This Side of the Grave

"Kitten!"

Bones’s shout gave me a frame of reference. Then shadows became solid objects as my gaze cleared with nosferatu quickness. Red still colored my vision, but I didn’t need to see in more colors than that to know that I’d gotten us out of the elevator with probably only a second to spare. My back still flamed as it healed, but at least I could straighten now, even if it did feel like I’d just had my spine readjusted with a bulldozer.

"I’m okay," I called out, not seeing Bones, but judging he was fighting from the sounds above. Last thing he needed was to be distracted wondering if I’d bought the farm in the crash.

My upward velocity began to slow while I looked for anywhere safe to set the man.

There. A small lip between the floors marking where the elevator would stop, if it wasn’t in pieces below. I adjusted my hold on the man, carrying him with one arm while reaching for that tiny ledge with the other. I grabbed it, dangling both of us a couple stories above the wreckage of the elevator. He was limp, but his heart still beat, thankfully. I kept my grasp on him and the narrow ledge while I swung a leg up, wedging my foot between the split in the doors that protected those waiting for an elevator from the dangers of the shaft on the other side. Then, gritting my teeth at the awkward position, I kicked out, pushing those steel walls open.

When they were big enough for the man’s bulk to fit through, I swung him up, gently pushing his prone form through the opening. No one was around, but it wouldn’t be long until someone found him. With the thunderous noise of the elevator crashing, the hotel would have all hands on deck as quickly as possible to see if anyone was injured. Being propelled through the top of the elevator left broken bones and slashes all over him, even with my body taking the brunt of the abuse. But he was alive, and so was his little girl. That was the best I could do for them.

Then I stood on tippy toes and forced the doors closed again. As soon as they were shut, I leapt from narrow ledge to the remains of the dangling elevator cable, moving swiftly now that I didn’t have the man to protect and my injuries had finished healing.

"Where do you think you’re going?" Bones’s voice hissed before more noise boomed through the shaft and light debris rained down on me. Then a body sailed at me from above, outdistancing its detached head by about a dozen feet. Neither piece was Bones, so I sent up a quick prayer of thanks while swinging to the left to avoid it hitting me. I didn’t call out to him again, not wanting to alert my presence to any more ghouls who might be waiting in this shaft.

With Bones’s furious energy filling up the space, it was hard to feel if anyone else undead was here.

I climbed even faster, not wanting to try flying again yet. First, I might be healed, but I felt weaker from using my body to make an elevator escape hatch large enough for two people to fit though, and I still hadn’t mastered the art of not crashing when I flew. If I barreled into Bones while he was in the midst of a fight, that could have awful consequences. Even if I couldn’t hear the sounds of battle, which I could, I’d still know that he was locked in combat. Seething, deadly purpose washed over my subconscious, mixed with flashes of pain followed closely by exhilaration. Whatever was going on, Bones was winning, because I felt no fear emanating from him.

Another series of loud thumps later and then his voice drifted down from the top of the shaft.

"Kitten?"

"I’m almost there," I called out, doubling my efforts. I reached the top level where Bones was less than a minute later, heaving myself through the man-shaped hole in the wall that had bloodstains around it. Probably made by the headless ghoul right before his free fall through the shaft. That must’ve been the boom I’d heard before his body came sailing by.

Bones’s back was to me. His coat was gone, which showed that his clothes were even more ripped than the last time I’d seen him, and he was on his knees restraining a ghoul underneath him. Their faces were close together while the man’s legs kicked out on either side of Bones’s hips in a macabre parody of passion. Despite the stress of the past several minutes – or maybe because of it – I burst out laughing.

"Do you two need a few minutes alone?" I managed.

"Oh, we’ll have time alone very soon. Won’t we, mate?" Bones drew out in a voice that dripped with menace. "Kitten, I need both hands for this bloke, so put your arms around my neck and hold on."

I did, locking my arms firmly under his chin. Bones bent his head to press a single kiss to them before the air thickened with power and he flung himself upward, flying us through the damaged service hallway and out of the hotel.

Less than thirty minutes later, we flew toward a two-story house that was located about a mile off the main road bordering a dense swamp. Frankly, I didn’t know how Bones found the place, but he never hesitated in his direction. I could see about half a dozen people standing in guard formation outside the house, and they all looked up at us as we drew closer.

Bones didn’t bother with his usual graceful landing. He set us down hard enough to leave a crack in the driveway. The guards formed a loose circle around us, their weapons drawn but not firing, clearly waiting for instructions. That came in the form of the front door swinging open and a lean, bearded vampire striding out. His long brown hair swung with his rapid steps, while blue flames swirled up his arms, somehow not singeing a stitch of his clothes.

Then the vampire stopped as he saw us.

"Bones. Cat." A sardonic smile quirked Vlad Tepesh’s mouth as he took in Bones’s partially clad state, the grip he had around the ghoul’s throat, and my own bloodstained clothes.

"How nice of you to drop in."

Chapter Fourteen

I let go of Bones, allowing him greaterrange of motion to handle the ghoul. He was probably glad not to have me throttling him anymore, even though he didn’t need to breathe.

"This sod has answers I require," Bones stated crisply to Vlad as he flung the ghoul face-first onto the concrete drive, jumping on his back before he could even attempt to scramble away.

I gave Vlad a small wave as Bones proceeded to make more dents in the driveway using the ghoul’s face. "We, ah, got jumped by ghouls at our hotel and he’s the last one left alive," I said by way of explanation.

"They attacked you inside the city?" Vlad gave the ghoul an intrigued look, not appearing concerned with the damage inflicted on the driveway even though I made a mental note to cut him a check. "Marie didn’t go back on her word of safe passage, did she?"

"That’s my first question," Bones said, grinding the ghoul’s face against a jagged edge of concrete. "Did the queen of New Orleans send you?"