Then the power around Marie faded. That unearthly keening stopped, the shadows curled back into her, and in a rush, the strength returned to Bones’s body.
Marie watched him, a small, brittle smile on her mouth. “I wish you would have lied to me. Then I could have justified killing you.”
Bones recovered enough to shrug. “You already knew the truth. Lying would only have insulted us both.”
She studied him again, her expression giving nothing away. “You are banned from New Orleans for five years,” she finally stated. “If you violate this ban, I will kill you. If you speak of these events to anyone, I will kill you. As far as what everyone else will know, I contracted you to take care of the LaLauries while I was out of town, and Jelani was killed by them in defense of his city. Furthermore, you owe a debt to me equivalent to the value of a life, since I’m letting you keep yours.”
Bones didn’t argue Marie’s assertion that she could kill him. Her display of power moments ago made it plain that there were things about New Orleans’s queen that few people knew—or lived to tell. All things considered, Bones was getting a slap on the wrist. Then again, it was also in Marie’s best interest to leave Bones alive to back up her version of events.
As for Jelani, at least Marie was giving him an honorable legacy. There were worse things to die for than securing a long-denied revenge. Sooner or later, everyone died. It just took death longer to catch up to those it had already visited, like vampires and ghouls.
“Done,” Bones said.
Marie dropped her gaze to look at the dead man near her feet. “Get out.”
Her voice sounded huskier. She knelt by Jelani’s withering frame to stroke his shoulder. Even though she’d killed him, her grief was clear. That sort of ruthlessness combined with her level of power made Marie truly frightening. If meting out Jelani’s death had meant nothing to her, Bones wouldn’t have found her chilling. But even though it had hurt her to kill Jelani, that hadn’t stopped her from doing it.
Yes. Best be going quickly.
Bones left without looking back. His flight out of the city was already booked. By tonight, he’d be on his way to Ohio, searching out the undead accountant he’d been tracking before he got involved in this mess.
This was over, but it was time for the next hunt.
About Jeaniene Frost
JEANIENE FROST lives with her husband and their very spoiled dog in North Carolina. Although not a vampire herself, she confesses to having pale skin, wearing a lot of black, and sleeping in late whenever possible. And while she can’t see ghosts, she loves to walk through old cemeteries. Jeaniene also loves poetry and animals, but fears children and hates to cook. She is currently at work on her next paranormal novel.
To know more about Jeaniene, please visit her website at www.JeanieneFrost.com.
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Jeaniene Frost
THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE, ONE GRAVE AT A TIME,
DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE, AT GRAVE’S END,
ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE, HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE
ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS
FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON
Copyright
Reckoning originally appeared in the print anthology Unbound, published in paperback in 2009 by Eos, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
“Reckoning” copyright © 2009 by Jeaniene Frost.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition May 2011 ISBN 978-0-06-210632-2
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Jeaniene Frost, Reckoning
(Series: Night Huntress # 0.50)
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