Halfway to the Grave

Bones laughed outright, coming over to where I sat.

"And you wonder why I love you. When you boil it all down, you're paying me to shag you, for as soon as I stop, I owe you twenty percent of every contract I take. Blimey, Kitten, you've turned me back into a whore."

"That's...that's not...Dammit, you know what I meant!"

Clearly I hadn't thought of it in those terms. I tried to wrest myself away, but his arms hardened like steel. Although still sparking with humor, there was a definite glint of something else in his eyes. Dark brown orbs started to color with green.

"You're not going anywhere. I have twenty thousand dollars to earn, and I'm going to start working on it right now..."

We boarded the plane after boxing our stakes and knives and taking them to a FedEx carrier, airport security being so strict nowadays. In the section marked "contents," Bones filled out "tofu." God, but he had a sick sense of humor sometimes. It was with only our carry-on luggage that we embarked. Bones again let me have the window seat, and I waited for that rush of power when the engines roared to life. He had his eyes closed, and I noticed a faint compressing of his fingers on the armrest when we accelerated.

"You don't like to fly, do you?" I asked, surprised. He never seemed hesitant about anything.

"No, not really. One of the few ways a bloke like me can accidentally die."

His eyes were still closed, and then we were pressed back into our seats with the force of the liftoff. After the worst of the pressure subsided, I lifted his eyelid to see him glare balefully at my amused expression.

"Don't you know anything about statistics? Safest way to travel if you play it by numbers."

"Not for a vampire. We can walk away from almost any car crash, train wreck, sunken ship, or whatever. Yet when a plane goes down, not even our kind can do much about it but pray. Lost a mate in that crash in the Everglades several years ago. Poor bugger, they only ever found his kneecap."

Contrary to his suspicion, the plane landed safely at four-thirty. Bones was also very handy when it came to getting a cab. He'd just glare at the drivers with his green gaze and compel them to stop. They did, even if they already had passengers. That happened twice, to my embarrassment. Finally we flagged one without occupants and started back to my house. He had been oddly quiet since getting off the plane, and when we were within five minutes of my place, he suddenly broke the silence.

"I take it you don't want me to see you to the door and give you a kiss goodbye in front of your mum?"

"Absolutely not!"

The look he gave me told me he didn't appreciate the emphaticalness of my response.

"Be that as it may, I want to see you tonight."

I sighed. "Bones, no. I'm barely ever home anymore. Next weekend I move into my new apartment, so these next few days with my family will be all I'll have for a while. Something tells me my grandparents won't be visiting often."

"Where's the apartment?"

Oh, I'd forgotten to mention it. "About six miles away from the campus."

"You'll be only twenty minutes from the cave, then."

How convenient. Bones didn't speak the last part. He didn't have to.

"I'll call you with the address on Friday. You can come over after my mother leaves. Not before. I mean it, Bones. Unless you get a lead on Hennessey or our mysterious masked ra**st, give me a little time. It's already Sunday."

The long driveway to my house came into view as the taxi rounded the next corner. Bones saw it and took my hand.

"I want you to promise me something. Promise me you're not going to start running again."

"Running?" Why would I do that? I hadn't had much sleep and I certainly didn't feel in the mood for jogging.

Then his meaning penetrated. When I got home and looked into my mother's eyes, I would second-guess a relationship with him all to hell, I knew. He must have known it, too. Now, however, the only face in front of me was his.

"No, I'm too tired to run, and you're too fast. You'd only catch me."

"That's right, luv." Softly, but with unyielding resonance. "If you run from me, I'll chase you. And I'll find you."

Chapter Fifteen

IT WAS A BUSY REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. THERE was packing, paperwork for the apartment, the deposit and rental agreement signed with my new landlord, and saying goodbye to my family.

Using some of the money from the first job with Bones, I'd bought a box spring and mattress and a dresser for my clothes. Add a few lamps, and that was the whole enchilada. The rest of the money I split with my mother, telling her one of the vampires I'd taken down had carried cash. It was the least I could do. The remaining money I hoarded, knowing I would still have to get a part-time job to make ends meet. How I was going to handle college, a job, and helping to track down a group of enterprising undead murderers was anyone's guess.

Bones hadn't called or come over, as per my request, but he'd been in my thoughts all week. To my horror, one morning my mother asked me if I'd had a nightmare the previous evening. Apparently I'd been saying the word "bones" in my sleep. Mumbling something about graveyards, I brushed her off, but the reality remained. Unless Bones and I broke up-or I got killed, of course-one day I'd have to deal with her and him. Frankly, that scared me more than going after Hennessey.

My grandparents let me keep the truck, which was nice of them. They had been less than pleased with me lately, but I received a stiff hug from each of them when it was time for me to leave. My mother followed me in her car because, as I expected, she wanted to see me settled in.

"Be sure and learn good, child," Grandpa Joe gruffly said when I started to pull away. My eyes pricked with tears, since I was leaving the only home I'd ever known.

"I love you both," I sniffed.

"Don't forget to keep going to Bible study with that nice young gal," my grandmother instructed me sternly. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, if she only knew what she was saying.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be seeing her soon." Real soon.

"Catherine, it's...it's...you could always stay at the house and commute."

My mother's obvious dismay as she looked around my apartment made me hide a smile. No, it wasn't pretty, but it was all mine.

"It's fine, Mom. Really. It will look much better after we clean."

After three hours of side-by-side scrubbing, it didn't look any better, in fact. But at least now I wouldn't worry about bugs.

At eight p.m., my mother kissed me goodbye, throwing her arms around me and hugging me so hard it almost hurt.