This Side of the Grave nh-5

by Jeaniene Frost

  “Have I told you how lovely you look tonight?”

  A wave of heat rolled over my subconscious, as if my nerve endings had just been brushed with the warmest of caresses. My hands slowly fisted while I resisted the urge to touch him, enjoying the building tension between us. Yes, this was different from the first giddy stage of attraction I’d felt for him, but that didn’t diminish his effect on me. Instead, the desire I felt was richer, stronger, and far more intoxicating when combined with the hold Bones had over my heart.

  His scent deepened, that blend of burnt sugar and musk tantalizing me with the evidence that he felt the same way I did. Last night, after leaving the compound, I’d been too emotionally bruised over Don’s condition and my mother’s new deadly aspirations to be in an amorous mood. Plus, we had to fill in Fabian, relocate from the cave, and take the ghost back to Dave in Tennessee before returning to Ohio again. That left little time to do more than grab a few hours’ sleep before heading out for tonight’s activities.

  Now, however, I wished we would have spent another hour or so back at our hotel room before leaving for this club. His comment about the Jacuzzi tub made some explicit images dance in my mind. Like how devastating Bones would look wearing nothing but suds—and then nothing but my body.

  Another thought teased its way into my mind. Why wait? The backseat of our car is only a few feet away . . .

  “You know, in addition to your mind-reading abilities, I may have absorbed some sluttiness from your blood,” I said, giving my head a little shake. Had to be. I normally wouldn’t think of getting it on in a parking lot when we had a reporter to snag inside and two undead friends just a few dozen feet away.

  Soft laughter tickled my neck while the invisible caress of his aura intensified. “Be still my nonbeating heart.”

  The sinfulness in his tone said he’d be only too open to the idea of delaying our appearance inside the club—and blistering Tiny and Band-Aid’s ears—should I suggest that backseat option. I took a step away, deciding it was in the best interest of my rapidly dwindling propriety not to touch him until we were safely inside the club.

  Though possibilities lurked there, too . . .

  “Let’s, um, go find our reporter friend,” I said, the words hitching as a breeze made his scent wash over me in a swell of lust-fragranced air. I couldn’t resist a quick, longing glance at the car before I gave myself a mental slap. Mind out of the gutter, Trampzilla! People to see, bad ghouls to stop, remember?

  Bones took in a long breath, making me wonder if the air was also tinged with my arousal. Probably. Scent was a more obvious indicator of desire for vampires than a man with a hard-on tenting his pants was for humans.

  “Right,” he said, the single word edged with a hint of roughness. Then he folded his aura in, the invisible energy around him decreasing until only the faint tingles of an average vampire remained. At the same time, my link to his emotions ceased, as abrupt as a cell phone dropping a call. Only very old vampires or Masters had the ability to camouflage their power levels, which made them even more dangerous. Bones might want us to eventually be recognized, but it seemed we were going in low-profile to start.

  We walked up to the entrance of Bite. The line of humans waiting to get in was smaller than usual, but I chalked that up to it being Wednesday night instead of a weekend. We didn’t wait at the back, our lack of pulses the same as being on the VIP list here. But once we were close enough for the tall, brawny female bouncer to notice us, she held out her hand.

  “Stay right there. Verses is pissed at you two.”

  Bones gave the vampire his most charming smile. “Now, Trixie, he can’t still be sore over that trifling incident.”

  Her mouth opened in disbelief, showing off her gold-plated incisors. “Trifling? You guys demolished the parking lot!”

  “At least fetch him so he can tell us to sod off himself, if that’s how he feels about it,” Bones replied, still with that same effortless smile.

  Trixie let out an exasperated noise, but she barked out a comment telling someone I couldn’t see to get the owner. After a few moments, a large black ghoul appeared, a thoroughly unwelcoming expression on his face.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming back here—” Verses began.

  “Come now, mate, that wasn’t our fault and you know it,” Bones interrupted, clapping him on the back. “Could’ve happened to anyone, but we’re only here now to do a bit of drinking and dancing.”

