Page 8 (1/2)

by Jeaniene Frost

Chapter One

I glanced at ht The vampire would be back soon, and despite hours of careful preparation, I wasn&039;t ready for hih the wall, the rest of his body concealed by the wood barrier He took one look around the rooe

"You&039;re not going to h the hole I&039;d drilled into the ceiling&039;s rafter, careful not to shift ht too far or I&039;d fall off the ladder I was balanced on Fabian was right, but I wasn&039;t ready to concede defeat

"When he pulls up, stall him"

"How am I supposed to do that?" he asked

Good question Unlike hunore theeneral rule While this vampire showed more respect to the corporeal-ithy chat with one before entering his home

"Can&039;t you i noises or cause the outer walls to bleed?"

The ghost shot me a look that said my witticism wasn&039;t appreciated "You watch too ht, but not before I heard hi together the wires along the ceiling If all ell, as soon as the vah that door, I&039;d use my remote transmitter to unload a surprise onto his head Now, to set up the last of the contraptions I&039;d planned-

The un al off the ladder Da any other devices I barely had enough time to conceal myself

I leapt off the ladder and carried it as noiselessly as I could to the closet The last thing I needed was a bunch ofon Then I swept up the silver knives I&039;d left on the floor It wouldn&039;t do for the vaht off

I&039;d just crouched behind one of the living-room chairs when I heard a car door shut and then Fabian&039;s voice

"You won&039;t believe what I found around the edge of your property," the ghost announced "A cave with prehistoric paintings inside it!"

I rolled my eyes That was the best tactic Fabian could co to stall Not a paleontologist

"Good on you," an English voice replied, sounding utterly disinterested Booted footsteps ca further I sucked in a breath I no longer needed No cars were in the driveway, but did the va to pounce on him as soon as he crossed that threshold?

"Fabian," that cultured voice said next "Are you sure there isn&039;t anything else you want to tell me?"

A hint of menace colored the va, but his reply was instant

"No Nothing else"

"All right," the vampire said after a pause The knob turned "Your exorcis"

I stayed hidden behind the chair, a silver knife gripped in one hand and the remote transmitter in the other When the sound of boots hit the wood floor inside the house, I pressed the button and leapt up at the sa onto the vampire&039;s head With a whiplikeclosed a bag of balloons above him Those floated down more slowly, and by the time the first one hit the floor, the vampires who&039;d been concealed in the other rooms had come out

"Happy birthday," they called out in unison

"It&039;s not every day so balloons aside as I made my way to the vampire in the doorway

A slow seous to heart-stopping Of course, o, so that was my normal condition

"This is what you&039;ve been so secretive about lately?" Bones ot close

I brushed a dark curl from his ear "They&039;re not just here for your birthday, they&039;re staying for the holidays, too We&039;re going to have a normal, old-fashioned Christmas for once Oh, and don&039;t exorcise Fabian; I made him try to stall you If you were ten minutes later, I&039;d have had streaainststroke that made ht I&039; my husband, he&039;d find several uses for them, and at least one of those would et enveloped in ishes frouests In addition to Fabian and his equally transparent girlfriend floating above the room, Bones&039;s best friend, Spade, was here So was Ian, the va vairlfriend, Kira; and my best friend, Denise She was the only one in the roo her seeuest list was s everyone Bones knew for an extended birthday/holiday bash would requirea football stadium Therefore, only Bones&039;s closest companions were present