"You bastard," I managed.
Bones shrugged. "Since the day I was born."
We danced in silence for a few minutes. I kept looking around for any telltale crystal skin on the patrons, but so far Bones and I were the only nonhumans. Where are you, bloodsuckers? Here, fangy, fangy, fangy...
"So, how long have you been dating the pet vet?" Bones asked.
The derisiveness in his tone stiffened my spine. "None of your business."
He gave a short laugh. "Indeed? You looked like you were about to ram a stake through Felicity's heart earlier, yet you begrudge me a simple question?"
The music changed to something slower. I cursed it, Bones, and the killers who'd put me in this situation.
"I wanted to ram a stake through her heart because she's a shallow bitch who pisses me off. It had nothing to do with you."
Bones's laugh became softer. "Liar."
He moved closer, his body dipping into mine in time with the music. The feel of his muscles moving in sinuous ripples under his clothes made my hands clench. Now I was fighting back something other than tears as I reminded myself it could never work between us.
His nostrils flared. Inwardly I cursed. I could fake cool all I wanted, but Bones was a vampire. He'd be able to tell from one whiff how he was affecting me.
"Perhaps you did miss me after all," he said low, flecks of green appearing in his eyes.
I pretended to be blase. "Don't get flattered; you're just a good dancer. Felicity seemed to think so, too."
"Seeing me with Felicity was the least you deserved after I had to watch that human teddy bear fawn all over you," Bones replied curtly. "Really, Kitten, what were you thinking? Your mum has bigger balls than Noah."
"His balls are fine!" I snapped, then flushed. Hell if I knew, and God, did I just say that?
Bones snorted and twirled me in a circle before yanking me close. "Right. No wonder you're so hot around me. I reckon you've had a better time shagging yourself than him. Must be frustrating."
His h*ps were brushing mine as he taunted me. Anger flared in me, covering my lust. No way was I going to admit that I hadn't slept with Noah or, hell, anyone since Bones. Frustrating? That didn't even begin to describe what I was feeling.
But two could play the taunting game. I hitched a leg up, curling it around Bones's hip, and gave a hard circular twist against him that had his gaze turning flat green.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who's frustrated, Mr. Optical Hard-on. Might want to tone your eyes down. People will notice."
Bones closed his eyes, then he locked his hands around my waist and bent until his mouth touched my ear.
"Careful, luv. I might be angry with you, but that doesn't mean I don't still want you. So if you do that again, I'll shag you right here, right now, and sod anyone who wants to watch."
His sudden hardness below emphasized that he wasn't making an idle threat. That scared me-and turned me on in ways I didn't even want to contemplate.
Bones took in a long breath. I shivered, knowing since vampires didn't need to breathe, he was inhaling the traitorous scent of my desire.
"Oh, Kitten..." His voice deepened. "Now you're just daring me, aren't you?"
I was saved from a reply-or worse-when the energy in the room shifted. Bones felt it, too, a lot clearer than I did. He tensed and his eyes snapped open, no longer green, but hard brown orbs.
"They're here."
Chapter Fourteen
THE VAMPIRES CONSISTED OF TWO MEN AND a woman. They moved through the bar with a lethal, sensuous grace no living person could duplicate. Pity the living people around them couldn't sense the danger, however. No, they were vying and jockeying to catch the beautiful predators' attention instead.
Then they did something that made me groan out loud. They split up. Dammit. I'd hoped they would all head en masse to their secret break room, leaving Bones and me to block their exit and kill them at our leisure. But of course that would have been too easy.
"I'm going to have to call in my team," I said low to Bones. "Have the perimeter secured."
He gave a disparaging snort. "Right. Your toy soldiers are well over an hour away, and I can practically feel the bloodlust pouring off these sods. They're going to feed soon. You wait, and someone will die."
He was right. Already the three seemed to be picking out their entrees. If one of them headed back to the very messy members-only area and then sounded the alarm, the other two might get away. Furthermore, I couldn't just do my regular act of offering myself up as a test bite. The blood on my dress ruined my innocent-snack look.