  If possible, the ghoul’s mocha features darkened even more. “Don’t think because we’ve been friends for eighty years that I’m dumb enough to believe that. This place is meant to be a time-out for all our species. No violence on the premises, and the parking lot is still the premises!”

  “I’m really sorry about what happened before, but we won’t even bend a drink straw the wrong way this time,” I chimed in, giving Verses my most winning smile.

  “Indeed,” Bones added, his own grin widening. “On my honor, mate.”

  “And on your credit card, if anything so much as gets dented,” Verses shot back before letting out a grunt. “Fine. Come in, but don’t make me regret it.”

  At first glance, even people who couldn’t feel the vibrations that the undead patrons gave off could guess that Bite wasn’t a typical club. For one, the random bursts of lights across the ceiling were far more muted than in a normal club, plus the interior was darker than what legal guidelines would allow. The music also wasn’t painfully loud to my ears, another concession to the heightened senses vampires and ghouls had.

  But the most notable difference was that the bars weren’t the only places where patrons could get drinks. In booths, on the dance floor, and even in corners, couples held each other in embraces that, upon closer look, were more predatory than passionate. The scent of blood flavored the air with a faint, coppery tang, probably tickling Bones’s taste buds but doing nothing for mine because it was human blood, not vampire.

  “How long do you want to wait before we split up?” I murmured to Bones once we were away from Verses. If Bite’s owner did still happen to be watching us, we couldn’t have him getting suspicious if we immediately separated after we’d stressed that we were here just for recreation.

  “Let’s start with a few drinks. Then perhaps you can go powder your nose and take the long way back. After that, I’ll find someone to take a nip from, and I’ll be quite picky about my choice,” he replied in equally soft tones.

  Sounded like a plan to me. After all, both of us would recognize the reporter on sight, if he was here. I let Bones lead me to the bar, glad that so far, only my thoughts rattled around in my mind. I hoped with the high percentage of patrons in this club being undead, if I did start picking up on any stray thoughts, I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed like at the mall. Guess there were benefits to frequenting places filled with my own kind instead of having mostly humans around me.

  My own kind. How strange that I felt that way now. I’d spent the first sixteen years of my life not knowing about my mixed heritage, then the next six years hating vampires until I met Bones. Now, at twenty-nine, I’d been a full vampire for less than a year, but I almost couldn’t remember what it had been like to think of myself as human. I hadn’t felt that way since my mother first told me why I was different from everyone else.

  “Gin and tonic, plus a whiskey, neat,” Bones told the bartender.

  Oddly enough, that made me smile. Some things didn’t change, after all.

  Chapter Eight

  I was on my way back from my third trip to the bathroom, thinking my nose couldn’t be less shiny and being glad public toilets were no longer a necessary evil for me, when a shout jerked my head around.

  “Let me go!”

  Even above the music and the other noises, the words were distinct. I switched directions and headed toward the source of that cry, realizing it came from the booths in the far corner where I’d first met Bones. A cluster of vampires gathered in a circle, their backs to me. They
had someone in the middle of them, and from the sounds of it, whoever it was wasn’t happy.

  “Get your hands off me!” came another yell, too shrill for me to tell if I recognized who was speaking.

  “You know the rules. Take it off the premises,” the DJ boomed out. He didn’t sound too concerned about what would happen after that, I noticed.

  I reached the vampires just as they shoved the screaming man out of my line of sight. From the frantic internal thumping in his chest, he was human.

  “What’s going on, guys?” My voice was casual and I kept my hands off the silver strapped to my upper back. After all, I’d promised Verses we wouldn’t break his rules this time.

  One of the vampires gave me a hostile glare. “None of your business, Redhead.”

  Bones came into the area, obviously having heard the disruption and my involvement in it. He smiled at the group of vampires, but that wasn’t what made them stop to give him their full attention. It was the power Bones unleashed when he dropped his shields and the full weight of his aura blasted out like a geyser, swirling the air around him with invisible currents.

