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Her cheeks turned the loveliest shade of pink. Bones let his laugh graze her hand as he lifted it, and then his lips followed suit as he kissed it.
Don cleared his throat. Loudly. “What’s the second part of your offer?”
Bones lowered her hand, but he didn’t let it go. “Ah, the second part, and this is why you won’t refuse me. I can give you what you’ve secretly been itching for ever since you started your little science project here.”
Don sat up straighter. “And what do you think that is?”
Bones didn’t look away as he said, “Vampires. You want to make a batch of your own personal vampires.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Cat sputtered, and waved at Don as if to say,tell him that’s not true!
But Don didn’t. He merely stared at Bones, the barest hint of respect flickering in his gaze.
Good on you, Bones thought coldly.Took your niece two weeks to see me as an intelligent person instead of merely a monster. You managed it within two hours.
“The why is simple,” Bones went on, more for Cat’s sake than Don’s now. “You want what every commander of troops wants-loyal soldiers who are stronger than your enemy. You probably can’t count the times you’ve wished that some of her team had her powers. Now, with my second offer, you can have that. You choose your best soldiers, and I’ll make them better.”
Don said nothing. Not that it mattered. His scent spiked with excitement, and his heart rate increased despite him taking slow, even breaths in an attempt to slow it.
“What if after they cross over, the soldiers turn on us?” Don said. “That happens, as I know. Then, I’d have unleashed mayhem on myself and my remaining team.”
Bones shrugged. “If they threaten you, then they threaten her, so I’d kill them. I won’t hesitate to eliminate a danger to her, and you already have two bodies to prove that. However, a period of apprenticeship should set your mind at ease. Pick your potentials and give them straight vampire blood. If they can’t control a little raw power, then they can’t control the rest of it. But, if they can…”
Don’s gaze gleamed with the unspoken possibilities as Bones let the sentence dangle. Then, he busied himself with the stack of papers on his desk, so he had an excuse to look away.
“To reiterate, you’ll accompany Cat on missions in order to minimize her risk, and you’ll change selected soldiers into vampires who would be later terminated by you if necessary.”
“Yes,” Bones said.
Don’s hands trembled ever so slightly on the pages he held, but his voice was bland when he said, “Anything else?”
“Ihave conditions,” Cat said.
Don looked surprised. Bones wasn’t. Shock would only sideline her for so long.
“First, my schedule changes. Your operation just got seriously upgraded, Don, so I don’t want to hear any complaints. Second, no more surveillance. I better not seeorhear anyone spying on me again. Third, my location’s going to be secret so no one can torture, green-eye, or bribe the information out of our people again. Finally, all other jobs wait until my father is taken care of. Max gets priority, don’t you agree, Uncle?”
Her emphasis on the last word made Don’s eyebrow twitch. Agitation or guilt, Bones couldn’t tell. Don had smoothed his expression to show nothing except the faintest smile.
“Well, Cat, Bones…I guess we have an agreement.”
Cat’s hand stretched out as if to shake on that before she snatched it back and stuck it in her pocket.
“Is my mother still here?”
Ah, yes, the future in-law that was only slightly less terrible than Max.
“She’s in the bunkers,” Don said. “Do you want to see her?”
“No,” Cat said with such vehemence, Bones smiled. “But keep her here. If Max knew where to find me, he might know where she lives, too, so she’s not safe at her house.”
“We also can’t have your team wandering about for Max to interrogate into revealing that I’m now involved, Kitten,” Bones said. “As for the rest of the employees here, round them up. They won’t remember seeing me when I’m done with them.”
“What about Noah?” Don asked with a glance at Bones.
“He doesn’t know anything,” Cat said stiffly.
She wanted to change the subject so badly that she wasn’t thinking. “Not what he means, luv. Noah would make right good bait for you, whether he knows why or not, because Max might reckon you still have feelings for him.”
