Destined for an Early Grave

That made Bones smile, easing the strain from his face. "Ah, Kitten, I thought you would."

The SUV stopped at an intersection past the busiest part of the Quarter. Bones leapt out and came to my side of the vehicle, holding the door open.

"We're here."

Rows of what appeared to be town houses dotted the street, but few had front doors.

"It's the way they were designed," Bones replied to my mental questions, as Band-Aid drove away, and Hopscotch stayed with us. "Creole families found them pretentious. You enter through the side."

He went through a gate at the entrance to a narrow alley and opened a door along the wall. I followed Bones inside, struck by how opulent the interior was in comparison to the somewhat grungy exterior.

"Liza," Bones called out. "We're here."

I whirled, polite smile in place, to see a girl coming down the staircase.

"How lovely to meet you, chere," she greeted me in a lightly accented voice.

"Um..." I held out my hand, tripping over my reply. Liza was a ghoul, so she probably had socks older than me, but good God, she looked about fourteen in human years.

Her hand was thin and delicate, like the rest of her. Liza was five-two, if I wanted to round up, and had to weigh no more than ninety pounds soaking wet. Black hair that looked too heavy for her swayed when she stepped up to Bones.

"Mon cher..."

One glance at her face when she looked at him was all I needed to confirm my suspicion of their former relationship. You're a pig, Bones. I always suspected it, but this is absolute proof.

Bones hugged her. Liza practically disappeared in his arms, but I caught a glimpse of her face. A beatific smile lit her features. She was pretty, I realized. I hadn't caught that at first.

He released her, and she backed away, returning her attention to me.

"I have food prepared for you, Cat, and coffee. It was my guess you would prefer caffeine?"

"Yeah, a lot of it." If I hadn't been so tired, I'd have already hit Bones. She didn't even look old enough to see an R-rated movie. "Thank you."

I suppressed an urge to tell Liza to sit down, before the air-conditioning blew her over. Instead of the usual, instant dislike I felt for any woman Bones had slept with, I had a strangely protective feeling about Liza, absurd as that was. One, she was dead, so she didn't need my protection. Two, judging from the discreet flashes of her gaze at Bones, she was in love with him.

Pedophile!

"Liza, would you please inform Cat how old you were when you were changed?" Bones asked, giving me a pointed look. "I'm about to be assaulted because of a misassumption."

She laughed, a shy series of sounds. "I was seventeen. I think if I'd been human, I would have been referred to as a 'late bloomer.'"

"Oh." At least that wasn't a felony in current times, and from Liza's vibe, that would have been legal back when she was alive. "Why didn't you wait to change over, then?"

Something in Liza's face clouded. "I couldn't. I'd been poisoned and was already dead. I'm only here now because I'd drunk vampire blood that same day. My family shipped me home for burial. After my body arrived, Bones broke me out of my grave and raised me as a ghoul."

"Oh!" Now I felt even more like a bitch. "Sorry. Whoever it was, I hope he killed the hell out of them."

She smiled in a sad way. "It was accidental. A doctor gave me the poison, thinking he was treating me. Medicine's come a long way since 1831."

"Speaking of medicine, we should call Don. Maybe he has something for me."

"Are you ill?" Liza looked surprised.

"She's not," Bones stated. "Has rumor of Gregor's claims reached here yet?"

Liza shot a quick glance to me. "Yes."

"Right, then." Bones sounded even wearier. "Means Marie would have heard them as well." He strode to a phone and started punching numbers into the line. After a second, he began speaking in a language that didn't sound French, but close. Creole, maybe?

Of course, that meant I didn't understand a friggin' word.

"He's telling the person who he is, and that he desires a conference with Majestic," Liza translated, guessing my frustration. "He's saying he wants it with all haste...they've put him on hold, I think..." Made sense, Bones wasn't talking. His fingers drummed on his leg as the seconds ticked by, and then he began again. "Yes...yes...He's agreeing to wait for a call back."

