"If I had to drink that animal's blood each day, I'd cheerfully starve myself to death."

Oh, dear God. Please let me be dreaming! "Mom?"

She gave me a disapproving frown before setting the glass on a nearby table.

"You've lost weight again. Can't that creature keep you from starving?"

Nope, not dreaming. This was her in the flesh. "What are you doing here? Where's Bones?"

She held up a hand. "He went out somewhere. Even if I knew where, I wouldn't be able to say. You know, in case the other vampire would find out. I must say, Catherine, you have deplorable taste in men."

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Any one of the three, help me. "Can we skip the usual Bash Bones game? I'm not in a good mood."

"Nor should you be," she said without sympathy. How typical. "You married the frying pan, and now it looks as though you may have also wed the fire."

What had Bones been thinking, bringing her here? Sure, have my mother spend some time with me. After that, I'd be begging to be drugged.

"Don't mention Gregor, or I'll..."

I stopped, and her mouth curled. "You'll what, Catherine?"

What indeed? She was my mother. I couldn't threaten to slap, stab, beat, or even name-call her. I tried to think of something to scare her into never mentioning my predicament with the Dreamsnatcher again.

"I'll become a swinger," I said. Her eyes bugged. Uptight rearing made her uncomfortable with alternate lifestyles. "That's right. Threesomes, foursomes, more. Bones knows about a thousand chicks who'd love to hop into bed with us. It'll be kinky, we'll get our freak on - "

She puffed up in outrage. "Catherine!"

Below us, I heard a feminine laugh. One recognizable and just as unexpected.

"What is it you Americans say? I call shotgun!"

Annette, the first vampire Bones ever created, laughed again. It was the knowing chuckle of someone not kidding.

My mother vaulted to her feet. The bedroom was open and Annette had spoken loud enough for even my mother to hear her.

"The day after never, you voracious English tramp!"

Even though I mentally applauded the insult, I was the one who'd started this. "Mom, don't call Annette a tramp. It's none of your business how many people she's banged."

Okay, so I couldn't be entirely magnanimous. What had Bones been thinking, having both of them under the same roof with me? Considering her centuries-long, graphic former relationship with Bones, Annette and I didn't get along very well on the best of days. My mother and I had lots of issues despite her recent softening toward the undead, one ghoul in particular.

"Mom, nice to see you. Now, I'd like to take a real bath."

She rose. "Everyone in the house knows not to mention where we are, so you can do whatever as long as you don't go outside. I brought some clothes for you. They're in the closet. Oh, and don't turn on the television. Or the radio, and needless to say, you can't use the phone."

With that helpful information, she swept out. I paused for a second, then swung my legs out of bed. At least I'd get to bathe without assistance. Baby steps and all that.

After I was thoroughly bathed, groomed, and dressed, I went downstairs, where I could hear all the other voices. Mission accomplished on me not knowing where the hell I was. All I could surmise was that the house was older, though modernly refurbished, and it was on a steep cliff. The outside window had told me that. Green hills and rocks stretched as far as the eye could see, and the air smelled different. It could have been the northern Rockies, but somehow, it didn't feel like America. Maybe Canada. Maybe not.

I decided I shouldn't keep guessing. That would defeat the purpose, after all.

The chatter stopped with almost comical abruptness when I came into the kitchen. Five heads picked up with false nonchalance. In addition to my mother and Annette, Bones's sire Ian was here, along with Spade and Rodney.

"Hi, everyone," I remarked. "Is this the whole crew? Or are there more of you lurking around?"

"Oh, there's more," my mother began before she cried out, "Ouch! Who kicked me?"

An unladylike snort escaped me. "That would be Spade. So, I'm not even allowed to know who's here? Why does that matter?"

"Just a few guards, Cat," Spade replied dismissively, eyeing my mother with warning. "Nothing to bother about."

"Fine." If I demanded to know more, I'd probably get the blindfold again.

Ian was reclined in a chair, legs crossed at the ankles. His turquoise eyes contained a roguish gleam as he slid them to my mother.

