I still wasn’t happy about Danny’s murder, even though there had been no love lost between us. Bones had stated that Danny would have gotten me killed one day and that was that. Dinner for Rodney the ghoul.
Don lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “One less potential leak to worry about, though so many vampires know about you now, it’s hardly relevant anymore.”
Spade watched the interaction between me and my uncle with interest. “You are nothing like your brother,” he said to Don.
Don straightened. “You know Max? Exactly who are you to my brother?”
“No one except a friend to his sire. I met Max a few times while visiting Ian. Didn’t think much of Max—he seemed shifty.”
That was an understatement if I’d ever heard one. “Ian made Bones, but who made you?” I asked. “Bones told me the story of that day, but he didn’t mention who the other two sires were. Unless it’s rude to ask.”
Vampire etiquette still escaped me sometimes. It had been so much easier when I just killed them.
Spade waved dismissively, his black, spiky hair moving with the gesture. “You may ask me anything, Cat. Mencheres changed me. You remember him, don’t you?”
How could I forget? Unadulterated power aside, he’d settled the dispute over who got to keep me when Ian and Bones were arguing over me like a cut of beef. Ian had gotten the hots for me after I nearly killed him. People get turned on in strange ways, if you ask me.
“I remember Mencheres. He’s old, isn’t he? He felt… different,” was all I said.
Spade smiled. “You look so human I forget you can feel us as another vampire can. Yes, he’s very old, and one of the most powerful vampires in existence.”
I changed the subject because something about Mencheres unsettled me in ways I couldn’t explain. “Let’s get you a room, Spade. If you’re babysitting me, you may as well have a bed. I’m beat myself—I didn’t sleep much last night.”
Don turned away in a flash of disquiet. Spade’s smile turned knowing. God, me and my big mouth. Why didn’t I just draw them a picture?
Spade’s grin widened. “Yes, I am rather knackered. I’ll take whatever abode is near to yours, thank you. Don”—he faced my boss—“you can be assured I shall be no trouble to your men. My only purpose is to ensure Cat’s safety.”
Don looked mildly offended. “Bones doesn’t think she’ll be safe even inside these walls?”
Spade held open the door for me and gave my uncle a look. “He values her above all else. Why wouldn’t he be overprotective of what he can’t bear to lose?”
Don had no response to that. Neither did I. Instead, I left to show Spade to his room.
***
There were barracks for my team downstairs on the third sublevel. Simple, military-style accommodations. Two cots to a room. Few amenities. Not that Spade needed one, but they didn’t even have private toilets. The shower and bathroom facilities were on either end of the hall. My shower was at the farthest side of the sublevel and it was private, so I offered it to Spade.
“No need for me to put on airs, Cat. You don’t want your team thinking all vampires get preferential treatment, do you?”
“Just a thought. You might be shy.”
He smiled. “Few vampires are. That’s nearly the first thing to go after the heartbeat.”
“You’ve heard that Bones is going to change over Tate, I suppose?” I sat on the cot, adding an extra blanket for myself by taking it from the second bed. There would only be one occupant in this room. Spade didn’t need to watch me that closely.
“I did. Can’t say I agree with the decision, but it’s Crispin’s choice. I for one wouldn’t endow another man with this kind of power if he openly lusted for my wife. I’d kill him instead.”
The casual way he made the statement didn’t make me doubt its sincerity. Vampires weren’t all bark and no bite.
“Maybe he just trusts me. Besides, if he killed Tate out of spite, I’d be furious.”
Spade shrugged. “All a matter of respect. Tate shows contempt with his blatant affection for you. One day he may well go too far, and then your wrath will be wasted because the deed will be done.”
I fluffed the flat pillow twice before giving up. “I disagree. After all, Bones didn’t kill Noah, and I was engaged to him.”
“Speaking of that, did you know many people in the undead world think Crispin only married you to provoke Ian? Ian also thinks it was a sort of payback, since Crispin knew how much he wanted you. The fact your former fiancé still lives only increases the weight of this rumor. They figure if Crispin truly cared for you, he would have slaughtered your human paramour first thing.”
