Jeaniene Frost - Destined for an Early Grave

I whirled, ignoring Gregor’s shout, and ran headlong into the horrid figure of Death. Either this would work or—

A slap stung my face, then another. I was being shaken so hard, my teeth should have rattled out. Bones was talking to me, so engrossed in shaking me that it took my third yelp to get his attention.

“Stop it!”

“Kitten?”

He gripped my face, eyes bright green and wild. I batted at his hands, shivering, and realized I was wet. And cold. And sore. With an audience.

“What have you been doing to me?”

I was on the floor, Bones was next to me, and from the soaked carpet, various items nearby, and worried spectators, I’d been out for a while. A glance down told me what I already suspected. I was still as naked as I’d been when we fell asleep.

“God, Bones, why don’t we just invite everyone in the next time we have sex, that way they can stop seeing things piecemeal!”

Spade, at least, wasn’t nude like he’d been the last time I’d wakened from a nightmare to an audience. Next to him stood Mencheres and an unknown human woman.

“Bloody hell, if I never go through this again, it will be too soon,” Bones growled, running a weary hand through his hair. “This wasn’t like the other ones, Mencheres. What does that mean?”

Bones was totally unconcerned about being naked. Vampires had no sense of modesty. I grabbed for the nearest covering, which was the bedspread, and tugged at his hand.

“Find some pants for you and a robe for me. What—?”

Just the act of moving made pain arc on my back, then intensify into a steady throbbing. My mouth tasted like blood, too, and my head was pounding.

Mencheres knelt next to me. “Do you remember anything about the dream, Cat?”

Clothes. Now, I thought at Bones.

He muttered, “Who cares?” but yanked on a pair of pants and fetched me a robe.

“Here,” Bones said, slicing open his hand before clapping it over my mouth. “Swallow.”

I sucked at the wound, ingesting his blood, and felt immediate relief from the pains in my body. Then I sat on the bed, where the sight of the floor where I’d been lying made me let out a gasp.

“What in the hell were you doing to me?”

“Trying to wake you,” Bones answered crisply. “I cut you, threw water on you, slapped you, and set a lighter to your legs. For future reference, which one of those do you think worked?”

“Good God,” I hissed. “No wonder I thought you were Death incarnate in my dream, and that made me run toward Gregor at first!”

“Then you remember the dream,” Mencheres stated. “That bodes ill.”

The fear of that made my reply snappy. “Hey, Walks Like An Egyptian, how about for once you drop the formal stuff and talk like you live in the twenty-first century?”

“The shit’s gonna splatter, start buggin’, yo,” Mencheres responded instantly.

I stared at him, then burst out laughing, which was highly inappropriate considering the very grave warning he’d just conveyed.

“I find nothing funny in this,” Bones muttered.

“Oh, neither do I, but that’s still hilarious,” I managed. “Sorry about the carpet, Spade. Blood, burns, water…maybe you should have put us in the stable.”

“As I was saying,” Mencheres continued, “this bodes poorly.”

He gave me a look that dared me to comment. I didn’t, my lips still twitching. “You remembered the dream, and you weren’t susceptible to outside stimulants, which means Gregor is close by. You need to leave at once.”

Bones swung a glance at Spade. “Did you tell anyone we were coming?”

Spade shook his head. “Bugger, Crispin, I barely had notice myself. You’re my best friend, and my home wasn’t that far from you. It could just be a logical assumption.”

“Possibly.” Bones didn’t sound convinced. “Or perhaps we weren’t as careful as we thought and were followed.”

“I’ll have the car brought ’round, mate.”

“Three of them.” Bones cast a measured look at me. “All traveling in different directions, with a human and at least two vampires in each. Let whoever might be watching figure out which one carries her.”

“You’ll need more than evasiveness to fix this.”

The sarcastic part of me had an idea. Let Gregor spend some time with me, that’ll cure him of wanting me in his life. Trouble followed me like a bad smell.

But I just smiled with false brightness. “Spade, love your home. Mencheres…classic. Bones.” The clock showed nine A.M. I’d only had two hours’ sleep, but damned if I was going to get any more shut-eye. “Ready when you are.”

“Right now, luv.” He threw some clothes at me, pulling a shirt over his head without even glancing at it. “As soon as you get dressed.”

THE PLANE TOUCHED DOWN JERKILY. ITdidn’t bother me, but I saw Bones compress his lips into a thin line. He didn’t like to fly. If he could’ve managed the distance, I think he would have tried to talk me into flying the really friendly skies. The one where I was strapped to his chest with him as my own private airplane. Still, everyone had limits.

We boarded a mere three hours after we left Spade’s house. My uncle Don pulled some strings after I called him and informed him that we had to return to the States right away, so the full flight from London to Orlando suddenly had four more seats. Having a family member with high-up government connections came in handy sometimes.

Mencheres and Spade stayed in London, but two vampires named Hopscotch and Band-Aid came along with us. To kill some time, I’d asked them how they’d chosen their nicknames. Hopscotch, an Aborigine who knew Bones over two hundred years, said that it had been his adopted child’s favorite game. Band-Aid had grinned and said he’d picked his name because he was ouchless. I didn’t press for more details from him on that.

We were the first ones off the plane, ushered outside by the flight attendants. The plane wasn’t even hooked up to the terminal yet. Instead, we got off on one of the tall transport ladders usually reserved for service workers. A limousine was parked nearby, and the window rolled down to reveal my uncle.

I hadn’t seen him in a couple months. When his lined face curved into a smile, it struck me how much I’d missed him.

“I thought I’d surprise you.”

Bones cast a watchful eye around before leading me to the vehicle. Band-Aid and Hopscotch circled, sniffing the air like bloodhounds while we ducked inside. Then they followed after us and took the opposite seats.

On impulse I hugged Don, startling both of us. When I let him go, I heard a familiar voice from the front.

“ Querida , no kiss for your hombre?”

“Juan?” I laughed. “Don’s got you on chauffeur duty?”

“I’d drive a tractor to see you.” He grinned, turning around. “I missed your smile, your face, your round luscious—”

“Drive, mate,” Bones cut him off. “We’re in a hurry.”

Don looked taken aback at Bones’s brusqueness. Normally Bones and Juan were quite chummy, all hierarchy aside, since Bones had turned Juan into a vampire last year and thus Juan was under Bones’s line. Juan also seemed surprised at Bones’s curt comment, since he always flirted with me—and any female within a hundred yards—but Juan didn’t say anything. With a last, quick grin at me, he drove off.

“I asked you to have a safe car waiting for us in a low-profile manner.” Bones started in on my uncle. “Instead, you parked a limousine straight up to a plane. What were you thinking?”

Don tugged his eyebrow. “Wait two minutes, then see if you should criticize.”