Halfway to the Grave

by Jeaniene Frost

  Twenty minutes later I stood and was a different person. There was no more time for weeping. I had a job to do. You play the hand you’re dealt, Bones had always said. Well, I’d been born a half-breed for a reason, and now was my chance to prove it. Come one, come all, bloodsuckers! The Red Reaper’s ready for you!

  I advanced on my mother and spoke in low clipped tones. First things first.

  “Get dressed, we’re leaving. Now, I’m going to tell you exactly what you’ll say, and God help you if you don’t follow every fucking word of it….”

  The helicopter hovered overhead, a large mechanical beetle in the sky. Don Williams was wheeled over the uneven ground at his insistence and ten other agents fanned out around the perimeter. In the middle of this scene I huddled around Switch’s body. It hadn’t been hard for me to find him. Bones had told me he’d left him in the woods near Cedar Lake. With my new nose, I’d scented him out soon after arriving. Switch was now wearing a denim jacket over his decomposed remains, and a silver knife protruded grotesquely out of his back.

  Even seated, Don commanded the activities. “Is that him?” he demanded as he drew near.

  “It’s him.”

  Don stared down at the unrecognizable corpse and frowned. “There’s nothing left but bones!”

  “Funny you should say that,” I responded in a flat tone. “That was his name. Bones.”

  The cold wind caused me to shiver and I glanced around at the dreary landscape of naked trees and frigid earth.

  “He’s dead, so why the rush? When your call came in, you said if we didn’t arrive within the hour, you were leaving because it was too dangerous to wait. Well, it’s been forty-five minutes and he doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.”

  I stood and towered over him in his wheelchair. “Because yesterday he told me there would be vampires coming for retribution over what happened the night before last. Oliver had toothy friends. The team isn’t in place and I can’t fight them on my own. Since I value my own neck, I don’t want it to become food. Get me and my mother out of here. Now.”

  “We’re taking him as well,” he insisted. “We’ll want to study the body.”

  I shrugged.

  “Study away, but I suggest you speed up. Vampires can smell flesh from miles away. Any of your boys left here poking at pinecones will become one big snack in a hell of a hurry.”

  Don stared at me. “Why should I believe you?”

  As if annoyed, I ran my hand through my hair. “Because you’re not as dumb as you look. Any of your men who were injured yesterday need to be moved immediately as well. The vamps will try to extort information from them and I’m sure those agents know things you’d rather not be shared with the undead.”

  He stared into my eyes for several more long moments and I stared back without blinking. Finally he called out to his men, decision made.

  “Let’s move it out, people. Wrap it up, we leave in five! Someone get the hospital on the phone and transport all injured personnel in the Medevac chopper on the double. No arrival destination listed. Stanley, pack that body and make it snappy, we’re airborne in five.”

  There was a flurry of activity as the agents rushed to carry out his instructions. While they made final preparations, I sat down next to my mother. She put her hand in mine without a word.

  “Ms. Crawfield.” Don approached with the sound of crunching wheels. “Is there anything you’d like to add to your daughter’s description of what happened? Anything at all?”

  My mother looked up at him and dourly shook her head. “How could I? I was unconscious. That animal hit me, again. When I came to, Catherine had killed him. There he is, see for yourself.”

  Don looked back and forth between the two of us. Neither of us wavered. He sighed. “Then, ladies, come with me. The helicopter will take us to the airport. Let’s try this again.”

  Eight hours later, I walked the long corridor of the military hospital in Houston, Texas, with Don rolling at my side.

  “It’s done?”

  He grunted in the affirmative. “Catherine Crawfield has been officially killed by the FBI after trying to escape during a transfer. That’s how we explained the highway pile-up yesterday. The body of a Jane Doe has been substituted as yours.”

  I nodded, only sorry that Timmie would believe that. Or maybe he wouldn’t. He had been a conspiracy buff. “And my reason for killing Ethan Oliver?”

