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"This will hurt, Kitten, but it's quicker"

The warning made ed it into ers followed, feeling around for the bullet After a er, Bones drew it out, then cut his paler wound he'd just made Then Bones sliced his wrist and pressed it torip

My side tingled as it knit back together It occurred to me that I must have been unconscious when Bones did this after Max shotelse that day

Bones drew his shirt over his head "Bit torn in places, but it'll cover your arse," he said, handing it to me "'Fraid your trousers are incinerated back in the car"

There were aze, and reproach was one of the, I pulled his shirt on like it was a skirt "Bones, I-"

"Later," he cut me off "Got a few matters to settle first"

"Crispin"

Ian strode forward, dragging so doll and flung him near our feet

"Here, reckoned you'd want this one alive Charles and Tick Tock are holding Hykso, but we shouldn't linger here Bloody coppers are on their way, I suspect"

"We don't have to worry about thee andallowed to venture nearer Almost funny, really"

Bones's tone changed to cruel in the next heartbeat "Ah, hallo there, mate You'll remember my wife She's the one you shot"

Kratas wore an expression of gri about you," he said to me "Should have listened to my instinct"

"Knohat I' to do with this bullet?"

Bones's casual tone didn't lull Kratas His face showed he had no illusions

"I' to melt it down and have a blade crafted with part of the silver Then I'h every part of your body except your heart"

God, sometimes Bones did scare me

"Are you going to store hi upset by the prospect of Kratas's pain

"Elsewhere We'll sort it out later Get theet out of here"

The two eighteen-wheelers that pulled up looked like any you'd see on the highway Dirty on the outside, dents on the fenders, even the drivers were the quintessential trucker type Furthermore, when the trailer back of one of them slid open, a line of crates met your eyes Of course, those crates were a false wall that led to an interior the average shipping company had never conceived of

"Charles, you're in this one with Hykso Perhaps we'll get lucky and the bloke will knohere Patra is Kitten, we're in the other until we get to the airport Ian, traveling with us or on your own?"

Ian cast a snooty glance at the trucks and shook his head "I'll arrange for my own transportation"

"Take Tate with you"

Bones didn't ed

"As you wish"

Spade led forward a heavily chained vampire No introduction was necessary, it had to be Hykso He certainly had an Egyptian flair to hiht black hair, dusky skin, and a distinctive nose His eyes were trained on me as he approached Then he smiled

"Reaper I look forward to youmy mistress"

I smiled back, just as coldly "So do I, Hykso"

Chapter Eighteen

SPADE LEDHYKSO ANDKRATAS INTO THE trailer, where there were clamps and other such restraints attached to a reinforced wall

Bones took o"

Bones jumped into the back of the second truck and lifted aped This interior was so vastly different fro that I just stared

Two couches were claerator There was even a rug tacked down

"My God," I breathed "It's a frigging RV!"

"This is whatin, when they're not with Hykso and Kratas," Bones replied briskly "No need for the it to get back to the airport"

The axles ear There was a lurch and then inter as we drove away

Bones folded his ar how loaded the silence was

"You know I had no intention for things to go that far with Tate," I began "I just wanted to get us closer to Hykso, and get them distracted before I chucked those knives"

"And a brilliant toss it was, pet Blades landed right in Kratas's eyes He fired at you blind"

I winced at his tone "I' the other vampire

Bones stalked around the ser pouring off him, but I wasn't sure if it was directed at me, at Tate, or at the war that had put us in the limo in the first place

"We should talk about this," I said, steeling myself for whatever incriminations he heaped onthis charade Not made out with him for over ten minutes while clad in only a sweater and my underwear Yeah, if the situation were reversed, I'd be pissed, too

Bones spun around "I rather doubt talking will help You did what you felt was necessary I'ue with your results"

He walked over in a measured, deliberate way that was no less predatory for its slowness When he was only a few inches away, his hand traced down the sleeve ofal in the way he touched me

"Where did he kiss you? Touch you?"

I looked him in the eye

"It didn'tlike how I feel with you"