Part 20 (1/2)

Whoever he is, he's packing some serious voltage.

”Grandsire,” Bones said, stepping forward. ”Thank you for coming.”

Mencheres looked no older than thirty. He had long black hair, charcoal-colored eyes, and a hawkishness to his nose that, combined with his finely tinted skin, suggested Middle Eastern ethnicity. But it was his power level that flabbergasted me. His crackling aura was like nothing I 'd ever felt before. No wonder Bones had said Ian wouldn't want Mencheres as his enemy.

Feeling the power surging off him, neither did I.

”Bones,” he said, hugging my lover. ”It has been too long.”

Okay, at least he sounded friendly.

Bones turned to me. ”This is Cat.”

I came forward and stuck out my hand, unsure of what the proper protocol was. Mencheres gave me a slight smile and took it.

As soon as his fingers closed over mine, I wanted to jerk my hand back. Zing! I might as well have jammed my wet finger in a light socket. I managed to give him the barest shake, then I let go, using all my control not to rub my hand to try and get the numbness out of it. Later I'd have to ask Bones exactly how old Mencheres was. I was betting he measured birthdays by millennia, not centuries.

Once proper greetings were exchanged, Bones dove right in.

”I'm leaving Ian's line,” he announced. ”Ian wants her, and she wants to murder one of his people, so you can see why I need to s.h.i.+rk my loyalties to him and be head of my own line.”

Mencheres flicked his gaze to me. ”Do you really think killing your father will make anything in your life better?”

I wasn't prepared for that question, so my reply was a little stuttered.

”Uh, yeah. h.e.l.l yeah, in fact. For starters, I wouldn't have to worry about hit men sighting my head in their scopes, and for another, I think it would be really, really satisfying.”

”Vengeance is the emptiest of emotions,” Mencheres said dismissively.

”Beats suppressed rage,” I shot back.

”I didn't say it was her father she wanted to kill, ” Bones interjected in a smooth voice. ”How did you know that, Grandsire?”

How indeed? My brows lifted. Mencheres shrugged.

”You already know how.”

Bones seemed to accept that. I didn't. ”And?” I prodded.

”Mencheres sees things,” Bones replied. ”Visions, glimpses of the future, that sort. It's one of his powers.”

Great. We had to convince a vampire swami to take our side. Guess if he could see the future, he'd already know whether or not that was a good idea. ”Got any stock tips?” I couldn't help but ask. ”The government doesn't pay s.h.i.+t for salary.”

”Are you going to claim her as one of yours?” Mencheres asked Bones, ignoring me. ”Is that why you wanted to meet with me in secret? To ask for my support should you go to war with Ian over her?”

”Yes,” Bones said without blinking, while it was all I could do not to snap, Shouldn't you already know that, Miss Cleo?

Mencheres gave me such a look that I s.h.i.+fted uncomfortably. Jeez, I hadn't said it out loud.

Bones sighed. ”Kitten, I'm guessing I need to inform you that Mencheres can also read humans ' minds, and from his expression, half-breeds, too.”

Uh oh. I was so busted. ”Whoops,” I said. Then my eyes narrowed. ”Not vampires' minds, I take it, or you wouldn't have phrased it that way.”

”No, not vampires' minds,” Bones acknowledged. His mouth quirked. ”Unless you've been hiding something, Grandsire.”

Mencheres also had a ghost of a smile. ”If I did have that power, it would have saved me from many wrong decisions. No, just humans. And half-breeds. Have you told her under what pretext you'd claim her as yours, Bones?”

From the way Bones suddenly tensed, I didn't need mind-reading skills to know there was indeed some information he'd left out.

”Fess up,” I said warningly.

Bones met my eyes. ”Every vampire is territorial. You know that. I found you, I bit you, and I s.h.a.gged you. All before Ian ever laid eyes on you. In the vampire world, that makes you my...my property, unless I willingly relinquished my rights to-”

”Son of a b.i.t.c.h!” I burst out. ”Bones! Tell me you did not intend to growl over me like I was some slab of meat you didn't want to share!”

”I don't see you that way, so why does it matter what loophole I utilized? ” Bones flared back. ”I frankly don't see why Mencheres even had to bring it up.”

”Because I refuse to side with you unless she is aware of all the ramifications,” Mencheres replied coolly.

I huffed. ”And he didn't need special powers to figure out I'd be p.i.s.sed. Neither did you, obviously, because you sure left that detail out. No way, Bones. No. Way. Go ahead, declare your independence from Ian and be Master of your own line. But you can forget about calling yourself my Master, loophole or no loophole.”

”You do realize you're being a hypocrite?” he asked in a scalding tone. ”Just the day before yesterday, I told Don truthfully that I'd take your orders on missions, but here you refuse to let strangers even think you'd heed mine?”

I opened my mouth-and had nothing to refute that with. d.a.m.n people who argued using logic. Talk about unfair.

”There has to be another way” was what I settled on in a more rational tone. ”Instead of skirting around Ian with s.e.xist loopholes, there's got to be something we can do to make him agree to leave me alone.”

”It's not s.e.xist,” Mencheres said with a shrug. ”If Bones was a woman and you were a man, he'd still have the same claim over you. Vampires don't discriminate by gender. That's a human failing.”

”Whatever,” I snapped, not interested in comparing the fairness of human versus nosferatu culture.

Then something began to form in my mind. Maybe there was a way to use undead societal structure to my advantage...

I gave Bones a wide smile. ”You're going to tell Ian you found me. And you're going to offer to bring me to him.”

TWENTY-SEVEN.

CAT.” DON LOOKED UP FROM HIS PAPERWORK. ”Come in. I'm just going over the pathology reports from the other day.” He looked almost gleeful as he flicked his gaze to Bones. ”You have quite a ma.s.sive component in your blood. We could practically get rid of our other in-house vampires if we siphon a pint a week from you.”

”Going to tap me like a tree?” Bones asked in amus.e.m.e.nt. ”Bit of a greedy bloodsucker yourself, aren't you?”

”We came for a reason, Don. You may as well call in Juan, Tate, and Cooper. Then we'll only have to go over this once.”

Don, curious, made the call. The three other men filed into the room after several minutes, and when the door shut, I began without preamble.

”You all know I'm a half-breed. What you don't know, and what I didn't until recently, was that the vampire who raped my mother is Don's brother.”