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 shirk 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 shifted 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."

Don looked markedly displeased at being exposed, but I ignored that.

"You remember Liam Flannery from New York? His real name is Ian, and he's the vampire who made Bones. Ian's also the vampire who made my father, Max. Don's known that one, too, for years-it's the real reason why we were sent to bring him in. So after we tangled, Ian got all excited over my being a half -breed and decided he wanted me as his new flavor of the week.

According to Bones, Ian's the type who won't hesitate to use people I care about to ensure my compliance. There's a way to get him off my back without an all-out bloodbath, but it's dangerous." This was the difficult part. My plan had been just to challenge Ian to a fight myself, winner takes all, but Bones pointed out that Ian would likely refuse. No, Ian had to feel that he was in control, and there was only one way to ensure that.

Bones made an exasperated noise and plowed ahead. "Look, in order for her to turn the tables on Ian, he needs to be confident that he's got something over her. A valuable hostage, more specifically. Now, Ian's a smart bloke who likely wouldn't kill someone who's a useful bargaining tool, but there are no guarantees. She intends to rescue whoever's bait, then use Ian's guards as bargaining chips to force him to swear to leave her alone. If Ian makes a blood oath promising that, he 'll be bound by it in the vampire world, and he would be looked on very shoddily if he refused to bargain for his people out of mere l.u.s.t. But until she gets there...there will be no one to ensure the safety of whoever volunteers."

There was a hush when Bones finished. Tate was the first to break it.

"This'll keep a vampire from hunting you, Cat? Then count me in."

Don coughed a trifle unsteadily. "There must be a different approach we could take..."

"Me, too, querida," Juan added. "That pendaho can have two worms on the hook instead of one; it will look better."

"I'm in," Cooper said. "Who wants to live forever?"

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I was going to squirt tears. How unprofessional.

Bones overrode Don's instant objections with a curt interruption.

"Save it, old chap. They're grown men, and it's not like they've been gardening these past years, is it? Besides, I knew they'd all offer, and here I've only just met them. How could you expect any differently?"

"Cat, you can't take the three top members of my team into a hostile nest the likes of which they've never seen! If they all died, it would destroy this operation, utterly finish it!"

Don pounded his fist on the desk for emphasis. Bones leveled him with a look devoid of green.

"Here and now, decide which is more important to you. Your niece...or the risk to these men and your operation. We all make choices we have to live with. This is yours."

"And it's not like they're docile lambs," I added. "They're not just bait-they're Trojan horses. Whoever Ian picks to guard them will never expect how tough they are. They've been fighting vampires for a long time, Don. If I didn't think they could handle it, I'd never let them volunteer."

Don glared at me. I held his gaze, not blinking. Bones had made a prediction on this outcome also.

Don was the first to look away. When he spoke, his voice was rough.

"I pray to G.o.d you're not wrong to trust this creature, Cat. If he's played you, we'll all go down in flames for it. He'd better be as good as he is arrogant."

Four out of four. Bones smiled triumphantly. "Don't fret, mate. I'm not playing her, and I am as good as I am arrogant.

After all, I had you pegged. She was sure you'd refuse. I told her you wouldn't."

Don looked as worried as I felt, but he didn't object further.

"It will take a few weeks to a.s.semble everything," Bones said, "and the three of you will be busy until then. If things go south, you'll need to react quickly. You all know the price behind drinking vampire blood, right?"

Cooper didn't. In a few minutes, he was informed about the ramifications of his actions in the cave. He took it far better than I had. He simply snorted once in disbelief.

"Welcome to the freak club," I sympathized. "All of you will need to be immune to vampire mind control, and blood's the only way to do that. Anyone who refuses will stay back. I won't risk your lives, or the lives of those around you, by letting some vamp green-eye you into submission."

"I'm up for juicing," Tate said, again being the first to offer. "But you won't mind if I refuse to suck blood off his tongue like you did?"

Bones let out a bark of amus.e.m.e.nt. "Don't fret; you're not my type. Anyone else have a concern?"

There were no other voices of dissent. Bones rose.

"Right then. Let's go to the lab, so Don can put my vein on tap again. Really, old chap, you're as excited over my blood as any vamp is over a juicy artery. Sure you're not hiding some family traits?"

"That's not funny," Don brusquely responded, but he also stood, and we proceeded to the lab. The path leading to it had been cleared of other employees, minimizing Bones's exposure on the premises. The same was done to the pathology unit. Once we got there, Bones gave Tate a calculating look.

"Ready for an upgrade? After your first dose, I'm going to beat the seven shades of s.h.i.t out of you to see how much you can take."

"Bring it on" was Tate's reply. "Cat's been pounding on me for years. Years. How long have you spent with her, combined? Only six months?"

Bones grabbed him, intending to do something painful, no doubt, but I hauled on his arm.

"Quit it! Tate, enough of the taunts, and Bones, how old are you? Why don't I just give you a pair of my panties to hang around your neck? Then whenever you feel jealous, you can wave them at whoever's p.i.s.sing you off."

"Like you wear panties," Tate muttered. I punched him. "Not that it's any of your business, but I only go without when I'm on a job!"

Instead of being incensed by Tate's knowledge of my underwear, Bones gave me an odd look as he sat in the chair Don indicated. Don set up a line and a bag and inserted the needle, since Dr. Lang, the head pathologist, still didn't want to stick Bones himself.

"Kitten, are you still hunting vampires without your knickers on?" he asked with that same strange countenance.

"If I'm playing the bait, yes, but if it's a search-and-destroy, no. Why?"

His lips twitched. "We'll talk about it later," he demurred.

I pounced. For him to look so peculiar, there had to be something to it.

"Tell me now."

Five sets of eyes regarded him expectantly. Only Don didn't look intrigued at this exchange. His eyes were glued to the IV bag filling with red liquid.

Bones's lips twitched more. "It's just that you can expand your wardrobe, luv. Not that I'm advocating it, of course, but then I'm biased. That thing I told you about no knickers making a difference when it came to luring vampires...well. I might have stretched the truth a bit."

"You what?" My mouth dropped open in incredulity.

Juan gave Bones the most admiring look he'd bestowed on him yet.

"You talked her into going without panties all these years? Madre de Dios, now that's impressive. I could learn a great deal from you, amigo."

"You lied to me."