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Rise. Rise now!
Dave remained as dead as the day Lazarus had killed him, and Bones had used up all his blood. Worse, his power now felt drained, too, all without a flicker of response from Dave.
Rodney gave him a grim if sympathetic look. He’d also known that raising Dave might not be possible. Eleven weeks was the longest anyone had lingered in the ground before being raised. Dave had surpassed that marker by three weeks.
“You tried,” Rodney said very softly.
Bones glanced at Cat. Her face was very pale, but her eyes were fixed on Dave’s chest as if she could make his heart come alive from willpower alone. Then, Cat looked at him, and her gaze was so full of hope that fresh determination filled him.
Cat trusted him to do this. Moreover,shehadn’t given up with Grendel even when she could barely breathe from pulverized organs, a fractured collarbone, and a shattered ribcage.
Bones wouldn’t give up, either. Davewouldwalk out of this cemetery.
Bones held up seven fingers since his throat was still healing from his latest deep gouge.
“Move it,” Cat snapped when the blood volunteers hesitated.
They came and took turns kneeling in front of Bones. He drank deeply from each of them, not worrying about how some staggered as they walked away. Don had bagged blood on hand to replenish these donors. That’s what the medical unit was for, but Bones needed fresh blood for its greater potency.
When Bones felt nauseas from overfeeding, he bent over Dave’s body again. This time, when he cut his neck, he left the knife jammed into his jugular. Blood gushed out, but it was nothing compared to the power Bones hurled into Dave. Bones tore it from himself as if he were expelling deadly poisons instead of the very strength that marked him as a Master vampire.
Rise, damn you! Rise!
A faint pulse of energy came from Dave, no more than a spark, but it wassomething. Bones aimed more power at it, trying to fan that flicker while pushing more blood into Dave until it spilled out the sides of his chest.
That’s it! Come on, rise!
That spark became a flame, boomeranging power back into Bones. He channeled it right back into Dave, using the last of his strength to turn it into a circle that flowed between them. Soon, Dave’s essence was feeding on Bones’s power the same way that a new vampire fed from their sire’s neck, and Dave’s fingers and toes twitched.
“Holy Christ,” Tate whispered.
“Bones needs more blood,” Rodney snapped as Bones began to sag. He’d expelled too much power, but he couldn’t stop now. The flame of Dave’s life force needed more or it would flicker out.
“Get six new donors,” Rodney shouted. “Now!”
Bones barely heard Cat echo Rodney’s order. His hearing was fading from feeding every ounce of his power back into Dave. His vision had started to darken, too, until all he saw was shadows that melded into an approaching void of unconsciousness.
Then, blood lit that void as Rodney shoved the first donor’s neck hard enough against Bones’s fangs that they pierced it without him biting down. Bones swallowed, strength whispering through him at the fresh blood. More swallows increased that strength, and Bones fed from the next donor without Rodney assisting him. By the time the sixth donor lurched away, Bones could see and hear again. Then, he coiled that newly replenished power within him before shoving it back into Dave.
That flickering flame blazed into a fire.
Cat dropped to her knees as Dave opened his eyes and turned toward her.
Bones sagged back on his haunches, exhaustion claiming him.
Rodney replaced the cut-away section of Dave’s ribcage back over his heart. Once he did, Bones forced himself to move again. Rodney couldn’t do this next part. Only he could.
Bones rubbed more of his blood over Dave’s patchwork chest, willing it to heal. After a moment, it did. Then, Dave’s body began generating its own power as death lost its final grip on him. Soon, cracked skin became unblemished flesh and Dave’s body filled out as new muscle replaced its former decomposition.
“Dave?” Cat’s voice broke as her friend slowly blinked at her and tried to speak. “Can you hear me?”
A faint nod, and then a single word. “Cat…”
She burst into tears. Juan did, too, as did Tate when he grabbed Dave’s hand and the formerly dead man squeezed back.
“I don’t fucking believe it,” Tate whispered.
Cat swiped at her tears, but she couldn’t stop smiling as she caressed Dave’s cheek. “Yeah, buddy, it’s me. I’m here.”
