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“Ghouls and vampires are sister races, Kitten. You already know that a vampire is made when a human is bled to the point of death, and then drinks deeply of vampire blood. Making a ghoul isn’t that dissimilar. You first mortally wound a human, and then have the human drink vampire blood, butnot enough to live. Then, a ghoul switches his heart with the human’s heart. Ghouls can survive having their heart’s ripped out,” he added at Don’s raised brows. “That’s why the only way to kill a ghoul is decapitation. After the hearts are switched, you pour vampire blood over the transplanted ghoul heart to activate it in the human. Thus, you have the birth of a new ghoul.”
All of them stared at him. He was only interested in Cat’s reaction, though, and her eyes widened at the implication.
“But Dave’s been dead for months,” she said, sounding dazed. “Planted in the ground after being pumped full of formaldehyde. You’re telling me it’s still possible to bring him back? Of course you are,” she answered before Bones could speak. “You wouldn’t bring this up otherwise. Oh, God. Oh, God.”
“Itispossible, but are you prepared for that?” Bones said in a quiet voice. “He’d still be your friend, with all his memories and personality traits except one. Ghouls mostly eat regular raw meat, but every so often, they have to vary their diet, and you know what I’m speaking of.”
“Jesus,” Tate said under his breath.
Bones ignored that. “Normally, I wouldn’t consider changing someone without their consent, but as Dave’s unavailable for comment, I’m asking all of you. What do you think he would choose? To remain dead in the ground, or to come out of it?”
Complete silence as the five of them stared at each other.
Finally, Don spoke. “Do we have to decide right now?”
“Yes,” Bones said bluntly. “For starters, rejuvenation normally takes place at once, for obvious reasons. Each day Dave lingers in the ground decreases the chance of raising him. As it stands, it will take a great deal of power to accomplish it.”
And Bones wasn’t entirely sure that he could do it. He’d raised a ghoul after two months in the ground, and he’d heard of someone doing it up to three months later, but three and a half? As Rodney had said, tricky.
“Also, Rodney has offered to sire him, but he’s leaving town tomorrow,” Bones went on. “Rodney’s the head of his own line, so he’s not under my protection any longer, and he reckons Ian might take retribution on those he can get away with harming. If this is to be done, it has to be tonight.”
Don began tugging at the end of his eyebrow. “If your friend is leaving, and we do this, will he take Dave with him?”
“No, I can handle him,” Bones said. “Vampires have been foster parents to ghouls for millennia, and vice versa. As I said, sister races. After a few weeks of adjustment, you’d have Dave back better than new, as it were.”
Tate started to pace. “What if we do this, and then Dave decides he’d rather be dead than undead? What then?”
Cat’s face reflected the same question.
Bones met her gaze squarely. “Then Dave would get his wish. I’ll have a sword at the grave just in case. It would be quick, and then Dave would return to the way he was.”
Cat swallowed back a gag.
Bones took her hand. “If all of you accepted him as a ghoul, he’d have a much better chance of accepting himself. But hewouldneed your unprejudiced support,” he added with pointed glance at Don and Tate. Cooper and Juan were less biased, so he wasn’t worried about them.
“Otherwise, this conversation ends now,” Bones said in a harder tone. “Being a ghoul wouldn’t change Dave as a person. It would only change his abilities. Does your friend mean more to you than your squeamishness over what he’d occasionally eat?”
“Yes,” Juan said at once. “I say we wake Dave up and let him choose. I miss my friend. I don’t care what he eats.”
Cooper shrugged. “I knew Dave the least so my opinion should count the least, but if Cat can handle being half a freak, couldn’t Dave handle being a whole one? Seems easier to me.”
Two for two on his assessments. Bones looked at Tate next.
Tate glared back at him. “You don’t give a shit what any of us think. You’re only offering this for her.”
Bones snorted. “Absolutely. If it’s better for the rest of you as well? That’s just your luck.”
“Yeah?” Tate flared. “Well, I say go for it, but I also think youcan’tpull Dave out from under his headstone. If you can, then I’ll be sure to apologize.”
Bones turned to Don because he already knew Cat’s answer. He’d known it before he offered this, butshehad to know that her team would support Dave, too.
“Well?” Bones said to Don.
Her uncle gave Bones a flinty look. “I was never in the military, but I respect its saying: leave no soldier behind. We haven’t done that on any of our missions yet, and I’m not about to start now. So, bring him up.”
Cat looked at Bones, her eyes shining from unshed tears. “Do it,” she said softly.
Bones raised her hand and kissed it. Then, he looked back at Don. “I’m going to need several things, and I’ll need them all before nightfall.”
