At Grave’s End

I nodded. “Unfortunately.”

Juan sighed. “That’s three times in a row. You’re not easily camouflaged, even with a different eye and hair color.”

He wasn’t saying anything I didn’t know. I caught Bones’s look, and his face nearly screamed,I told you so.

Thingshad gotten more dangerous in recent months. Too many people in the undead world now knew there was a half-vampire human who hunted them, and they knew what to look for.

I glared at the captive vampire. “Thanks for blowing my cover.”

“I only wanted to buy you a drink,” the vampire sputtered. “I wasn’t even sure it was you, but your skin…it looked too perfect to be human, no matter that you breathe. And you’re a redhead, I saw that when you raised your arm. The shadow of hair there wasn’t blond.”

Incredulous, I hefted my arm and inspected its shaved crease. Now I’d heard everything.

Dave studied my armpit, too. “He’s right. Of course, who’d think people would be checking out your armpit?”

Who indeed? I ran a frustrated hand through my dyed blond hair. There were no more colors left for me. I’d done black and brunette, too, to try and throw off my targets, plus wearing multiple-colored contacts, but lately it hadn’t helped.

“Juan, hold these,” I said, handing him my knives. After blinking several times, I got the brown contacts out. Ah, relief! They had been a

“Let me see them,” the vampire suddenly asked. “I’ve heard, but can you show me?”

Dave tightened his grip. “She’s not a carnival freak.”

“No?” I sighed, and then let my eyes blaze forth.

Their new glow shone like twin emerald headlights, exactly as all vampire eyes could. Indisputable evidence of my mixed heritage.

“All right, start talking. Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.”

“My name’s Ernie. I’m from Two-Chain’s line. Two-Chain is a friend of Bones’s, so you can’t just kill me.”

“With friends like you, who needs enemies?” Bones said scathingly, gliding over to me once he’d finished healing the injured humans and instilling their new memories with vampire mind control.

“Bloody hung a target around her neck by screeching her name out,” Bones continued. “Just for that, I should rip off your stones and feed them to you.”

For some people, that would just be a figure of speech. Not Bones. He never bluffed. Apparently Ernie had heard of his reputation. He crossed his legs.

“Please don’t.” Now he went from negotiating to pleading. “I didn’t mean her any harm, I swear to Cain.”

“Right.” Coldly. “But you’ll need more than the maker of all vampires to help you if you’re lying. Kitten, I’d like to box him and take him back to the compound, until I can verify that he really is one of Two-Chain’s people.”

Bones was deferring to me, since in work matters, I was in charge. In matters of personal vampire affairs, however, Bones outranked me by more than two centuries.

“Sure. He’ll hate the capsule, though.”

Bones laughed a trifle grimly. He knew from firsthand experience how unpleasant our vampire transportation was.

“If he’s lying, that’ll be the least of his concerns.”

Cooper came up to us. “Commander, the capsule’s prepped and ready.”

“Strap him in. Let’s get this scene contained as quickly as possible.”

My second-in-command, Tate Bradley, walked into the club. His indigo gaze swept over the room, seeking me out.

“Cat, this is the third time you’ve been recognized.”

As if I didn’t know. “We’ll just have to come up with a better disguise. Fast, before the job next week.”

Tate didn’t let my tone dissuade him. “All this risk is going to get you killed. One of these days, someone’s going to recognize you and just pull a fucking gun instead of offering to buy you a drink. This is getting too dangerous, even for your standards.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Tate. I’m in charge, so you don’t get to play all Papa Bear with me.”

“You know my feelings for you aren’tpaternal.”

Before I could blink, Bones had Tate by the throat with his feet dangling several feet in the air. I was so a

If I hadn’t known Tate for several years, I’d throttle him myself for how he continued to bait Bones over me.

Instead of kicking or fighting, Tate managed a grimace that resembled a smile.

“Whatcha go

“Put him down, Bones. There are bigger problems than his attitude,” I went on. “We have to finish up here, check on Ernie’s lineage, give our report to Don, and then get home. Come on, moonlight’s burning.”

“One day, you’re going to push me too far,” Bones growled, letting Tate drop to the ground.

I gave Tate a warning look. That’s what I was worried about, too. Tate was my friend and I cared for him, but his feelings for me ran along very different lines. It didn’t help that lately Tate seemed determined to show those feelings, especially around Bones.

Which was like waving a red flag at a bull. Vampires weren’t known for their gracious sharing tendencies. So far, I’d been able to prevent a real fight from breaking out between them, but I knew if Tate ever made Bones truly lose his temper, he wouldn’t live long enough to regret it.

“Senator Thompson will be pleased that his daughter’s murderer was punished,” my uncle and boss, Don Williams, said later when all of us were seated in his office. “Cat, I heard you were recognized again. This is the third time.”

“I have an idea,” I suggested. “Maybe you, Tate, and Juan can line up and all shout it from the rooftops. I know it’s the third fucking time, Don!”

My language didn’t ruffle him. Don hadn’t been around for the first twenty-two years of my life, but he’d been front row and center for the last five. I hadn’t even known I was related to him until a few months ago. Don hid our family co

“We’re going to need to get another female to play bait,” Don stated. “You can still lead the team, Cat, but there’s too much liability to have you dangling on the hook any longer. I know Bones agrees.”

That made me give a sharp bark of laughter. Bones liked me risking my life on a regular basis about as much as I liked my father.

“Of course he does. Hell, Bones would dance on your grave if I quit my job.”

Bones arched an unperturbed brow, not disputing that.

“You’d just have him pull Don out from under the dirt, Cat,” Dave said with a wry smile.

I smiled back. That’s what Bones had done to Dave after Dave had been killed on a job. I’d known vampire blood was a powerful healing elixir, but I hadn’t known that if a mortally wounded person swallowed some before dying, he or she could be brought back later as a ghoul.

Don coughed. “Be that as it may, everyone agrees it’s become too dangerous for you to continue on as bait. Think of the bystanders, Cat. Whenever there’s a Code Red, more of them stand a chance of getting killed.”

He was right. Tonight was a prime example. Vampires and ghouls got pretty desperate when they were cornered. Add in the fact that I didn’t have a reputation for taking prisoners, and what did they have to lose by taking as many humans down with them as they could?

“Shit.” It was an acknowledgment of defeat. “But we don’t have any females on our team, thanks to your sexist rules, Don, and we have another job next week. That’s not enough time to round up a qualified female soldier, break the bad news to her about vampires and ghouls, train her to defend herself, and then have her dolled up and ready for action.”

There was silence after this pronouncement. Don tugged at his eyebrow, Juan whistled, and Dave cracked his neck.

“What about Belinda?” Tate suggested.