Destined for an Early Grave

Boom. Boom. Boom. My heart continued to bang in my chest. It made me dizzy, the sensation amazingly unfamiliar after only a week. A slew of images tormented me as our distance from the house grew. Mom. Oh God, Mom. Changed into a vampire. Being dragged and beaten while on a leash. Bones flinging himself into the fray. Gregor laughing at it all.

"Mencheres will settle things down," Vlad said. He had to shout to be heard above the wind as our speed increased. We were even trailing fire like a comet. "But not if you're there with your rage at Gregor and your mystifying heartbeat. You stay, and this won't end until half the people are dead."

I wanted to fling myself out of his arms and go back to the house, but the bitter truth was that Vlad was right. Once again, everyone I cared about would be better off if I was gone.

When my eyes opened, it took me a few seconds to get my bearings. The first thing I knew was that I was in the backseat of a car. Second, it didn't seem to be moving. Third, I had my mouth clamped ferociously on someone's throat, and I knew from the taste that it wasn't Bones.

I flung myself back to reveal it was Vlad I'd just neck-raped. His shirt was ripped open, and I'd had him pressed against the side of the car door.

He straightened to an upright position. "What was that?" he asked calmly.

I cursed myself for forgetting to tell him about a very important detail concerning my eating, even though that had been the last thing on my mind. After our aerial exit from the free-for-all that had once been a party, Vlad kidnapped the first person he came across, green-eyed him, and had us driven to the train station. There, we boarded the next available train. Once on it, I'd insisted on calling Bones, who hadn't answered. Neither had Spade or Mencheres.

Vlad dismissed my concerns, saying they were probably too busy to bother answering their phones. My further attempts to reach them were cut short when the sun rose an hour later, and I passed out in my chair. That was the last thing I remembered.

"Have you heard from Bones?"

"I spoke with him a few hours ago. He should be here soon."

I digested this, noting that my heartbeat, which had precipitated the melee, was silent now. How ironic that we'd had the coming-out party to try and soothe any ghoul concerns. Now the repercussions from last night might give Apollyon more fuel for his paranoid fire. I could only hope that Mencheres and Bones had managed to calm things down, and that my being a weird vampire was less threatening to ghouls than being a half-breed.

Vlad drew the torn edges of his collar together and I brought my attention back to explaining my earlier actions.

"Something strange happened after I was changed. I went straight for any vampire near me instead of drinking human blood. For some reason, vampire blood is what I, ah, crave - and now you already know that sometimes my heart still beats."

Vlad looked as stunned as I'd ever seen him. "Extraordinary," he murmured.

Even as he said it, I couldn't help but lick my lips. Vlad's blood had a different flavor, sure, but it was still delicious.

Vlad watched me doing it, and I stopped. Even though I hadn't been aware when I did it, I felt guilty for munching on my friend.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

His lip curled. "Never let it be said that you're predictable, Cat."

I wished I were. First, I'd been a freak as a half-breed, now I was an even bigger one as a vampire.

And now my mother was a vampire, too. My mother, who'd hated vampires ever since she first found out about them. My mother, who'd begged me to kill her last night.

"You might want to rethink your friendship with me, Vlad, because I'm getting my mother back even if I have to break every vampire law to do it."

Vlad's coppery green gaze was steady. "I wouldn't expect any less from you."

I didn't reply to that, just glanced out the window. The sun was halfway up in the sky. It must be around noon. I'd been unconscious for hours. All vampire laws aside, how I'd make good on my promise to rescue my mother, considering that dawn stole all the strength from me, was the real question. Not to mention I didn't know where the hell Gregor had my mother hidden away. She could be anywhere by now.

"Cat." I looked up to find Vlad still staring at me. "I can't help you with this, you know that."

A small, sad smile twisted my lips. "Yeah, I know." I understood, but oh, I would have liked Vlad as backup.

"Gregor's greatest weakness is his pride," Vlad stated. "Use it against him. He'll fall for it every time."

