Prologue 5 page

“Herbert, one more time, please.”

The ghost complied, choosing Chris’s left calf to zip through this time. He was quickly followed by his buddy, who took the same path. Two shudders rocked Chris before his widened hazel gaze met mine. I shrugged.

“You felt that in your lower left leg. Twice, because his friend thought it looked fun, too.”

“Who are you people?” Chris asked with a touch of incredulity.

Bones draped an arm around my shoulder, smiling languidly at the investigator.

“We’re wealthy and on a timetable. Any more questions?”

Chris swallowed again as his mind spun to compartmentalize all that had just happened. What if she isn’t wrong about who this other ghost is, and what he can do? Still, even if it’s risky, there’s too much to learn to say no.

“One more question,” he said at last. “When do you want my team to get started on your problem?”

“Tomorrow,” Bones stated, his arched brow hinting that objections wouldn’t be acceptable.

Chris cleared his throat, a businesslike composure replacing his former uncertainty. “So we’re clear, I don’t know how to kill a ghost. I don’t even think that’s possible. What I do know, in theory, is how to imprison one, but for that you’d need to supply me with a lot of limestone, naturally running water, quartz, and moissanite.”

“Not a problem, you’ll have everything you need when you start tomorrow,” Bones replied without hesitation.

“He will?” Okay, I knew Bones approached every challenge with confidence, but it’s not like we could buy all those things at our local Walmart tonight.

He gave me a bland look. “Yeah, he will, Kitten.”

I stared at him in confusion until understanding dawned. “Oh ,” I drew out. Then I grinned at Chris. “Not a problem at all.”

Ten

I shielded my eyes from the bright beam on Chris’s hard hat as he swung around in my direction. The glare was almost painful, but without those streams of light, Chris and his team would have been completely sightless in the cave. Bones and I had no need of artificial aid to see, and in any event, we both knew this place like the back of our hands. After all, this was where our relationship had begun.

“Reckon there should be enough limestone and running water for you here, and five hundred pounds of quartz and moissanite will be delivered later,” Bones stated, his wave encompassing the rocky underground riverbed we were gathered on. “Will that be sufficient?”

Chris’s headlight was aimed at Bones’s face, but unlike me, he didn’t blink under its harsh glare.

“It’s enough, but underground like this, cramped quarters, no electricity . . . it’ll take me a month at least to build the trap. Of course, the real problem is what’ll happen if the owner of this cave finds out what we’re doing.”

“No worries. I’m the owner, and it’s wired for electricity in places,” Bones replied.

Chris’s response reverberated across my mind. These people get stranger by the minute. “Great,” was what he said out loud. “Then in a few weeks, you’ll have–”

“Two,” Bones interrupted with a pleasant smile. The screech of protest in Chris’s head was silenced when Bones added, “Unless you’re not interested in a thirty percent bonus for each of you?”

Money might not be his primary motivator in being here, but Chris was interested in that bonus, and so were his crew. Over half of them were back at their headquarters examining the data from the sanitarium, but the four Chris felt were the most experienced were here. Lexie, Fred, Graham, and Nancy nudged each other, mentally and verbally running down different ways they could improve their efficiency.

“I think we could manage that,” Chris replied after a quick huddle with them.

“Splendid. You doubtless guessed that this work is strictly confidential, but here’s your reminder. No photos, video, or maps of the cave, and no mention of this to any of your mates.” The barest flash of green glinted in Bones’s eyes. “In fact, you are never to speak of this job to anyone once you’re finished. Understood?”

A subdued chorus of affirmatives followed. I had no doubt that in addition to mesmerizing this promise out of them, Bones would also manage to erase the records of our transactions with N.I.P.D. once they were finished. They’d all probably end up thinking they won their money due to office quick‑pick lotto tickets or something.

For once, I didn’t think Bones was going overboard. This cave had been used as an ambush against me in the past when some vampires found out about it. I’d killed them, so the cave’s significance–and location–had slid back into obscurity. Now we were forced to reveal it to Chris’s team because it was made of limestone and had an underground river; two out of the four requirements for a ghost trap. Throw in the quartz and moissanite Bones was having delivered via trusted vampire courier, and we had all the necessary ingredients. Just any old cave wouldn’t do. We had to make sure the place that would–hopefully–serve as Kramer’s eternal prison was private and secure. Couldn’t stick a homicidal ghost in a cave where innocent spelunkers could free Kramer if they knocked over the wrong rock.