That stopped me in mid-snuggle. “From what Ian and Mencheres both said, you vampires take your blood-vow marriage real seriously. Why would Bones make that kind of commitment if he only wanted to piss off Ian? Seems a bit extreme to take a grudge that far.”
“You forget the exception. Death releases a vampire from marriage. You are after all part human, and much more susceptible to demise than a vampire. In your line of work, who’s to say you’ll even live out the year? That’s what people reckon, making Crispin’s marriage to you potentially a short commitment.”
I had never thought of that. “Do you believe that?”
He smiled. “No. Nor does anyone who knows Crispin. Ian would realize it himself if he weren’t so fixated on his injured pride. I’m only telling you this so that when you hear it, and you will eventually, you won’t let it trouble you.”
I smiled back, mollified. “If that’s why they think Bones married me, then why did I marry him? What do the busybody undead gossipers say about that?”
Spade chuckled. “Oh, for his shagging, of course. There wasn’t a dry feminine eye in the house the night he declared himself to you. You are as hated as you are envied.”
Nice. Just what I liked to be reminded of. “Yeah, Annette was kind enough to fill me in on that. She told me all about his penchant for multiple women at once and how he outshined the countless other poor schmucks she’d fucked. If there were women crying that night, she cried the hardest.”
He shrugged. “What do you care about them? When you were missing, Crispin only thought of finding you.”
“Do you know what he’s doing now?” I impulsively asked.
Spade started to laugh. “He didn’t tell you? That’s priceless.”
Okay, it must not be dangerous, or I didn’t think Spade would be so amused. “Well?” I prodded.
“Wouldn’t dream of spoiling the surprise, so don’t ask. You’ll know before long, I’m certain.”
I chucked one of the small pillows at him in exasperation, but he caught it and handed it back to me.
“Go to sleep. I’ll speak to you later.”
***
Hours later I reached over, grasping empty air when there should have been cool flesh. My eyes snapped open, and for a second, I thought I was in bed at my old house in Richmond before Bones found me. Alone, like I’d been for years.
The door flew open and Spade was there. “What’s wrong?”
“Huh?” I looked around, fully conscious now and remembering why I was in bed alone. Spade relaxed when he saw my cubicle was empty.
“Bad dream?” he queried.
“How would you—” I began, then stopped. “My heart rate, right? My, you’re being attentive. Have you been listening while I sleep? I hope I wasn’t talking as well.”
His lips twitched. “You might have been. The snoring would have drowned that out.”
I snorted in an unladylike fashion. “Did Bones tell you to say that? He always makes fun of my snoring, but personally I think it’s a lie. My mother never told me I snored.”
He laughed outright. “Then she was being gracious.”
In mid-stretch, I stopped to give him a jaded look. “You clearly don’t know her to assume that. Didn’t Bones ever tell you about her?”
His laughter subdued, but the twitch was back.
“Not in any terms I would repeat.”
It didn’t offend me. Whatever Bones had called her, she’d deserved it. Trying twice to murder him allowed him a few unsavory comments where she was concerned.
“I’m off to shower and then to the Wreck Room. That’s what we call the training room. You’re coming, I assume?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
Thirty minutes later, I felt a refreshing surge as the sun set and darkness fell. Some things about me were more vampire than human, and my affinity for evening was one of them. Even as a child, I’d had a hard time going to sleep until it was close to dawn. I glanced at my watch as we entered the Wreck Room. Most of the team was inside training. They kept nocturnal hours also due to the nature of what we hunted.
“Querida.” Juan greeted me, stopping what he was doing and coming over. “Tate tells me you’ll be staying with us for a few days. Qué bueno, I’ve missed you since you’re always gone with that pale, pulseless man. No offense, amigo.”
