Night Huntress: Up From The Grave Part 9

"You'd need to employ ma.s.s hypnotism to convince anyone of that, and his guards wear visors to prevent being mesmerized."

Bones's smile was dangerously luxuriant, like poison concealed in the finest of wines.

"You'll see, but before we get to that, we need to find a way to capture Jason Madigan. Denise can't pull off impersonating him in West Virginia if everyone knows he's still in Tennessee."

Fabian dropped through the kitchen ceiling of our rental apartment, his translucent features telling the story before he spoke.

"He still hadn't left the compound, has he?" I asked in resignation.

The ghost shook his head. "I'm sorry, Cat."

Denise's face mirrored my own disappointment, but Spade turned away before I could catch his expression. It was probably a smile. He'd risk his own life without any qualms, but when it came to his wife's safety, he even managed to make Bones look under-protective.

"This isn't working," Denise said, stating the opinion I'd come to days ago. "Madigan might have left the compound every couple weeks before, but he's obviously burrowed in like a tick now. What if it's months until he comes out on his own?"

"The shortest distance between two points is a straight line," I said, squaring my shoulders. "I'll call Madigan and tell him I want to meet. We now know how badly he wants to capture me, so that'll get him out of the compound."

"Absolutely not," Bones snapped.

"Hooks work best when they're baited," I replied, throwing his words from the other day back at him. "I'm what Madigan wants. He'll come out if he thinks he can grab me."

"Yes, with the strongest army he can ama.s.s to capture you," Bones said, his emotions flas.h.i.+ng through mine with the intensity of lightning strikes. "Need I remind you that the last time you met an adversary on his terms, you were shot and nearly burned to death."

By reflex, I ran a hand through my hair. Even with vampire healing abilities, it still hadn't grown to the length it had been the night Kramer set fire to me.

"But who's here and who's locked in a spectre trap?" I countered. "If history's most powerful ghost couldn't do me in, then humanity's biggest a.s.shole doesn't stand a chance."

Spade leaned back, making himself more comfortable while a satisfied expression crossed his features. No doubt he was thinking paybacks were a b.i.t.c.h as he listened to Bones and me argue over acceptable safety risks.

Then the person I least expected to take my side strolled into the kitchen, wearing nothing but a bed sheet wrapped around his hips.

"Why do you bother, Crispin? You married a fighter, so stop trying to convince her that the sidelines suit her better."

"The day you love anyone but yourself is the day I'll take your marital advice, Ian," Bones bit back in an icy tone.

"Then today is that day," Ian replied sharply, "for I love you, you wretched, pig-headed guttersnipe. I also love that arrogant, overprivileged dandy smirking at us"-a wave indicted Spade, whose aforementioned smirk vanished-"as well as the emotionally fractured, malfunctioning psychic who sired me. And you, Crispin, love a bloodthirsty h.e.l.lion who's probably killed more people in her thirty years than I have in over two centuries of living, so again I say, don't bother trying to convince her that she isn't who she is."

Denise's mouth hung open, either at Ian's less-than-flattering descriptions of us, or the notion that I'd killed more people than he had. Spade's expression was now stony, but a muscle ticked in Bones's jaw-the only indication of his feelings since he'd shrouded his aura under an impenetrable cloud.

As for me, I didn't know whether to punch Ian for calling Bones a pig-headed guttersnipe or thank him for stating the obvious. I might be tired of all the fighting and constantly straddling the line between life and death, but that didn't mean I wasn't good at it.

Some people were born to be mothers, fathers, inventors, artists, speakers, preachers . . . and then there was me.

"He's right," I said in a quiet tone. "My true skill is killing. I've excelled at it since I was sixteen, when I took on my first vampire without knowing anything about them."

Then I went over to Bones, framing his face in my hands.

"It was you who taught me to judge people by their actions instead of their species. You saved me from a life of misery, regret, and well-earned recriminations. Now it's time to let me do my thing, Bones"-I smiled wryly-"and trust that you taught me to be the best d.a.m.ned killer I could be."