“Right, then.” Bones cracked his knuckles. “Let’s look for a section that will work best for the trap. Can’t have you wandering through here without us. You’d get lost.”

And with the cave’s dampness and internal temperature being a brisk fifty degrees, anyone lost would soon develop hypothermia. Since they’d be working here for two weeks, we’d have to bring in space heaters for the crew. Those had done the trick for me when I was half‑human and spent many nights here with Bones.

“Are you sure you can see all right without a light?” Chris asked, doubt clear in his tone.

I had to bite my lip to stuff back my laugh. Bones’s teeth shone in pearly brilliance as he flashed Chris a grin.

“Quite sure.”

I lifted my leg out of the hot, soapy water, giving my foot a critical evaluation. After a nice soak in the tub, no more hints of dirt underneath my toenails, good. Helping the crew set up the trap in a shallow part of the underground river so it would be surrounded on all sides with running water meant that my feet had spent hours in finely ground silt during the past week. Bones did the heavy lifting–literally–with hauling the rocky debris in and out to make a solid platform for the trap. Chris and the other members of N.I.P.D. no longer questioned why I could stand in icy water for hours without showing any ill effects, or why Bones could pull large boulders off their perches with nary a busted hernia to show for it. A few flashes of green from our gaze took care of their curiosity on those issues.

With Bones and me helping the group lay the foundations of the trap, which was the hardest part, Chris said we were ahead of schedule. That was music to my ears. The sooner things were finished here, the sooner we could test the trap to see if it worked. Already Fabian had mentioned that the new, large quantities of quartz and moissanite made going in and out of the cave feel like traveling through a thick spider’s web, and they weren’t even positioned yet. Chris must know what he was talking about.

Bones appeared in the bathroom doorway, letting his gaze slide over me twice before he spoke. I had the shower curtain open, so his view was uninterrupted.

“Going out for a bit, luv.”

I didn’t ask what for. Bones might double as my all‑you‑can‑eat buffet, but my blood didn’t have enough life in it to sustain him. Only human blood did, and he didn’t want to weaken any of N.I.P.D.’s crew by feeding off them.

Plus, that would strike me as, well, rude.

“See you when you get back,” I said, lifting my leg all the way out just to enjoy the heady change in his scent as I soaped it, caressing my skin a little more than necessary.

“Tease,” he murmured, voice huskier than it had been moments ago.

I learned from the best, I thought, but blinked like I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Didn’t you say you were leaving?”

Green began to replace the mahogany in his gaze, his scent richening even further. Almost idly, he stroked his collar, pale fingers flicking between the fabric and the luscious curve of his neck.

Shivers broke out across my skin even though I was several degrees warmer than normal from being submerged in the tub. The line where his neck met his broad shoulders was my second‑favorite place to bite him. Bones shifted to lean against the frame, as if he were positioning himself more comfortably, but what it did was send ripples along his muscles that even the dark pullover he wore couldn’t hide. One leg casually crossing over the other drew my attention down his body, noting how the fabric briefly clung to a rock‑hard thigh before loosening and concealing the defined shape beneath.

Need flared in me, causing my nipples to harden and strands of exquisite sensation to tighten in my loins. And all of this was before I noticed that his hips were slightly tilted, allowing for a better view of the growing bulge in the front of his pants.

“Tell me, Kitten.” That deep, smooth voice brushed over me like a physical caress. “Shall I leave now, or wait until later?”

His eyes glowed pure emerald, half smile letting me know how much he enjoyed this game. I did, too. If I admitted that I couldn’t wait for him to feed, he’d join me in the tub, but then would draw out the foreplay until I begged him to take me. And he would, chuckling at my impatience while possessing me with hard, slow strokes. At that thought, more nerve endings tightened in silent demand.

