Read Online At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost - Free Book Online Page B

capsule’s door slid into place with a series of locks clicking back together. Even as it did, a frightening thought occurred to me.
    “What happened to Calibos? There was another vampire here besides Max.”
    “His head’s over there,” Bones said, nodding by the trees, “but the rest of him’s farther back.”
    I felt a cold satisfaction at that. “How’d you know to come here?”
    “The airline lost Annette’s luggage.” Bones sounded almost bemused. “I rang you twice to tell you we’d be late, that we were stopping off to fetch her some new togs. You didn’t answer. You always answer, so I drove straight here. About a mile away, I heard you scream. I pulled off, and Annette and I circled round the house on foot. We found the one bloke. Didn’t know how many more might be inside, so we smashed through the windows at the same time.”
    A bark of laughter escaped me. My mother and I owed our lives to Annette’s luggage being lost? How ironic.
    “Bet you wish you’d carried on,” I couldn’t help but quip to Annette.
    A ghost of a smile flitted across her lips. “Not quite, darling. I just rang Ian,” she continued, more to Bones than me now. “He was furious to hear what Max did. He’s formally cutting Max off from his line.”
    That was the worst punishment a vampire could inflict on a member of their line. It meant no vampire would challenge whatever happened to Max in the future, and right now, my father’s future looked pretty grim.
    “Max said Ian didn’t know about this,” I added, even though I was no fan of Ian’s. “He said he had new friends who wanted me dead as much as he did.”
    Bones gave a short nod. “We’re going home, luv. To find out who helped Max orchestrate this, so we can kill every last one of them.”
     
    Our house was a large cabin at the top of a hill, with sweeping views of the Blue Ridge Mountains out ofbulletproof-glass windows. It was remote enough that we’d never met our neighbors, so the helicopter pad and hangar on the side of our house hadn’t been cause for any awkward conversations.
    Annette went back with Don to help with Tate, as was the original plan, although Bones refused to go with her. He told my uncle his priorities had changed, not that Don had any trouble understanding why. Tate would be okay with two undead people taking care of him. It was my safety that seemed to be in a more tenuous position than Tate’s, according to what Max had said.
    When I walked into my house, my cat jumped out to twine around my legs. We hadn’t figured on being back for a week, so I’d set up the automatic feeder and litter-box cleaner. Now my kitty would get some of my leftovers instead of just his dry food. No wonder he was glad to see me.
    My mother had never been to Bones’s and my house, but I was too anxious to wash the blood off me to give her a proper tour.
    “Here’s the guest room,” I said, directing her to the downstairs bedroom. “I’ve got some clothes in it, too, so help yourself to whatever’s there. I’m taking a shower.”
    Bones followed me upstairs. I stripped off the jacket Cooper had given me, plus my bloodied bra and pants. If I never saw those clothes again, it would be too soon. Bones also peeled off his crimson-spattered shirt and pants, kicking them into a corner before joining me in the shower.
    At first, the water was icy. It took a couple minutes to heat up this time of year. I shivered as the frigid spray landed on me. Bones folded me in his armsand moved to where the majority of it splashed on him. Even when it turned warm, however, and Bones turned to let the heated water rinse my blood away, I was still shivering.
    “I didn’t think I’d make it today.”
    My voice was low. Bones’s arms tightened around me.
    “You’re safe now, Kitten. And nothing like this shall ever happen again, I promise you.”
    I didn’t reply, but I was thinking this was one promise Bones might not be able to keep. Who knew what could