He covered my hands with his own, his flesh vibrating with the power he kept so tightly under control. Then he kissed me, gentle yet full of scorching pa.s.sion.

Which was why, when he drew away and spoke, I couldn't believe what he said.

"You're right, luv. But I still refuse to be a part of this."

Then I really didn't believe it when he walked out of the apartment.

Thirteen.

This wasn't the first time Bones had gotten p.i.s.sed enough to walk out on me. Whoever said marriage was easy? Not me.

"He just needs time to cool off," I told Denise, who hovered in the doorway, holding a bottle of gin in one hand and a pint of Haagen-Dazs in the other. Had to give it to my best friend: She knew how to cover her bases.

I pointed at the gin. She came inside, handing it over. Then she sat next to me on the bed and popped the lid off the ice cream, digging into that one herself.

"Of course he'll be back," she said between spoonfuls. "But are you, you know, okay in the meantime?"

I took a swallow of gin before I answered. "I've been better. When Bones does return, we'll have it out over the way he chose to express his dissenting opinion, but marriage is a marathon. Not a sprint."

Denise raised her spoon in salute. "True, that."

I patted her arm, taking a last swig of gin before I put the bottle on the nightstand. Then I pulled out one of my burner phones, dialing a number that used to connect me to my uncle when he was alive.

"Madigan," a brusque voice answered.

"This is Cat Russell," I said. "We need to talk."

The s.p.a.ce of two heartbeats went by before Madigan replied, "Aren't we doing that now?" in a manner that sounded more cautious than sarcastic.

I let out a short laugh. "Humor never was your strong suit, Jason. I mean face-to-face, and sooner rather than later."

"Come on over, then. You know where I am," was his reply.

"So I can stand in the cross fire of dozens of machine guns concealed in your walls?" My scoff was soft. "Thanks, but no."

This time, his silence stretched longer than a couple heartbeats. Probably trying to figure out how I knew about the guns.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked at last.

"Midnight tonight at the Rat Branch Pier off Watauga Lake. It's just east of Hampton, Tennessee. Come alone, and I'll do the same."

Laughter floated across the line, harsh as gla.s.s being ground by rocks. "You'll do the same? We both know Bones is glaring over your shoulder right now, silently vowing to accompany you."

"If he were here, he would be," I said, and that was the unvarnished truth. "But we already had this fight, and he got p.i.s.sed and left. That's why our meeting has to be tonight. He won't be gone long, and once he's back, he'll insist on coming."

Another extended silence. Either Madigan was mulling this over or trying to trace the call, but he'd get nowhere with that. Finally, after long enough for me to wonder if he'd hung up, he spoke again.

"This intrigues me, Crawfield, but I don't think I'll give you an opportunity to kill me. You want to talk? Come to me here."

"It's Russell," I said at once, "and see if this intrigues you: Don made arrangements for a letter to be mailed to me in the event of his death. I've moved around a lot the past several months, so I only just got it. In it, he apologized for the horrible things he allowed to go on while the two of you worked together-"

"What things?" Madigan interrupted.

I smiled. Have your interest now, don't I?

"That's what I want to find out, but not enough to give you home-field advantage. The pier on Watauga Lake tonight or forget it. h.e.l.l, maybe forget it anyway. Another letter's probably on its way with more information."

Frustration practically seethed through the silence on the other end. Not only did Madigan really want to capture me; like all bureaucrats, he was nothing if not paranoid about keeping his secrets. The last thing he'd want was a group of vampires poking around his illicit experiments, and the idea that his former nemesis might spill the beans posthumously must be giving him an ulcer.

"If I thought you had a shred of honesty in you," he finally gritted out, "I'd make you swear on Bones's life that you'll come without him. Or anyone else."

"I swear it," I said evenly. "And out of the two of us, I'm not the biggest liar."

The noise he made was too low for me to determine if it was a scoff or a laugh.

"I guess at midnight, we'll find out."

"See you then," I said crisply, and hung up.

Denise stared at me, her hazel eyes wide with alarm. "You're not really intending to go alone, are you?"

"Of course." My lips stretched into a cold, predatory smile. "As I said, between Madigan and me, I'm not the biggest liar."