But if I told him to feed first, his own lust would build while he was forced to wait and seek out a nice vein to secretly suck on. By the time he came back, he’d be almost ruthless in his passion–and Bones in a primal state was truly something to experience.

At that thought, heat swept through my body like the water had suddenly turned into flames. I licked my lips and cleared my throat, but my voice still came out as a gravelly purr.

“Go now.” So all that lovely lust can build until it rips away your control.

Bolts of power unleashed from his aura, filling the air to land on my skin like velvet‑lined whips. His mouth opened, fangs dragging across his lower lip until they drew glittering drops of blood. My gaze latched there, and it was all I could do to keep from charging out of the tub to catch those drops before they rolled off his lip.

“Are you sure?”

Merciless tease! Drinking Bones’s blood while he was inside me was the most incredible thing ever–and he knew it. A creaking noise warned me that I gripped the edge of the tub so hard, it was about to shatter under my hand.

“Go.” No purr, all growl now. Bones wouldn’t be the only one burning with unrequited desire until he got back.

I vowed erotic retribution for the knowing smile he gave me before he disappeared from the doorframe. A soft click was our hotel room door shutting behind him moments later. I leaned back, blowing out a sigh of sheer willpower. I would not call out for him to come back even though I knew he’d be lingering close by to see if I did. I’d show him that I could tease him with the same sensual resolve that he’d so often shown me.

And my reward for patience now would be a lover who was single‑minded in his domination of my body later. More tremors of anticipation rippled through me. I smoothed my hands over my nipples and down my thighs, tempted to reach lower and release a little of that simmering tension before he got back, but decided not to. Some things were worth the wait, and Bones was definitely one of those things.

I’d drained the tub and was busy rinsing conditioner from my hair when my cat let out an extended yowl that was loud enough to be heard over the shower. In the next room, Dexter barked sharply, ending on a piercing whine. I tensed. Helsing might be temperamental for no reason, but I’d only heard the dog bark that way when–

Something slammed against the back of my head with enough force to send my face crashing into the wall in front of me. I spun around, blinking to get the tiny tile shards out of my eyes thanks to the new head‑sized hole in the wall, but even though I couldn’t see, I knew who’d attacked me. Kramer. How had the ghost managed to sneak up on me without any of my inner warning bells going off?

“Hexe, ” the heavily accented voice of the Inquisitor hissed.

I ripped the iron shower rod off the wall, whipping it like a sword toward the source of that voice before realizing the futility in the gesture.

“Oh, if you had flesh, I’d beat the ass off you!” I swore, throwing the rod aside.

My vision cleared enough for me to see the tunic‑clad figure about six feet away. The exposed cistern and chunks of ruined ceramic at my feet showed that Kramer had used the toilet tank lid to bash the back of my head. Fucker had slid that off quiet as a mouse, hadn’t he? I braced to dodge whatever other bathroom items he might try to bludgeon me with next, but after a disgusted moment, I saw that Kramer’s attention was focused on the apex of my wide‑legged fighter’s stance.

A towel was within reach, but I fought my urge to snatch it up because one, I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of acting ashamed, and two, my cold‑blooded practicality recognized that distraction was a weapon.

Luckily, it wasn’t the only weapon I had.

I shoved my hand into the hole my face had formed in the wall, bloodying it on the ragged tile edges. “Sic him and don’t let him leave,” I snarled, willing forth the Remnants with all the energy I had.

Kramer’s eyes widened right before he rapidly began to fade. But aside from the cool blast of air I felt, covering my skin with gooseflesh from head to toe, nothing else happened.

“I said, sic him!” I repeated, slicing my hand so hard that the tile crumpled beneath my force.

Nothing. The only thing filling the room was my growing alarm. What was the problem? I had blood running down my fingers, my skin felt as though it crawled with icy ants, and I wanted the Remnants here like damn, but my fiendishly lethal, wrath‑of‑the‑grave buddies were nowhere to be seen.

Kramer must have heard or sensed that I wasn’t able to summon help, because he rematerialized into such clarity that I could see the white stubble on his chin and the different places where his tunic was rent from age. But despite cutting my hand repeatedly and concentrating hard enough to make my jaw grind, he was still the only apparition in the bathroom.

