One Grave at a Time

by Jeaniene Frost

  If possible, Francine and Lisa turned even paler. They might have hated Sarah for what she did, but this was a little too much for them to handle at the moment.

  “Tyler, can you take them to one of the ambulances so they can get treated?”

  I wanted to stay and keep an eye on Kramer, though Bones had him well under control. Besides, the way I looked would draw too much attention if I got around people.

  “Come on, sweethearts, let’s get you fixed up,” he urged, putting an arm around each of them. Then he winked at me. “Catch you later at the homestead. Spade said he’d send a car. Dexter’s going to flip when he sees me.”

  “Is it over?” Francine asked, and the same question repeated in Lisa’s mind.

  I looked at Kramer, still muttering threats and thrashing in Bones’s grip even though both got him nowhere. “It is for you two. You won’t see him again. We’ll take care of the rest.”

  With a last, long look at us, Francine and Lisa let Tyler escort them down the street to wait for one of the ambulances. I was eternally grateful that it seemed Kramer had been too busy following me and setting up his ambush to have spent it torturing them, but they were still the worse for wear. They had deep lacerations on their wrists and ankles from struggling against the metal restraints, and that was just what I could see.

  “Do you feel up to coming with us, Kitten?” Bones asked. His aura wrapped around me in strong, soothing bands even though his hands were still full with a livid ghost.

  I had no hesitation in my response. “I’ll need someone to carry me, but I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  I was still too weak from healing the many injuries I’d received to fly myself, but I wanted to be there when Kramer was sealed into his prison. Hell, I wanted to dance around it, chanting.

  More noise drew my attention to the sky. I’d expected to see firemen, policemen, and ambulances descend on the farm, but I was surprised to see a military helicopter land in one of the cleared areas of the street. It was far enough away from the remaining flames for the churning air from the rotors not to fan them, but close enough that I recognized one of the men who exited it.

  “Tate’s here.”

  Bones’s head whipped in that direction, lips tightening when he saw the brown-haired vampire shouting orders to the other, helmeted soldiers who exited after him. They were too far away to see us, but as if Tate could feel our stares, he turned, looking right at us.

  “You go, I’ll deal with him,” Spade muttered.

  We did need to leave. The trip to Ottumwa would take almost four hours, and if Tate was here, Madigan probably wasn’t far behind, but I put a hand on Bones’s shoulder.

  “Let’s wait a minute,” I said, motioning to Tate. “If he calls anyone else over, we’ll leave.”

  Tate trotted over after a last shouted command, slowing down to stare at Francine, Tyler, and Lisa when he drew abreast of them. Then he resumed his brisk pace, his indigo gaze flitting between me, Bones, and the cursing ghost between us.

  “Cat, your hair . . .” he began.

  “If you think I look like shit now, you should’ve seen me when I was on fire. But enough of that. Why are you here?”

  His features tightened at my brisk overview of being burned, but then they turned stony at my question.

  “Madigan confiscated some amateur footage a week ago of you throwing a car off yourself, so he knows you’re in Iowa. He’s hot to get his hands on the ghost who killed his men, and he knows you’re after it, too. So we’re supposed to keep a lookout for you.”

  “Was the footage from a cell phone video?” I wondered irreverently.

  Tate nodded. “Those things fucking annoy me.”

  He’d get no argument from me on that one. “Someone reported seeing a flaming person fly through the air with one of the 911 calls about the fire,” Tate continued. “We were deployed to investigate if it that was hysterical witness exaggerating, or if something supernatural was involved.”

  “You will all be thrown into the eternal lake of fire!” Kramer shouted. I slammed my elbow into his face without bothering to look at him. From the zzzt! sound that followed, Bones zapped him again.

  “So Madigan’s after me because he wants revenge for his murdered soldiers,” I mused.

  Tate grunted. “No. He wants you to trap the ghost, then have us steal the trap so he can use the thing later as a weapon. Stupid bastard thinks he could control it.”

  “And what are you intending to report to him?” Bones asked, his aura changing to icy, warning currents.

  Tate shrugged. “That I didn’t see any vampires here but me.”

  Kramer continued with his ranting about how we were all going to suffer, burn, beg, etc. None of us paid any attention to him, which enraged him more.

  “This is the ghost,” I said, noting the shock that crossed Tate’s expression as he looked at the very solid Kramer. “We need you to make sure your team stays here for a while so no one follows us.”

  The slightest smile crossed his face. “Then again, maybe I did see something suspicious on the far end of the field. Might take hours to investigate.”

  I smiled back. “Thank you.”

  He cast a final glance at Kramer before heading back toward the helicopter. The dangerous currents eased from Bones, changing into waves of determination.

  “Let’s finish this, Kitten.”

  I looked at Kramer and, for the first time, saw fear in the Inquisitor’s green gaze.

  “Yes, let’s,” I drew out with supreme satisfaction.

  Epilogue

  A car pulled up to the former combined sewage facility, no door on the driver’s side. Denise sat behind the steering wheel, bundled up in a thick coat with her seat belt around the outside of it. Not a hint of the damage Sarah had inflicted on her showed anymore, as her bright smile evidenced. My mother dozed in the passenger seat, her lids fluttering when Denise parked. The sun had come up a few hours ago, and she was still noticeably feeling its effects.

