EIGHTEEN

ANNETTE LET THE SHADE FALL BACK OVER THE window. “It’s raining. I told you I could smell it.”

I turned my attention to the carton of ice cream in front of me. Pralines and Crème. It was almost empty. Next I’d crack open the Swiss chocolate.

“No fooling you with a bogus weather report.”

“We’ll watch the movie instead of taking a walk,” Annette continued. “I hear it’s good.”

Good? I couldn’t seem to remember what that was. I felt like I was a walking open wound. I couldn’t even sleep more than minutes at a time, no matter how exhausted I was, because I was afraid if Bones came back, I might miss an instant with him. The only respite in my current misery was that my mother wasn’t here. She was somewhere with Rodney, but for obvious reasons, I didn’t know where.

“Crispin needs time,” Spade had said after that terrible exchange. “Don’t tear off after him. Even I don’t know where he is.”

So I’d been waiting, dwelling on every awful thing he’d said to me, and worse, how most of it was true. I hadn’t meant to keep Bones at a distance. I didn’t know why I closed parts of myself off. But more than that, I wished with all of my heart that I hadn’t left that morning with Gregor.

And Gregor had been busy. Not content with his role in ruining my relationship, Gregor had been feeding the rumors that without his intervention, I might change myself into a vampire/ghoul hybrid. That’s how he’d garnered the two‑hundred‑plus ghoul army he’d amassed to attack in Bavaria. Gregor had promised the ghouls that once he had me, he’d change me into a vampire. Gregor even had the balls to state that if Mencheres hadn’t stolen me away and imprisoned him a dozen years ago, I’d already have been a vampire and wouldn’t have risen to such notoriety today.

Yet Gregor had let me go with my pulse intact. Now there were rumbles that I’d influenced him as well. What no one cared to hear was that Gregor hadn’t had a choice about changing me. The silver dagger in his back made his decision for him.

Adding to these ghoul/vampire hybrid fears were my high jumps in Paris. Who’d have thought that would have been responsible for so much added paranoia? But since flying was a skill only Master vampires possessed, the fact that I had come close to demonstrating it, even briefly, had people wondering what other powers I could be hiding. It fueled the fears about what would happen if ghoul attributes were added to my repertoire. Would I be invincible? Unkillable? Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and rerotate the spinning of the globe to turn back time? The theories got wilder and crazier.

Little did anyone know that all I was a danger to currently was anything sweet. Before I’d turn to alcohol for useless comfort. Now I used sugar, but there was a lot of pain and not nearly enough sugar.

“When does Spade get back?” I asked Annette. He’d gone out earlier with a vague statement about business. No one told me anything that could be used against me. We all knew Gregor was still snooping in my mind, even though I’d barely slept, and he’d been able to learn almost nothing. I didn’t know where we were. How many people were with us. What day it was. Actually, none of those things meant shit to me. All I knew was this–it had been five days since Bones walked out. That’s how I measured time. In the minutes and seconds since I’d last been with him.

“After dark,” she answered.

Fabian came downstairs and sat–in a fashion–next to Annette. The ghost was smiling at her in a way that could only be called besotted.

I rolled my eyes. Even phantoms had a thing for Annette, it seemed. She’d probably found a way to have sex with him. Though he was transparent and as solid as a particle cloud, if anyone could do it, Annette could.

“What a charming man,” she remarked. “Faith, Cat, you might have started a trend. When I leave, I daresay I’ll be trying to sneak him past you.”

It took so much willpower not to ask, “And how soon will that be?” After all, I’d been trying to control my think it, say it tendencies.

“Annette, I think I’ll just skip the movie and read something. Watch it without me.”

Halfway up the stairs, I passed Vlad. He’d stayed on, making the comment that he’d leave when things were settled. I bet he hadn’t figured on being here this long.

I was nearly to the bedroom when I heard my cell phone ring. The sound made me hurtle through the door, almost diving to get it.

“Bones?” I answered.

A contemptuous scoff filled my ear. “No, chérie. Still hoping for your lover’s return? How amusing.”

Gregor. Just what I needed.

“What’s up, dear?” Sarcastically. “Still snooping in my dreams, I see. Are you done apologizing to your ghouls because I’m sucking in air instead of blood? Just when you think you’ve got the little woman cornered, oops, you forget she has a knife.”

“You should have stayed with me and spared yourself the humiliation of being yet another castoff of that peasant whore,” he purred. “While you pine for Bones, he ruts with other women.”

“Liar. Bones might be pissed at me, but he’s a better man than that. Of course, that’s something you wouldn’t understand.”

Gregor just laughed. “Oh, Catherine, soon you will see you’re very wrong. Did you really think he’d changed? He saw a way out, and he took it.”

I hung up, stopping myself from my stamping on the phone only out of concern that Bones might call next, and I’d have broken the thing. I was breathing heavily, like I’d been running. When Vlad tapped on the doorframe, I whirled around and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Do you know where Bones is? Tell me the truth!”

