, and the only time she objected was when she opened her eyes, saw mine glowing green, and finally noticed my fangs.”

  Bones tightened his arms again. Cat was barely breathing, but her heartbeat hammered as if she was running full out, and she smelled like a burned-down building.

  Max scented her rage, and his smile widened. “When she saw that, she started screaming and bawling, and calling me a hell spawn. It was so funny I didn’t deny it. In fact, I told her she was right and I was a demon. That all vampires were; and she’d just let herself get fucked by one. Then, I drank her blood until she stopped screaming and passed out, and that, little girl, is what really happened between your mother and me.”

  “Liar,” Cat ground out.

  Now Max’s smile showed all his teeth. “Ask her.”

  Cat said nothing, but from how her expression twisted, she wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

  “Remember her mum that distinctly, do you?” Bones asked.

  “Didn’t I just prove that?” Max sneered.

  Bones’s brow arched. “What was her name, then?”

  Max actually took a step toward him. “Justina Crawfield. Going to ask what color panties she wore next?”

  Bones smiled with all the coldness in him. “When Ian figured out you were Cat’s father, I wager he mentioned that Cat wanted you dead. Scared the stones off you to realize that someone strong enough to get the drop on Ian was coming after you, didn’t it? And you remembered Cat’s mum-clearly, as you’ve proven-so it would have been simplicity itself to look up the name of the child Justina had given birth to.”

  Cat gave him a questioning glance. She was so upset that she hadn’t figured it out yet, but as soon as Max had bragged about Justina, Bones had.

  “You gave that information to a hitman named Lazarus, didn’t you?” Bones said with silky menace.

  Max took a step back. Rapidly.

  Ian saw it and nailed Max with a glare that dared him to move another inch.

  “You had Lazarus murder that couple in Cat’s former house to draw her out,” Bones went on. “Yet even when she walked into his trap, Lazarus couldn’t kill Cat. That must have really scared you, so you went after Cat through the only source you still had. Your brother. You knew he must have sent Cat after Ian, so you dug around until you found a mole in his operation. Then, you had that mole give another hitman Cat’s location and weaknesses. A good plan, but I’m here to inform you that your rodent and his accomplice have been exterminated.”

  “You prick!” Cat shouted. She’d known her father was behind the sniper, but now, she knew he was behind Lazarus, too. No wonder that hadn’t been an open contract. Max had wanted to keep his death warrant on Cat nice and private.

  Ian had turned to stone. “What is this, Crispin?”

  Bones gave a glib shrug even though he felt anything but. “In short, Ian, Max found Cat before you or I did, but he kept that information to himself so he could go behind your back and murder her in order to protect his own miserable arse. Not very loyal of him, was it?”

  Ian spared a single glare at Max before turning back to Bones. “You have any proof of this, Crispin? For obvious reasons, I don’t trust you any longer.”

  “I have bank records and transactions from Max’s most recent assassination attempt on Cat. Stupid sod used a personal account to pay her uncle’s informant,” Bones added with a scornful glance at Max. “If you look back, I reckon you’ll also find another large transfer of funds from one of Max’s other accounts back in February, when he hired Lazarus to murder her.”

  “Uh oh,” Cat said in a taunting tone. “Looks like you’re in trouble, Max.”

  From the rage nearly boiling off of Ian, that was true. He’d been publicly humiliated three times tonight, and Max was the only person he could take immediate revenge on.

  Then, Ian’s gaze landed on Bones. For a moment, pain flashed in Ian’s eyes before anger buried it again. Max wasn’t the only one who’d deal with repercussions from tonight. Bones would, too, sooner or later.

  But it didn’t matter. Whatever the cost, it was worth it.

  Ian’s turquoise gaze then went to Max, and turned diamond hard. Then, Ian jerked his thumb behind him.

  Max fell in line with a truly miserable expression.

  “Hey, Max,” Cat called out as the two of them started to leave the stadium. “Watch your back. You never know when someone might stick a knife in it.”

  Max paused, but he said nothing.