Bones hung up. "No need for me to reiterate. Now you can ring your uncle, luv. Do it from your cell, I don't want to occupy this line."

He was almost curt. I reminded myself that he was suffering from jet lag, lack of sleep, and no small amount of stress. While Bones filled in Liza on details concerning Gregor, I dialed Don. By the time I hung up, Don had given me instructions on the dosage of a medication and promised to have it sent immediately to me.

"Don made something for me," I said as soon as I hung up. "It's supposed to knock me from consciousness straight into deep sleep, skipping REM. But it only lasts about seven hours, so then you have to counter its effects by giving me blood to wake me. That way I don't go into a lighter, REM sleep when it wears off."

An expression of relief washed over Bones. "Makes me glad I didn't kill that chap when we met like I wanted to. That's excellent news, Kitten. I didn't think I could stand to let you fall asleep, wondering if you'd disappear from my sight even as I held you."

The emotion in his tone dissolved my earlier irritation at him. If the shoe were on the other foot, and it were Bones who could vanish, yeah, I'd be spitting nails, too.

"I'm not going to disappear." I went to him and wrapped my arms around him.

Then Liza's phone rang.

Chapter Six

I WANDERED AROUND THE TOWN HOUSE, struck by its size. It had a beautiful interior, wrought-iron balconies, and three levels. The walls were painted in strong hues, with white elaborate crown molding. All the bathrooms I'd seen were marble. In short, it was rich and tasteful without making me afraid to sit on the eighteenth-century chairs.

Pieces of Bones's influence were seen amidst the feminine touches. A collection of silver knives. Couches that cradled instead of cramped. Of course, I had time to notice such things. He'd left to see Marie without me.

His announcement that he was going alone sent me into a sputtering, livid objection that had Liza hurrying from the room. Bones took my anger in silence, waiting until I'd finished to flatly refuse to take me. He said my presence would distract Marie from hearing him out, or some crap like that.

I didn't believe him for a moment. Bones was just trying to protect me again. If I wasn't going, no matter his claims of "safe passage," then it meant his meeting with her was dangerous. Still, it boiled down to either physically wrestling with him when it was time for him to leave or letting him go with promises of payback. I chose the latter.

So, after I wandered around the house, I took a bath in a claw-footed tub. Then I put on a lace robe and began roaming the house again, looking for a washer and dryer. I didn't have clean clothes to wear, and nothing of Liza's would fit me. It was too early to buy something new, either. The only thing still open after three in the morning was the bars.

When Bones returned, it was almost dawn. He came through the door, pausing at the sight of Liza and me. We were on the floor, and I was braiding her hair. While he'd been gone, I'd struck up a conversation with Liza. She seemed to be a truly nice person, and I'd come to like her with surprising quickness. I gave Bones a single, lasered glance even as I melted with relief that he was safe, then resumed my attention to Liza's hair.

"Your hair is gorgeous. So thick. You should grow it until you trip over it."

"I see the two of you are getting on," Bones said with faint astonishment. "Aren't you going to ask me how it went, Kitten?"

"You walked in and took the stairs one at a time," I answered. "And you haven't barked at me to get in the car, so I take it Majestic didn't tell you our asses were trophies for hunting season. Am I wrong?"

His lip curled. "Still brassed off at me, I see. Then you should enjoy this - Marie wants to meet you, and she refuses to let me be present when she does."

I laughed with a sharp, self-satisfied guffaw.

"God, Bones, you must have argued yourself blue in the face. Hell, I like her already."

"Thought you'd fancy that." His expression told me how unamusing he found it. "Should I leave you to your braiding and take myself to bed? You seem to find Liza's company preferable to mine."

"Really annoying when you have to sit back and twiddle your thumbs while the person you love goes off into danger, isn't it?" I said, not feeling guilty in the least.

"I didn't relish the thought of leaving you behind," he shot back. "Yet you're almost cackling over your chance to do the same to me."

Liza's head swiveled back and forth between the two of us. Since I still had three of her braids in my hands, however, that made it more difficult.