Eleven

T he worst feeling of déjà vu washed over me. I’d counted on borrowed abilities once before in a fight only to discover they were no longer in working order. I should’ve never made that same mistake again. Fool me twice, shame on me!

The Inquisitor bared his teeth in something too cruel to be called a smile. “You see? God strikes down your powers of witchcraft in my defense!”

“Boy, are you wrong about who’s got your back,” I spat, trying to regroup. Okay, so I could no longer summon Remnants to my aid, but there must be some thing I could do aside from cringe and duck.

“My instructions are from on high, for ‘thou shall not suffer a witch to live,’ ” Kramer thundered.

“ ‘You are not under the law, but grace. Judge not lest ye be judged. He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone,’ ” I shot back. “How come you didn’t pay attention to those instructions from on high, you filthy hypocrite?”

Surprise flickered across Kramer’s features, but my childhood had been spent in a household where church attendance and Bible reading were the norm, so I could trade Scripture quotes with him all day long. Then that surprise faded, and Kramer’s expression returned to its normal mask of vindictiveness.

Despite my determination to find a way to kick the Inquisitor’s ass, dread still slivered up my spine. I was stark naked in a small room with a powerful, pissed‑off ghost who’d already brained me with a toilet fixture, and my only effective weapon against him was out of order. For the first time in my long history of life‑and‑death standoffs, I had no idea what to do next. All the battle training I’d worked so hard to master would do me no good under these circumstances. I couldn’t hurt what I couldn’t touch, and Kramer was no more solid than a dreaded memory. As if he could sense my uncertainty, the Inquisitor’s smile widened.

Hearing our hotel room door crash open almost made me sag in relief. Bones must have come back. Even though he couldn’t land a physical blow against Kramer, either, two against one odds would buy us some time to come up with a plan–

“You messed with the wrong white girl, motherfucker!” Tyler shouted.

I don’t know who was more shocked, me or Kramer. The formerly timid medium appeared in the doorway, holding a smoking trash can with what looked like burning vines stuffed inside it. His gaze darted around the bathroom, seeking out the assailant he couldn’t see yet.

I had no idea what Tyler intended, but I was willing to help. “There!” I said, pointing at Kramer.

The ghost stared at Tyler, his head cocked, almost as if he were curious to see what the medium was up to. Tyler dug out a handful of those burning vines, cursing as they singed his fingers, and threw them in the direction I’d indicated.

Kramer screamed as soon as the first ones sailed through the space he occupied. His form dissolved, but a huge chunk of the countertop smashed off and hurtled toward Tyler. The medium ducked with a quickness I hadn’t expected of him, and the makeshift missile landed in the bathroom wall instead.

I didn’t know what was in that trash can. It wasn’t garlic and weed from the smell of it, but anything that hurt Kramer was something I wanted to utilize. I lunged forward, grabbing the smoldering vines off the bathroom floor, and threw them after the hazy outline of the ghost.

Kramer shrieked again as the vines passed through him. Whatever the stuff was, I loved it.

“Over here,” I urged Tyler, snatching up another handful. Tyler and I threw our burning bundles at the ghost like a couple of synchronized baseball pitchers. The edges of the smoking plants brushed Kramer before he could make himself poof out of the way. With a final, pained scream, the Inquisitor vanished from sight completely.

“Run, fucker, run!” I shouted, so relieved we had something else to use as a weapon that I could’ve hugged Tyler until his ribs creaked. I didn’t do that, but I did give him a brief squeeze that nevertheless elicited an oof.

“Personal space,” Tyler chided, when I let him go. “And, you know, a towel would be the least you could put on.”

I burst out laughing. For years, I’d been discomfited by the blasé attitude most vampires had about nudity, and yet here I was, hugging someone I’d known less than two weeks while wearing nothing but some stray suds.

I covered myself with the closest item at hand, Bones’s leather jacket, which stuck to my wet skin. “Sorry. Kramer kind of interrupted my shower . . .”

My voice trailed off because Bones suddenly appeared in the room, silver knives in each hand and dark gaze raking over us.

“I heard you scream. What happened?”