Vlad flicked his gaze to his shirt, as if to say, Do you mind?

“No, Cat. Going to shake me next?”

I dropped my hands, balling them in frustration. “That bastard is playing games with me. He knows what I’m most afraid of, and he’s using it to hurt me!”

“Gregor?” Vlad asked evenly. “Or Bones?”

I stopped pacing and shot him a measured look. “I meant Gregor, but…you might have a point.”

Vlad smiled. “And what are you going to do about it?”

“When Spade gets back,” I said grimly, “I’m going to shake him. ”

Spade just made it through the front door when I grabbed him by the shirt.

“You contact Bones and tell him he’s made his point. I might have been wrong, but he’s being cruel, and I’ve had enough.”

Spade flicked my hands as if they were lint. “You couldn’t relay that without creasing my shirt?”

“An attention‑getter,” I replied with a glint. “Just in case you needed one.”

Vlad was on the other side of the room with Fabian and Annette. All three of them were waiting to see if Spade complied or refused. I’d moved some furniture out of the way, just in case Spade chose the latter. No need to trash the place.

“Cat,” Spade began, “give me a few more days.”

“Wrong answer,” I said with a smile, and hit him.

Maybe it was the smile that put him off his guard. His head jerked to the side from the blow, then he took me seriously. The looseness was gone from his posture, and he took a wary step backward, his hands flexing in readiness.

“It’s not so simple, but I can’t explain why.”

“You’d better find a way.”

“I need a little more time,” he snapped.

I stopped in sudden understanding and let out a harsh laugh.

“Oh, I get it. You can’t reach him, can you? That’s why you’re hemming and hawing. You don’t know where he is!”

Spade ground out a curse. “Good show, Reaper! As soon as you sleep, that fact will now be repeated to Gregor. Want to hang a bloody target around Crispin’s neck?”

“How long?” I prodded, the first leaking of fear starting through me. “Do you even know where he went?”

“I won’t give more information that could endanger–”

“Yes, you will,” I said, anxiety and anger sharpening my tone. “Don’t you worry about me, if I have to stay awake until this is squared away, I will. I’ll break the world record for going without sleep if I have to, but you’re spilling your beans, and you’re doing it now .”

Spade’s mouth tightened. Emerald flashed in his tawny eyes, and he gave me a look filled with steel.

“You’d better be prepared to keep that vow, for I’ll hold you to it.”

The details Spade outlined had me on an emotional roller coaster. Yes, he’d known how to contact Bones when he left. Before I even returned with Vlad, Bones had tersely given him a number for emergency use, leaving his location undisclosed. Two days ago, Spade had left him a message to find out when he was coming back. His call went unreturned. Since then, Spade had paged him, e‑mailed him, and tried a few trusted friends as well. No one had heard from Bones.

“I’ve been making discreet inquiries, such as today when I was gone, and I think he might have been seeking an audience with Marie,” Spade finished. “Rodney says he spoke to Crispin three days ago, and he made a comment about how hot it was in New Orleans. Why else would he be there? I’ve sent Rodney to investigate. That’s all I know.”

“Why didn’t you just call Liza and ask her instead of waiting for Rodney to get there?”

“I did ring Liza.” Spade ground his jaw. “She told me Marie had ordered her out of the Quarter a week ago and that she was refused permission even to communicate with anyone in it. Marie didn’t give Liza an explanation; she just said she’d let her know when she could return.”

“When did you find this out? How could you not have told me?”

“Crispin’s specific instructions were to keep you uninvolved,” Spade countered. “The last time you ran off like Henny Penny to shout the sky down, it didn’t turn out well, did it? I suggest patience this round. Do you worlds of good.”

I was about to scald him when my conscience stopped me. He’s right. You did run off last time, and these are the consequences. Maybe Bones just can’t communicate right now. Let them do it their way. Wait until Rodney calls.

“Fine.” I sat down. “We’ll wait to hear from Rodney.”

Spade regarded me with caution, as if waiting for me to take it back. “I’m sure he’ll ring soon.”

“Soon” turned out to be five hours later. Rodney’s voice was audible to everyone even before Spade put him on speaker. He was shouting.

“The fuck is going on there, but they’ve shut down the whole Quarter! Majestic’s only allowing humans to pass who aren’t of any vampire or ghoul’s line. I don’t know if Bones is there.”

“How is she doing this?” Spade looked dumbfounded. I was stunned myself. How could Marie quarantine a whole section of the city?

“They’ve got ghouls and police on every section of the Quarter, supposedly searching for an abducted child. They make it really simple–turn around or you’ll wish you did. I tried scoping out the river, but that’s guarded as well. Marie’s not playing games. We’ll have to try something else.”

Annette paled.

“They’re using police,” I breathed, my mind whirling with ideas. “I could ask some of my old team to go and check it out. They’re human, and they have higher credentials…but that announces our involvement. It needs to be someone else.”

