Jeaniene Frost - At Grave’s End

Domino swore as he began to spout off numbers, locations, banks, stocks, investments, safety deposit boxes, all but what was hidden underneath his proverbial mattress. Bones took notes, pausing to question in more detail certain nuances. When Domino was finished, he just stared blankly ahead.

Bones rested his hands on either side of Domino’s head, a light touch that belied his intention.

“Now, mate, if you’ve left anything out, or lied to me, you won’t be around when I find out. But you have a son. Drug runner, isn’t he? He won’t be past my reach, and I’ll have no qualms about taking all of my anger out on him, so the next bugger doesn’t try to deceive me when I offer him a fair deal. One last time, have you left anything out?”

“I’d always heard you were a vicious bastard,” Domino said in a dull voice. “All I’ve worked for, gone. My son will have nothing.”

Those pale hands tightened. “He’ll have his life. Unless he was involved in this or tries to collect vengeance on me later, I’ll leave him alone. Last chance.”

Domino must have believed the warning, because three more bank account numbers were revealed in a monotone of resignation. Being an arms dealer paid well. Between the money and the illegal merchandise, Bones was getting millions. No wonder he laughed at my salary.

“Wise choice,” he commented when Domino finished. “If you’ve been truthful, your son is safe from me and mine. Any last words?”

“You’re an asshole.”

Bones just shrugged. “I already knew that.”

Two hard turns later and it was over. I looked away from the head that dropped to the ground next to the rest of Domino’s body.

IN SPITE OF THE FEVERISH TRACKING OF DOMINO’S accounts to try and pinpoint who supplied the money, we’d come up empty-handed. Whoever it was, he or she was clever. There were ghost companies, fake names, and canceled bank accounts, to name a few of the obstacles we encountered.

Two weeks later, Bones’s cell phone rang. The crescendo should have sounded like a warning, but I’d been concentrating on the papers in front of me.

“Hallo…ah, didn’t recognize the number, Mencheres…”

The name snapped me to attention. What did Bones’s version of a vampire granddaddy want?

Bones’s relaxed features hardened into unreadable planes as he listened. Then he said, “Right. We’ll see you shortly,” and hung up.

“Well?” I prodded.

“Mencheres is summoning me to his house to discuss a proposition he has for me.”

I frowned. “Why couldn’t he just tell you whatever it is over the phone?”

“It must be important, pet,” Bones snorted. “My grandsire isn’t much for dramatics, so whatever he wants to propose, it’s not whether I’ll water his plants for him for a small fee when he goes out of town.”

Even though I was bundled under a thick sweater, I felt a chill go up my spine. What could Mencheres want to discuss with Bones that was so important, he was having him drop everything to meet him in person?

There was only one way to find out.

Mencheres answered the door himself, and I couldn’t help but shiver as I felt his aura wash over me. The waves of energy coming from him were like a mini lightning storm. Mencheres’s features announced him as Egyptian, and he had that whole wannabe pharaoh thing going on with his regal bearing and waist-length black hair. I guessed Mencheres to be well over two thousand, though from his appearance, you wouldn’t think he was a day over twenty-five.

“Nice place you have here,” I remarked, looking over the ornate mansion as we entered. “I can see why you’d need the space, what with all your houseguests.”

If I’d thought we’d be surrounded by Mencheres’s usual underlings, I was wrong. It sounded like we were the only three people in this mansion aside from some dogs. Mastiffs. Noble animals. I was a cat person myself.

Bones gave me a glance that made Mencheres smile. “Don’t worry, she can say what she pleases. I like her directness. It’s very similar to yours, albeit less diplomatic at times.”

“My wife makes a good point, although tactless,” Bones said. “Normally you have several of your people on hand. Should I assume their absence means you wish to keep our business private?”

“It’s what I thought you would want,” was his reply. “Before I go any further, can I offer either of you something? The house is fully stocked.”

I bet it was. This place was three times the size of our home, and with huge grounds to boot. Bones had said Mencheres kept a vampire and ghoul staff with him, plus some members of his line, and then their live-in snacks as well. Being as old as he was, he had a large entourage.

Bones accepted an aged whiskey. I declined anything, wanting to get right to the point. Mencheres led us to a lovely drawing room done in masculine tones. Leather couches with buttery textures. A stone fireplace. Hardwood floors and hand-stitched rugs. One of the dogs came to sit at Mencheres’s feet when he settled himself on the couch opposite us. Bones had one hand around his glass and the other was holding mine.

“Do you like the whiskey?” Mencheres asked.

“For the love of God, just say what your proposal is already,” I burst out, since with Mencheres’s ability to read minds, he would have heard my internal, impatient wonderings anyway.

Cool fingers tightened around mine. “I can’t help it,” I went on, more to Bones than Mencheres. “Look, I’m good at flirting with things and then killing them, or just killing them. Not beating around the bush. Mencheres had us fly all the way here for something, and it wasn’t to ask if the whiskey was good.”

Bones sighed. “Grandsire, if you would be so kind…”

He waved a hand to indicate what the rest of the sentence dangled.Let’s have it.

Mencheres leaned forward, his steel eyes meeting Bones’s dark brown ones. “I propose a permanent alliance between your line and mine, Bones. If you agree to this alliance, I will give you the same gift of power that was once given to me.”

Wow. Sure didn’t seethat coming.

Bones tapped his chin while I shifted on my seat. Vampire politics made me edgy as a rule, and the thought of a permanent alliance with this particular mega-spooky vampire didn’t make me happy at all. There had to be something behind this. I didn’t see Mencheres throwing it out there solely to be magnanimous.

Bones seemed to agree. “You want to merge lines and give me a power upgrade? Why do I feel like there’s more than you’re telling me, Grandsire?”

Mencheres’s face was impassive. “War is coming, I’ve seen it. With your new strength and our combined lines, we’ll have a better chance to win.”

“You’ve seen it?” I asked. “Or you’veseen it?”

In addition to being able to mind-read anyone with a pulse, Mencheres was also known for his visions. Little glimpses of the future and all that. I wasn’t sure whether I believed it-why wouldn’t Mencheres be playing the lottery all the time?-but Bones believed Mencheres had that ability, and he’d known him for centuries.

“It’s certain,” Mencheres replied, no emotion in his tone.

Bones mulled this over. I kept silent. This was his call. He was the one who’d known Mencheres all of his undead life. Far be it for me to start voicing my disapproval just because Mencheres gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Bones nodded after a long moment. “I’ll do it.”

And I knew Mencheres could hear it when I thought,Aw, shit. He didn’t comment, though. He just rose, all long black hair and sharp granite eyes, and then embraced Bones.

“We will seal our new alliance next week. Until then, speak of it to no one but those you trust the most.”