  Neither did Ian. He left through the tented hallway with Max following close behind him.

  Cat stared as the other vampires began leaving as well. “Wow, no one’s threatening to kill me.”

  Bones snorted. “Nor will they, Kitten. In the vampire world, you’re now legally an extension of me, and I am not known for taking threats lightly.”

  Charles came over, clapping Bones on the back with a wide grin. “Bloody hell, mate. You, a married man? Now I’ve truly seen everything!”

  Bones laughed and embraced him. Both of them held on longer than they usually did. Their estrangement had been difficult, but now, it was over. More than that, it was time to celebrate.

  Well, almost.

  “Charles,” Bones said when they finally let go. “Mind letting us borrow that helicopter you came in on?”

  47

  They flew the chopper back to Virginia, and then went back to the compound after freeing Ian’s men. Bones would have skipped briefing Don altogether except for the bombshell that Cat had unknowingly revealed yesterday. That couldn’t wait.

  Bones left Noah with Cat’s team, but had Tate, Juan, and Cooper accompany them to Don’s office. They didn’t question it, probably because they expected to give Don their report on the evening as well. When the five of them entered Don’s office, her uncle took one look at Cat and then quickly looked away.

  “Cat, would you like a lab coat or…something?”

  She glanced down as if just remembering that she was still in her evening attire, such as it was.

  Bones removed his jacket and draped it around her. “Here, luv, put this on before your uncle turns red. Best to do that, anyway, since I’m about to flog Juan for staring at your arse.”

  Cat gave Juan a censuring look.

  He only smiled. “You shouldn’t have walked in front of me with that dress on if you didn’t want me looking, querida.”

  Don cleared his throat. “You’re all here, so obviously the operation was a success. Cat, you gave instructions for Noah Rose to be transferred to a hospital? And to have his car wrecked and reports of a hit-and-run accident filed?”

  She sighed. “Yes. Bones will put your brainwashers out of a job, Don. All Noah will remember about tonight is a car wreck that he has to call his insurance company about in the morning.”

  Don nodded, but Tate gave Bones a newly suspicious look.

  “That’s a good point. How do we know that Bones hasn’t been fucking with our minds this entire time? Your decision to make him a part of this team could have been planted, Don!”

  Cat snorted, but Bones beat her to replying.

  “He knows it wasn’t. For starters, Don’s office is being recorded by a hacker-proof, battery-operated camera in the ceiling. I can hear it,” he answered Don before he could ask. “And while under normal circumstances, I could’ve made you believe you watched that footage when you didn’t, I can’t because you started tipping the red bottle as soon as you found out that your niece was shagging a vampire.”

  Cat gave him a confused look. So did her men.

  “He’s been drinking vampire blood to make himself immune to our mind control,” Bones elaborated. “Don’t bother denying it, old chap. I can smell it on you.”

  Don didn’t deny it, but irritation flashed over his face.

  “You will never trust me, will you, Don?” Cat said in exasperation. “As if I’d let Bones brainwash you that way.”

  “No, she wouldn’t, more’s the pity,” Bones murmured.

  Cat’s look said she didn’t appreciate that, but she ignored it. “Look, Don, I’m tired, so I’ll be brief. Max and Ian are still alive, but they won’t mess with any of us anymore. Under nosferatu law, Bones kind of…married me tonight.”

  “What?” Don and Tate exclaimed at the same time.

  Cat sighed. “It’s a blood vow thing, not a normal wedding ceremony, but it means anyone who messes with me or mine gets a piece of Bones, too, and no one seems to want that. Humanly speaking, I’m still single, but in the undead world, I’m married to Bones lock, stock, and two smoking barrels.” She paused, and went on with a catch in her voice. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give Max your best, Don, but I’ll get him one day. I promise.”

  Don looked at Cat for a long moment. Then, a smile ghosted his lips. “I did give Max my best, Cat. I sent him you.”

  Tears sparkled in her eyes. She immediately blinked them back and cleared her throat as if trying to dislodge something.

