This Side of the Grave (#5 Night Huntress)

by Jeaniene Frost

  Once inside the elevator leading up to our floor, however, I understood the reason for the employees’ over-the-top graciousness. If the fur-clad woman next to me had her nose any higher in the air, she’d get altitude sickness—and really, who wore a full-length fur coat in the summertime, anyway? The man with her, her husband, I deduced from their matching rings, also looked like a stick took up permanent residence in his ass. She gave me a cool glance, her gaze traveling over my windblown hair and somewhat unkempt appearance with a disdain that took me right back to my days as a small-town outcast. Hey, for riding straight through from Chicago to New Orleans on a motorcycle, I looked pretty damn good. Nary a bug in my teeth or anything.

  A slight sniff accompanied her turning away to whisper, “Clientele here seems to have slipped,” to her husband, loud enough that even without supernatural hearing, I would’ve heard her. My teeth ground together while I reminded myself that mesmerizing her into believing her ass had just grown by five sizes was not a mature thing to do.

  The elevator doors opened in the next moment, thankfully on the couple’s floor. As they exited, Bones gave the husband a bland smile.

  “She’s rogering the plumber every Thursday while you’re at the club. Did you really think your loo needed repairs four times this past month?”

  The woman let out a shocked gasp even as her husband’s face became mottled.

  “You told me he was laying pipe, Lucinda!”

  Bones grunted. “Right you are, mate.”

  The doors closed just as the woman began to sputter out an indignant, yet unconvincing, denial. My jaw still swung open at the whole exchange.

  “Bones!” I finally managed.

  “Serves the sow right for what she was thinking about you, and he was no better” was his unrepentant reply. “Now they’ll have something else to occupy their time aside from looking down their noses at people.”

  Part of me was horrified at what he’d done, while another, less charitable part cackled shamelessly. God, the look on that woman’s face! She’d had “busted” written all over her formerly haughty expression.

  “Not like I broke some poor, innocent bloke’s heart, either,” Bones went on. “He’s shagging his barrister. Pair of them deserve each other.”

  “This just reinforces my opinion that I don’t want mind-reading powers,” I said, shaking my head. “I never need to pick up on things like that from other people’s heads.”

  The elevator doors opened again, our floor this time. Bones’s hand rested lightly on my back as we walked to our room. Once inside, my jaw dropped again. This wasn’t a hotel room; it was the size of a house. I slowly looked around at the gorgeous hardwood floors, Oriental rugs, elegant antique furnishings, a dining room complete with crystal chandelier, ornate family room with gilded fireplace, floor-to-ceiling glass doors that afforded a view of the Mississippi River and the outdoor courtyard—and I hadn’t even gotten to the bedroom yet. The other time we’d come to New Orleans, we’d stayed at Bones’s town house in the Quarter, but we knew that would be the first place anyone looked for us, so checking into a hotel seemed safer.

  Though a lot more expensive, judging from all the finery around me.

  “Did we win the lottery and you forgot to tell me?”

  He flashed me a grin as he tossed his jacket onto a nearby chair. “Know one of the advantages of being mates with a vampire who used to get regular visions of the future? Two words, luv. Investment advice.”

  I laughed even as I shrugged out of my own leather coat. “Now I have another reason to hope Mencheres’s visions get back to full strength.”

  “Even so.” He sauntered over, brushing my hair back from my face. “We have time to wash up and change, but don’t get too comfortable. We’re going out.”

  My brows furrowed. “I thought we weren’t seeing Marie until tomorrow night.”

  “We’re not.” Bones brushed the barest of kisses across my lips. “Tonight, we have other plans.”

  I looked at the river several stories below me, wondering if this was some sort of joke. The bridge I stood atop of—under construction and therefore empty of commuters—swayed slightly in the breeze, or maybe that was just a result of me clutching the beam next to me too hard.

  “Say again?” I called down to Bones. He stood at the bottom of the bridge, having flown there after dropping me off on the overhanging beam with only one word of explanation that I must have misheard.

