Jeaniene Frost - This Side of the Grave

My fangs slid out, concealed by my lips, their sharp tips touching the edge of my tongue. One swipe and I could call forth Remnants with my blood, making both Vlad and Mencheres helpless to stop me from getting Dave. The question was, could Mencheres wrap his power around me fast enough to prevent that tiny movement? And more importantly, did I want to use the Remnants as a weapon against my friends, even if it was to help another friend?

After several moments, Mencheres gave me a slight smile, inclining his head. “The life of a friend is indeed too precious to risk unless it is a last resort. We will stop Dave from doing this while we explore other options.”

I still remained tense. Was this a trick? If I retracted my fangs, would Mencheres slap his power around me while smirking about how gullible I was?

Vlad obviously didn’t think it was a ploy. He let out a frustrated growl. “Kira’s made you soft.”

“She opened my eyes,” Mencheres coolly refuted. “And you, my friend, protest too much. Before you knew of her new ability , you could have snatched Cat away to kill her with adequate vampire and ghoul witnesses. Then Apollyon wouldn’t be able to refute her death. Bones would kill you afterward, and I myself would be furious with you, but your people would be protected and the war stalled. So if you truly believed the life of a friend wasn’t precious enough to protect, you wouldn’t be here scowling at me now.”

Vlad muttered something in a language I didn’t recognize. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound like “Well played, sir!” and the glare he threw the other vampire warned that Vlad might combust at any moment.

“Aww, who’s really a widdle softie on the inside?” I teased him, feeling some of the dread leaking out of me. It would be tough, true, but we’d find another way to bring down Apollyon, Scythe, and all the other hateful warmongers under them. Hadn’t Bones repeatedly told me in the past that there was always another way?

“Actually, Reaper, the thought of your death isn’t bothering me a bit at the moment,” Vlad ground out.

I ignored that. He could huff and puff all he wanted, but Vlad kept proving that he was only brutal when the circumstances required it. Despite his frightening reputation, loyalty was Vlad’s strong suit, not viciousness. I turned to Fabian, who’d stayed silent the past several minutes.

“First, we’re going to get Dave. And then”—I glanced at Mencheres—“you and I get to reunite with our spouses, because with Scythe and the gang pulling out of Memphis, there’s no reason for us to stay anymore.”

I’d gotten on both boots and was busy stuffing them—and other parts of me—with weapons when my hip pocket vibrated in a familiar way. I pulled out my cell phone, answering, “Yep?” without bothering to look at who was calling.

“Cat.”

He only said my name, but something in Tate’s voice made me freeze as abruptly as if Mencheres had unleashed the full force of his power upon me.

“Is it Don?” I breathed, my chest tightening in a painful way. It can’t be. I just spoke to him a couple days ago! my denial screamed.

“Yeah,” Tate replied shortly, but his tone sounded as raw as I felt. “Go to the Marine Safety office in Memphis. A chopper’s waiting for you.”

I had to swallow twice before I could answer him. “I’m on my way.”

I hit end with fingers that felt nerveless, looking up to meet Mencheres’s dark, compassionate gaze. He’d obviously overheard the call.

“Go,” he said. “Vlad and I will retrieve Dave and meet you there.”

Vlad gave me a short nod of confirmation. I stopped piling on weapons and went upstairs. On the dresser was my red diamond ring. It was so distinctive that I hadn’t been able to wear it while out ghoul hunting, but I put it on now, taking comfort in its familiar weight. Then I grabbed the pet carrier. I knew I wasn’t coming back, and aside from my wedding ring and my cat, everything else was replaceable.

You’ll get there in time.

I chanted that to myself the entire way in the car and in the air. Even though the compound wasn’t far away—just on the opposite side of Tennessee, in fact—I was still stiff with fear that I might, indeed, be too late. The chopper landed a little less than two hours after Tate’s call. Barely a tick of the clock, all things considered, but it still seemed like the seconds dragged by with pitiless disregard for my urgency.

A vampire waited for me on the roof, dark hair whipping around from the rotor blades. Not Bones, though I’d called him and he was on his way. It was my mother who wordlessly took my hand when I jumped out of the helicopter, keeping pace with me as I strode inside the building. My mental shields were up as high as I could crank them, because I didn’t think I could stand it if I overheard a stray thought telling me that Don was already gone. I couldn’t even bear to look at my mother as we went straight to the elevators, let alone ask the question that burned a hole in my throat. I was too afraid of what the answer might be.

“He’s still alive, Catherine,” she said quietly.

I choked back the sob of relief that threatened to claw its way out, managing to nod while tears blurred my gaze. The elevator doors opened and I went inside, part of me registering that the last time I’d been in an elevator was when I was ambushed by ghouls at the Ritz.

“Is it his cancer worsening, or did something else happen?”

Something else better have happened, I added silently. I’d called Don every few days to check in on him, plus got regular updates on his health from Tate. No one had even hinted to me that he was going downhill. If Don had been steadily growing worse over the past few weeks and everyone lied to me about it, I’d stop speaking to every last fucking one of them, my mother included.

“He had a heart attack a few hours ago.”

I closed my eyes, absorbing the swell of pain as it came. Heart attacks were lethal enough all on their own. Add one to Don’s already-ravaged health, and I knew what that meant.

Cool fingers squeezed around mine. “He’s still hanging in,” she said. “He knows you’re coming, too.”

“He’s awake?” I was surprised, but how else could he know I was on my way?

She glanced at the ground, shifting uncomfortably. “He was when I last saw him.”

Even amidst my fear, worry, and grief, I caught an edge in her voice that I well recognized. Defensiveness. The elevator doors opened on the second sub-level where Medical was, but I didn’t budge.

“What aren’t you telling me, Mom?”

She let go of my hand to gesture to the pet carrier. “It’s not sterile for an animal to be in the same room with Don. All that hair. I can take your cat to your old office while you—”

“ What aren’t you telling me?” I repeated, slapping a hand on the elevator door when it started to close.

“Crawfield.”

Both our heads whipped up, but Tate’s indigo glare was only for my mother as he approached the elevator.

“Get off this floor, Crawfield. I told you not to come within a hundred yards of Don again. Cat.” Tate’s voice softened. “Come with me.”

“Not until someone tells me what’s going on, and as we all know, I’m in a hurry,” I growled. My mother was forbidden to come within a hundred yards of Don? What the hell had happened?

“She directly violated Don’s medical orders,” Tate said, his gaze now flashing emerald at her.

“And he’d be dead now if I hadn’t!” My mother stopped glaring at Tate to give me a pleading look. “That’s the only reason I gave him the blood—”