Juan had mellowed considerably about vampires since he’d gotten chummy with Bones. Now he constantly pestered him for tips on how to seduce women. Bones spoke Spanish; I didn’t. It scared me to think of all the ribald conversation taking place under my nose, but Bones had laughingly refuted my attempts to discourage him from mentoring Juan in that area.
“Kitten, if he’s going to shag every woman that holds still long enough, at least he should be doing it properly. Heavens knows I’m helping them more than I am him,” had been his reply to my outraged protest.
Jeez, I was in trouble if that memory was enough to make me miss him again.
Spade looked around the training area with interest. It was about the size of two football fields, complete with obstacle courses that had shifting ground, ropes for rappelling up the faux building sides, impromptu mock attacks, and sudden blackouts. Roughly half of the sixty troops that made up my team were here, panting away under the relentless eyes of my four captains.
“Who is that?” one of the newer recruits, Jeffrey, whispered to the sweating guy next to him. Both were on the other side of the huge room, and none of my older team members were nearby to warn them that I could hear them.
“Got to be another monster, look at his skin. It’s like hers. Man, she sure likes her dick room temperature.”
“Don’t,” I said, gripping Spade’s arm when he would have done something about that. “They don’t know I can hear them. Let’s see how far they’ll take it.”
“This one’s a brunette,” Jeffrey went on, heedless. “Whatcha think? Dracula—or his college roommate?”
They both snickered. Dumb jerks hadn’t even looked up to see who was around. They’d learn.
“Cat, I was just talking to Cooper, and… What’re you glaring at?” Tate walked up, giving me a curious look.
My hand was still on Spade’s arm, just in case. “Who’s the kid with Jeffrey? Apparently neither one of them believed the lesson about advanced senses, since they’re prattling away like two teenagers. Concentrate. Try to hear them.”
Tate cocked his head. With the daily blood he’d been drinking, he should be able to hear them if he mentally turned up the volume in their direction and managed to filter the other noises out.
“You paying attention to this?” Dave asked, sidling up to me.
“Shh!” Impatiently from Tate.
“…at least now we can check out her ass without getting thrown through the air. Bones has radar when it comes to someone looking at his all-you-can-eat treat. She’s a full-service menu for him—blood for dinner, pussy for dessert. I bet she—”
“Are you out of your minds?” Angus, one of my seasoned team members, interrupted him. “Sorry, Cat, they were taking a breather,” he added to me. “They won’t be doing that again soon.”
Angus hadn’t raised his voice when he switched between speaking to Jeffrey and me. The new recruits stared at him, bewildered.
“She’s all the way over there, she can’t hear us!”
Angus shook his head. “She heard every word you said. See her hand on that vampire? He’s probably licking his lips, deciding which one of you he’s going to drink first. Leftovers go to Dave.”
“But—” the one named Toby began and got a smack to the back of his head.
“Move it, soldier.”
Angus marched the two reluctant men over to us. Juan had been filled in on the dialogue by Dave as they approached, since he hadn’t heard on his own.
“Well, hello boys,” I drawled when Angus shoved them the last few steps. “Some recruits weren’t paying attention to who was around when they spouted off at the mouth, hmmm? So, you two think I’m an all-you-can-eat treat, huh? That’s funny, because to a vampire or a ghoul, you’re food. Dumb food, but hey? Who refuses to eat a burger because the cow was stupid, right?”
They stared at the ground, carefully avoiding my eyes. Now for the fun part.
“Men, fall out!” I roared. The thirty-plus soldiers ceased their activities and came to stand in rows in front of me.
“All right, men, Jeff and Toby here have concerns. Now, who else has been mouthing off about my sleeping with a vampire? Come on, step forward!”
No one moved. There was some shuffling of feet and a few coughs, but no takers. I smiled.
“I’ll get the names of the other bigmouths, believe me, and because whoever it was didn’t step up, now they’ll get both legs broken as well as a severe beating. Don’t you know? Cowardice gets you hurt worse. And as for you two.” Back to Tony and Jeff. “Like my ass, huh? You’re about to get real familiar with it kicking yours!”