  “Jump,” he repeated. No, I hadn’t misheard him before.

  I glanced back at the swirling waters of the Mississippi below. “If this is your way of saying you want a divorce . . .”

  “You couldn’t drown if you tried,” he countered in amusement. “You haven’t breathed for necessity in almost a year. Now quit dithering and jump. It’s the best way for you to learn how to fly.”

  “Sounds like a really good way for me to learn how to fall while screaming instead.”

  He grabbed two of the metal support beams under my section and rattled them. The subsequent vibrations were so strong that I let out a yelp while my grip on the rod next to me increased until it creaked. Damn him. He knew I didn’t like heights.

  “Ghouls can’t fly, which gives vampires who can a large advantage over them,” he called up. “I want you able to fly before we meet Marie tomorrow night, just in case we need to make a quick escape. You’ve flown twice before, which means you have the ability. You just need to sharpen it.”

  “I didn’t fly, I just jumped very high,” I corrected him, still holding on for dear afterlife. “I don’t even know how I did it.”

  “Your instincts kicked in under duress. Falling from this height should make you experience similar duress, allowing those instincts to take over again,” he replied with more calm than was fair. “Come on, Kitten, jump. Or I’ll throw you off.”

  “You throw me off this bridge, Bones, and you’ll have a lot of celibacy in your future!”

  His lips curled in a way that said he wasn’t worried. “Only means I’d have to work harder to change your mind, and you know how I love my work. Now quit stalling. If you’re still up there in five minutes, I’m tossing you off.”

  I slowly uncurled my death grip from the beam. He’d do just what he said, and if I knew Bones, he’d already started the countdown. While common sense said he was right about his reasons for me learning to fly—plus, true, jumping couldn’t kill me even if I belly flopped into the Mississippi—I still cursed him as I edged away from the beam.

  “Sneaky, manipulating, merciless bloodsucker . . .”

  A chuckle drifted up to me. “Pillow talk already? You’ll have me hard before we’re even back in our room.”

  “Well, I hope your hard self enjoys flogging the bishop tonight!” I snapped.

  His laughter only increased. “Really, luv, I’m impressed. Wherever did you learn such a salty expression?”

  I was a few feet away from the beam I’d held on to, nothing nearby to grasp anymore and only my balance keeping me from tumbling into the dark waters below. Jeez, it really was a long way down.

  “From Spade. He was helping Denise brush up on her English slang.”

  “Ah, of course. Only three minutes left now, Kitten.”

  I looked out at the city’s lights winking across the other side of the bridge, trying to steady my nerves. Even in the dark, I could see the buildings lining the water clearly. Every now and then, spectral forms caught my eye, ghosts seamlessly moving in and out of them and other structures as they went about their phantomy business. New Orleans truly was one of the most haunted places in the world, with more sentient ghosts than anywhere else I’d ever seen. Hell, this was where we’d adopted Fabian from.

  “Final minute, luv. No more stalling,” Bones said relentlessly.

  Bastard. I straightened my shoulders, took in a deep breath for courage, and then sprang off the ledge of the bridge as if it were a diving board. Instantly my eyes watered with the sting of air whipping at the
m. Even though I knew this wouldn’t kill me, a rush of panic still filled me as nothing happened except me falling faster toward the river. Almost madly, I began to windmill my arms, as if by doing that they’d suddenly sprout feathers and wing me away. This strategy of his wasn’t working! I wasn’t flying; I was falling like a dropped brick. God, I’d hit that water any moment . . .

  My whole body braced for impact when I felt a whoosh and distance abruptly began to grow between me and the river. For a split second, I thought Bones had caught me, deciding at the last moment not to let me crash into the water after all. But just as quickly, I realized I didn’t feel the hard pressure of his arms. No, I felt nothing but the oddest sensation of air cushioning me, like invisible jets had magically appeared to propel me upward. A glance down proved I was now dozens of feet above the river, moving upward with every passing moment, nothing supporting me except those pulsating currents of air.

