Jeaniene Frost - Up From the Grave

When that stopped, Bones pulled me to my feet.

“All right, Kitten?”

I made sure not to look around. Sure, I was no stranger to the ugliness of death. Today alone, I’d killed lots of people and intended to add to that tally, but this was . . . gross.

“Fine,” I said, keeping my gaze on him. “Can you take down that laser net, or do we need to find a way around it?”

Bones closed his eyes, his brows drawing together in concentration. The lasers disappeared moments later.

I shook my head, torn between awe and irritation. He hadn’t graduated to mega-Master abilities overnight, which meant only one thing. He’d been hiding his increasing power from me.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” I muttered.

His mouth claimed mine in a quick kiss. “I know,” he said, stroking my face when he pulled away. “But later.”

Right. We had someone to find, and from the thoughts I caught, he was close.

We continued down the hallway, Madigan’s thoughts pointing the way. This time, however, we went slower and kept our weapons stretched out in front of us. We’d been lucky that Bones had spotted the laser net in time before. No need to push that luck by charging forward recklessly now.

As we came nearer to the central hub of the underground complex, more bodies littered the hallway. Not Bones’s handiwork; the walls were black from soot, and the bodies were either burnt or strafed with flying debris. The Dante machine must have been located nearby for the damage to be this extensive. Then, at the end of the hallway to our right, I glimpsed the facility’s epicenter.

We started toward it. Amidst the moans from injured personnel and the frenzied thoughts of those trying to hide, I caught a cluster of static-like noise. At first I thought it came from the compound’s damaged electrical system; then I realized it sounded familiar. Where had I heard this before . . . ?

I hauled Bones back before he could take another step. Guards, I mouthed, pointing at the ceiling about a dozen yards ahead.

His lips curled. Then he fisted his hands and dropped them down. Helmeted guards exploded through the ceiling to slam onto the floor. Those who survived the violent impact were shot as Bones’s power yanked their weapons out of their hands and swiveled them around to open fire into their visors.

So much for the thought-blocking gadgets Madigan had installed in their headgear.

We jumped over the guards’ bodies and continued into the main hub. The huge room that had seemed so impressive when I was wheeled through it now resembled a defunct call center. No guards patrolled the perimeter, and all of the workstations were empty. The computers that monitored the McClintic Wildlife area and the interior of the compound showed static instead of impressive 3-D graphics, and red emergency lights bathed the once-brightly-lit area with an eerie glow.

Die, monsters!

I turned toward the direction of the thought in time to feel something whiz by my face. It didn’t take mind reading to figure out what it was, and I ducked before the next shot was fired.

Two things happened at the same time. The gun flew out of the employee’s hand, and his neck snapped with an audible crack. He crumpled without another thought, but my mind was far from quiet. The shooter was the only person visible, yet the room wasn’t empty.

“The next person that shoots at my wife gets his gun shoved up his arse,” Bones snapped. Then he waved his hand at a large file cabinet against the wall.

“Come out.”

Sobs sounded as the file cabinet was pushed aside, revealing an interior hiding space. Several wounded were propped up against the walls, and my heartstrings jerked when I saw a woman crouch protectively over an unconscious, bloody man. From their casual clothes, they were employees, not guards or doctors, and their thoughts revealed that all were convinced they were about to die at the hands—and fangs—of two merciless monsters.

Once, not too long ago, I’d felt the same way about vampires. Despite the fact that each of them would murder me given the chance, I went over to Bones and touched his arm.

“Don’t,” I said very softly.

His mouth twisted, not the cruel smile he’d flashed when he took out the guards in the ceiling, but something wry.

“As if you needed to say it, Kitten.”

Then his gaze flashed bright green as he turned his attention to the terrified onlookers.

“Unlike the bastards you work for, I don’t murder innocents, so if you weren’t directly involved in kidnapping or experimenting on my people, you won’t be harmed. Until then, don’t move or speak. Kitten?”

I went over to them, glad to hear their heart rates return to a normal rhythm as his power convinced them they wouldn’t be murdered on the spot. Then I searched through the standing and the wounded. The man we sought wasn’t among them, but he was here. I could hear his thoughts, not to mention his heavy breathing.

“There,” I said, pointing at the closed entrance to the elevation platform.

Bones shut his eyes. Moments later, the steel door swished open, revealing the stained circular pad that, a mile or so up, led to the concrete igloo and freedom.

Thanks to Bones’s power, the platform wasn’t operational at the moment. No human could climb those slick steel walls, either, so I wasn’t surprised to see Madigan pressed as far away from the door as he could manage, trying to hide but unable to escape.

What I didn’t expect was the Desert Eagle handgun he had pressed to his temple.

“Come one step closer, and I’ll shoot,” he warned.

Caught off guard, I laughed. I’d imagined him saying lots of things when we found him, but that hadn’t been anywhere on my list.

“Is that supposed to be a threat? Did you miss the part where we wanted you dead?”

Madigan’s lips stretched in something too ugly to be called a smile. “Yes, but you want information more. Let me go, and you have a chance of getting it one day. Move another inch, and I’ll splatter what I know all over this wall instead.”

For once, he didn’t sing anything in his mind, so I heard him loud and clear when he thought, Try me and see, Crawfield.

He’d never get my last name right.

I stared into his light blue eyes and knew he wasn’t bluffing. If we so much as twitched, he’d pull the trigger, and the power of that handgun would blow his skull to kingdom come. Did he know anything that I couldn’t find out by hacking into the computers here? Maybe, and that wouldn’t do.

“Oh, Bones,” I said sweetly.

Madigan’s eyes bugged as Bones said, “Already done, Kitten.”

Then Bones walked forward with deliberate, taunting slowness. Madigan’s hand lowered from his head even though his thoughts screamed in protest. His frustration was a symphony to listen to as he realized he didn’t have control of his own body. I came forward, too. Smiling.

Without a single advance thought to warn us, his jaw snapped. Bones lunged, digging his fingers inside Madigan’s mouth, but it was too late. Foam bubbled past Madigan’s lips, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Then his whole body began to convulse.

“No!” I gasped, recognizing the signs of cyanide poisoning. Seeing the half-dissolved capsule encased in a fake tooth that Bones swept out of his mouth was almost redundant. It must have contained a massive dose—Madigan’s pulse skyrocketed, then abruptly stopped.

“No you don’t,” Bones snarled.

He slashed his wrist with a fang and held it to Madigan’s mouth, working the other man’s throat to force him to swallow. Then he pounded on Madigan’s chest, trying to manually circulate the healing powers of his blood through him.