"You didn't care how I felt, as long as I stayed behind," I flared, the tension from the past several days catching up with me. "So yeah, I'm enjoying the payback. Guess that makes me shallow."

"It makes you a spiteful brat," Bones snapped, striding forward until he loomed over me. "What say you to that?"

I dropped Liza's braids and got to my feet. So the gloves were off, huh? "That it takes one to know one. What's the matter? Are you mad that you sauntered in there, swinging your dick at Marie and reminding her about old times, but you didn't get the results you wanted?"

"For your information, I have never shagged Marie." Bones actually jabbed me in the chest as he spoke. Liza scrambled out of the way.

I gave an incredulous glance down at his finger, still pressed into my chest. "Get that off me or I'll knock it off."

His brow arched in open dare. "Take your best shot, luv."

You asked for it. My fist connected with his jaw. Bones ducked before I could land another one, green flashing out of his eyes.

"Is that all you've got? Not nearly good enough." And he jabbed me in the chest again.

Oh, it's on now, honey!

I grabbed his wrist and yanked, kicking his shin at the same time to throw him off balance. He was too quick, though, leaping over my sweeping leg and using my momentum against me. One light shove in the back had me sprawling into the couch. Liza let out a horrified bleat.

"Please, both of you, stop!"

I ignored her. So did Bones. My pulse sped up in anticipation as I got to my feet. The opportunity to blow off some steam with a full-fledged brawl sounded great to me. From the glittering green in his eyes, he was game, too.

But just to be certain..."Sure you want to play rough?" I asked, keeping my mind blank of my intentions.

His smile was smug, taunting, and sexy as he let me draw close. "Why not? I'm winning."

I smiled back. Then I rammed my fist into his stomach. Take every cheap shot, Bones had taught me when he trained me years ago. Who said I didn't pay attention?

But instead of doubling over like I'd expected, he flung me straight up over his shoulders. My body cracked against the ceiling, knocking the wind out of me. I had a split second to kick off the crown molding before he flew at me, and he hit empty space instead. I rolled when I hit the floor, knocking over the coffee room table in my scramble to get away.

He was on me in the next moment. A gloating smile met my gaze as Bones pressed his full weight down to hold me. The top of my robe had sagged open, leaving my bare breast rubbing against his shirt as I squirmed under him. He glanced down, tracing the inside of his lip with his tongue.

"Give up now?" he asked.

My heart hammered with excitement even as I wanted to smack the smirk off his face. He'd left my arms free, which was a mistake.

"Not yet." I reached behind me and grabbed the first thing my hands made contact with. Then I heaved it over my head at him.

The marble coffee table split into large pieces when it crashed over Bones. It hit his head, dazing him, which I took advantage of. I'd wiggled out from under him and was about to crow over my victory - when I felt twin iron bands cut into my ankles. I tried to twist away, but he held on, shaking the table remnants from him. The only thing in reach was the pewter serving platter. I grabbed it and brandished it like a weapon.

"I'll use this next!" I warned him.

Still gripping my ankles, Bones blinked up at me. I glanced around, seeing Liza in the far corner with her hand stuffed in her mouth, horrified. Hopscotch and Band-Aid lingered near the doorway, not knowing what to do.

All at once, I started to laugh.

Bones's mouth twitched. Liza's eyes bugged when he let out a chuckle. It grew even as mine did, until he let go of my ankles and we were laughing helplessly together.

Bones shook the marble remains from his head, still laughing. "Bloody hell, Kitten. Never thought to be flogged by my own furniture. Do you know I saw bloomin' stars when that cracked over my nog?"

I knelt next to him, raking my fingers through his hair to get out the last of the table's shards. His eyes were bright green, and the laughter caught in my throat when he yanked me closer and kissed me.

His mouth was hard, demanding a response. The adrenaline inside me changed to something else as I gripped him back with equal urgency. I had time to hear the door shut behind the hasty retreat of our three onlookers before his body flattened mine.

"We haven't sparred together in quite a while," Bones murmured as his mouth slid down my throat. "I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it."