The Rat Branch Pier at Watauga Lake was a public place, yet even if I'd chosen high noon instead of midnight for our meeting, it was still very isolated. More than half of the lake's sixteen-mile sh.o.r.eline was bordered by the Cherokee National Forest, while a snaking road overshadowed by steep, wooded terrain bordered the other side. Only the moon provided illumination since the single light post next to the pier was broken.

The steady rain plus countless rustling trees and the nearby dam m.u.f.fled the natural sounds from the forest's inhabitants. Still, here and there I caught the glow of eyes as nocturnal creatures foraged for food, mates, or both.

I waited at the very end of the pier, my clothes already soaked from the summer rain. Clouds concealed most of the light the moon cast, but with my enhanced vision, I had no difficultly seeing Madigan pull up in a sleek black Cadillac before parking next to the boat launch. Even if I'd suddenly been struck blind, his mind broadcast his arrival. Tonight, he'd chosen to sing the chorus to U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" over and over to block me from his thoughts.

And here I'd thought the p.r.i.c.k had no sense of humor.

Madigan parked, but then sat in his car instead of getting out. It was a little before midnight; was he going to wait until exactly 12:00 A.M.? Or did he not see me at the end of the pier? Then I tensed when he began rooting around in the front seat, but all he pulled out was an umbrella.

Candypants.

He got out of the car, holding his umbrella over him with one hand and carrying a small but powerful flashlight in the other. His steps were sure as he walked onto the pier, and when he turned the corner toward the last section, his flashlight briefly blinded me as he s.h.i.+ned it onto my face. Guess he knew where I'd been waiting all along.

"Evening," I said pleasantly.

"Show me your hands," he replied in a far less cordial manner.

I pulled them out of my coat pockets, not bothering to hide the curl to my lips as I wagged my fingers at him.

"You're alone in the dark with a vampire and your first concern is whether I'm packing weapons?" Really? my tone implied.

His mouth thinned, emphasizing wrinkles caused by frowns instead of smiles.

"You should know if I don't return from this meeting, I've left instructions to carry out a drone strike on your mother's location."

My half smile never slipped. "If you knew where she was, I'd believe that."

His gaze swept over me, cold and calculating. "You're careful. She isn't. Can you believe she returned to your childhood home in Ohio, as if I haven't had the place watched since you visited it last fall? Sentimentality can be such a curse, can't it?"

I didn't know who I wanted to throttle more-Madigan for his threat or my mother for returning to a location she knew had been compromised. Wait, no contest. Madigan, but I couldn't. Not yet.

"Why tell me your fail-safe? If I was going to kill you, now I know to call my mother afterward and tell her to hightail it outta there."

His smile didn't reach his eyes. It never did. "Cell service has been temporarily disabled in her area."

I let out a short laugh. "You're clever, I'll give you that, but I have no intention of killing you tonight."

Then my eyes blazed green, cutting through the darkness with more intensity than his flashlight. When I spoke again, my voice resonated with nosferatu power.

"I do, however, have some questions."

Madigan stared right into my bright emerald gaze. And laughed.

"Did you actually think it would be that easy?"

Quick as flipping a switch, I turned the lights off in my eyes. As I'd suspected, he'd inoculated himself against mind control by drinking vampire blood.

"No, I didn't." Then I gave him a lopsided smile. "Still, had to try, right?"

He smiled back. "My thoughts exactly."

I didn't get a chance to ask what he meant by that because power blasted through the air. I only had a split second to recognize its source when something large dropped out of the sky, landing behind Madigan with a thump that shook the pier.

"Hallo, mate," Bones said, yanking the older man against him.

Madigan didn't struggle. He didn't even look surprised though you could've knocked me over with a feather at my husband's sudden appearance.

"You lied to me, Crawfield," Madigan hissed.

"Russell," I corrected him automatically, still staring at Bones in disbelief.

Then my head jerked up as noises crashed through the woods, the sky, and even the waters around the pier.

Madigan managed a smile despite the tight grip Bones had him in.

"That's all right. I lied, too."