DESPITE MY FEARS, three days passed without a hint of my mother or my work. I was amazed that Bones seemed to be right and my mother hadn’t run to Don screaming, “Nosferatu, arrgh!” or some variance. Did she really fear losing me as much as Bones said? After my whole life of feeling like my mother would be happier without me, it was very unusual to think she’d sacrifice some of her raging prejudice to have a relationship.
Or she was just biding her time. That was the more likely scenario.
Bones took me out every night. We went to dinner, movies, bars, or simply walked around Richmond. If I was honest, I’d admit I had never been happier in my life. Every time I opened the door and saw him standing there, my heart did a crazy little pitter-patter. He had to hear it, of course, but he never commented. Bones was staying within the “take it slow” mandate I’d set, waiting for me to make the first move.
Which was getting harder and harder not to do. Sure, I’d said to take it slow, but the more time I spent around Bones, the less I remembered why I’d thought taking it slow was a good idea. Every time he held my hand, every time our bodies brushed, damn, every night he left me on my porch and walked away without so much as a good-night kiss, I ached with longing. I couldn’t bear to take it slow much longer. I’d end up assaulting him.
On the fourth night, Bones said he wanted to cook me dinner instead of going out. I agreed, wondering if this was his way of setting up a more romantic evening—and not objecting. If my body had its way, dessert wouldn’t be a food item.
Since I didn’t have anything in my house other than microwave-ready meals, he went to the store first. I came out on the porch to let him in, smiling at his multiple bags of groceries, and then was puzzled to see his expression harden.
“We’re being watched.”
Bones didn’t turn around as he said it. Years of practice made me resist the urge to look about myself. I took some bags from him and asked a soft question.
“Ian?”
“No. It’s your bloke, the same one in Ohio. He’s down the street in his car, and from the way his pulse just shot up, you’ve been found out. He can tell what I am.”
“Tate?” He was the only person Bones had seen back in Ohio when Don used his “join me or die” recruiting tactic. “Do you think my mother called him?”
Bones used his body to propel me inside.
“From his heart rate, he’s shocked. No, he had no idea. Probably thought to offer you some company in hopes you’d break down and shag him. Wanker.”
I began to pace. Bones put away the groceries as if undisturbed. Practicality was definitely his strong suit. That’s what I get for training the guys to notice those slight nuances in appearance and movement that separates a vampire from the rest of the population, I thought. Apparently I’d done my job too well, since Tate had picked up on what Bones was from down the block. I listened hard, sending my senses outward. In a second I, too, heard Tate’s accelerated breathing and heart rate. Yeah, he was shaken, you could safely say.
In the next instant, his car revved up. He was driving away in the opposite direction of his home, and it was no great stretch to guess where he was headed.
“I wanted more time,” I said with mild despair.
Bones just mixed a gin and tonic and gave it to me. It was gone before the ice chilled it.
“Better, luv?” His lips curled. “Like your bloomin’ security blanket, that stuff is.”
“I like the taste. That’s what all the drunks say, isn’t it?” In sudden weariness I sighed.
“Do you want me to leave, or wait to see what they’ll do? I told you, if they come with force, we’ll hear them long before they arrive. It’s your call.”
After a minute of quiet contemplation, I looked up at him. “Well, they were going to find out soon anyway, I suppose. It’ll take Tate half an hour to get to the compound, another thirty minutes at least for Don to decide on their course of action, and then another thirty to send a team back here, if that’s what they decide. Tate doesn’t know we saw him, so he won’t think there’s a rush. You may as well stay. If I could tell my mother, Don should be a cakewalk.”
I attempted humor to cover the lurch of my stomach, but Bones knew I felt far less confident than I sounded.
“It will be all right, Kitten. You’ll see.”
Exactly one hour later, my cell phone rang. I nearly broke it in my haste to answer it.
“Hello?” To my credit, there was not a trace of apprehension in my tone. On the other end of the line, Don sounded less urbane.
“Cat? Is that you?”
“It’s my cell, who else would it be?”
There was a moment of silence, and then he guardedly asked, “Is everything okay there?”
Oh, so he thought perhaps I’d lured a vamp back to my house for some lethal stake and shake. Well, score one for him giving me the benefit of the doubt. Tate hadn’t.
“Fine. Why? What’s going on?”
There was another hush, and then Don said, “There’s an emergency. How soon can you get here?”
I glanced at Bones. He shrugged. “Give me an hour.”
“An hour. I’ll be waiting.” Oh, I didn’t doubt it.