This Side of the Grave (#5 Night Huntress)

us, I was unable to suppress a shiver. I’d seen what Marie had installed for a booby trap in this tunnel, and let’s just say it involved enough blades to
turn anyone trespassing into red-splattered coleslaw.
After about forty yards, Jacques opened the metal door at the end that revealed a narrow flight of stairs. Again Bones went up first, me following
behind him. At the top of the stairs was a small, windowless room that might be located in a nearby home, or we might possibly be inside one of the
larger national crypts in the cemetery. I had no idea, and I was sure that was how Marie wanted it.
“Majestic,” Bones greeted the woman seated on a plush recliner chair, nodding his head respectfully.
But when I came out from behind him and saw Marie more clearly, my polite hello vanished under a burst of laughter. On the floor right next to her
smart little heels was a pale container of plastic-wrapped poultry, and I didn’t have to look at the label to guess what kind.
“A headless chicken,” I said once I’d gotten my laughter under control. “Very cool.”
Bones arched a brow at me, not knowing that upon first meeting the ghoul queen of New Orleans, I’d commented that I was sure she’d be holding
a headless chicken considering her fearsome voodoo reputation. Apparently, she’d remembered that, yet another example of the sly humor lurking
underneath her whole Queen of the Damned demeanor.
“It was the best I could do under short notice,” Marie replied with an elegant shrug. Her voice was like acoustical caramel, that Southern Creole
accent sweetening each word. Her shawl shifted as she sat up, inky curls brushing her shoulders with the movement. Then her eyes narrowed as
she fixed her gaze on Bones.
“Did Jacques not relay my instructions for you to wait while I met with Cat alone first?”
Bones didn’t lose any of his easy posture, but I felt tension that wasn’t my own brush over my emotions.
“I’m certain you heard of the incident at the Ritz yesterday, and I’m also certain you know the attack was aimed at her. So you’ll forgive me,
Majestic, if I’m overprotective of my wife’s safety at present.”
“Yes, I heard.” Not a hint of emotion flickered across her features. “I can assume the bodies recovered from the hotel were those of your
attackers?”
“All but one,” Bones replied. “We took him with us when we left.”
Now we had Marie’s full attention. She leaned forward, her dark gaze intense. “Tell me you brought this person with you.”
“Sorry, he’s dead now,” Bones stated impassively.
“You killed him?” Marie didn’t look pleased, and I didn’t think it was because she’d wished a long, happy life on the other ghoul. In fact, if the man
were still alive, he might be grateful that Vlad spared him whatever Marie had in store. From her reputation, she was hell on anyone who violated
her safe-passage rules.
“Vlad did,” I said before Bones could answer. “He didn’t know all the details.” Partly true, anyway.
“I’ll speak with him about that later,” Marie murmured, almost to herself.
I gave the single empty chair across from her a glance. “You mind?”
She waved a hand. “Please.”
“Bones?” I inquired, assuming I’d just sit on his lap.
“I’ll stand, Kitten.”
I settled myself in the chair. So far, things were going better than I expected. Marie hadn’t pitched a fit about Bones being here or the ghoul being
dead. Maybe she thought Apollyon was as much of a threat as we did.
“You may remain, but you will stay silent while I speak with Cat, or I will remove you,” Marie said to Bones in a tone that dared him to argue.
My hopes plummeted with that single sentence. Bones folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall, looking for all the
world like he was completely relaxed. I couldn’t feel his emotions—he’d locked them down tight upon entering the tunnel—but I bet his little half
smile concealed a slew of uncharitable thoughts toward Marie. I couldn’t help but admire his blasй performance. I could never fake nonchalance that
well when I was pissed.
I cleared my throat in the sudden uneasy silence. “So . . . how ’bout them Saints, huh?”
Marie’s sharp gaze didn’t leave mine. “The last time I saw you, you were still a half-breed. Tell me, Cat, how do you find being a full vampire?”
“It’s great,” I said, knowing she had something up her sleeve with this, but pretending it was a casual question. “I haven’t missed getting my
period even once, and hey, no more counting calories. What’s not to love, right?”
She smiled at me, revealing pretty white teeth that contrasted nicely with her matte red lipstick. “You forgot to mention your ability to kill your first