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“Do you still love me?” he cut her off.
She nearly tripped, but caught herself. Her high heels didn’t make that easy. Why she hadn’t taken them off before chasing after him was beyond him, but it was the least of his concerns. Only this mattered, and he thought he saw the answer he wanted before her features closed off and she looked away.
“No,” she whispered.
Her scent, body language, and tone all screamed that she was lying. Still, the word ripped into him more brutally than the blade he’d just wielded against the other vampire.
Bones hid that as he said, “Really? Then why didn’t you kill Ian? Your job is to kill vampires, and all you needed to do was twist the knife in his heart. But when you learned that he was my sire, you let Ian live. You might as well have sent me a bloomin’ valentine, Kitten.”
“Sentimentality,” she said, still looking away.
Another lie. She was one of the least sentimental people he’d met. That’s why he’d been so shocked by her keeping the car, let alone her marking herself with his tattoo.
“Well, luv, as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished,” he replied with a cold smile. “You probably should have killed Ian. I might never force you to do anything against your will, but Ian wants to find you to do just that.”
Now she faced him, and confusion knit her brows. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s enamored,” Bones said bluntly. “Ian’s long been a collector of rare things, and there’s no one rarer than you, my beautiful half vampire. Ian doesn’t know I found you, but with how he’s looking for you, he’ll track you himself soon enough.”
And with Max as Ian’s ace in the hole, there was nothing Cat wouldn’t agree to in order to finally avenge her mum. That’s why Bones couldn’t tell her he’d found her father, or that Ian had Max. Once she knew that, she wouldn’t be capable of hearing anything else.
“It doesn’t matter,” Cat said after several moments of silence. “I beat Ian before; I can do it again.”
So confident, and so very, very wrong.
“Not the way he’ll play it. Ian won’t try to take you on a fair fight again. He’ll grab everyone you love first and then strike a deal, his terms. Believe me, you won’t like them. Your only advantage is me. Because of your clever deception about our relationship, Ian believes we hate each other. Nice touch about my stiffing you on the money, too,” he added with sudden amusement. “Still want a check?”
She shot a glare at him. “I’ll writeyouone if you leave.”
No amount could make him, and speaking of money…
“Moreover, you still have a price on your head. I told you I’d been offered contracts on you that I traced to their source before, but I don’t know who’s behind this one. Whoever it is, is being very discreet. So, you have thatandIan hanging over your head, so like it or not, you need my help.”
Her expression was pure mutiny. “Vampires and ghouls come after me all the time. If I need help, I have my team.”
Bones let all the derision he felt fill his laughter. “Humans? The only waythey’llprotect you is if they incapacitate Ian and the hitter by making them eat too much!”
“You aresoarrogant,” she muttered.
Bones stalked closer. “No, I’m more powerful than you realize. That is truth, not arrogance. Every member of your team combined couldn’t protect you as well as I can, and you know it. Now isn’t the time for your stubborn insistence on going it alone. Whether you want my help or not, you’re getting it.”
She gave him a frustrated look. “The biggest way you can help me is to leave! I appreciate the warnings, Bones, butyou’rethe one who’ll be in danger if you stay. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
He clenched his fists so he didn’t shake her until she remembered thatshewas the half-human andhewas the centuries-old Master vampire.
“Right back at you, pet! That’s why I’m not the least bit afraid of your boss or your band of merry men. You want to get rid of me? You’ll have to kill me.”
Panic flashed over her features before they hardened into more stubbornness. “ThenI’llleave. I ran away once. I can do it again-”
He didn’t plan on biting her. He didn’t even remember making the decision to do it, yet his fangs were suddenly in her neck cutting off those treacherous words. Then, the decadent taste of her blood chased away any second-guessing, as did her moan when his fangs released more venom. She shuddered in bliss and her arms slid up around his neck. Vampire venom wasn’t just a painkiller; it also induced sensations of heat and euphoria, which is exactly what Bones felt as he swallowed. Her blood filled him with the sweetest fire, until he felt warmer than she did, and she was nearly a brand against him as she molded herself to his body. God, how he’d missed her touch, her taste, and her blood! How had he managed to live so long without them?
He licked the punctures in her neck before sliding his fangs in again. Her shudder coincided with another gasp that he felt as well as heard. Then, her arms tightened around him as he drew on the punctures more strongly, feeling almost drunk from each sumptuous mouthful…until something hard, long, and flat thudded against his back.
Her silver knife.
Bones pulled away to see her eyes. They were bright green with desire, but something else lurked in her gaze, too. Desperation, perhaps. Or maybe it was cold determination. He couldn’t tell, and with a professional vampire killer holding a silver knife inches from his heart, he should make it his business to find out. The difference might cost him his life.
But this wasn’t a normal vampire killer. This washisKitten, and he loved every part of her, even the duplicitous ones. Besides, she’d given up everything to protect him before, so he doubted that she’d murder him now. If he was wrong about that, if she truly were calling his bluff on him saying that she’d have to kill him to make him leave…then so be it.