Tyler still held the trash can, its smoldering contents filling the room with a slight haze. As if on cue, the fire alarm began blaring, and water shot out from the sprinklers on the wall. In the next room, Dexter started to whine in time with the whooping of the alarm.

“What happened is my borrowed powers are kaput, and Tyler’s really a badass in disguise,” I replied, nudging the medium. “Look at you, busting through that door to lay the smackdown on Kramer.”

Bones’s gaze raked over Tyler with a new appreciation. “Well done, mate.” Then he switched his knives to one hand and ran the other one over my neck. “You’ve blood on you. Are you all right?”

He knew that any wounds a vampire sustained would heal almost instantly, but his hand still traveled over me as if searching for injuries. Emotions tangled along my subconscious, flaring through his shields with their intensity. Concern, rage at my attack, and guilt that he hadn’t been here when it happened.

“Don’t,” I said, taking his hand. “How could we have known Kramer would find us here, or that Marie’s abilities would finally run their course?”

A little inner voice said I should have suspected that my borrowed powers were wearing off. For the past week, no new ghosts had found their way to me, but I’d figured all the time I spent in the cave around the limestone, quartz, and flowing water trap had possibly dulled my signal to the other side.

“Makes me wonder how he found us now,” Bones said, his brows drawing together.

I shrugged. “Ohio’s a haven for the supernatural, and we’ve been traipsing back and forth in public for over a week. Maybe one of Kramer’s ghost buddies saw us and tipped him off. Maybe he happened to be in the area because he was drawn here like countless other ghosts.”

“Or perhaps Kramer followed Elisabeth here after one of her failed tailing attempts,” Bones said darkly.

That was also a possibility, and I’d be sure to tell the ghost to be extra careful in the future.

“Just what we need,” I muttered, as a flustered hotel employee appeared in our doorway. Whatever he’d been about to say died on his lips as he took in Tyler, still holding the smoking trash can, and Bones and me ignoring the water spraying down on us.

“Small mishap concerning a dropped cigarette in the trash, but it’s all sorted out now,” Bones stated while flashing an emerald glare at the employee. “Go back and tell them to shut off the alarm and sprinklers.”

The employee turned around without another word. I waited until he was out of sight before speaking again.

“We need to check on Chris and the others. What if I wasn’t the first person Kramer attacked?”

Bones nodded, muttering, “Stay here,” to Tyler.

“No, he needs to come, too.” It was safer to be in a group in case Kramer lurked nearby, waiting to pick off any stragglers. “Besides, he might have more of whatever it is that scared Kramer off.”

“It’s sage,” Tyler replied, squaring his shoulders. “Would’ve used it on Kramer that day at my shop, but I was too busy almost dying. I have more of it in my room. Besides, I’m not going anywhere without Dexter.”

I dropped to my knees beside the bed, Helsing’s rapid heartbeat letting me know where he was. Smart feline had run for cover once the porcelain started flying. How I’d fight a ghost while clutching a panicked cat was anyone’s guess, but I, too, wasn’t going to risk leaving him alone in the room if Kramer came back looking for round two.

“Come on, kitty,” I murmured. “We’re outta here.”

I dropped my suitcase inside the small bedroom that had been mine from birth to age twenty‑two. A fine layer of dust covered the windowsills and furniture, but I didn’t have time to start cleaning. First things first, and that was prepping the house for way more guests than there was room for.

“Set up the EMF meters in the kitchen and family room,” I heard Chris direct. “Then I want infrared and RK2s in place in the other rooms. Nothing spectral comes through these walls without our knowing it, people.”

“You do that. I’m sticking close to Dexter. He’ll know if a ghost is coming before any of your machines do,” Tyler muttered, coming up the stairs.

Given the dog’s track record, I tended to agree. Even Helsing had proven that he could sense Kramer’s approach, but if the equipment Chris set up could provide an additional warning, who was I to scorn helpful technology? Dexter and Helsing had to sleep sometimes.

The good news was no one else had been visited by Kramer at the hotel. The bad news was that it wouldn’t take Kramer long to correct that oversight if we stayed, so we’d needed a new place that was still within reasonable driving distance of the cave. Plus, the fewer innocent bystanders near us, the better if Kramer did find us again. He hadn’t proven to be considerate of others.