"Got any ideas?" I asked.
Bones smiled. "I do."
He surprised me by grabbing the girl nearest to him and yanking her close. His hands cupped her head as he brought their faces right up next to each other. I was about to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing when his eyes glowed, partially concealed by his hands. It only took a moment. Bones's eyes returned to their normal brown, and she stared ahead with a very obedient expression.
"Go to the ladies' room," Bones told her, "and switch your dress with this woman."
I was shaking my head in admiration when a thought occurred to me.
"You could have done that before; then we wouldn't have needed to dance together!"
Bones only smiled. "So I could have."
I gave him a single glare before I led the girl into the bathroom. We received a few odd looks when we both went into the same stall, but now wasn't the time to worry about winks and nudges. Quickly I stripped off my dress and she did the same, just as she'd been instructed. Hers was a little tight and a lot smuttier than my bridesmaid's dress. It was also backless, so I had to take off my bra. When we got out of the stall, I caught a glance of myself in the mirror. My boobs were bulging out from the low-scooped neckline, and anybody could tell I wasn't wearing a bra.
Just like old times, I thought ironically. I look like a slut, and Bones is my backup while I go after murdering fang-bangers. The only thing that would make this complete would be to take off my underwear.
Then I smiled. And went back in the stall.
When I came up to the vampire that looked the closest to taking his companion on a one-way stroll, I didn't even bother with small talk. I just elbowed the pretty blonde he'd been speaking to aside and slapped my panties on his chest.
"As soon as I saw you," I purred, "I knew I wouldn't be needing these."
That got his attention. He glanced down at my panties, then put them to his nose and took in a deep breath. Eww, I thought, but my smile never faltered. Then he shoved his protesting companion aside.
"Never mind," he told her.
"Bitch!" she hissed at me before stomping off.
Jeez. I'd just saved her life, and that was the thanks I got?
I linked my arm in his, being sure to rub my breast against him. "You're not the conversationalist type, I hope?"
His reply was to begin propelling me through the throngs of people. I didn't see Bones, but that didn't concern me. If I didn't see him, then neither would the other vampires. I might not trust my emotions with him, but I had no hesitation about trusting him with my life.
We were down the hall and almost to the first hidden room when my companion stopped and took in a questioning sniff.
"What the-?" he began.
I didn't let him finish. My hand whipped down the front of my dress and I rammed a silver blade into his heart before he had the chance to form another word. It was simple, really. He'd had his back to me, never suspecting the danger.
Then I dragged him quickly inside the room, muttering and trying not to leave a blood smear. Thank God vampires didn't spurt blood like in the movies, but even a few drops outside would be too much with their sense of smell.
While in there, I checked on the other two girls. They were still passed out, but Bones had said their pulses were steady enough that we could attempt our sting operation. I noted how pale they were and frowned. The last two vamps had to be taken care of quickly. Those girls needed to be in a hospital, not lying in this horror movie of a room with bodies everywhere.
A shocked gasp whipped my head up. In the doorway, the female vampire stood perfectly still, but her human male companion didn't. He gasped again, then started to scream.
"Aw, shit," I sighed.
She swatted him across the head so hard, he was unconscious before he hit the floor. Then she sprang at me with blurring speed, her fangs extended murderously.
I let her come, rolling back at the last second and then kicking out with my legs. Her momentum plus my maneuver had her smashing into the wall behind me. I leapt onto her before she had a chance to regroup, driving my knife into her heart and giving it two rough, satisfying twists.
"Kitten, outside!"
I was out the door and down the hall moments after hearing Bones's yell, but still barely in time to see him chasing after the last vampire, who was hightailing it out of the club. So much for a nice, stealthy execution of the trio.
I shoved past people with nearly the same blurring speed he had. Once in the parking lot, I only paused long enough to snatch a cell phone away from a person unlucky enough to have one pressed to his head while I galloped by.