I felt Bones minutes before I heard the car. Since he'd changed me, I was attuned to him in a way that defied logic. Even now, I could sense his impatience, like sandpaper grating across my subconscious.

I was already out of the car by the time the black Mercedes pulled up next to Vlad. Bones got out, yanking me to him before I could speak. He gave me a hard kiss that would have stolen my breath if I still had any. Then he set me back, tracing my mouth while his eyes turned green.

I knew he could taste Vlad's blood on me. Part of me wanted to apologize while the other argued that out of all people, Bones would understand.

"Bones," I began.

"Don't fret about it," he said, brushing my mouth again. "Let's go. Tepesh." Bones gave Vlad a short nod. "Until the next time."

Vlad leaned against his car with his usual jaded half smile.

"Somehow I think that might be sooner rather than later."

Chapter Thirty-One

I WAS SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT ONLY THREE people had been killed last night. Since it was a formal gathering under an all-truce, most of the guests had been unarmed. The three who'd been killed were humans, who couldn't survive a weaponless undead free-for-all the way vampires and ghouls could. As far as the ramifications of breaking an all-truce, no one knew - or would say - who'd started the violence. Mencheres and Bones managed to get people calm enough to leave without wars being declared. Gregor left with my mother and Cannelle in tow. As for how Apollyon and his ghouls would deal with my unprecedented vampiric heartbeat...time would tell.

I was less worried about that as I was about hatching a plan to rescue my mother. I brooded over ideas the entire drive and train ride to Bucharest. Don and my old team couldn't help. My uncle had international connections, true, but not of the undead variety. He'd be as out of depth in this scenario as I was. I also stalled calling him because I didn't want to start the whole, "So, I'm a vampire now," conversation. Overcoming my uncle's long-held prejudices was the last thing on my To Do list at the moment.

We arrived at our destination, a mansion that looked straight out of a horror novel, after 3:00 A.M. With dawn in just a few hours, I'd be comatose again soon. Losing morning time was something I'd thought I'd prepped myself for before changing into a vampire, but I hadn't figured on how dire the circumstances would be when it happened. Now every minute I was passed out seemed like a taunt. What was Gregor doing to my mother? God, what was Cannelle doing to her? I'd thought the worst thing Gregor could do was kill my mom. I should have known he wouldn't be that merciful.

Rodney came out to meet us. The ghoul had the same smoldering-furious look in his eyes that I probably did. On impulse, I hugged him, feeling a lump in my throat when he squeezed me back, hard. Bones would walk through fire to get my mom back, if that's what it took, but he'd do it out of love for me. Not out of any affection for her. My mother didn't have many fans, which was her own fault; but right now, it meant more to me than I could articulate to know someone cared for her, flaws and all.

"She's tough," Rodney said. His beard rasped my cheek as he leaned back. "If we can get her back, she'll make it. Doesn't matter what she is now or what he's done to her."

"She wanted me to kill her," I whispered. "God, Rodney, she always said she'd rather be dead than be a vampire."

"She'll make it," he repeated. His voice hardened. "You had it hard growing up, but so did she. Justina's shocked and scared now, but she's not a quitter. I'd bet my life on it."

"Rodney, the laws," Bones began.

"Save it." The ghoul let go of me to stare at Bones. "If you don't manage to kill Gregor soon, I'm going after her, laws or no laws - and backup or no backup."

"Don't be a fool, that would be suicide," Bones snapped.

Rodney gave him a cold smile. "You always said no one lives forever."

I was torn between wanting to hug Rodney again and knowing Bones was right. "She'll need you when we get her back," I said, choosing logic for once. "My mother and I, you know we clash. You're the only one she seems to listen to, but you can't help her cope with being a vampire if you're dead."

Rodney flicked his gaze to me, then walked back into the house without another word. I had no idea if that meant he'd wait, or if that was his way of saying he wouldn't.

"This won't last long, Kitten," Bones said, breaking the loaded quiet. "Gregor's run out of tricks. He'll be forced to seek me out soon, because each day he doesn't, people will question why Gregor refuses to face the man who stole his wife and who's daring him to a duel over her."