  Don smiled coldly. “A random act of senseless violence. Considering Oliver’s propaganda campaign, I thought it was fitting.”

  I didn’t smile back, but I thought it was fitting, too.

  “Tate asked to see me?”

  “As soon as he woke up. The doctors are holding off on the painkillers, otherwise it would be pretty one-sided.”

  “How badly is he hurt?” Cynically, I was more curious than concerned.

  “Two broken legs, two broken arms, six broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, broken nose, some internal bleeding, abrasions, and a low iron count. He’ll be out for weeks recovering.”

  “We’ll see,” I murmured.

  Tate Bradley was covered in casts and gauze. His eyes fluttered when we came in the door.

  I pulled up a chair and sat down. “Hello.”

  A pain-filled gaze met mine. “Did I make the team, Cat?”

  His voice was a raspy whisper, but the words made me almost smile. Almost.

  “You want to sign on for this kind of pain on a regular basis?”

  “Hell, yeah.” Breathy but firm.

  I shook my head sardonically. “Then congratulations, Tate. You’re the first team member.” I stood and turned to Don.

  “Get a nurse and have them take some blood from me. At least a pint. Have them transfuse it to Tate.”

  Don gave me a wondering squint. “You don’t even know if you’re his type. You have to be cross-matched.”

  That made me laugh. “I’m everyone’s type. Half vampire and topped off with extra-aged nosferatu. The additional strength will be out of my system in the next couple days, so I suggest you use it while it’s still effective. Here’s Lesson One in the class of I Know More Than You Know—vampire blood heals. He’ll be on his feet by the end of tomorrow. We need to start training right away. We have a lot of work to do.”

  I rolled up my sleeve as Don pressed for the medical attendant.

  “What else are you going to tell me that I don’t know?” he asked.

  My eyes flashed their emerald glow at him and he gasped as their light settled on his face.

  “You can’t even imagine….”

  Later, when my mother and I were stationed at a military facility, I allowed myself to think about Bones. He would have gotten back to Rodney’s hours ago and seen the note I’d left him. In brief terms, I’d tried to explain how I couldn’t let more blood of those I loved stain my hands. No matter how cleverly he managed things, sooner or later the government would catch up with us. Or one of the vampires who’d gotten away would find us. Or my mother would ruin things between us with her hatred and inevitable attempts to run off. Or time would be our enemy as I aged and he didn’t. We had to play the hand we were dealt, all of us. Fighting the battles we could win.

  And yet when I finally drifted off, in that barely conscious state where logic was absent and dreams encroached, I could almost hear Bones’s voice. He was whispering that same promise he’d made to me months ago when our relationship started, and I wondered if it was a sign—and if he’d really meant it.

  If you run from me, I’ll chase you. And I’ll find you….

  Dear Readers Letter

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed Halfway to the Grave. Cat and Bones’s story takes place over several books in the Night Huntress series, so their adventures – and their relationship – are far from over. Please continue reading for a special excerpt of the first several chapters from their next novel, One Foot in the Grave.

  Also, read on to explore hidden parts of the Night H
untress series with special never-before-published scenes from Halfway to the Grave, including a deleted romantic scene between Cat and Bones. See Cat coping with her new job in a partial short story set after Halfway to the Grave, and learn about other creatures that inhabit the Night Huntress universe. . .some that Cat isn’t even aware of yet.

  For even more information about the Night Huntress novels, including spin-offs books, novellas, e-novellas, and upcoming stories, please visit my website at www.jeanienefrost.com.

  Happy reading!

  Jeaniene Frost

  Deleted Scenes

  Exclusive Deleted Scenes From HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE

  Deleted scene from Chapter 5, when Bones took Cat to the salon to have her makeover.

  Hot Hair Spa was a full service salon. Facials, body-wraps, manicures, pedicures, every hair treatment possible and waxings. Bones greeted the receptionist by name, smiling charmingly and asking after her family. She nearly tripped over herself to usher us towards the back, casting openly admiring looks at him as she guided us through the modern beauty maze. I was incredulous at her behavior. My God, couldn’t she tell he wasn’t human? Apparently not, and she made it very clear she would offer him services above and beyond what the spa advertised.