"I missed you last night when I arrived. Lovely to see you again, poppet," Ian drawled.

Rodney gave Ian the same warning look I did, but for a different reason. Rodney and my mother were, ah, dating. Or at least, they were the last I'd heard. Dwelling on my mother's romantic life squicked me out, and that had nothing to do with Rodney being a ghoul.

"Leave my mother alone," I said to Ian, glowering at him.

He smiled, unrepentant. Ian wouldn't know how to feel remorse if his afterlife depended on it. Though he'd proven to be a loyal friend to Bones, Ian and I had a murky history. He liked to collect the rare and unusual, be they items or people. That penchant had led Ian to try blackmailing me into a "friends with benefits" relationship once, before Ian knew my whole history with Bones. Now Ian didn't make an inappropriate move toward me, but he did seem to take enjoyment in finding ways to annoy me.

Case in point: Ian cast a leisurely look at my mother, making sure I saw him pause at certain parts. Then he grinned.

"Truly a pleasure to see you again, Justina."

All I could hope was that the same revulsion for vampires that had made my childhood hellish would serve my mother now. My mother hated my father, Max, since he'd seduced her, then told her she'd just had sex with an evil demon - all because he thought it was funny. She'd gotten pregnant from that encounter and thought she gave birth to a half-demon baby - me. I'd paid for my father's warped sense of humor all my life, until Bones showed me that there was more to vampires than fangs.

My mother still must not be convinced that fangs didn't equate to evil, judging from the look she gave Ian.

"Don't you have somewhere else you could be?" she asked him in a withering voice.

Ian's smile just broadened. "Certainly. Pull up your skirt, and I'll show you."

"That's it!" I shrieked, lunging at Ian even as Rodney upended his chair and came after him as well. We both were so blinded by fury; all Ian had to do was slide back to watch us clang into each other instead of him.

"Ian, enough," Spade snapped, stepping between me and Rodney when both of us leapt to our feet for another try. "Cat, Rodney - Ian's finished now. Isn't he?"

Spade glared at Ian, who just lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

"For now."

I was trapped indoors with my mother, her pissed-off boyfriend, Bones's ex-lover, his horny sire, and his secretive best friend. Whatever appetite I'd had when I came downstairs was gone. The only thing I wanted to do was get away from all of them, but that meant hiding in my room, and I'd had enough of that, too.

Maybe there was one thing that could help. I went to the cabinets and began to rifle through them with single-minded determination.

"What are you looking for, Catherine?" my mother asked.

"Liquor."

I was into my third bottle of Jack Daniel's when Bones arrived. It was sunset, the dying rays turning his hair reddish as he walked through the door. Even a glimpse of his hard, rippled frame caused my hand to tighten on the whiskey. God, he looked good, but I needed to slam the lid on my dirty mind and seek other things to think about. Farm equipment. Agriculture. The state of the economy.

"Blimey, Kitten, is this what you've been doing all day? Drinking?"

The judgmental tone Bones used doused my momentary ardor. Nope, no need to ponder the national deficit next!

"Your color's good, so who are you to talk," I said. "Is that what took you so long? Did she taste extra yummy?"

I was jealous, as irrational as that might be. Bones picked women to feed from for two reasons - with his looks, they were pathetically easy to get alone, and he liked their flavor more. I hadn't believed Bones could really taste the difference between male and female blood until he proved it to me. The man could flawlessly genderize a whole blood bank. Once he'd commented that he thought it might be an acquired liking of estrogen.

"She didn't taste like a gallon of whiskey, that's for certain," he shot back, coming over and arching a brow at my near-empty bottle. "Is that all you've had today?"

"Certainly is, Crispin," Ian sang out. "She's been drinking with the pluck of an Irishman!"

I had nothing heavy nearby to throw at Ian aside from the whiskey, and I wasn't letting go of that. "Bite me, Ian!"

Bones snatched at my bottle, but I'd been anticipating that. I held on, and it was tug-of-war.