  “We here?” I heard her mumble.

  Denise rolled her eyes at me. “Do you know how many times I had to poke her awake so she could mesmerize the cops who pulled us over into forgetting we were driving a car that clearly isn’t street legal?”

  Seeing her so chipper after the awful thing that had happened to her brightened my mood even more. She didn’t say a word about my hair, which meant Spade had called her and warned her in advance. Oh well. There were always wigs if Bones had been stretching the truth about special vampire hair-growing abilities to lessen the stress I was dealing with at the time.

  Spade stood, smiling at Denise in a way that made me glad my best friend was so cherished. Then again, I knew what that felt like, as Bones’s arms around me and his mouth brushing my temple attested.

  Elisabeth floated out of the facility, Fabian close behind her. I’d always thought she was beautiful, but today, she looked especially radiant even without the more vivid effect of being solid.

  “You sure you want to stay here?” I asked her. “He’s been screaming in there for hours and it’s well past the time when he’d be air again. If he could’ve gotten out, he would have already.”

  “I’ll wait until you seal the area off permanently. I don’t know what I’ll do after that.”

  The words seemed to sink in, and I could almost see Elisabeth realizing that her long quest for justice was finally over. She let out a laugh that was half-nervous, half-filled with wondrous joy.

  “I have no idea what I’ll do after that.”

  Fabian cleared his throat, which, considering he was a ghost, was as obvious as a sky-written message.

  “Perhaps I might, ah, might be able to assist you with your options,” he stammered, and, though it was impossible, I could’ve sworn he blushed.

  Elisabeth’s mouth dropped open, catching his meaning. Then she tilted her head in a very feminine, contemplative manner, a slow smile stretching her lips.

  “Well,” she sai
d at last. “Perhaps you can.”

  Bones turned away so that they couldn’t see his grin. “Everyone, let’s leave them to their guarding,” he said, the faintest wicked emphasis on that last word.

  “No, I want to stay and see this,” Ian protested.

  Spade’s hand landed heavily on his back. “Get in the car, mate.”

  Ian rose, shooting a last regretful look at Elisabeth and Fabian, who floated much closer to each other. “Only trying to enhance my repertoire with continuing education,” he muttered.

  “I’m sure it’s plenty enhanced already,” I noted dryly, accepting Bones’s hand up. “Now get it out of here.”

  The car was only meant to seat five, and there were six of us, but we made it work. Spade insisted on driving, and Denise sat snuggled between him and my mom. Bones’s comment that my mother could sleep quite comfortably in the trunk was met with a heavy-lidded, evil look that only made him laugh.

  “What a dreary-looking day out,” Ian commented as we pulled away.

  The sky did have a grayish tint that hinted at an early winter. Darker clouds kept most of the sunlight at bay, but as I glanced up at them, I couldn’t help but think that each looked like it had a silver lining.

  Acknowledgments

  I will again try to keep this short, but I never have before and this may not be the exception. Before anyone else I have to thank God for continuing to give me inspiration and determination—two things no writer can survive without. Thanks to my editor, Erika Tsang, and the rest of the wonderful team at Avon Books for all your hard work. Additional thanks go to Thomas Egner, for yet another gorgeous cover. Nancy Yost, my agent, has my continued gratitude for keeping my head above water professionally. To my husband, friends, and family, I love you and would be lost without you. Thanks to Tage, Carol, Kimberly, and the rest of the incredible team at Frost Fans for spreading the word far and wide about my books. Endless gratitude also goes out to my readers, who’ve amazed and humbled me with your support. I could never thank all of you as much as you deserve.

  A final note of thanks goes to Theresa and the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers for answering my questions regarding paranormal investigations. It should be mentioned that I took “artistic license,” which is a nice way of saying I twisted the information they gave me to suit my plot, so any errors were derived from my imagination and not their feedback.

  Here's a sneak peek at "Home for the Holidays,"

  a special Christmas story by Jeaniene Frost,

  available in A BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

  on sale November 2011

  I glanced at my watch. Ten minutes to midnight. The vampire would be back soon, and despite hours of careful preparation, I wasn’t ready for him.

  A ghost’s head popped through the wall, the rest of his body concealed by the wood barrier. He took one look around the room and a frown appeared on his filmy visage.

  “You’re not going to make it.”

  I yanked the wire through the hole I’d drilled into the ceiling’s rafter, careful not to shift my weight too far or I’d fall off the ladder I was balanced on. Fabian was right, but I wasn’t ready to concede defeat.

  “When he pulls up, stall him.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?” he asked.

  Good question. Unlike humans, vampires could see ghosts, but tended to ignore them as a general rule. While this vampire showed more respect to the corporeal-impaired, he still wouldn’t stop to have a lengthy chat with one before entering his home.

  “Can’t you improvise? You know, make some loud pounding noises or cause the outer walls to bleed?”

  The ghost shot me a pointed look. “You watch too many movies, Cat.”

  Then Fabian vanished from sight, but not before I heard him muttering about unfair stereotypes.

