One Grave at a Time (Night Huntress 6)

Marie's protection against unwanted ghostly visitors, I mentally filled in. Don didn't know that he'd just done a flyby on the ghoul queen of New Orleans, drawn by the original source of the power of which I only had traces left in me now.

But those traces, while not enough to summon Remnants or bend ghosts to my will, were obviously enough for a determined phantom to find me, as evidenced by Don's appearance. And if he'd been able to follow that remaining, albeit weak thread of power, then so would another ghost who'd be really keen to know where I was, considering I'd made off with two of his intended victims.

"You tried to enter the house, then flew back because the sage burned you?" I asked, looking around the brightly lit backyard.

Don nodded almost warily. "Yes."

Both pets had reacted to a ghost trying to come into the house, but now that my uncle was fifty feet away in the yard, Helsing and Dexter were quiet. I edged closer to the front door, realizing there was a chance that Don wasn't the only ghost within the perimeter.

Elisabeth and Fabian had been telling the truth, I thought grimly. They hadn't been followed either time by Kramer. No, the Inquisitor found us at Spade's house the same way he must've found us at that hotel in Ohio-by following the supernatural trail that led from Marie Laveau back to me. Poor Fabian probably didn't even realize that connection was still active because he hadn't needed to look for me. He and Elisabeth had known where I was the whole time.

Power sliding along my back was Bones appearing in the doorway behind me. I glanced over, mutely noting the two large handfuls of smoking sage he held out to me. Tyler stood close by, Dexter clenched in his grip and my cat in a carrier by his feet. Bones had either overheard my conversation with Don or figured it out for himself.

"They all need to get out of here," I said.

Bones's mouth brushed my ear as he bent down to whisper his reply. "They'll be gone soon, Kitten."

Good. They needed to be far away from me, or I'd lead their tormenter right to them, if I hadn't already.

"I'll be right back," I murmured, then walked over to Don, wary of every noise or flicker of movement around me. He was only twenty yards from the front door, but that distance seemed to stretch with every step I took.

"I need you to leave now," I said once I was close enough to touch him. "Find me again tomorrow." Then I whispered where, trying to keep my voice low enough that only he could hear me.

"What's going on?" Don asked, as soon as I was finished.

"Listen to your niece and leave," Bones stated brusquely.

Don opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but Ian's "Here we are, Crispin!" distracted him. The auburn-haired vampire strolled down the sidewalk like he hadn't a care in the world. My mother followed behind him, her pajamas suggesting she'd just woken up. Spade and Denise brought up the rear, both of them giving the yard the same cautious looks I did. I was tempted to run back into the house, but I waited, not wanting to draw suspicion if someone other than they were watching.

Bones stepped aside from the doorway, letting all of them enter. Less than ten seconds later, Francine, my mother, and Ian came out. My mom had her arms around Francine as if hugging her from behind. Ian flashed us a grin, then grasped my mother with both arms, vaulting straight up into the sky with a burst of nosferatu speed.

Don's "Where are they going?" barely left his lips before the bushes across the yard exploded with movement, like a large, invisible force had smashed through them.

No need to play it cool anymore! I ran toward the house, a cloud of smoke flooding out from the front door to envelop me before I got there. It was so thick it wafted out into the yard. My uncle jumped back like he'd been scalded when some of it touched him.

"Told you to leave, old chap," Bones muttered. Then he pulled me inside, whatever else Don said lost in the howl of German that erupted from the yard.

Tyler was in the family room, a pile of burning sage on the tile and a fan aiming that smoke like a Gatling gun at the doorway. With Bones slamming the front door shut, Tyler turned off the fan, coughing a little at the grayish haze that started to build up in the room.

Something like a percussion boom sounded right before the windows exploded. I had Tyler flat on his back, my body shielding his, before the glass finished falling. Upstairs, Lisa screamed, quickly followed by what sounded like something heavy beating against the walls of the town house.

"Charles," Bones said warningly, stuffing cushions in front of the blasted open windows. I was torn, wanting to help him contain the smoke in the room and being afraid that if I moved off Tyler, Kramer would rush in and kill him.

"Hold on tightly now," I heard Spade mutter, then another boom reverberated through the house. Lisa screamed again, but this time, the tail of it faded, growing fainter, as if coming from a much greater distance.

Fly, Spade, fly! I thought, knowing he'd be carrying Denise to safety, too.

More furious German came from outside the house, the banging increasing until the walls trembled. Listening to it made me savagely happy, because it proved that Kramer couldn't follow them by air. If he could, he wouldn't be outside trying to huff and puff to blow the house down.

"Bones, you have to get Tyler and Dexter out of here, too," I whispered. He could fly much faster than I could, not to mention I had the whole "here I am!" transmitter thing still going on.

"Not leaving," Tyler gritted out. "But get off . . . my f**king kidney."

I moved my knee away from his lower back. Hadn't meant to jam that into his side, but I'd kind of been in a hurry to cover him before.

"You have to leave. He'll find me wherever I go for at least the next month or so," I hissed back, remembering how long it took for my hands to stop sparking. "You want to get killed?"

"No. That's why I'm not leaving," Tyler replied more emphatically, yet so soft if I wasn't on top of him I might not have caught it with the racket outside. "If you're gonna trap him, you'll need me, and I need you to trap him," he finished. Dumb-ass, flashed across his mind, but he didn't end his sentence with that last part out loud.

Despite a ghost's beating in the walls and Dexter barking loud enough to make my eardrums hurt while cowering under a nearby table, I couldn't help my snort of laughter. Dumb-ass? Tyler was the one refusing to go to safety. Talk about the proverbial pot and kettle.

Bones came over, glass crunching under his feet with every step. "Neighbors are calling the coppers. Stay with him. I'll gather what we need, then we have to go."