That snapped my attention away from my mother. "When did you dare him to duel?"

Bones's gaze was dark and steady. "I publicly challenged Gregor as soon as Mencheres told me he was invading your dreams."

I'd known Bones had planned to fight Gregor in New Orleans, but I hadn't known a standing challenge had been thrown down. The realization that at any time Gregor could accept it, resulting in a fight to the death between him and Bones, filled me with icy fear.

"He's stronger than you are." My voice was barely above a whisper.

Bones snorted. "I know that, luv, but he won't be the first bloke I've shriveled who exceeded me in power. All I need is one mistake from Gregor, and he's mine."

I didn't say aloud the thing that made my heart ache with dread.

But what if Gregor doesn't make a mistake?

Two days passed with no word from Gregor. Rodney and I took turns wearing holes in the carpet pacing. Bones kept cautioning patience. If Rodney was anything like me, he loathed that word by now.

One thing the stress seemed to be good for was forcing myself awake and moving after dawn. I could now even walk through the entire morning hours, though it must look like I was doing an impression of a staggering drunk. Aside from stress being a motivator, I also continued to notice that the more I drank from Bones in the morning, the more I could push off the paralyzing effects of the sun breaking the horizon. Maybe good nutrition really was the key to health, for people or vampires.

Today, I'd marked a personal milestone; making it down the three-story winding staircase to the kitchen and back again. It took me two hours, something that in the afternoon, I'd accomplish in seconds, but I was happy with the progress even as I collapsed, exhausted, on the nearest chair.

"Tomorrow, I'm going outside," I said. Direct sunlight would be even harder on me, but I had to get myself up to speed. Fast. As it was, a human could kick my ass from dawn to noon.

"Do you have any idea how remarkable it is that you're even awake?" Bones said, gesturing to Mencheres. "Tell her. I slept from dawn until dusk for the first two months. It was considered admirable progress for me to be about during daylight at all in my third month. This is only your second week, Kitten."

"It's unprecedented," Mencheres agreed.

His tone made me glance up at him. I caught a flicker of something on his face that quickly smoothed into impassiveness. Bones must have caught Mencheres's tone, too, because he arched a brow.

"Is there something else you'd like to add, Grandsire?"

An unfamiliar vampire coming into the kitchen interrupted whatever Mencheres's reply might have been. Must be another of Mencheres's staff, though he bowed to Bones instead of the Egyptian vampire.

"What it is?" Bones asked.

"Pardon me, but there's someone on the phone who says they have a call for you."

My brows went up. So did Bones's. "There's a call to tell me I have a call?" he asked with heavy skepticism.

The vampire looked uneasy as he held out a cell phone. "It's my friend Lachlan. He called me to say he'd been contacted by Chill, a vampire he knows, who was called by Nathan, who's a member of Kyoko's line, who says a vampire named Rollo contacted him because he met a ghost who claims to be yours - "

"Fabian!" I exclaimed, just now realizing I hadn't seen him since the fiasco of the party.

Bones took the cell from the vampire and everything changed.

We waited two miles away from the craggy house in Moldova where Gregor had my mother held captive. Rodney crouched to my right, weighted down with multiple wickedly curved silver blades. Bones hunched to my left, his body so still that he might have been carved from stone. I tried to duplicate that same immobility, but I couldn't. My gaze kept flicking around in impatience. Where was Fabian? He should be back by now.

Spade crept up from the brush. He'd been making sure no enemy forces were sneaking up behind us while we waited for Fabian's report. At Spade's nod, we were the only ones stalking others in the chilly surrounding countryside. Wind blew Spade's inky hair back from his face as he set his gaze ahead in the same direction Bones stared.

After what seemed like an eternity, a hazy flash appeared in the trees, and we saw Fabian streaking just above the frost-covered ground.

"Gregor isn't here, but from how Cannelle's acting, he'll be back soon," the ghost said when he reached us. "Right now there are about a dozen guards. More will be with Gregor when he returns."