One Grave at a Time

"You do that. I'm sticking close to Dexter. He'll know if a ghost is coming before any of your machines do," Tyler muttered, coming up the stairs.

Given the dog's track record, I tended to agree. Even Helsing had proven that he could sense Kramer's approach, but if the equipment Chris set up could provide an additional warning, who was I to scorn helpful technology? Dexter and Helsing had to sleep sometimes.

The good news was no one else had been visited by Kramer at the hotel. The bad news was that it wouldn't take Kramer long to correct that oversight if we stayed, so we'd needed a new place that was still within reasonable driving distance of the cave. Plus, the fewer innocent bystanders near us, the better if Kramer did find us again. He hadn't proven to be considerate of others.

That made my former childhood home our best option for the next few days until the trap was completed. My mother had sold it after my grandparents died and we relocated with my new secret government job, but I'd bought it back after a nice couple had been murdered here by vampires trying to draw me out. Since then, most people thought the place was empty. Normally, it was. I kept the electric and water on, since Bones and I occasionally stayed here when we visited Ohio. The orchard surrounding this house hadn't been harvested in years. My frugal grandfather must be turning over in his grave at the waste of so many perfectly good cherry trees. Still, the acres of overgrown orchard acted as a natural privacy barrier, hiding any lights or activity in the house from our closest neighbors.

Bones came into the bedroom, lining the windows and furniture tops with a heavy layer of minced garlic and marijuana. The former had been procured after a quick stop at an all-night grocery store, but the latter required green-eyeing a local drug dealer into giving up his entire stock. I wish I could say it had been hard to find someone peddling weed in my hometown, but it had only taken a few minutes driving through a derelict neighborhood to detect the distinctive smell and follow it to its source.

Now I could add robbing a drug dealer to my list of crimes, but what was I supposed to do? Reimburse him? That somehow seemed equally wrong, not to mention going against the "crime doesn't pay" message, but I had to admit I still felt guilty stealing the weed even though what I was doing with it was arguably more noble. Burning sage might work as a sort of supernatural flamethrower against Kramer, but the real goal was to not let him find us again. Not until we had that trap ready, anyway.

I pulled some extra blankets out of the closet and handed them to Tyler, who came in as Bones was leaving to spread more of the stinky mixture around the house.

"Pass these out downstairs," I told Tyler. "I'll get more from the other room."

There might not be enough for everyone to get their own blanket, but thank God the heater worked, and I could get more blankets tomorrow. And air mattresses. The house only had two bedrooms, and there were eight of us, but safety concerns had to overrule comforts and conveniences.

Tyler took the blankets and I foraged through the guest room for more, grabbing a couple long tablecloths from the linen closet as well. Still not enough. I went back into my old room and stripped the bed, netting me two more blankets and a set of sheets. Bones and I could sleep with our jackets covering us. As vampires, we were in no danger of catching cold.

"Do you have anything to drink here?" I heard Graham ask, dismay in his voice.

"Just tap water, sorry," I replied, coming down the stairs with my big bundle. "I'll get some food and beverages tomorrow."

Graham sighed. "No problem." Yet his thoughts belied his words.

I sure hope this bitch isn't making all this up as a desperate ploy for attention. We've been on this job over a week, and we still only have her word that this phantom exists, let alone is a threat to anyone. She could just be off her meds or on the rag-

"Hey!" Graham suddenly yelped, his hand flying to his cheek. "Something just hit me!"

I tensed. Red streaks marred Graham's cheek like the imprint from an invisible hand, and the air was indeed prickled with a new, angry energy, skipping across my skin like sandpaper. I glanced at Dexter, but the dog was silent, and though I didn't see where Helsing was, no distinctive feline growl split the sudden silence after Graham's pronouncement.

"Check the EMFs, the infrared, and the temperature gauges," Chris ordered, his gaze darting around. "We might not be the only ones here anymore."

Lexie, Fred, and Nancy hurried to comply. But then I found the source of that pulsating, seething energy, and my jaw dropped.

Bones stood in the hallway, fists slowly clenching and emerald blazing from his gaze as he stared at Graham.

"Don't ever disrespect my wife that way again."

Each word was a low, furious growl that caused all activity in the room to screech to a halt. Every head swung in Bones's direction, then mine wasn't the only sagging jaw as the crew took in his fangs and glowing green eyes. Only Tyler kept his cool, but then again, he hadn't just discovered a shocking new truth like the rest of us had.

For Chris, Lexie, Fred, Graham, and Nancy, it was the discovery that vampires existed. For me, it was the realization that Bones had been the one to strike Graham, and he'd done it without moving from his spot across the room.

Chapter Twelve

Chris found his voice before I did.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Sounds upset, but not hysterical. Good for him, I thought, still in a daze from the knowledge that Bones had slapped Graham using only the power from his mind. Up until now, only one other vampire in the world could do the same thing, and that vampire was over four thousand years old. Bones hadn't even hit his bicentennial birthday yet.

But that former pharaoh, Mencheres, was Bones's co-ruler, and he'd shared some of his staggering power with Bones when they merged lines a while back. Immediately upon receiving that supernatural transfusion, Bones's strength had tripled, and he'd gained the ability to read human minds. I'd often wondered if any other abilities might crop up as time went on. Guess I should wonder no more.

But why didn't he tell me before this? Like, Oh, by the by, Kitten, I'm telekinetic now. Fancy that, hmm?

"So that was you?" Tyler relaxed as he figured out that Bones's words combined with his furious glare meant that Kramer wasn't the one who'd hit Graham.

Bones looked at me, some of the tightness leaving his features.

"It would seem so."

My initial spurt of irritation melted away. Good God, this ability was news to him, too?

"You didn't know?" I asked softly.

His mouth twisted. "Wasn't sure until now."