I punched both of them in the mouth to punctuate my point. This kind of crap had to stop before someone got hurt. Or worse. Death took anyone, even the imbeciles.
“All right, boys…” I gestured for them to form a circle, then cracked my knuckles and rolled my head around my shoulders. “Let’s get started.”
***
My cell phone rang seven hours later. I was still in the Wreck Room, and so were all of the team. Well, those that weren’t in the medical lab being pumped full of Brams. I snatched my cell up and answered it breathlessly.
“I miss you so bloody much, Kitten,” were Bones’s first words. “Thought I was being unselfish to leave you where you are, but it’s the last time I’m doing that.”
The frustration in his tone made me smile. Bones hated to fly, and he’d been cooped up in a plane for over fourteen hours. At least I’d been able to relieve some of my aggression.
“If I knew that was why you wanted me to stay, I would’ve insisted on going. We could have renewed our membership to the Mile High Club. You would have enjoyed your flight more.”
A snort of laughter squeezed my heart. “Infinitely more. I can’t wait to see you again. Tell Don you’ll be unreachable for two days, sod how much he’ll bellow.”
I wasn’t about to argue. “I’ll tell Don something came up.”
His chuckle was instant. “Right you are. Now, let me speak to Charles.”
I handed the phone over to Spade, who had wandered by.
“Crispin, I’ve just had the pleasure of watching her pummel her poor crew into a state of misery these last several hours. She’s just spectacular to observe. Liking your solitude?”
The reply he got in return sent Spade into delighted snickers. “Oh, you do sound out of sorts. I owe you money, by the by. It was three minutes before your potential changeling had her hand to his lips. The rest of her men might long for your swift return, but he doesn’t. Bloke even seems to like it when she beats him, probably because it’s the only time she touches him, wretched sod.”
“Tattletale,” I barked.
Spade ignored that. “Don’t bother yourself over her, Crispin, I won’t let her out of my sight. See you soon, mate.”
“He sounds entirely too happy for my liking,” Bones commented when I was handed back the phone. “Don’t make it so pleasant for him, luv. Neglect your toothbrush or something
.”
That made me laugh, and he made a soft sound when he heard it. “Blimey, I’m getting off before I hop the next flight without retrieving what I’ve come for. I’ll ring you again before I get on the plane to come back. I love you, Kitten.”
“I love you too.”
The connection severed, but I didn’t let go of the phone. Absurdly, I wanted to hold it, like it was a tie to him. Then with a shake of my head, I turned back to my troops.
“Rest time’s over, buddies. Who’s next?”
There were no takers. I was about to pick the most weary face among them when there was a polite tap on my arm.
“If I may?” Spade said, with a gleam in his eye. “You’ve owed me a rematch for years.”
I laughed at his reference to what had happened the first time we met. “How rough do you want to play? Knives, swords, staffs, or hand to hand?”
“All of it,” was his response.
My smile widened. That’s the way I liked it too.
“Back off, boys. Watch and learn,” I called without taking my eyes off my new opponent. Spade removed his shoes and shirt, leaving him only in his pants so his movements would be less restricted. Since I was in flexible spandex, I didn’t have that concern.
“Well, sir.” I tossed a staff at him and held mine at attention. “Shall we dance?”
***
A little over a day later, Spade and I were at the airport, waiting for Bones to come off the plane.
“You don’t have to stand here with me,” I commented. “Driving me over was enough, thanks, but you know we’re taking a shuttle back to the hotel from here.”
Spade had been practically glued to my side for the past thirty-eight hours while I’d taken out my frustrations on my men, even calling more in from off-duty. If anyone missed Bones more than I had the past couple of days, it was my team. They had been all smiles as I left for the airport with Spade.
“You’re perfect for him, you know,” he said, ignoring my advice. “Checking in to the nearest hotel on the airport grounds in advance so all you have to do is run straight there instead of driving the arduous forty minutes back to the compound.”