I began to struggle in earnest, which only made his laughter deepen. My high kill count had earned me the nickname of the Red Reaper in the undead world, but even before Bones’s startling new powers, I hadn’t been able to best him. All my thrashing did was to rub him against me in the most erotic way—which was why I kept doing it.
The zipper on my sweater went all the way down without his hands moving from my head. My clothes accounted for most of his practice with his fledgling telekinesis. Then the front clasp on my bra opened, baring the majority of my breasts. His laughter changed to a growl that sent delicious tingles through me. But when the buttons popped open on his dark blue shirt, its color reminded me of Tate’s eyes and the news I needed to tell him.
“Something’s up,” I said in a gasp.
White teeth flashed before Bones lowered his mouth to my chest. “How cliché, but true nonetheless.”
The baser part of me whispered that I could postpone this talk for an hour, but concern for my friends slapped that down. I gave myself a mental shake and grabbed a handful of Bones’s dark brown curls, pulling his head up.
“I’m serious. Don came by and relayed some disturbing information.”
It seemed to take a second for the words to penetrate, but then his brows rose. “After all this time, he finally told you what he’s been hiding about Madigan?”
“No, he didn’t,” I said, shaking my head for real this time. “He wanted to let me know that Tate and the others haven’t been home in over three weeks. I tried their cells and only got voicemails. Actually, that distracted me from pushing Don about his past with Madigan.”
Bones snorted, the brief puff of air landing in the sensitive valley between my breasts. “Clever sod knew it would. I doubt it was an accident that he gave you this information while I was out.”
Now that concern for my friends wasn’t foremost in my mind, I doubted it was an accident, too. Don had been by my house enough to know that Bones left for a couple hours every few days to feed. I didn’t go with him since my nutritional needs lay elsewhere. Inwardly, I cursed. Finding out if my friends were okay was still of paramount importance, but so was discovering what Don knew about Madigan. It must be monumental for my uncle to keep it under wraps, even when we didn’t speak for months as a result. After all, I wasn’t just the only family Don had left—as a vampire, I was also one of the few people who could see him in his new ghostly state.
“We’ll deal with my uncle later,” I said, pushing Bones away with a sigh. “Right now, we need to find a way into my old compound that doesn’t involve both of us ending up in a vampire jail cell.”
Two
BACK WHEN I used to work for the government, I designed the security system that protected our team’s base of operations. It wasn’t enough that the building was an old CIA bomb shelter with four out of its five levels belowground. It also had sensors monitoring the area for a mile in every direction, and I do mean every. If a pack of rats tunneled too close to one of the underground levels, it would set off several alarms.
And Madigan was even more paranoid than me. That’s why Bones and I were four miles away, surveying the base through binoculars from our perch high up in a tree. From the outside, it looked like a nondescript private airport that was on the verge of closing down. Inside, it contained one of the toughest tactical teams in the country, not to mention tons of classified information. The average person had no idea that they shared the planet with the undead, and that’s how our government intended to keep it.
Most days I was in agreement with this ignorance is bliss policy. Today, however, it made things more complicated.
“Let’s face it, we only have one play,” I said, setting my binoculars down. “Don said Madigan wasn’t coming out anytime soon, we can’t storm the place without killing innocent people, and there’s no way we can sneak in without getting caught.”
Bones let out a snort. “Fancy ringing the bell, then?”
I gave him a level look. “That’s exactly what I intend to do.”
Dark brows rose for an instant and then he shrugged. “Gives us the element of surprise, at least.”
Then he dropped his binoculars and pulled out his cell, texting something too quickly for me to read.
“What’s that?”
“Insurance,” he replied. “If I don’t send Mencheres another text in six hours, he’s to come for us.”
I glanced back at the building with an inner shiver. So much for my concern about innocent bystanders. Mencheres wasn’t only the vampiric version of Bones’s grandsire and the co-ruler of their two enormous lines—he was also the most powerful vampire I’d ever met. Nothing would be left standing if he came here to pull us out.
“Let’s hope Madigan is feeling cooperative,” I said, trying to make my voice light.
Bones wedged his cell phone between two branches and then jumped down, landing on his feet with more grace than a jaguar.
“I doubt it, but wonders never cease.”
“SHE’S HERE?”