  “I believe my wife asked you a question,” he noted in a deceptively light tone.

  It was very unfeminist of me, but the expressions of wariness that settled on their faces had me biting my cheeks to keep from laughing. Just realized having several of your buddies around doesn’t mean you have the upper hand, huh, boys?

  “The human’s a spy,” the one who’d snapped at me said to Bones in a much more respectful manner. “I’ve seen him coming in here before, asking questions about our kind . . . now we caught him taking pictures. You know we can’t have that.”

  I still couldn’t see him behind the wall of vampires, but I was betting this was the reporter we were looking for. And as soon as they took him off the premises, he was in deep shit. Vampires and ghouls would do anything to ensure that all but a few, select humans were happily unaware they shared the planet with creatures that were supposed to be myth.

  “Give him to me,” I said, thinking fast. “I’ll wipe his mind and destroy all his gadgets. No harm, no foul.”

  “But I’m hungry,” one of them protested.

  Oh yeah, the damage control they’d intended was far more permanent. “Lots of people here would be happy to help you with that, but you’re not getting him,” I said, my words soft but steely.

  The apparent leader of the group ignored me as he pulled out a cigarette, sticking it between his teeth.

  “No need to fight. You want him? I’ll bargain,” he said to Bones.

  I was past my initial amusement over how these vampires were so focused on Bones that I seemed to be invisible to them. Plus, Bones had said it would be better if we were recognized. Well, let this serve as my introduction.

  “I have an idea. How about we arm wrestle? Winner gets the human.”

  That switched their attention to me. Laughter broke out from the group and the leader’s gaze actually became pink with tears of mirth.

  “You’ve got to be joking,” he managed.

  I gave him a sweet smile. “Not at all.”

  His gaze flicked to Bones. “You’re not going to let her do this, are you?”

  Bones snorted. “Let her? Mate, if you think you can control a woman, you must be single—and a thousand pounds says she beats your arse.”

  “We can use this,” I went on, walking over to a high-top table that butted against the half wall separating the booth area from the dance floor. “Come on. Moonlight’s burning.”

  A small crowd started to form. I didn’t look at them, reserving my attention for the leader as I cocked a brow in invitation. I could have suggested we take this off the premises. Upped the stakes to a brawl instead of a simple test of strength, but though I wasn’t about to be dismissed as arm candy, I wasn’t looking to make new enemies, either.

  The vampire handed his cigarette to one of his friends before coming over. He rolled up his right sleeve with a confident glance at my very average build. If he was measuring my aura to gauge my power level, he’d find nothing intimidating there, either. Bones told me I felt like a new vampire, which was as much of a disguise as my heartbeat had been when I was half human. In comparison, the vampire was almost as tall as Bones, but with black hair and a burly build that spoke of thick muscle underneath a layer of firmly packed fat. His appearance wasn’t what I paid the most attention to, however. It was his aura, dating him at around a buck fifty, and he carried his big form with easy grace.

  Not an unbeatable opponent, but not one to half-ass my efforts with, either. I set my elbow on the table, not needing to do any more prep because my halter top didn’t have sleeves. All around us, bets were being placed. It amused me to hear my low odds.

  The vampire’s hand curled around mine as he placed his arm on the table, having to bend a little due to his greater height. His grip was firm but not punishing, raising my opinion of him a notch. A schmuck would’ve ground my fingers in his fist trying to make a point.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Verses shoulder his way to the front of the other onlookers. He was probably wishing he hadn’t let us in after all.

  “Count of three?” I suggested to the vampire.

  Blue eyes tinged with emerald met mine. “Why not?”

  Calls of “Show her what you’re made of, Nitro!” and “Knock her on her pretty ass!” rang out when I began to count, never taking my eyes from my opponent. As soon as the word three left my lips, that previously steady grip tightened and Nitro hammered his hand downward, going for the quick win with a blast of inhuman strength.