"Thanks!" I called out, then said, "He'll call you back!" and hung up on whoever was on the other end. I dialed while keeping one eye on Bones as he zigzagged after our last perpetrator. He was about fifty yards ahead of me and gaining. Goddamn, but I'd forgotten how fast he was.
"Tate," I gasped as soon as he answered. "Can't talk, but we need a containment group at the GiGi Club, stat. Got vamp bodies, human bodies, three victims still breathing, and a hell of a lot of witnesses."
"What are you doing at the GiGi Club?" Tate barked. "That was supposed to be with us, tomorrow night!"
I jumped over a fence, ripping my borrowed dress, and played a brief game of speed Frogger as I darted across a busy street.
"Can't talk now," I repeated breathlessly. "I'm chasing down a vamp; I'll call you later!"
Then I threw the phone aside and pulled out one of my knives instead.
I couldn't see Bones anymore. He'd dashed out of my line of vision while I was concentrating on not getting hit by oncoming traffic. I kept running full out in the same direction, however, cursing my heels and debating whether it was faster to stop and take them off-damn ankle straps!-or keep running with the potential neck breakers. Wouldn't that make a charming epitaph? Here lies Cat. Killed not by fang, but Ferragamos.
I was half through an empty soccer field, about to say screw it and take off the shoes, since heels plus running in grass equaled very unstable footing, when I saw a flash of green up in the distance. Vampire eyes, glowing in the dark. Screw the heels, full speed ahead!
I saw them just as Bones jerked his blade out of the vampire's chest. They were on the ground inside a fenced new construction site. Mentally I let out a sigh of relief. At this hour, the crews were long gone. Good. No witnesses to worry about.
I came to a halt by Bones once I vaulted over the fence, my heart racing from adrenaline and the run. He gave the body a final kick and then turned to face me.
"You and I need to talk, Kitten."
"Now?" I asked in disbelief, gesturing to the dead vampire near his feet.
"It's not like he's going anywhere, so yeah. Now."
At once I began to back away. I'd been so caught up the past hour catching the killers that I'd forgotten things were very different between Bones and me. How stupid. I'd felt so comfortable in our routine of hunting down the bad guys that I'd let myself end up in a deserted construction site with nowhere to flee. If I were smart, I'd have stayed back at the GiGi Club and let Bones chase down this last jerk himself.
Bones watched me edge backward, and his eyes narrowed. "Don't you move another step."
"I-I have to go back to the club, my team's on the way..." I hedged.
"Do you still love me?"
The blunt question almost made me trip. I looked away, biting my lip and hating myself for the lie I was about to tell.
"No."
He didn't say anything for so long, I dared a peek at him. Bones was staring at me hard enough to make me wonder if he was able to see through to the back of my head.
"If you don't love me, then why didn't you kill Ian? You had a knife in his heart. All you had to do was twist. Your job is to kill vampires, after all, but you let him live. It was if you were sending me a bloomin' valentine."
"Sentimentality." I grasped at straws. "For old time's sake."
His mouth twisted. "Well, luv, as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. You should have killed him, because now he's looking for you. You made quite an impression. While I would never force you to do anything against your will, Ian wants to find you to do just that."
"What are you talking about?"
Bones smiled, but it wasn't pleasant. "He's enamored, of course. Ian's a collector of rare things, and there's no one rarer than you, my beautiful half-breed. You're in danger. Ian doesn't know I've found you, but he'll track you himself soon enough."
I mulled this over, and then shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I beat Ian before and I can do it again."
"Not the way he'll play it." There was something in his voice that made me look sharply at him. "I know my sire. Ian won't just come at you one night and try to take you on in a fair fight. He'll grab everyone you love first and then strike a deal with you, his terms. Believe me, you won't like them. Now, your one advantage is me. Because of your clever little description of our relationship, Ian believes you hate me and vice versa. Nice touch, that. Especially the money part. Still want a check?"