  I finished twisting together the wires along the ceiling. If all went well, as soon as the vampire came through that door, I’d use my remote transmitter to unload a surprise onto his head. Now, to set up the last of the contraptions I’d planned—

  The unmistakable sound of a car approaching almost startled me into falling off the ladder. Damn it, the vampire was back! No time to rig any other devices. I barely had enough time to conceal myself.

  I leapt off the ladder and carried it as noiselessly as I could to the closet. The last thing I needed was a bunch of metallic clanging to announce that something unusual was going on. Then I swept up the silver knives I’d left on the floor. It wouldn’t do for him to see those right off.

  I’d just crouched behind one of the living room chairs when I heard a car door shut and then Fabian’s voice.

  “You won’t believe what I found around the edge of your property,” the ghost announced. “A cave with prehistoric paintings inside it!”

  I rolled my eyes. That was the best tactic Fabian could come up with? This was a vampire he was trying to stall, not a paleontologist.

  “Good on you,” an English voice replied, sounding utterly disinterested. Booted footsteps came to the door, but then paused before going further. I sucked in a breath I no longer needed. No cars were in the driveway, but did he sense that several people lurked out of sight, waiting to pounce on him as soon as he crossed that threshold?

  “Fabian,” that cultured voice said next. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else you want to tell me?”

  A hint of menace colored the vampire’s tone. I could almost picture my friend quailing, but his reply was instant.

  “No. Nothing else.”

  “All right,” the vampire said after a pause. The knob turned. “Your exorcism if you’re lying.”

  I stayed hidden behind the chair, a silver knife gripped in one hand and the remote transmitter in the other. When the sound of boots hit the wood floor inside the house, I pressed the button and leapt up at the same time.

  “Surprise!”

  Confetti unleashed from the ceiling onto the vampire’s head. With a whiplike motion, I threw my knife and severed the ribbon holding closed a bag of balloons above him. Those floated down more slowly, and by the time the first one hit the floor, the vampires who’d been concealed in the other rooms had come out.

  “Happy Birthday,” they called out in unison.

  “It’s not every day someone turns two hundred and forty-five,” I added, kicking balloons aside as I made my way to the vampire in the doorway.

  A slow smile spread across his features, changing them from gorgeous to heart-stopping. Of course, my heart had stopped beating—for the most part—over a year ago, so that was my normal condition.

  “This is what you’ve been so secretive about lately?” Bones murmured, pulling me into his arms once I got close.

  I brushed a dark curl from his ear. “They’re not just here for your birthday, they’re staying for the holidays, too. We’re going to have a normal, old-fashioned Christmas for once. Oh, and don’t exorcise Fabian; I made him try to stall you. If you were ten minutes later, I’d have had streamers set up, too.”

  His chuckle preceded the brush of lips against my cheek; a cool, teasing stroke that made me lean closer in instinctive need for more.

  “Quite all right. I’m sure I’ll find a use for them.”

  Knowing my husband, he’d find several uses for them, and at least one of those would make me blush.

  I moved aside to let Bones get enveloped in well wishes from our guests. In addition to Fabian and his equally transparent girlfriend floating above the room, Bones’s best friend, Spade, was here. So was Ian; the vampire who sired Bones, Mencheres, and his girlfriend, Kira; and my best friend, Denise. She was the only one in the room with a heartbeat, making her seem human to anyone who didn’t know better. Our guest list was small because inviting everyone Bones knew for an extended birthday/holiday bash would require me renting a football stadium. Therefore, only Bones’s closest companions were present.

  Well, all except one.

  “Anybody heard from Annette?” I whispered to Denise when she left Bo
nes’s side and returned to mine.

  She shook her heard. “Spade tried her twenty minutes ago, but she didn’t answer her cell.”

  “Wonder what’s keeping her.”

  Annette might not be my favorite person considering her previous, centuries-long “friends with benefits” relationship with Bones, but she’d be last on my list of people I’d expect to skip his birthday party. Her ties with Bones went all the way back to when both of them were human, and in fairness, Annette seemed to have accepted that her position in his life was now firmly in the “friends without benefits” category.

  “She flew in from London to be here,” Denise noted. “Seems odd that she’d decide a thirty minute car commute was too much.”

  “What’s this?” Bones asked, making his way over.

  I waved a hand, not wanting to spoil the festive mood. “Nothing. Annette must be running behind.”

  “Some bloke rung her right before we left the hotel. She said she’d catch up with us,” Spade said, coming to stand behind Denise. With his great height, her head was barely even with his shoulders, but neither of them seemed to mind. Black hair spilled across his face as he leaned down to kiss her neck.

  “Why am I the only one without someone to snog?” Ian muttered, giving me an accusatory glance. “Knew I should’ve brought a date.”

  “You didn’t get to bring a date because the type of girl you’d pick would want to liven things up with a group orgy before cutting the cake,” I pointed out.

  His smile was shameless. “Exactly.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Deal with not being the center of slutty attention for once, Ian. It’ll do you good.”

  “No it won’t,” he said, shuddering as if in horror. “Think I’ll go to the hotel and see what’s taking Annette.”