  “How do you know these people?” I hissed when we rounded yet another seafoam colored corner.

  He looked at me as though I were slow.

  “My hair, of course. You didn’t think it was natural, did you?”

  “No, I didn’t think it was natural. I thought you just dumped a bottle of peroxide on your head every night!” My nervousness made me snippy. Well, snippier than usual.

  “Darling, how good to see you,” a perfectly coiffed older woman squealed as she threw her arms around Bones.

  “Marlena, my sweet, always lovely to see you,” he replied.

  She patted his chest in a mock reproving way.

  “What can I do for you, darling? You said it was an emergency.”

  I shot him an evil glare upon hearing that, but Bones ignored me.

  “I call upon your genius to work a miracle. My cousin here,” he gestured in my direction and her head swiveled toward me. “My cousin desperately needs your help. She has countless split ends, her fingernails are a disgrace, her eyebrows need waxing and I don’t even want to tell you about her feet.”

  Marlena stared at me as if I had just crawled out of the deepest, darkest swamp and had the algae coating to prove it. My face flamed, and once again I fantasized about me, Bones, and a long pointed silver stake.

  “Ah, my darling, I see what you mean. But what pretty skin she has. I’m sure we can salvage her.”

  Salvage? Why that arrogant, uppity -

  “If anyone can do it,” he interrupted my mental train of insults. “You can. Spare no expense. I want her dazzling when she leaves.”

  Marlena cast a dubious look first at me, and then back to him. “Come back in five hours. We’ll see what we can do.”

  * * *

  When Marlena-the-evil-hell-mistress was done with me, I now had an exact understanding of what it was like to go through the washer and dryer. I was washed, waxed, plucked, snipped, blown dry, manicured, pedicured, painted, sloughed, exfoliated, curled, primped and finally covered in colored shades of makeup. My head pounded murderously by the time she was finished, but Marlena clapped her hands with the delight of a child.

  “Look at you! You are ravishing.”

  She spun my chair toward a mirror and I finally looked at the image I’d avoided all day.

  “I look…fake,” I managed, staring in the mirror at my perfect hair, makeup, brows and matching fingernails and toenails.

  “Nonsense,” she corrected, brushing the hair off me since her scissors had cut layers into my long tresses. “You look beautiful. Now, you must remember everything Charleen told you about how to apply the correct contouring on your cheeks and eyes. Bones was very specific - he wanted to make sure you’d know how to do this when we were finished. Oh, I can’t wait until he sees you. He’ll be so pleased.”

  “I am pleased.”

  His voice made me jump nearly out of my chair as he appeared in the mirror behind me. Yes, vampires cast their own reflections. He stared at me in the most unusual way, running his tongue along the inside of his lip like he did when he contemplated something dangerous. I met his eyes before I looked away, not wanting to see what was in them.

  “Marlena, you are a goddess,” he praised her, kissing her hands and then each cheek. She beamed when he was finished, her face flushed.

  “Underneath all the country trappings was a beautiful girl waiting to be revealed. We didn’t even have to bleach her teeth.”

  For the first time in my life, I fervently wished I had a pair of vampire chompers. I would have bitten the smug look right off her face.

  “I already settled with Lisa at the desk. You’re too miserly with your fees. For the work you did on her, you should have charged me double.”

  Pig! I thought. Marlena was either oblivious or didn’t care about my obvious discomfort at being discussed as though I were a Buick that had just had some repairs done.

  “You know I gave you a special price. After all, if it weren’t for you, we’d still be in the red from that rash of robberies.”

  “Nothing to it, sweet,” he assured her. “Just kids thinking they’re tough. I gave them a good talking to, and they saw the error in their ways.”

  Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I wondered if Marlena had any idea of what his version of a ‘good talking to’ was. Those kids had probably died horrible screaming deaths.