  A wild grin split my face. Holy shit, I was doing it! I was actually flying! That former panic at once turned to elation. I was flying and it was the most amazing feeling. Far, far superior to the occasional dreams I’d had where I could soar without explanation or practice. The air continued to feel different, too. Like it had form that I could mold and manipulate. No longer empty space, but a canvas of opportunities and exhilaration instead.

  I looked around, trying to spot where Bones was, when just as suddenly as I’d risen, I began to fall. My arms started doing that mad flapping again, but this time, nothing happened. A dull resignation filled me as I saw the distance disappear between me and the river. Good thing Bones has my leather jacket was my last thought before I landed into the river with a tremendous splash.

  The jolt went through my body like a roundhouse kick. My momentum plunged me several feet under water and I came up spitting out the mouthful I’d accidentally sucked in when I gasped at the impact. Bones’s face was the first thing I saw when I resurfaced. He hovered a few feet above me like a beautiful apparition, staring at me with a grin.

  “Told you jumping off that bridge would flare up your instincts enough for you to fly.”

  I gave a pointed look at the less-than-aromatic river I was floating in. “Yeah, but I’m still in the water, so it didn’t work as well as you thought it would.”

  His grin widened. “Never said it wouldn’t take practice before you learned how to keep from crashing.”

  I lunged for him, determined to plunge him into the water with me, but he neatly avoided my grab, chuckling. Then he hauled me out of the river by my shoulders. An expertly controlled glide later—showoff—and I was back on the top of the bridge, soaking the metal ledge with my waterlogged clothes.

  “All right. Again,” Bones stated.

  I glanced down at the river and then back at him, noticing he was far enough away to avoid any other attempts I might make at grabbing him. Before we’re done tonight, I promised him silently, you’re taking a dip in that water with me. Necessity might have prompted him to insist on this extreme form of flying lesson, but his smirk said Bones was getting a kick out of seeing me splat into the river while I struggled to find my vampiric wings.

  “I’d forgotten how much you used to enjoy giving me a hard time in training. Take every cheap shot, every low blow, right?”

  His grin became more wicked, confirming my guess. “Be harder to stress you into flying now that you’ve already jumped once. Might have to throw you off to get your blood up enough this time.”

  “Don’t even think about it,” I warned him.

  A brow arched. “That a dare, Kitten?”

  He was somehow on the other side of me, moving with a lightning quickness that left me no defense. I felt an instant’s strong grasp, a push—and then I was tumbling end over end toward the river, my curses flowing as fast as the wind and rapidly approaching water.

  “Goddammit, I’m going to get you for this! You just wait until I get my hands on you—”

  “Sticks and stones, luv,” I heard him call out in reply. Then I smashed into the river, cutting off more of my furious rampage. I came up sputtering again, seeing Bones hovering over me, this time without even bothering to hold back his laughter.

  “You look like a drowned rat. Perhaps you should try less flapping and more concentrating next time.”

  “You are so going to pay,” I swore, lunging at him.

  “If you want your revenge, come and get it,” he taunted, flying just out of my reach as I continued to swim toward him.

  My gaze narrowed. He wanted to play games, huh? Well, maybe I’d forgotten how much he enjoyed being a hard-ass in training, but he’d obviously forgotten that I was a fast learner. You’ve flown twice before, which means you have the ability. You just need to sharpen it, he’d said just a short while ago.

  Oh, I’d sharpen it. Right now.

  I channeled all my plans for paybacks into picturing the air above me as a ladder I could climb, if I could make it solid in my mind. Bones continued to fly in tight circles above me, asking how I enjoyed my evening bath and pondering that it must not be true that cats didn’t like water. I ignored those witticisms, continuing to picture the air as something that was malleable.

  Energy began to push against my skin, building until it thrummed with the same steadiness that my heartbeat once pulsed inside me. Remember how the air felt before. It’s not empty space. It’s something you can shape and mold, propelling you up and after him, if you just concentrate hard enough . . .

