Halfway to the Grave

Sergio flew out of the car, smashing through the doorframe as though it were paper. I charged after him, needing to retrieve one of my weapons. A blow knocked me sideways as soon as I cleared the door. I rolled to avoid the kick aimed at my head and sprang to my feet.

Sergio lunged at me again-and then was yanked backward by the vampire who seemed to materialize behind him. Bones held him roughly, one hand on the stake in his neck, the other gripping the one in his back.

"About time," I muttered.

"Hallo, Sergio!" Bones said cheerfully, giving a vicious jerk to the stake in Sergio's neck.

There were a few sickening gurgles before Sergio spoke. "Filthy bastard, how'd you find me?"

It amazed me he could talk at all with half his throat laid open. Bones tightened his hold on the stake in Sergio's back next, digging it deeper until it must have been grazing the other vampire's heart.

"I see you've met my friend. Isn't she just wonderful?"

Blood was running in rivulets down my arm. I ripped off one of my sleeves and wrapped it around the wound, which throbbed in accordance with my pulse. Even with that, I managed to get a grim satisfaction out of the look on Sergio's face when his eyes swung back to me.

"You. Set me up." Incredulity filled his voice.

"That's right, pu**ycat. Guess you won't be giving me that tongue bath after all." There was a piece of me that was startled by my coldness, and another that gloried in it.

"She is something, isn't she?" Bones went on. "Knew you couldn't pass up a pretty girl, you worthless sod. Isn't it fitting that now you're the one who's been lured into a trap? What, did you grow short on funds so you had to go out for dinner instead of order in?"

Sergio went still. "I don't know what you say."

From his expression, he did know. Well, I didn't have a clue.

"Of course you do. You're his best client, from what I hear. Now, I have just one question for you, and I know you're going to answer me honestly, because if not"-he gave another twist of the stake in Sergio's back-"I'm going to be really unhappy. Do you know what happens when I'm unhappy? My hand twitches."

"What? What? I tell you! I tell you!" His accent was thicker now, almost incoherently so.

Bones smiled a truly frightening smile. "Where's Hennessey?"

A petrified look came over Sergio's face. If it were possible, he blanched even paler than his vampire white.

"Hennessey will kill me. You don't cross him and live to brag about it! You don't know what he'll do if I talk. And you kill me anyway if I tell you."

"See, mate." Twist, turn, yank. "I promise I won't kill you if you tell me. That gives you a chance to run from Hennessey. But I swear to you, if you don't tell me where he is"-another thrust of the stake, and Sergio let out a high-pitched wail-"you'll die right here. Your call. Make it now."

He had no choice, it was clear on the doomed vampire's face. Defeated, his head slumped forward and a single sentence emerged from his bloody mouth.

"Chicago Heights, south side of town."

"Thanks ever so, mate." With a c**k of his eyebrow, Bones turned his attention to me. "This your stake, luv?"

He ripped the one out of Sergio's back and threw it at me. Catching it in midair, I met his eyes with perfect comprehension.

"You promised! You promised!"

Sergio whimpered as I advanced, my torn arm clutched to my chest. It was amazing how frightened he was at the thought of his own death when minutes ago he'd been delighted to hasten mine.

"I did. She didn't. Got something you want to say to him, Kitten?"

"No," I answered, and shoved the stake into Sergio's heart. My hand went into his chest with the momentum and I jerked back, shaking his thick dark blood off in disgust. "I'm done talking to him."

Chapter Seven

BONES WAS FAR MORE EXPEDITIOUS IN disposing of a body than I'd been. He had Sergio wrapped in plastic and tucked inside the trunk within a few minutes, whistling to himself all the while. Meanwhile, I sat with my back against the car applying pressure to my wrist. He squatted down next to me after he'd closed the trunk with a bang.

"Let me see it," he said, reaching out to me.

"It's fine." Tension and pain made my voice sharp.

Bones ignored that and pried my fingers off the wound, undoing my makeshift bandage.

"Nasty bite, tore the flesh around the vein. You'll need blood for that."

He pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and started to press the tip against his palm.

"Don't. I said it's fine."

He just gave me an irritated glance and scored the blade along his palm. Blood welled up at once and he clamped it against my resisting forearm.

"Don't be irrational. How much did he take?"

My wrist actually tingled as his blood mingled with mine. The magic of healing, in real time. Somehow it seemed almost as intimate as when I had to lick blood off his fingers.

"About four good pulls, I guess. Stabbed him in the neck as fast as I could to get his mind off it. Where were you, anyway? I didn't see a car behind us."

"That was the idea. I drove my bike but kept back far enough so Sergio wouldn't know he was being followed. Bike's about a mile from here down the road." Bones nodded toward the nearby trees. "I ran that last part through the woods so there'd be less noise."

Our heads were only inches apart and his knees were pressed against mine. Uncomfortable, I tried to scoot back, but the car door left nowhere to go. "I think the car's ruined. The rear door is in scraps."

Indeed it was. Sergio had mangled it beyond belief. A wrecking ball would have done similar damage.

"Why did he go for your wrist, if you were both in the backseat? Couldn't get to your neck?"

"No." Inwardly I cursed at the memory. "He got frisky in the front seat and tried to feel me up, thanks to you and the no-panties idea. I wasn't about to let that happen, so I climbed into the back and put my arms around him from behind so he wouldn't get suspicious. Stupid of me, I know now, but I didn't even think of my wrists. Every other vampire had always gone for my neck."

"Yeah, including me, right? The car swerved off the road so fast, I thought you two were already sprawling inside. What made him pull off so erratically then?"

"I told him to come and get me." My voice was flippant, but the words hurt. He'd come and gotten me, all right. A question suddenly leapt to mind.

"Is he okay back there in the trunk?"

Bones chuckled. "You want to keep him company?"