Bound by Flames

by Jeaniene Frost

  “I’m warmed to my soul,” he said in an icy voice.

  I ignored that and threw my arms around him, still laughing. “I’m warmed to my soul, truly. Now I’ll never doubt that you love me. You proved it beyond words or deeds by telling me this.”

  “And I’m already regretting it.”

  Muttered with no less rancor, yet the arms that settled around me were possessive, and the feelings that he once more allowed to flow into mine were anything but angry or cold.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell,” I said, finally getting my laughter under control. “Your darkest secret is safe with me.”

  The strangest look crossed his features. If he were any other man, I’d say it was sheepishness over his former misdeed.

  “It had better be. We have a necromancer spell to get off you, and I would hate to search for the solution while you were locked away in the new dungeon I’m going to build.”

  I snorted at the empty threat. “Don’t we need to build a new house first?”

  That brief hint of sheepishness vanished as he smiled. His smile was so like him: sensual yet predatory, hard and yet filled with humor. “The best-laid houses and plans start from the ground up.”

  Excerpt from A Night Prince Novel Series

  Vlad and Leila will return in 2016 for the conclusion to the Night Prince series

  For now, continue reading for a peek into the Night Huntress world and discover why #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris raves, “Cat and Bones are combustible together.”

  HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE

  Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance . . . until she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership. She’s amazed she doesn’t end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? And Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.

  “Halfway to the Grave has breathless action, a roller-coaster plot . . . and a love story that will leave you screaming for more. I devoured it in a single sitting.”

  ILONA ANDREWS

  “Beautiful ladies should never drink alone,” a voice said next to me.

  Turning to give a rebuff, I stopped short when I saw my admirer was as dead as Elvis. Blond hair about four shades darker than the other one’s, with turquoise-colored eyes. Hell’s bells, it was my lucky night.

  “I hate to drink alone, in fact.”

  He smiled, showing lovely squared teeth. All the better to bite you with, my dear.

  “Are you here by yourself?”

  “Do you want me to be?” Coyly, I fluttered my lashes at him. This one wasn’t going to get away, by God.

  “I very much want you to be.” His voice was lower now, his smile deeper. God, but they had great intonation. Most of them could double as phone-sex operators.

  “Well, then I was. Except now I’m with you.”

  I let my head tilt to the side in a flirtatious manner that also bared my neck. His eyes followed the movement, and he licked his lips. Oh good, a hungry one.

  “What’s your name, lovely lady?”

  “Cat Raven.” An abbreviation of Catherine, and the hair color of the first man who tried to kill me. See? Sentimental.

  His smile broadened. “Such an unusual name.”

  His name was Kevin. He was twenty-eight and an architect, or so he claimed. Kevin was recently engaged, but his fiancée had dumped him and now he just wanted to find a nice girl and settle down. Listening to this, I managed not to choke on my drink in amusement. What a load of crap. Next he’d be pulling out pictures of a house with a white picket fence. Of course, he couldn’t let me call a cab, and how inconsiderate that my fictitious friends left without me. How kind of him to drive me home, and oh, by the way, he had something to show me. Well, that made two of us.

  Experience had taught me it was much easier to dispose of a car that hadn’t been the scene of a killing. Therefore, I managed to open the passenger door of his Volkswagen and run screaming out of it with feigned horror when he made his move. He’d picked a deserted area, most of them did, so I didn’t worry about a Good Samaritan hearing my cries.

  He followed me with measured steps, delighted with my sloppy staggering. Pretending to trip, I whimpered for effect as he loomed over me. His face had transformed to reflect his true nature. A sinister smile revealed upper fangs where none had been before, and his previously blue eyes now glowed with a terrible green light.

  I scrabbled around, concealing my hand slipping into my pocket. “Don’t hurt me!”

  He knelt, grasping the back of my neck.

  “It will only hurt for a moment.”

  Just then, I struck. My hand whipped out in a practiced movement and the weapon it held pierced his heart. I twisted repeatedly until his mouth went slack and the light faded from his eyes. With a last wrenching shove, I pushed him off and wiped my bloody hands on my pants.

  “You were right.” I was out of breath from my exertions. “It only hurt for a moment.”

  ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE

  Cat Crawfield is now a special agent, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. But when she’s targeted for assassination she turns to her ex, the sexy and dangerous vampire Bones to help her.

  “Witty dialogue, a strong heroine, a delicious hero, and enough action to make a reader forget to sleep.”

  MELISSA MARR

  “Hallo, Kitten.”

  I was so preoccupied with my breakdown that I didn’t hear Bones come in. His voice was as smooth as I’d remembered, that English accent just as enticing. I snapped my head up, and in the midst of my carefully constructed life crashing around me, found the most absurd thing to worry about.

  “God, Bones, this is the ladies’ room! What if someone sees?”

  He laughed, a low, seductive ripple of the air. Noah had kissed me with less effect.

  “Still a prude? Don’t fret—I locked the door behind me.”