  When I felt the air above me pulsating in time to the energy in my body, I vaulted straight up out of the water. Bones was in the middle of his next pass over me and I barreled after him even though he yanked himself backward at the last second. That exultant feeling returned, like a shock of adrenaline to my system, as I felt the air bend to my will, allowing me the momentum and support to catch him with an aerial tackle that flipped both of us around.

  And then, with a victorious snicker, I tightened my grip and tumbled us into the river, his answering laugh the last thing I heard before the water closed over us.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Now I know why you chose a room located all by itself on the roof,” I remarked as Bones dropped us down in a graceful landing on the outside courtyard of our suite. After several hours of practicing, I probably could’ve managed to land myself, but I might have taken out some of the wrought-iron furniture in the process.

  “Comes in right handy now,” he said, with a meaningful glance at his ripped pants and shirt, casualties of my midair grab on him before. Between that, our wet clothes, and our dripping hair, we’d give any snooty patrons of the hotel a heart attack if we took the normal way in through the lobby.

  I smirked. “Told you I’d get you back.”

  His laugh was its own caress on my senses. Even wet and smelling like a stinky river, Bones still managed to entice me. His clothes might be ripped and his leather jacket dripping water, but he made that look sexy. Maybe because being waterlogged meant his pants and shirt clung to all the lines of his body with explicit snugness, highlighting the lean muscles and hard planes like they’d been molded onto him.

  He leaned down. “Dare I hope that vengeance was sufficient enough to make you forget your other vow of retribution?”

  My hands trailed over his chest, pausing near his nipples, which were rigid due to his wet clothes—or because he knew how those tight buds practically screamed to be touched. Without conscious thought, I licked my lips.

  “And let you go back on your promise to work hard to change my mind?” I couldn’t keep the husky catch from my voice. “That wouldn’t be smart of me, would it?”

  He moved closer, pressing his chest more firmly against my hands until I could feel all the play of his muscles as his arms rose to encircle me.

  “No, not smart at all,” he murmured, his breath landing on exactly the right spot near my ear.

  I closed my eyes, savoring the sensations rising in me. Then I pushed him away and began digging in my pants. J
ust a short distance away from us was a bedroom. That’s where we needed to be, and the sooner the better.

  “Hope the room card didn’t fall out . . . ah, thank God for button pockets,” I said, pulling out my card. This outdoor courtyard had key card entry access, though I’d bet it hadn’t been used as the first way into the room before.

  But when I went to the exterior door, Bones following closely enough for his energy to throb along my back, nothing happened when I pressed the card to the slot. I did it again, double-checking that the arrow was in the right position. It was, but still no green light.

  “Try yours,” I said, frowning.

  After a few moments, Bones had his card out and in the correct position, but several tries later, the door still didn’t open.

  “Getting them wet must’ve shorted the magnetic strip,” he said, shrugging. “Wait here. I’ll go back through the lobby and let you in once I’ve gotten new cards.”

  “Dressed like that?” I asked with a laugh. “I should let you just because I’ll crack up imagining the looks on people’s faces, but I’ll go. I might be just as wet as you, but at least my clothes aren’t ripped half off, and my jacket’s dry because you left it by the bridge before I pulled you into the river.”

  “I don’t care what any of those toffs think,” he replied dismissively.

  No matter that I’d done far more questionable things myself in recent months, shades of my rigid upbringing insisted that one did not appear with indecent gaps in their clothing in public if one could avoid it. I tried another tactic.

  “Come on, have mercy on any older women who might be in the lobby. You don’t want to give them heart attacks if they catch a glimpse of your goods,” I teased, trailing my fingers down the front of his torn pants.

  His hand closed around mine, bringing it flush up against the goods in question. Things low inside me clenched in response, drawing a short moan. God, feeling him grow thick and hard in my grip almost ended my control right there. It was all I could do not to drop to my knees and replace my hand with my mouth.