  “There is another matter we need to discuss,” Bones said.

  Cat shook off her sentimentality. “Okay, but can we make it fast? I’m about to fall asleep on my feet here.”

  This would certainly wake her up. “Yesterday, you told me that your friend drank vampire blood as he died. That’s a rather significant detail.”

  “Not really,” she said with a catch in her voice. “It sure didn’t save him or make him a vampire. Dave only got in a few swallows before he died. We buried him three days later, and believe me, he was dead dead.”

  “Quite so, as far as being a vampire or human.” Bones held her gaze. “But there is another species, isn’t there?”

  “He wasn’t a ghoul, either,” she said sharply.

  She still had so much to learn.

  “Ghouls and vampires are sister races, Kitten. You already know that a vampire is made when a human is bled to the point of death, and then drinks deeply of vampire blood. Making a ghoul isn’t that dissimilar. You first mortally wound a human, and then have the human drink vampire blood, but not enough to live. Then, a ghoul switches his heart with the human’s heart. Ghouls can survive having their heart’s ripped out,” he added at Don’s raised brows. “That’s why the only way to kill a ghoul is decapitation. After the hearts are switched, you pour vampire blood over the transplanted ghoul heart to activate it in the human. Thus, you have the birth of a new ghoul.”

  All of them stared at him. He was only interested in Cat’s reaction, though, and her eyes widened at the implication.

  “But Dave’s been dead for months,” she said, sounding dazed. “Planted in the ground after being pumped full of formaldehyde. You’re telling me it’s still possible to bring him back? Of course you are,” she answered before Bones could speak. “You wouldn’t bring this up otherwise. Oh, God. Oh, God.”

  “It is possible, but are you prepared for that?” Bones said in a quiet voice. “He’d still be your friend, with all his memories and personality traits except one. Ghouls mostly eat regular raw meat, but every so often, they have to vary their diet, and you know what I’m speaking of.”

  “Jesus,” Tate said under his breath.

  Bones ignored that. “Normally, I wouldn’t consider changing someone without their consent, but as Dave’s unavailable for comment, I’m asking all of you. What do you think he would choose? To remain dead in the ground, or to come out of it?”

  Complete silence as the five of them stared at each other.

  Finally, Don spoke. “Do we have to decide right now?”

  “Yes,” Bones said bluntly. “For starters, rejuvenation normally takes place at once, for obvious reasons. Each day Dave lingers in the ground decreases the chance of raising him. As it stands, it will take a great deal of power to accomplish it.”

  And Bones wasn’t entirely sure that he could do it. He’d raised a ghoul after two months in the ground, and he’d heard of someone doing it up to three months later, but three and a half? As Rodney had said, tricky.

  “Also, Rodney has offered to sire him, but he’s leaving town tomorrow,” Bones went on. “Rodney’s the head of his own line, so he’s not under my protection any longer, and he reckons Ian might take retribution on those he can get away with harming. If this is to be done, it has to be tonight.”

  Don began tugging at the end of his eyebrow. “If your friend is leaving, and we do this, will he take Dave with him?”

  “No, I can handle him,” Bones said. “Vampires have been foster parents to ghouls for millennia, and vice versa. As I said, sister races. After a few weeks of adjustment, you’d have Dave back better than new, as it were.”

  Tate started to pace. “What if we do this, and then Dave decides he’d rather be dead than undead? What then?”

  Cat’s face reflected the same question.

  Bones met her gaze squarely. “Then Dave would get his wish. I’ll have a sword at the grave just in case. It would be quick, and then Dave would return to the way he was.”

  Cat swallowed back a gag.

  Bones took her hand. “If all of you accepted him as a ghoul, he’d have a much better chance of accepting himself. But he would need your unprejudiced support,” he added with pointed glance at Don and Tate. Cooper and Juan were less biased, so he wasn’t worried about them.

  “Otherwise, this conversation ends now,” Bones said in a harder tone. “Being a ghoul wouldn’t change Dave as a person. It would only change his abilities. Does your friend mean more to you than your squeamishness over what he’d occasionally eat?”