  If that was supposed to ease my tension, it had the opposite result. I sprang to my feet, but there was nowhere to run. He blocked the only exit.

  “Look at you, luv. Can’t say I prefer the brown hair, but as for the rest of you . . . you’re luscious.”

  Bones traced the inside of his lower lip with his tongue as his eyes slid all over me. Their heat seemed to rub my skin. When he took a step closer, I flattened back against the wall.

  “Stay where you are.”

  He leaned nonchalantly against the countertop. “What are you all lathered about? Think I’m here to kill you?”

  “No. If you were going to kill me, you wouldn’t have bothered with the altar ambush. You obviously know what name I’m going under, so you would have just gone for me one night when I came home.”

  He whistled appreciatively. “That’s right, pet. You haven’t forgotten how I work. Do you know I was offered a contract on the mysterious Red Reaper at least three times before? One bloke had half-a-million bounty for your dead body.”

  Well, not a surprise. After all, Lazarus had tried to cash a check on my ass for the same reason. “What did you say, since you’ve just confirmed you’re not here for that?”

  Bones straightened, and the bantering went out of him. “Oh, I said yes, of course. Then I hunted the sods down and played ball with their heads. The calls quit coming after that.”

  I swallowed at the image he described. Knowing him, it was exactly what he’d done.

  “So, then, why are you here?”

  He smiled and came nearer, ignoring my previous order.

  AT GRAVE’S END

  Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vampire, Cat is about to learn the true meaning of bad blood—just as she and Bones need to stop a lethal magic from being unleashed. Will Cat be able to fully embrace her vampire instincts to save them all from a fate worse than the grave?

  “A can’t-put-down masterpiece that’s sexy-hot and a thrill-ride on every page. I’m officially addicted to the series. Mar
ry me, Bones!”

  GENA SHOWALTER

  I was sitting at my desk, staring off into space, when my cell phone rang. A glance at it showed my mother’s number, and I hesitated. I so wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. But it was unusual for her to be up this late, so I answered.

  “Hi Mom.”

  “Catherine.” She paused. I waited, tapping my finger on my desk. Then she spoke words that had me almost falling out of my chair. “I’ve decided to come to your wedding.”

  I actually glanced at my phone again to see if I’d been mistaken and it was someone else who’d called me.

  “Are you drunk?” I got out when I could speak.

  She sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t marry that vampire, but I’m tired of him coming between us.”

  Aliens replaced her with a pod person, I found myself thinking. That’s the only explanation.

  “So . . . you’re coming to my wedding?” I couldn’t help but repeat.

  “That’s what I said, isn’t it?” she replied with some of her usual annoyance.

  “Um. Great.” Hell if I knew what to say. I was floored.

  “I don’t suppose you’d want any of my help planning it?” my mother asked, sounding both defiant and uncertain.

  If my jaw hung any lower, it would fall off. “I’d love some,” I managed.

  “Good. Can you make it for dinner later?”

  I was about to say, Sorry, there was no way, when I paused. Tate didn’t even want me watching the video of him dealing with his bloodlust. Bones was leaving this afternoon to pick Annette up from the airport. I could swing by my mom’s when he went to get Annette, and then meet him back here afterward.

  “How about a late lunch instead of dinner? Say, around four o’clock?”

  “That’s fine, Catherine.” She paused again, seeming to want to say something more. I half expected her to yell, April Fool’s! but it was November, so that would be way early. “I’ll see you at four.”

  When Bones came into my office at dawn, since Dave was taking the next twelve-hour shift with Tate, I was still dumbfounded. First Tate turning into a vampire, then my mother softening over my marrying one. Today really was a day to remember.

  Bones offered to drop me off on his way to the airport, then pick me up on his way back to the compound, but I declined. I didn’t want to be without a car if my mother’s mood turned foul—always a possibility—or risk ruining our first decent mother-daughter chat by Bones showing up with a strange vampire. There were only so many sets of fangs I thought my mother could handle at the same time, and Annette got on my nerves even on the best of days.

  Besides, I could just see me explaining who Annette was to my mother. Mom, this is Annette. Back in the seventeen hundreds when Bones was a gigolo, she used to pay him to fuck her, but after more than two hundred years of banging him, now they’re just good friends.

  Yeah, I’d introduce Annette to my mother—right after I performed a lobotomy on myself.

  “I still can’t believe she wants to talk about the wedding,” I marveled to Bones as I climbed into my car.

  He gave me a serious look. “She’ll never abandon her relationship with you. You could marry Satan himself and that still wouldn’t get rid of her. She loves you, Kitten, though she does a right poor job of showing it most days.” Then he gave me a wicked grin. “Shall I ring your cell in an hour, so you can pretend there’s an emergency if she gets natty with you?”

  “What if there is an emergency with Tate?” I wondered. “Maybe I shouldn’t leave.”

  “Your bloke’s fine. Nothing can harm him now short of a silver stake through the heart. Go see your mum. Ring me if you need me to come bite her.”

