Bones let go of the ghoul with a muttered “Move and you’re dead,” before closing the last few feet that separated us. His hands settled gently on my shoulders.
“Look, luv, you can sympathize with the plonker’s motivations all you want, but the fact remains that—”
I smelled smoke right before hearing the “pop,” like a firecracker had gone off. Splatters of something thick coated my back even as a thud reverberated behind me. I whirled around to gape at what was left of the ghoul. His body pitched forward on the driveway, nothing but a smoldering mess left where his head had been.
Much slower, I turned around to see Vlad examining his fingernails, as if his hands weren’t still ablaze in the flames that had blasted the ghoul’s head off moments before.
“What the hell was that?” I gasped.
“Premature inflamulation,” he replied. “Happens sometimes. Very embarrassing, I don’t like to talk about it.”
A snort of amusement came from my right. I swung in that direction to see Bones bestow the most approving look on Vlad he’d ever given him. Then his expression sobered as he met my gaze.
“This is some sort of joke to you two?” I asked sharply, waving at the ghoul’s still smoking body. “We had a chance to maybe spread some goodwill among people who hate Apollyon as much as we do. You know, my enemy’s enemy is my friend and all that? But no, you guys think a barbecue is a better way to go about it!”
“If you’d let him free, he wouldn’t have told stories praising your generosity,” Vlad replied, his coppery green gaze remorseless. “He would’ve gone back to his zealot friends with the happy news that you’re a sentimental fool, inciting them to redouble their efforts to kill you. Quit applying human rules to undead power plays, Cat. You won’t like the results.”
Bones said nothing, but a glance at his face confirmed that he agreed with every word. My fists clenched as angry despair welled up in me. Dammit, why did it always have to come down to taking the bloodiest road or risking death and defeat? Couldn’t problems for once be worked out by negotiation, instead of just seeing who could kill the most opponents?
“It won’t always be this way,” Bones said quietly, sensing the source of my frustration. “You’re still very new to this world, but once sods like Apollyon see they can’t break you, they’ll move on to easier game.”
Vlad gave a shrug in concurrence. “I’m rarely challenged anymore, even though I have my fair share of enemies. When you respond harshly enough the first few times, it makes other adversaries less eager to test your mettle later.”
I blew air out in a tight sigh without asking the question logic stated neither of them could answer anyway. How many enemies do I have to kill before the rest of them decide it’s not worth it to take me on? And the more frightening questions—what sort of person would I be by the time I reached that point? Would I even recognize myself anymore? Was survival really worth giving up so many pieces of my soul?
Bones came nearer, taking my face between his strong, pale hands and gazing at me as if I was the only person around for miles.
“Do you think me an evil man? A wretched bloke you’d have been better off never having met?”
“Of course not,” I said at once, hurt that he’d even wonder such a thing. “I love you, Bones. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I’m not half as honorable as you are.”
A slight scoff sounded behind me. I ignored that, concentrating on the dark brown eyes boring into mine.
“Yet you know I’m a killer. So if you believe I’m a good man despite that, then you know you can still be a good person even though, sometimes, circumstances will require you to act harsher than you’d prefer.”
“Eh, I’ll be inside,” Vlad said with another soft scoff. “For some reason, I feel the urge to watch Hitman followed by Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
I ignored that as well, still staring into Bones’s eyes and feeling the steady thrum of power coming from his hands. Yes, Bones was a killer, but that wasn’t what I saw when I looked at him. I saw the person who’d taught me how to accept myself when no one else wanted me to. Who loved me without any of the fears or conditions I’d first put on our relationship, and who’d risked death several times for my life, my mother’s, my friends, and countless other people he’d never even met when he took on an undead white slavery ring. All of that had just been in the past decade, too. I’d probably never know all the things Bones had done for others in the time before he met me, or the centuries before I was even born.
Killer, yes, but that was the smallest part of him in my eyes. I was a killer, too, but he gave me hope that I could learn to make it the smallest part of me, even if it was necessary in the world I’d chosen to live in.
“As long as you’re with me, I can handle it,” I said, reaching up to touch his face. “I can handle anything with you.”
“I’ll always be with you, Kitten. Always,” Bones rasped before his lips closed over mine.
Even though he was inside the house, I could still hear Vlad’s sardonic mutter of “Where’s a tissue when I need one?”
I turned my face away from Bones after a long moment, ending our kiss, and called out, “If you’re not too busy watching Hitman, I hear Dracula 2000 is a good movie.”
“Vicious,” came Vlad’s reply, amusement clear in his tone. “Just make sure you hold on to that ruthless attitude until Apollyon’s been defeated, Catherine.”
I couldn’t help my grin at his emphasis on the name I was born with but rarely went by anymore. Bones rolled his eyes, putting his arm around my waist as we walked into the house.
“If it’s not too much trouble, Tepesh, we could use some new clothes, blood, and a place to sleep. I don’t fancy retuning to New Orleans until it’s time to meet with Marie, in case more of this ghoul’s mates are hanging about.”
Vlad came out of a room down the hall. “I only arrived yesterday, so this house doesn’t have much, but it does have all of those things. Maximus.”
The tawny-haired vampire I remembered from my stay at Vlad’s home in Romania came out, bowing once to Vlad before gesturing to Bones and me.
“Please, come with me.”