This Side of the Grave (#5 Night Huntress)
This Side of the Grave (#5 Night Huntress)
This Side of the Grave (#5 Night Huntress)
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finding out from his roommate where Timmie would be tonight. Not that <strong>the</strong> young man remembered Bones and me questioning him once we’d<br />
given him a few flashes <strong>of</strong> our gaze, but I thought that was more information than Timmie could handle at <strong>the</strong> moment.<br />
He was silent. “Shit,” Timmie said at last, with heartfelt emphasis.<br />
I nodded. Sometimes, that word summed things up better than I ever could.<br />
“Let’s go, before people start to wonder what we’re bla<strong>the</strong>ring on about,” Bones said, inclining his head toward <strong>the</strong> door.<br />
We walked past <strong>the</strong> crowded parking lot toward <strong>the</strong> empty one ahead. It was far enough away from <strong>the</strong> real entrance <strong>of</strong> Bite that no one should<br />
be able to overhear us, aside from Tiny and Band-Aid, who still kept watch in <strong>the</strong>ir car. I couldn’t hear his thoughts, but Timmie’s scent was a mix <strong>of</strong><br />
excitement, fear, and determination. Whatever he wanted to ask meant a great deal to him.<br />
“Look, if your girlfriend vanished after sniffing around looking for pro<strong>of</strong> about vampires, chances are she’s dead,” Bones stated once we reached<br />
<strong>the</strong> chain-link gate.<br />
I winced at his bluntness. Timmie also looked shaken, but <strong>the</strong>n he raised his chin. “Nadia’s not my girlfriend, and I don’t believe she’s dead. You<br />
don’t know her. She’s my best freelance reporter because she can charm anyone into doing what she wants.”<br />
Bones snorted. “I don’t care if she was Helen <strong>of</strong> Troy and Scheherazade combined, obviously someone caught her and wasn’t pleased about her<br />
snooping. The fact that she wasn’t sent back to you afterward with her memory erased and a new desire to quit reporting doesn’t bode well for her.”<br />
I winced again, but Bones was probably right. There was a reason <strong>the</strong> world didn’t know about <strong>the</strong> undead, and that was because vampires and<br />
ghouls were zealous about keeping <strong>the</strong>ir existence a secret. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m too zealous, like <strong>the</strong> vampires that had been about to make Timmie a<br />
nighttime snack.<br />
“We could check around,” I said, giving Bones a slight shake <strong>of</strong> my head when he looked like he was about to object. Yes, we had a lot <strong>of</strong> urgent<br />
matters on our plate, but Timmie’s pleading expression made me unable to say no.<br />
“Discreetly, <strong>of</strong> course,” I added. “We’ll start by asking Verses if he remembers seeing her, <strong>the</strong>n show her picture to your people, Mencheres,<br />
some <strong>of</strong> your allies . . . maybe one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m will know where she is.”<br />
I didn’t hold out much hope for Nadia turning up alive, but at least this way, Timmie could feel like he wasn’t abandoning someone he cared<br />
about. From <strong>the</strong> look on his face, <strong>the</strong> fact that Nadia hadn’t been his girlfriend wasn’t due to a lack <strong>of</strong> interest on Timmie’s part.<br />
“Really?” he said. Then Timmie grabbed me in a hug. “Thank you, Cathy!”<br />
We were never going to get each o<strong>the</strong>r’s names right.<br />
“I’m not promising that we can find her, but we’ll look,” I said, giving him a light squeeze back.<br />
Timmie let me go, flashing a crooked smile at Bones. “Aren’t you going to threaten to pull my nuts <strong>of</strong>f for that?”<br />
A dark brow arched. “Not at <strong>the</strong> moment.”<br />
“Cathy, what happened seven years ago?” Timmie asked. “Why did <strong>the</strong> feds claim you were shot trying to escape after being arrested for killing<br />
<strong>the</strong> governor and your whole family? I knew that was bullshit. You could never kill anyone.”<br />
Something between a laugh and a snort escaped Bones. I shifted uncomfortably. Here’s hoping I never had to explain to Timmie <strong>the</strong> reason<br />
behind my nickname <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Red Reaper.<br />
“Well, <strong>the</strong> part about <strong>the</strong> killing <strong>the</strong> governor . . . that was true, but he totally had it coming. He was involved in some very bad shit and my<br />
grandparents were murdered because <strong>of</strong> him. Then this secret unit <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> government recruited me to work for <strong>the</strong>m—”<br />
“Men in black!” Timmie interrupted triumphantly. “I knew <strong>the</strong>y existed. Those creeps have been sabotaging my stories about <strong>the</strong> paranormal for<br />
years!”<br />
I stopped myself before I rolled my eyes. “Uh, yeah, but why are you surprised by that? They couldn’t just sit on <strong>the</strong>ir hands while you scared <strong>the</strong><br />
hell out <strong>of</strong> people telling <strong>the</strong>m things <strong>the</strong>y’re not ready to hear.”<br />
Timmie bristled. “I can’t believe you’d say that. The public has a right to know—”<br />
“Bollocks,” Bones interrupted crisply. “Governments might lie to <strong>the</strong>ir people for selfish reasons most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> time, but this one <strong>the</strong>y’re spot-on<br />
about. Think <strong>the</strong>re wouldn’t be worldwide hysteria if <strong>the</strong> masses knew <strong>the</strong>y shared this planet with creatures from <strong>the</strong>ir bedtime stories? A nuclear<br />
bomb would cause less devastation.”<br />
“We could handle it,” Timmie said, his chin jutting out fur<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
Bones let out a derisive noise. “The day your kind stops killing each o<strong>the</strong>r over skin color or which god someone prays to, I might believe that.”<br />
I cleared my throat, defensiveness for my former species rising within me. “Considering what’s going on with vampires and ghouls at <strong>the</strong><br />
moment, I’d say humans don’t have a monopoly on lethal bigotry.”