Jeaniene Frost - One Grave at a Time

Bones came into the bedroom, lining the windows and furniture tops with a heavy layer of minced garlic and marijuana. The former had been procured after a quick stop at an all-night grocery store, but the latter required green-eyeing a local drug dealer into giving up his entire stock. I wish I could say it had been hard to find someone peddling weed in my hometown, but it had only taken a few minutes driving through a derelict neighborhood to detect the distinctive smell and follow it to its source.

Now I could add robbing a drug dealer to my list of crimes, but what was I supposed to do? Reimburse him? That somehow seemed equally wrong, not to mention going against the “crime doesn’t pay” message, but I had to admit I still felt guilty stealing the weed even though what I was doing with it was arguably more noble. Burning sage might work as a sort of supernatural flamethrower against Kramer, but the real goal was to not let him find us again. Not until we had that trap ready, anyway.

I pulled some extra blankets out of the closet and handed them to Tyler, who came in as Bones was leaving to spread more of the stinky mixture around the house.

“Pass these out downstairs,” I told Tyler. “I’ll get more from the other room.”

There might not be enough for everyone to get their own blanket, but thank God the heater worked, and I could get more blankets tomorrow. And air mattresses. The house only had two bedrooms, and there were eight of us, but safety concerns had to overrule comforts and conveniences.

Tyler took the blankets and I foraged through the guest room for more, grabbing a couple long tablecloths from the linen closet as well. Still not enough. I went back into my old room and stripped the bed, netting me two more blankets and a set of sheets. Bones and I could sleep with our jackets covering us. As vampires, we were in no danger of catching cold.

“Do you have anything to drink here?” I heard Graham ask, dismay in his voice.

“Just tap water, sorry,” I replied, coming down the stairs with my big bundle. “I’ll get some food and beverages tomorrow.”

Graham sighed. “No problem.” Yet his thoughts belied his words.

I sure hope this bitch isn’t making all this up as a desperate ploy for attention. We’ve been on this job over a week, and we still only have her word that this phantom exists, let alone is a threat to anyone. She could just be off her meds or on the rag—

“Hey!” Graham suddenly yelped, his hand flying to his cheek. “Something just hit me!”

I tensed. Red streaks marred Graham’s cheek like the imprint from an invisible hand, and the air was indeed prickled with a new, angry energy, skipping across my skin like sandpaper. I glanced at Dexter, but the dog was silent, and though I didn’t see where Helsing was, no distinctive feline growl split the sudden silence after Graham’s pronouncement.

“Check the EMFs, the infrared, and the temperature gauges,” Chris ordered, his gaze darting around. “We might not be the only ones here anymore.”

Lexie, Fred, and Nancy hurried to comply. But then I found the source of that pulsating, seething energy, and my jaw dropped.

Bones stood in the hallway, fists slowly clenching and emerald blazing from his gaze as he stared at Graham.

“Don’t ever disrespect my wife that way again.”

Each word was a low, furious growl that caused all activity in the room to screech to a halt. Every head swung in Bones’s direction, then mine wasn’t the only sagging jaw as the crew took in his fangs and glowing green eyes. Only Tyler kept his cool, but then again, he hadn’t just discovered a shocking new truth like the rest of us had.

For Chris, Lexie, Fred, Graham, and Nancy, it was the discovery that vampires existed. For me, it was the realization that Bones had been the one to strike Graham, and he’d done it without moving from his spot across the room.

Chris found his voice before I did.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Sounds upset, but not hysterical. Good for him, I thought, still in a daze from the knowledge that Bones had slapped Graham using only the power from his mind . Up until now, only one other vampire in the world could do the same thing, and that vampire was over four thousand years old. Bones hadn’t even hit his bicentennial birthday yet.

But that former pharaoh, Mencheres, was Bones’s co-ruler, and he’d shared some of his staggering power with Bones when they merged lines a while back. Immediately upon receiving that supernatural transfusion, Bones’s strength had tripled, and he’d gained the ability to read human minds. I’d often wondered if any other abilities might crop up as time went on. Guess I should wonder no more.

But why didn’t he tell me before this? Like, Oh, by the by, Kitten, I’m telekinetic now. Fancy that, hmm?

“So that was you?” Tyler relaxed as he figured out that Bones’s words combined with his furious glare meant that Kramer wasn’t the one who’d hit Graham.

Bones looked at me, some of the tightness leaving his features.

“It would seem so.”

My initial spurt of irritation melted away. Good God, this ability was news to him, too?

“You didn’t know?” I asked softly.

His mouth twisted. “Wasn’t sure until now.”

“I will walk out of here right now if someone doesn’t start making a lot of sense,” Chris swore. He wasn’t the only one who’d started to edge toward the front door, I noticed.

“Ghosts aren’t the only freaky things that exist,” Tyler summed up before I could phrase a more gentle reply. The medium waved at me and Bones. “Meet the vampires.”

Lexie let out a nervous laugh. Graham looked like he wanted to throw up. From their thoughts, Fred and Nancy were each contemplating dialing 911. Chris’s mind tilted between denial and an odd sense of triumph, like he’d suspected there was more to the supernatural world but hadn’t known what it was.

“There’s no need to worry,” I said while wondering if I’d have to stop some of them from calling the police. “We don’t kill people—well, not people who don’t deserve it, that is, and—”

Graham screamed, trying to run for the door. Bones had him dangling by the front of his shirt in the next blink, throwing me a sardonic look.

“Best not to mention any killing in a reveal speech, luv.”

“Right.” I sighed, catching Lexie and Fred as they also made a break for it. “Don’t worry,” I ordered, turning the brights on in my gaze. “We’re not going to hurt you!”

They relaxed like I’d shot them each with a dart full of Valium. Bones whispered something I didn’t catch to Graham, but he, too, soon had a glazed and compliant expression. Chris watched everything in silence and complete stillness, his mental somersaulting the only indication that he was far less calm than he looked.

“The way you move . . . both of you are only a blur,” he said at last.

I shrugged. “The myths got some things right. Superspeed is one of them.”

“What did the myths get wrong?” he asked at once.

“Uncontrollable need to kill, wooden stakes, exploding in sunlight, cringing at crosses, lack of reflection, and, oh, the stiff-collared capes. I mean, honestly, who would go out in public wearing one of those?”

“Fashion tragedy,” Tyler agreed.

Chris continued to stare. “You forgot mind control.”

“Saw that for yourself, didn’t you?” Bones replied. His tone was light, but his gaze didn’t waver from Chris’s. “You and your crew won’t remember any of this once the trap is completed, but until then, I want you to know what you’re dealing with. Then perhaps one of you won’t again tempt me to violence with his thoughts.”