I grabbed my phone. This was a big favor that might turn out to be a waste of time, but I was asking anyway. After all, weren’t you supposed to be able to count on your family?

“Don,” I said once my uncle answered. “In case you were shopping early for my birthday, I’ve got the perfect gift for you. I’m going to put Spade on the phone, then plug my ears while he tells you where we are. Then, I’m going to ask that you send a plane right away to ferry a ghost to Louisiana. Just get him within a few cities of New Orleans, and he’ll do the rest.”

“Cat?” Don waited a second before responding. “Have you been drinking?”

A brittle laugh escaped me. “I wish.”

I was waiting again. It seemed to be all I could do lately. Spade made a few more calls to mutual acquaintances, trying to glean in a roundabout way if they had information on Bones, but no one had. Short of asking, “Seen Crispin ’round?” it was a painstaking and frustrating process.

Therefore, when a car pulled up, I ran to the window, praying that it was Bones. It wasn’t, and I couldn’t have been more surprised to see who walked up to the house.

Tate, the captain of my former team and my longtime friend, strode into the room and came right up to me like no one else was there. “How could you not have told me any of this?” he demanded.

Both Spade and Vlad were giving Tate hostile looks. Tate might be my friend, but he wasn’t theirs. I pulled his hands away before he was impaled through the heart with silver.

“I didn’t know Bones was missing, I just thought he was pissed.”

Tate made a scornful noise. “Not Crypt Keeper. I don’t give a shit about him. I meant you and the vampire Don just told me has been chasing you for weeks.”

Oh, jeez. Tate was bent that I didn’t tell him about Gregor? As if I needed this on top of everything else.

“Because I’ve hardly seen you since I quit working for Don. Now, are you here to help? Unlike you, I care very much that Bones is missing.”

“He’s not missing,” Tate stated coldly. “He’s just an asshole.”

He was on his feet when he said it, staring up from the ground an instant later. Spade glowered over him. The anger emanating from him made me step between them.

“You’ve made your point.”

“Crispin isn’t here to counter his insults, and I’ll not listen to anyone slander him,” Spade retorted, his hand on a silver knife.

“Your boy isn’t missing,” Tate repeated, getting to his feet. “He’s in the French Quarter like you thought, and if he’s being held against his will, he’s sure making the most of it.”

“What are you talking about?”

Tate gave me a pitying but hard glance and pulled some sheets out of his coat.

“Satellite imagery. I printed it from the computer before I got here, so it’s a little blurry, but there’s no mistaking him. See the time stamp? It’s 11:32 P.M. Central Time last night. Bones looks fine to me.”

Spade and I spread the pictures onto a nearby table. The first one was a shot along Bourbon Street. Not very distinct, but yes, it was Bones. He was walking in the middle of the street. Even with the usual throngs of people, he stood out.

Thank God, was my initial thought.

I flipped to the second image. Bones was in front of his house, if I recognized the structure. And there was a woman in his arms.

A low growl escaped me. I flipped to the next page. The third image had me belting out a curse and almost flinging it at Spade.

“Needed some time to himself, huh? Funny how he doesn’t seem to be doing that alone!”

The last image was only a partial of Bones’s face. He was half inside the gate leading to his door. The same tramp was plastered to him, I could tell from her outfit, and his features were blocked because he was kissing her.

“He’s a cheating prick,” Tate said tonelessly. “He hasn’t emerged from his house since that shot, according to the satellite. I don’t need to tell you that soon we’ll have to point it back where it belongs, Cat. Don’s stretching his authority on this one.”

“Motherfucker ,” I spat.

“This doesn’t prove anything,” Spade said, recovering from his astonishment. “We don’t know what’s going on, or who this woman is. She could be a contact and these actions a ruse.”

“Oh, there’s contact, all right.” I wanted to study the photos and destroy them at the same time. “Full frontal, from what I can see!”

“Damn straight,” Tate muttered.

“Quiet,” Spade barked at Tate, easing his pitch when he turned to me. “Crispin wouldn’t betray you that way, no matter how livid he was. There’s an explanation for this. Let Fabian go and find it.”

Underneath my fury, there was also piercing hurt. I wanted to believe that this was all a misunderstanding. And yet deep down inside there was an insinuating, slithering fear. What if it wasn’t?

“Okay.” Forced out while my head started to pound. “Fabian, you get down there and find Bones. Let him explain to you who this chick is. I’ll wait to see what Bones says.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Tate burst. “Didn’t you look at those pictures? What more do you need, live video feed?”

“Sometimes that isn’t right either,” I yelled back. My eyes stung, but I didn’t cry. “I found that out the hard way, and I’m not making the same mistake twice.”

Tate just stared at me with disbelief. Then he said, “You’re a fool,” before walking away in disgust.

“I’ll bring you word,” Fabian promised.

“Please do.” I glanced at the photos again. “No matter what it is.”

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 445