Halfway to the Grave

"Guess you went first after all, ass**le."

Bones already had Charlie beat when I looked their way next. He hoisted him on the couch, sitting him on his lap in a pose that would have been comical for two grown men. If you didn't count the wicked-looking blade protruding from Charlie's chest.

"Good thing I didn't need the other bloke, luv," he commented dryly.

I shrugged. Too late now. "Then you should have told me."

Charlie was staring at me in the most astonished way.

"Your eyes..." he managed.

I didn't need to glance in a mirror to know they were all lit up. Fighting was a sure way to bring out their glow. In that way, it was like an optical erection. Unavoidable once things went past a certain point.

"Lovely, aren't they?" Bones said silkily. "So at odds with her beating heart. Feel free to be shocked. I know I was when I first saw them glow."

"But they're...She can't..."

"Oh, don't concern yourself with her any longer, mate. It's me you need to fret about."

That returned Charlie's attention to him. He wiggled, but a flick of the knife stilled him.

"Kitten, someone's in the other room. They're human, but don't rush to assume they're harmless."

I pulled out three small throwing blades from my boot and went to check it out. Now I also caught the sound of a heartbeat coming from the back of the apartment. It was in the room Dean had come out of. Did he have warm-blooded backup?

When I neared the room, I dropped to my knees and moved forward in a crawl. A gunshot to the head would be all she wrote for me. I hoped anyone aiming would assume I'd be higher up, and I'd rush him before he squeezed off a shot. Did I have it in me to kill another human? Only one way to find out.

I peered cautiously around the bottom of the door frame-and then ran in with a cry.

"We need an ambulance!"

The girl was staring sightlessly at the ceiling. One look revealed she had no weapons. The only thing she was wearing was her own blood. Her arms and legs were flung out in a blatant pose, and she wasn't moving. Of course not. She would have been told she couldn't.

My knives fell from nerveless fingers. I couldn't stop looking at her. All these years, the vampires I'd killed, and I'd never seen a victim before. Reading about it didn't even begin to compare to the living, breathing evidence of someone else's cruelty. My gaze went from her throat, to her wrists, and to the crease of her thigh. All bore distinct puncture wounds that slowly oozed.

They shook me from my state of horrified shock. I grabbed the bedsheet and began ripping it. The girl didn't even move when I used the strips as bandages and tied them to everything but her neck. That wound I manually applied pressure to, using the remains of the sheet to cover her while I carried her out of the room.

"I have to take her to a hospital-"

"Wait, Kitten."

Bones gave me an inscrutable look as I hurried into the main room of this hellhole. Charlie barely glanced at the figure in my arms. He seemed more concerned with his own predicament.

"But she's lost a lot of blood! And worse!"

Bones knew what "and worse" meant, even if he couldn't already tell from one sniff. Blood loss could be replenished. Her emotional wounds might never heal.

"You rush her to a local hospital and you may as well kill her." Evenly. "Hennessey will send someone to silence her, she knows too much. I'll take care of her, but let me deal with him first."

Charlie swiveled his head as much as their close proximity allowed.

"I don't know who you are, sonny boy, but you're making a big mistake. If you get up on out of here now, you might just live long enough to regret it."

Bones let out a mocking laugh. "Well said, mate! Why, some of the others groveled straightaway, and you know how tedious that is. You're right, we haven't been properly introduced, even though I already know your name. I'm Bones."

The slide of Charlie's eyes let me know he'd heard of him. One day, I might have to ask how he'd earned his reputation. Then again, I probably didn't want to know.

"There's no reason to be uncivilized 'bout things." Charlie was suddenly back to his charming drawl. "Hennessey said you've been slinking after him, but why don't you smarten up? You can't beat him, so you should join him. Hell, he'd love to have someone like you batting for his team. This is a big, sweet pie, my friend, and there ain't nobody who wouldn't like a piece of it."

Bones angled him so he could look at him. "Is that right? I'm not so sure Hennessey would want me. Killed an awful lot of his blokes, you see. He might be cross about that."

Charlie smiled. "Aw, hell, that's like a job interview for him! Don't you worry none about that. He'd figure if they was dumb enough to get dried by you, he don't want them in the first place."

"We don't have time for this," I snapped, setting the girl on the floor. "She's bleeding to death while you're making friends!"

"Just a moment, pet. Charlie and I are talking. Now, about this pie, mate. Big and sweet, you say? I'm afraid I'll need a little more incentive to let you live than just 'big and sweet.' I'm sure I can find someone who would pay a pretty penny for your corpse."

"Not as much as you can get by playing for Hennessey instead of against him." He nodded in my direction. "You see that li'l gal your wildcat is cradling? Each one of those honeys is worth 'bout sixty large, when it's all put to bed. We doll them up and have them work the breathers first. Then we auction 'em off to one of ours. Full meal, no cleanin' the dishes afterwards! And then they're a perfect plate for a hungry bone-muncher! I mean, these gals were never more useful in their lives-"

"You piece of shit!" I cried, marching toward him with my stake.

"Stay where you are, and if I have to tell you to shut it one more time, I'm going to knock your bloody head off!" Bones thundered at me.

I froze. His eyes blazed with a dangerous glint in them I hadn't seen since we first met. All at once, I was uneasy. Was he still trying to get information out of Charlie...or being recruited instead?

"That's better." Bones turned his attention back to Charlie. "Now, then, you were saying?"

Charlie laughed like they'd shared a joke. "Whew! Your kitty's high-strung, isn't she? Better watch your small and wrinklies before she wears 'em on her belt!"

Bones laughed as well. "No chance of that, mate. She likes what they do to her too much to rob me of them."

I felt ill, and my head started to pound. How could he waste so much time while this girl was bleeding all over the carpet? My God, what if this was the real Bones? What if everything before this had been an act? I mean, how well did I know him, anyway? This could have been his intention all along, and how amusing that I'd been tricked into helping him. My mother's voice echoed in my head. They're all evil, Catherine. They're monsters, monsters...