  “Yes,” Juan said at once. “I say we wake Dave up and let him choose. I miss my friend. I don’t care what he eats.”

  Cooper shrugged. “I knew Dave the least so my opinion should count the least, but if Cat can handle being half a freak, couldn’t Dave handle being a whole one? Seems easier to me.”

  Two for two on his assessments. Bones looked at Tate next.

  Tate glared back at him. “You don’t give a shit what any of us think. You’re only offering this for her.”

  Bones snorted. “Absolutely. If it’s better for the rest of you as well? That’s just your luck.”

  “Yeah?” Tate flared. “Well, I say go for it, but I also think you can’t pull Dave out from under his headstone. If you can, then I’ll be sure to apologize.”

  Bones turned to Don because he already knew Cat’s answer. He’d known it before he offered this, but she had to know that her team would support Dave, too.

  “Well?” Bones said to Don.

  Her uncle gave Bones a flinty look. “I was never in the military, but I respect its saying: leave no soldier behind. We haven’t done that on any of our missions yet, and I’m not about to start now. So, bring him up.”

  Cat looked at Bones, her eyes shining from unshed tears. “Do it,” she said softly.

  Bones raised her hand and kissed it. Then, he looked back at Don. “I’m going to need several things, and I’ll need them all before nightfall.”

  48

  Twelve hours later, Rodney looked around in disbelief. “Look at all this shit!”

  Yes, Don had gone overboard. Bones had only asked for a high-quality sword, several willing blood donors, a tray, and a meal suitable for a brand-new ghoul. In addition to that, Don had set up a large tent around Dave’s grave, with Cat’s entire team forming a perimeter around that. Don also had a hundred more soldiers cordoning off the entire cemetery, a full medical team nearby, and military choppers circling over the now-closed-off airspace above the cemetery.

  “We’re raising one ghoul, not starting a zombie apocalypse,” Rodney went on.

  Bones grunted. “Nearly the same thing to her boss.”

  Rodney shook his head, but then an impish grin curled his lips. “Now he’s your in-law, and he’s not even the scary one.”

  Bones chuckled at the zing to Justina. “You’re not wrong there, mate.”

  A new, cranking sound brought his attention to Dave’s grave. The crane finished lifting Dave’s coffin from the ground and deposited it next to the open hole in front of his headstone. Cat, Don, Tate, Juan, and Cooper drew closer as the seals were broken on the coffin.

  “Showtime,” Bones murmured, and held up three fingers.

  Three blood donor volunteers from Cat’s team came over. Bones drank two pints from each of them while the last of the coffin seals were broken, and the lid was finally opened.

  Cat made a strangled sound as she saw Dave’s face.

  The spotlights in the tent made Dave’s funerary makeup gleam like graffiti against his waxen skin. He might have been a handsome man when he was alive, but his features were now slack from decomposition, though the formaldehyde had helped slow that. Without it, Dave might have been too rotted to reanimate.

  Bones threw back the lower coffin lid himself. Then, he lifted Dave’s body out of it. When Bones stripped Dave’s suit off, baring his upper body to those unforgiving fluorescent lights, Cat gripped Tate’s hand, and Juan crossed himself while muttering the start of the rosary.

  Bones laid Dave’s body on the ground.

  Rodney knelt next to it, and then plunged his knife into Dave’s chest, cutting away Dave’s ribcage with brisk skill.

  “Jesus,” Tate muttered.

  Yes, making a ghoul was messy. That’s why Bones was already shirtless. Rodney took his shirt off, too, after Dave’s heart was exposed to the bright overhead lights.

  Then, Rodney gave Bones the knife and braced.

  Bones shoved the blade deep into Rodney’s chest, right beneath the ghoul’s ribcage. His other hand went into the bloody wound next, finding and squeezing Rodney’s heart. Several ruthless swipes later, and Bones was drawing that organ free.

  Several of Cat’s team vomited. From a hard thud, one of them might have fainted, too.