This Side of the Grave (#5 Night Huntress)

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“Hail to our queen!” one of the ghouls called out, echoed almost at once by another cry of “Hail!” More ghouls repeated the salutation, until all of them practically trembled with their shouted allegiance. Marie bowed her head at the acknowledgments, and then the wall of Remnants collapsed, disappearing into the ground. This time, I saw the flick of her finger that preceded her drawing the necessary blood to send the lethal apparitions back to their graves. I quit looking at Marie to glance at Bones. He shook his head in a cynical way that mirrored my own thoughts. By getting rid of Apollyon and his top henchmen, we’d cleared the way for Marie to step in as queen of not just New Orleans, but the entire ghoul nation, judging from this reaction. If she’d taken on Apollyon herself, she might indeed have weakened their species through civil war as his supporters battled hers. But with him gone, she was now her people’s loyal savior and protector. Hail, my ass. I met her hazelnut gaze, noting the satisfaction in her eyes, before tapping the side of my mouth in silent warning. Marie might be the queen of the flesh-eaters now, but she and I shared a secret that could bring her down. Her people wouldn’t be cheering her so adoringly if they knew she’d shared her power with a vampire, giving me the tools necessary to bring down Apollyon. And if she tried to use her new position as a springboard for a war against the vampire world, she’d soon find herself fighting ghost for ghost against every spook I could rally using her borrowed abilities and the help of my friend Fabian. But when Marie inclined her head at me in a polite way, not an antagonistic one, I felt a twinge of hope. Marie was many things, but rash and stupid weren’t among them, so she’d know all this. With the incredible powers that many Master vampires had, plus what I’d absorbed from Marie and now knew about ghosts and the vital role they could play in battle, the two species were pretty evenly matched again, even with Marie’s abilities. The scales had been tipped when Gregor’s death made Marie’s allegiance to ghouls alone, but maybe balance was what Marie intended all along when she forced me to drink her blood, using the one form of threat I could never refuse: Bones’s life. I could only hope that evening the scales for the sake of peace had been her plan . . . and be ready in case it wasn’t. I inclined my head at her in the same respectful manner, but still kept my finger near my mouth. A slight smile creased her face before Marie turned away. Both our messages were sent and received. “Come,” Marie said to the surviving ghouls. “We will leave together. You have nothing to fear from them. We are at peace now.” As one, the ghouls began to follow Marie when she turned to walk out of the cemetery the same way she came in. I wondered if they picked up the warning note in her smooth voice when she said that we were at peace. I had, and once again felt a twinge of hope. If any of them went behind Marie’s back to start with vampires again, they’d find out the wrath of the voodoo queen was just as frightening as what I or any other vampire would do to them. “She used no spell,” Veritas murmured in surprise. I gave her a brief, jaded look. “That’s because she doesn’t practice black magic; she is black magic,” I said, repeating Marie’s words from that day. “Can we trust her?” Veritas asked Mencheres, so low I could barely hear her. He cast a thoughtful look at where Marie exited the cemetery before bestowing a single glance my way. “We can trust her not to be foolish,” Mencheres replied at last. “Beyond that, we will have to see.” I looked at the direction in which the voodoo queen disappeared with my own shrug. Time would tell Marie’s true motives. Until then, we had to pick up the pieces and move on. Speaking of pieces . . . I cast a glance around at the remains of the battle. Shriveling limbs, bodies, and blood stained the ground in various dark patches. What a mess. We’d have to burn most of the areas where the battles took place, both to hide the evidence of undead blood and just in case any of Denise’s blood had been spilled. I’d call Tate and have him keep the local cops back once we started the fires. It still felt strange to know Tate was the one I’d be speaking to about containing the scene, instead of hearing Don’s voice on the other line when I phoned in the details. Even thinking of my uncle seemed to conjure his image out of the corner of my eye; wearing a suit and tie, gray hair impeccably combed, tugging on his eyebrow like he did when he was annoyed or reflective. Several times over the past ten days, a mirage of my uncle would appear in my peripheral vision only to vanish as soon as I turned around. Grief did funny things to people, I supposed, but I didn’t turn yet. I had bullets to dig out of my body and a whole lot of other unpleasant things to do, but just for a few moments, I wanted to pretend that Don was still with me. “Lucifer’s bloody ball sack, I don’t believe it,” Bones hissed. I did turn then. As expected, the image of my uncle vanished, but I was surprised to see Bones staring at that same spot behind me, his mouth dropped open like . . . Like he’d seen a ghost. “No,” I breathed.