  “And don’t forget your bag, Bones. We can’t have this lovely girl leave without all of her new friends, can we?”

  She handed him a large, department store sized bag stuffed full of God knows what. He thanked her again, dark eyes crackling with flirtatious energy. It nearly had her quivering on her feet. I felt sorry for her.

  “Come back soon. We miss you.”

  With those parting words, Marlena escorted us through the doors of her salon. It was dusk already, and I felt his otherworldly vibe increase degree by degree. He’d been right about the night increasing a vampire’s power. During the day, he almost felt normal when I was near him.

  “Happy with your new look?” he inquired when we got back to my truck, eschewing his motorcycle for obvious reasons.

  As I climbed into the driver’s seat, it occurred to me that the last time we were in my truck at night, we’d been trying to kill one another. A sudden memory of him unzipping his pants and the flash of that tight pale belly flittered through my mind before I squashed it.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” He had a crafty curl to his lips which let me know he could pretty well guess what I had been thinking. Well, some of it.

  I put the truck in gear and spoke without looking at him, concentrating on the roads.

  “Just remembering the last time we were in this truck after dark. You nearly punched a hole through my head. You might not want to do it this time. It would ruin my hair and you just paid a lot for it.”

  He gave a low chuckle. “Still sore about that? Blimey, you should have seen how you looked that night to me. As rattled as a snake in a box filled with mongooses, you were. Thought you’d jump out of your skin when I pulled my trousers down. No wonder I had you pegged for an innocent. I’ve met nuns who were more promiscuous.”

  Sternly telling myself it wasn’t wise to slam my brakes in the middle of traffic, my knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. Seeing it, he laughed again.

  “The only thing I ever want to do with a vampire is kill them, Bones. I might be forced to kiss them and let them get a feel, but all I’m thinking about is the moment I’m going to bury my stake in them.”

  “Funny you should say that. I’m sure they’re thinking right along those lines as well.”

  I will not blush, I will not blush, I hate him so much, I will not blush.

  “Yeah, well, may the best one blaze
a trail, right?”

  His eyes sparkled when I glanced over to see the effect of my words and he clucked his tongue.

  “Well, well, luv. We might make a fallen woman out of you yet. You’re going to have to get used to a lot of dirty talk, and be able to respond back to it. A simple ‘want to fuck?’ isn’t going to cut it, quaint though the phrase may be.”

  “I can handle it.” To hide my discomfort at him throwing my words back in my face, I concentrated on merging onto the freeway.

  “Glad to hear it. For the next six days, we’re going to dress you the way a vampire expects an easy shag to dress. And we’re going to work on your flirting skills. Lastly, you’ll learn how to talk with the most depraved, lust-crazed, undead blokes out there. I’ll make you say things you’ve never even thought of. Opening night is next Friday, and you will be ready.”

  Deleted scene, originally cut from what would have been Chapter 13 after Cat agreed to accompany Bones to Charlotte to check out the club from Stephanie’s computer files:

  On the plane, Bones informed me of what he’d found out about the mysterious Charlie. As per my instructions, or out of his own preference, he kept the conversation strictly to the task at hand. I was the one silently wondering how long he’d been burning up the laptop after I fell asleep at dawn. That thing he’d said once about not tiring easily apparently wasn’t just a load of bullshit. God, I’d been beyond sated and exhausted, and he’d still had enough energy to do meticulous research, make calls, book airfare, hotel reservations, and set up a rental car. All while I snoozed. If our goal tonight wasn’t so damn serious, I’d have been oblivious to everything except how insulted that made me feel.

  It was less than an hour and a half before we landed. Amazing how fast one could cross states while in the air. At the airport we collected our bags and went to the car rental area. Bones had reserved an SUV, and after filling out the necessary paperwork we were off. He drove, of course, since I had no idea where we were staying or how to get there. The name on the registration forms was Phillip Arthur. So, I wasn’t the only one who had false identification.