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Don was silent for several moments. At last he gave a sardonic smile.
“Well, Cat, Bones…I guess we have an agreement.”
Parley completed, there were some loose ends before we could leave. “Is my mother still here?”
“She’s in one of the bunkers. You want to see her?”
“No. But keep her here. If my father knew where to find me, then she’s not safe at her house.”
“We also can’t have your team wandering around for Max to snatch them up and discover I’m involved, Kitten,” Bones stated. “As for the rest of your employees, round them up. They won’t remember seeing me.”
“What about Noah?” This from Don, and I winced.
“He doesn’t know anything.”
“That’s not what he means,” Bones stated in an even way. “Noah would make right good bait for you, whether or not he knows why. Max might reckon you still hold feelings for him.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Then put a watch on Noah, Don, work and home. Any sign of the supernatural, and we move in. Maybe we can catch Max at his own trap.”
“I’ll make the call now,” Don promised.
We stood. It had been a long day, and it wasn’t over.
“Bones, while you and Don play Bright Eyes with the other staff, I’m going to talk to the team about your new status.”
Bones gri
I knew who he meant. “With Tate, Bones. Not on him.”
His smile broadened. “Right.”
An hour later, my temples pounded with a nasty headache. Tate, as I expected, had hit the roof. Juan had been unexpectedly blasé after I answered some of his concerns, and since Cooper was the third captain, he’d been roused from his concussion and informed that the cause of it was now officially joining our team. Tate had expected Cooper to back him up, but he’d actually taken it better than Juan had.
“He whipped our asses, Commander. If he wanted us dead, I guess we would be.”
“He’s the same vampire who trained me, Coop. Oh, and I’m sleeping with him, to save Tate the trouble of a
Cooper didn’t flinch. “You’re a freak. Why wouldn’t you want a freak also?”
“I don’t fucking believe this,” Tate said in disgust.
Bones strode into the room. Tate glared at him as Bones put his arm around me.
“Feeling better, mate?” he inquired of Cooper. “If not, you will soon. Don drained a pint out of me just now, Kitten,” he said with a grin. “Seems the head pathologist didn’t want to stick me himself. Poor bloke was quite jittery, though I can’t imagine why.”
“Could be because you made di
Cooper hadn’t heard that. He swung his gaze to me.
“We’re letting him eat people?”
“Apparently,” Tate snarled.
“Brad Parker plotted with another vampire to put me out of my misery, Cooper.” I shot Tate a dirty look. “You heard about last night? Well, you can thank the late Mr. Parker for giving away my location and my weaknesses.”
Cooper eyed Bones, and then shrugged. “So he deserved it. Too quick, though. He should have been hurt first.”
Bones smothered a laugh against my temple. “You and I will get along famously, soldier.”
Tate muttered something profane, and I’d had enough.
“I want you with me on this, Tate, but I can’t force you. Are you in or are you out? Decide now.”
Tate folded his arms across his chest. “I’m in, Cat. I’d never leave you. Especially when you’ve got death breathing down your neck.”
“Very fu
TWENTY-SIX
WE PULLED AROUND THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE Virginia Tech campus. Bones shut off his motorcycle and left it leaning against a tree. I gave a look around at its stone-front buildings and cobbled streets, students still milling about even though it was eleven at night, and cleared my throat.
“I thought you said we were meeting some big important vampire. Did you just stop here because you wanted to grab a bite to eat first?”
Bones chuckled. “No, luv. This is where we’re meeting him. Well, under here, as it were.”
My brows rose. “Under here?”
He took my arm. “Follow me.”
We went across the campus to Derring Hall. Seeing all the young faces milling around reminded me of my own college days. I hadn’t graduated-that whole murdering the governor and being scooped up by Don interfered with my diploma plans. Still, I’d more than gotten my chance to get out of my small town and travel. Who knew it would be my skills with a silver knife, instead of graduating with honors, that would be my ticket to a new life?
Once inside Derring Hall, we went down. After several turns and then a long corridor, we were at the basement. There was a guard there, and Bones walked right up to him with a genial smile-and then hit him with his gaze.
“Let us pass, and we were never here,” he said. The guard nodded and let us by him without losing the glazed look on his face.
There weren’t any other people in the basement. Bones took me past several storage rooms until we came to a small, locked gate. He casually ripped the bolt away from the gate and held it open for me.
“After you, Kitten.”
I went inside and waited at the entrance of the narrow, tight tu
“We couldn’t have just met at a Starbucks?” I remarked.
Bones shut the grille behind him. “Less chance of anyone seeing or overhearing us down here. No one knows Mencheres is even in the States yet.”
“And you said Mencheres is the same vampire who made Ian,” I commented thoughtfully. “So that makes him, like, your fang granddaddy.”
After a short walk, the tu
Bones began to walk to the tu
“But the fact that Max tried to have my head blown off is okay?” I asked irritably.
“You have no Master claiming you under their line,” Bones replied in an even tone. “You remember I told you vampires operated under a form of feudalism? When one vampire changes another, they take that person under their protection, and conversely, so does the head Master. But you weren’t changed-you were born, so no vampire’s ever claimed responsibility for you. That makes you without a Master to defend you against any outside attack.”
“So just killing Max once I find him could set off a full-out war with Ian’s people, like there aren’t already enough problems with your horny sire to begin with.”
Bones nodded. “Which is why I’m going to change your status in the vampire world. I’ll claim you under my protection, but first I’ll need to break free from Ian’s line. Otherwise, anything I claim as mine is also his, since he’s head of our line. That’s why we’re meeting with Mencheres. Ian would be a damn sight less likely to retaliate against me if Mencheres chooses to ally himself to my side.”
“Did Ian know you were looking for me…before?”
“After your run-in with him, yes. I told him I’d been hunting you to limit the damage you’d do to the undead world. When he expressed his desire for you and fed me your description of our former relationship, I said a few ungentlemanly things to try to discourage him from his pursuit.”