Bones met my gaze, and one look in his eyes told me everything. “Son of a bitch,” I whispered, my emotions swirling faster than a blender set on high as disbelief gave way to realization. Then I strode toward the area where Bones had been staring. “Donald Bartholomew Williams,” I called out loudly. “Get your ass back here now!” Acknowledgments This might look long-winded but it actually doesn’t scratch the surface to acknowledge all the vital persons involved in the Night Huntress series. For everyone I don’t mention by name, please know it’s not out of lack of appreciation, but simply lack of room instead. As usual, I have to start off by thanking God for all the amazing opportunities I’ve been given. I remember when all I asked for was a book to be published. Luckily for me, You had much bigger plans. Thanks so much to my wonderful editor, Erika Tsang, and the rest of the fabulous team at Avon Books. Nancy Yost, my agent, continues to be worth her weight in gold. A big shout-out goes to Tage, Erin, Kimberley, and Carol, for all you ladies do over at Frost Fans. Thanks so much also to the Night Huntress readers for your support of Cat, Bones, and the rest of their “twisted little fang family.” I will never be able to articulate how much I appreciate you spreading the word about the series or contacting me with notes of encouragement. “You rule!” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Thanks to Miriam Struett and Angelika Szakбcsi, winners of the Name That Kitty contest. I think Helsing (short for Van Helsing) is the perfect name for Cat’s cat! And, of course, endless love and thanks go to my husband and family, for more things than I could ever begin to list. I hope you enjoyed This Side of the Grave. Dear Reader: If you can’t wait to find out what’s next for Bones, Cat, and her uncle, here is an excerpt from the next novel in the Night Huntress series, available Fall 2011. Just before the scene you’re about to read, Cat received a call from Tate asking her to come to the compound to meet the new “operations consultant,” cryptically adding for her to bring Don along, too. Thanks, and happy reading! Jeaniene Frost
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This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene
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“We were only supposed to meet wi
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“I have got to stop drinking your
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The lack of disarray in the apartme
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Scratch ran a hand through his gray
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“That just leaves one more thing,
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are correct.” Everything in me te
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“Querida,” he murmured, opening
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Chapter Six Don sat on the bed, an
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Sometimes the old-fashioned way was
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“I’m really sorry about what ha
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of my hand. He’d really gone all
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finding out from his roommate where
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ground them into powder to make cer
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His mouth slid up to mine again, ki
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had my ass been so thoroughly kisse
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I gave a pointed look at the less-t
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We’d gone up about ten floors whe
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“Bones. Cat.” A sardonic smile
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“Told you helmets were safer,”
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The barest smile flittered across B
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husband with a fireball.” My answ
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matter. All I knew was that the man
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Page 50 and 51: holding cell in West Virginia. He c
Page 52 and 53: And being so close, they could hear
Page 54 and 55: “Don’t fret, Kitten,” Bones s
Page 56 and 57: I let out a small snort. “I don
Page 58 and 59: The word was almost harsh in its ve
Page 60 and 61: Bones’s shout before a deep spasm
Page 62 and 63: many varied flavors of barbecue in
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Page 68 and 69: arms around him, reveling in the st
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Page 72 and 73: Dave glanced at his watch. “I got
Page 74 and 75: into battle all those centuries ago
Page 76 and 77: Still the Remnants slithered over V
Page 78 and 79: This as Vlad continued to laugh the
Page 80 and 81: “Actually, Reaper, the thought of
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Page 84 and 85: “Actually this won’t be a relig
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Page 88 and 89: Now it was Kira who cleared her thr
Page 90 and 91: compared to the city. Still, I wasn
Page 92 and 93: “I think you should get more peop
Page 94 and 95: silver knives in his eye sockets. H
Page 96 and 97: Veritas straightened to her full fi
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This Side of the Grave (#5 Night Huntress)

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