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Bones’s laugh made Max jump as if he’d been stabbed, which, sadly, he had not. “No, Ian didn’t. You volunteered to come here. So did I, and I win.”
Bones bit out the last two words while his gaze dared Max to argue any further. For an instant, Max’s cavalier mask slipped and Bones saw the rage behind it. Then, that mask was back, and Max smiled as if he had not a care in the world.
“Eh, saves me a trip, I guess, so have at it.”
Max got back into his car. Bones didn’t look away until he could neither see Max nor hear the vehicle. Then, he went up to Noah’s house and rapped twice.
Noah opened the door with a harried smile. “Whatever you’re selling, pal, I was just leaving-”
“I’m not selling anything,” Bones interrupted him.
Noah stopped, recognition dawning as he gave Bones a more thorough look. “Wait, I know you. You’re the groomsman from the wedding who kept staring at Cristine.”
Bones let out a dry laugh. “Yes, and you’re about to have a truly bad evening, but believe me when I tell you-it could have been worse.”
* * *
The small planeBones had chartered landed at the private airport in Long Island, New York five hours later. From there, it was only a thirty-minute drive to Ian’s new house in Brookville. This time, Bones didn’t pull right up to the mansion’s stately entrance. He had to wait in a line of cars that filled the entirety of the estate’s acre-long driveway.
Noah sat next to him, silent as the grave. Bones had commanded him not to speak. He’d commanded him not to fear, too, so Noah’s widened gaze was from curiosity, not terror. He even smiled as he looked at the statues interspaced on either end of the long driveway, framed by the tall trees that formed a natural privacy barrier around the property.
Bones wasn’t smiling, especially when it took him another twenty minutes before he finally made it to the entrance. There, young vampires doubled as valets, and Bones accepted the ticket that was handed to him when he opened his door.
“Park it very close,” Bones said, pressing a thick wad of bills into the attendant’s hand.
The attendant beamed. “Yes, sir!”
Bones nudged Noah, who had paused to stare at the large fountain with stone nymphs cavorting beneath the fountain’s intricate sprays. “Come on, mate. Follow me.”
Where to go was easy to deduce. A line of vampires went through the stone archway into the exterior courtyard, which had been completely transformed. Now, it was tented and shaped like an ancient receiving hall, with torch-bearing stone gargoyles and exotic flower arrangements lining the hall. At the end of it, Ian had even attached large double doors that opened into what had previously been the expansive back yard, but was now a huge, tented stadium. A small arena was at the center, surrounded by rows of seats, benches, and couches that rose up at least four stories, surpassing the height of the mansion.
“Crispin!”
Ian had the best seat, of course, in a balcony-styled theater box one level up from the arena. He shooed away the scantily-clad women draped over him to stride down to Bones, a wide smile wreathing his face.
Silk flowed from Ian’s collar in a style not poplar since both of them had been human. His ivory jacket was also inspired by the late seventeen hundreds, and his shoulder-length auburn hair was fuller from styling. He might have even put eyeliner around his turquoise eyes, too, or was it arrogance that made Ian’s gaze appear even brighter than normal?
“I see you brought my package,” Ian said, the barest glance indicating Noah. “Max told me you swooped in and grabbed him.”
Bones shrugged. “Never arrive to a party without a gift.”
Ian laughed, and then beckoned to the trio of vampires that had trailed him. “Put that with the others, and show Crispin to a good seat,” he directed them. Then, he grinned at Bones. “You’ll enjoy the show. Until then, enjoy the refreshments.”
With that, Ian walked away, and Bones was directed to a seat on the second level of the arena, not far from where Ian was. As soon as he sat, a human woman covered only in strategically-placed jewelry sauntered over.
“O-negative,” she cooed, holding out her wrist.
“No, thank you,” Bones said.
His mobile vibrated.On our way, Charles’s text read.
A knot inside him eased. Charles had inserted himself into the team that was picking Cat up. Not that he’d expect Ian’s men to harm Cat-as if she’d let them-but having his best mate there took away his last, niggling concern on that front.
Now, to prepare for what came next.
Bones sat back as if settling in for a boring evening, but in reality, he was measuring the power emanating from Ian’s other guests. He’d certainly invited enough of his people. This stadium had to seat a thousand, and it was filling up, but soon, Ian’s people weren’t the only ones here.
When the first two dozen vampires that Bones had made came into the stadium, Ian waved at them. When the next two dozen came, he merely nodded. When the next two dozen came, he barely acknowledged them, and when the next two dozen came, he turned and stared at Bones while mouthing,what the fuck?