"Put it down," he barked, prying my hand from my prize. "You need solid food, Kitten, and about a keg of water. Crikey, where's your mum? Can't the woman be counted on to at least see that you eat?"

If he had been trying to piss me off, he couldn't have picked a better way. "Oh sure. Have someone feed me, water me, and keep me on a leash. You know what you should have married, Bones? A dog, then you wouldn't have all those pesky problems about it occasionally acting on its own."

"This is just what I bloody need," he growled, running a hand through his hair. "Coming home to a drunken harpy, waiting to knock my head off."

This isn't what he needed? I was the one who'd been punched out, drugged, reduced to hand-feedings - all because of a crazy vampire who'd kidnapped me when I was sixteen and didn't want to take no for an answer now. "Being a 'drunken harpy' has been the highlight of my week, so excuse me if I'm not waiting by the door for you with a big red X on my neck to mark the spot where you can get your dessert."

Part of me was horrified at what I'd just said. After all, I wasn't mad at Bones, just the circumstances. But somehow, my mental filter between what I didn't mean and what I'd said, was broken. I couldn't even blame it on the liquor, either. Being half-vampire meant I couldn't get drunk on normal booze.

"Right now I'd say it's what you need," Bones shot back. "Is that it? Shall I take you to bed and bite some of the waspishness out of you? Even though I'd rather flog some sense into you instead, as a vampire, I'm up for the task whether I'd want to or not."

My mouth swung open, and my hand actually tingled with the urge to slap him.

And at the same time, I wanted to cry. This was all so wrong. I was falling to pieces and doing it alone, despite the numerous people around me.

Something of this either showed on my face, or he heard it in the whirling chaos of my mind. Bones's features lost their icy callousness, and he sighed.

"Kitten..."

"Don't." My breath caught, choking back the sob. I couldn't seem to control how I felt or what came out of my mouth, so it was better if I was alone. Fast, before I said something else I didn't mean.

"I'm, uh, tired."

I walked up the stairs, leaving the whiskey behind on the couch. It hadn't helped. In fact, all I'd done since I woke up was to make matters worse. I knew this situation wasn't Bones's fault. He was only doing this to keep everyone safe, including me. But somehow, I ended up taking out my frustration on him. At least unconscious, I couldn't f**k things up between us more.

I shut the door behind me. There weren't any glasses in the bedroom, so I cupped my palm and used the sink water to swallow Don's pills. Their quantity was dwindling. I'd have to have him ship more to me - except I didn't know where we were.

That falling sensation began shortly after, like the mattress opened up, and I was being sucked down into it. For a split second, I felt panic, reaching out for anything to hold onto. Yet just as requested, I was alone.

Later, when I felt cool flesh against my mouth, I was relieved. Then I finished swallowing and knew this wasn't Bones, even with my eyes closed and just coming into wakefulness. The blood tasted different.

Spade blinked into view. He removed his hand, but didn't get up from his seated position on the bed. It was still dark out. Sadly, I hadn't slept the whole miserable day away.

"Where's Bones?" I asked.

"He's outside, should be back in shortly."

I didn't say anything, but my anguish at how things had deteriorated to where Bones couldn't even take the time to wake me must have shown on my face. Spade sighed.

"He's not used to this, Cat, and he's handling it quite poorly."

"Not used to what?" Being married to a psychotic bitch? my mind supplied.

"Fear." Spade lowered his voice. "Crispin's always prided himself on his emotional control, yet he has none with you. He's never before experienced the fear of losing the person he loves to someone else. Oh, your friend Tate might brass Crispin off, but he knows Tate is no real threat. Gregor's different. He's older than Crispin, more powerful, and no one knows how much you might have cared for him."

I was afraid Spade had underestimated the situation. "I don't think that's the issue. Bones and I can't even be around each other without fighting."

"Both of you are in foul tempers with little to do but lash out at each other, but don't lose sight of priorities. Isn't he what you're fighting for?"