  There really was nothing for me to do at the compound. Tate would be a few more days at least in lockdown, and we didn’t have any jobs scheduled, for obvious reasons. This was as good a time as any to see if my mom meant what she said about wanting to end our estrangement.

  “Keep your cell handy,” I joked to Bones. Then I pulled away.

  My mother lived thirty minutes from the compound. She was still in Richmond, but in a more rural area. Her quaint neighborhood was reminiscent of where we grew up in Ohio, without being too far away from Don if things got hairy. I pulled up to her house, parked, and noticed that her shutters needed a fresh coat of paint. Did they look like that the last time I was here? God, how long had it been since I’d come to see her?

  As soon as I got out of the car, however, I froze. Shock crept up my spine, and it had nothing to do with the realization that I hadn’t been here since Bones came back into my life months ago.

  From the feel of the energy leaking off the house, my mother wasn’t alone inside, but whoever was with her didn’t have a heartbeat. I started to slide my hand toward my purse, where I always had some silver knives tucked away, when a cold laugh made me stop.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, little girl,” a voice I hated said from behind me.

  My mother’s front door opened. She was framed in it, with a dark-haired vampire who looked vaguely familiar cradling her neck almost lovingly in his hands.

  And I didn’t need to turn around to know the vampire at my back was my father.

  DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE

  They’ve fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it’s time for Cat and Bones to go on a vacation. But Cat is having terrifying dreams of a vampire named Gregor who’s more powerful than Bones . . . and has ties to her past that even Cat herself doesn’t know about.

  “Frost’s dazzling blend of urban fantasy action and passionate relationships make her a true phenomenon.”

  Romantic Times BOOKreviews

  “Who is Gregor, why am I dreaming about him, and why is he called the Dreamsnatcher?”

  “More importantly, why has he surfaced now to seek her out?” Bones’s voice was cold as ice. “Gregor hasn’t been seen or heard from in over a decade. I thought he might be dead.”

  “He’s not dead,” Mencheres said a trifle grimly. “Like me, Gregor has visions of the future. He intended to alter the future based on one of these visions. When I found out about it, I imprisoned him as punishment.”

  “And what does he want with my wife?”

  Bones emphasized the words while arching a brow at me, as if daring me to argue. I didn’t.

  “He saw Cat in one of his visions and decided he had to have her,” Mencheres stated in a flat tone. “Then he discovered she’d be blood-bound to you. Around the time of Cat’s sixteenth birthday, Gregor intended to find her and take her away. His plan was very simple—if Cat had never met you, then she’d be his, not yours.”

  “Bloody sneaking bastard,” Bones ground out, even as my jaw dropped. “I’ll congratulate him on his cleverness—while I’m ripping silver through his heart.”

  “Don’t underestimate Gregor,” Mencheres said. “He managed to escape my prison a month ago, and I still don’t know how. Gregor seems to be more interested in Cat than in getting revenge against me. She’s the only person I know whom Gregor’s contacted through dreams since he’s been out.”

  Why do these crazy vampires keep trying to collect me? My being one of the only known half-breeds had been more of a pain than it was worth. Gregor wasn’t the first vampire who thought it would be neat to keep me as some sort of exotic toy, but he did win points for cooking up the most original plan to do it.

  “And you locked Gregor up for a dozen years just to keep him from altering my future with Bones?” I asked, my skepticism plain. “Why? You didn’t do much to stop Bones’s sire, Ian, when he tried the same thing.”

  Mencheres’s steel-colored eyes flicked from me to Bones. “There was more at stake,” he said at last. “If you’d never met Bones, he might have stayed under Ian’s rule longer, not taking Mastership of his own line, and then not being co-Master of mine when I needed him. I couldn’t risk that.”

  So it hadn’
t been about preserving true love at all. Figures. Vampires seldom did anything with purely altruistic motives.

  “What happens if Gregor touches me in my dreams?” I asked, moving on. “What then?”

  Bones answered me, and the burning intensity in his gaze could have seared my face.

  “If Gregor takes ahold of you in your dreams, when you wake, you’ll be wherever he is. That’s why he’s called the Dreamsnatcher. He can steal people away in their dreams.”

  THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE

  Cat and Bones have fought for their lives as well as their relationship. Just as they’ve triumphed over the latest battle, Cat’s new and unexpected abilities are making them a target. And help from a dangerous “ally” may prove more treacherous than they’ve ever imagined.

  “Cat and Bones are combustible together.”

  CHARLAINE HARRIS

  The vampire pulled on the chains restraining him to the cave wall. His eyes were bright green, their glow illuminating the darkness surrounding us.

  “Do you really think these will hold me?” he asked, an English accent caressing the challenge.

  “Sure do,” I replied. Those manacles were installed and tested by a Master vampire, so they were strong enough. I should know. I’d once been stuck in them myself.

  The vampire’s smile revealed fangs in his white upper teeth. They hadn’t been there several minutes ago, when he’d still looked human to the untrained eye.

  “Right, then. What do you want, now that you have me helpless?”