That made my former childhood home our best option for the next few days until the trap was completed. My mother had sold it after my grandparents died and we relocated with my new secret government job, but I’d bought it back after a nice couple had been murdered here by vampires trying to draw me out. Since then, most people thought the place was empty. Normally, it was. I kept the electric and water on, since Bones and I occasionally stayed here when we visited Ohio. The orchard surrounding this house hadn’t been harvested in years. My frugal grandfather must be turning over in his grave at the waste of so many perfectly good cherry trees. Still, the acres of overgrown orchard acted as a natural privacy barrier, hiding any lights or activity in the house from our closest neighbors.

Bones came into the bedroom, lining the windows and furniture tops with a heavy layer of minced garlic and marijuana. The former had been procured after a quick stop at an all‑night grocery store, but the latter required green‑eyeing a local drug dealer into giving up his entire stock. I wish I could say it had been hard to find someone peddling weed in my hometown, but it had only taken a few minutes driving through a derelict neighborhood to detect the distinctive smell and follow it to its source.

Now I could add robbing a drug dealer to my list of crimes, but what was I supposed to do? Reimburse him? That somehow seemed equally wrong, not to mention going against the “crime doesn’t pay” message, but I had to admit I still felt guilty stealing the weed even though what I was doing with it was arguably more noble. Burning sage might work as a sort of supernatural flamethrower against Kramer, but the real goal was to not let him find us again. Not until we had that trap ready, anyway.

I pulled some extra blankets out of the closet and handed them to Tyler, who came in as Bones was leaving to spread more of the stinky mixture around the house.

“Pass these out downstairs,” I told Tyler. “I’ll get more from the other room.”

There might not be enough for everyone to get their own blanket, but thank God the heater worked, and I could get more blankets tomorrow. And air mattresses. The house only had two bedrooms, and there were eight of us, but safety concerns had to overrule comforts and conveniences.

Tyler took the blankets and I foraged through the guest room for more, grabbing a couple long tablecloths from the linen closet as well. Still not enough. I went back into my old room and stripped the bed, netting me two more blankets and a set of sheets. Bones and I could sleep with our jackets covering us. As vampires, we were in no danger of catching cold.

“Do you have anything to drink here?” I heard Graham ask, dismay in his voice.

“Just tap water, sorry,” I replied, coming down the stairs with my big bundle. “I’ll get some food and beverages tomorrow.”

Graham sighed. “No problem.” Yet his thoughts belied his words.

I sure hope this bitch isn’t making all this up as a desperate ploy for attention. We’ve been on this job over a week, and we still only have her word that this phantom exists, let alone is a threat to anyone. She could just be off her meds or on the rag–

“Hey!” Graham suddenly yelped, his hand flying to his cheek. “Something just hit me!”

I tensed. Red streaks marred Graham’s cheek like the imprint from an invisible hand, and the air was indeed prickled with a new, angry energy, skipping across my skin like sandpaper. I glanced at Dexter, but the dog was silent, and though I didn’t see where Helsing was, no distinctive feline growl split the sudden silence after Graham’s pronouncement.

“Check the EMFs, the infrared, and the temperature gauges,” Chris ordered, his gaze darting around. “We might not be the only ones here anymore.”

Lexie, Fred, and Nancy hurried to comply. But then I found the source of that pulsating, seething energy, and my jaw dropped.

Bones stood in the hallway, fists slowly clenching and emerald blazing from his gaze as he stared at Graham.

“Don’t ever disrespect my wife that way again.”

Each word was a low, furious growl that caused all activity in the room to screech to a halt. Every head swung in Bones’s direction, then mine wasn’t the only sagging jaw as the crew took in his fangs and glowing green eyes. Only Tyler kept his cool, but then again, he hadn’t just discovered a shocking new truth like the rest of us had.

For Chris, Lexie, Fred, Graham, and Nancy, it was the discovery that vampires existed. For me, it was the realization that Bones had been the one to strike Graham, and he’d done it without moving from his spot across the room.

Twelve

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 1075