  Except our arms stayed in their same vertical position. Nitro’s biceps bulged almost as much as his gaze when his efforts didn’t move my arm so much as an inch. I flashed him a smile as I held my position, mentally counting to ten before I began to edge his arm in a slow, steady arc downward. After all, I didn’t want to embarrass him by slamming his hand on the table before he’d even realized what happened. It wasn’t Nitro’s fault he had no idea I’d been born with unusual strength, or that I still had some of Bones’s power in me from drinking his blood. Poor burly vampire didn’t stand a chance.

  Murmurs rose from the crowd, drowning out even the music as Nitro’s arm inched closer to the table. Lines formed in his face and a harsh grunt escaped him as he put more effort into holding me off. I let him raise his arm up a few inches—the male ego was such a fragile thing, after all—before sending it down onto the table with a thunk hard enough to crack the Formica.

  We’ll have to pay for that before we leave, I thought amidst the burst of surprised exclamations from the watchers around us.

  Nitro stared at his arm in disbelief. Then his gaze swung back up to me even as I disentangled my grip and shook the temporary numbness out of my hand. He’d really gone all out those last few seconds.

  “How the hell did you get to be so strong?” he demanded. “You can’t be more’n a year undead!”

  “Good guess,” I remarked. “It’ll be a year this fall, actually, but I’ll tell you a secret—I had vampire strength long before that.”

  His brows drew together in a frown. Then comprehension dawned and Nitro laughed. “Red hair, beautiful, and badass. You must be the Reaper.”

  I grinned. “Call me Cat.”

  He glanced at Bones next, drawing the obvious connection as to who he had to be. Bones didn’t notice; he was too busy collecting his winnings. Comments like “Ah, that’s splendid,” and “Better luck next time, lads” came from him. By the time he sauntered over, he had a thick stack of bills in his hands. Most vampires were slow on catching what they considered the “new” credit card trend and still carried cash.

  “Leave it to you to find a way to make a profit off this,” I noted in amusement.

  His mouth curled. “Fortune favors the bold.”

  Nitro shook his head as he looked back at us. “Guess it’s time for me to pay up, too.” Then he walked over to where his friends
stood, pulling the reporter out from behind the wall of vampires. He gave him a light shove that nevertheless had him landing in an ungainly heap near my feet.

  “All yours, Reaper,” he drawled.

  I ticked my hand off my brow in a jaunty salute. “Pleasure doing business with you, Nitro.”

  That earned me a laugh. “Next time, I’ll know better than to fall for your innocent little female act.”

  “Don’t feel bad, mate,” Bones replied. “She fooled me with the same thing the first time we met, right up until I saw her kill a vampire seven times her age.”

  Then Bones went over to the nearest bar and slapped his bundle of cash onto it. “Drinks are on me until this runs out,” he announced, to a rousing round of applause. I caught his wink to Verses next and the ghoul’s wry shake of his head. It probably didn’t come close to making up for the damage we’d caused the last time we were here, but it was a start.

  With another chuckle, Nitro and his group walked away to place their drink orders. Around us, the onlookers faded as people went back to dancing, drinking, or whatever it was they’d been doing before this all started. I looked down at the man who was slowly getting up from the floor, sandy-brown hair mussed from his earlier struggles.

  Yep, this was who we’d come here for.

  “Hi, Timmie,” I said in a low voice.

  His head whipped up, revealing a face with five o’clock shadow on his jaw and faint lines around his eyes and mouth. He looked different from the gangly boy who’d been my neighbor seven years ago when I was a college student by day and a vampire hunter by night. In addition to the stubble on his face, the laugh lines, and his hair being longer, his frame had also filled out to a stockier, more muscular physique. Getting older looks good on him, I mused.

  “How do you . . . ?” he began. Then his voice died away while his eyes widened.

  “Cathy?” he managed. He looked me up and down, his shocked expression changing into a smile that wreathed his face. “Cathy! I knew you weren’t dead!”