One Grave at a Time (Night Huntress #6)(48)

If we didn’t find a way to trap Kramer—which would be damn hard even if he did come right to our door—we could be saving these women on Halloween only to have them murdered in a different way later, and the same pattern would repeat the year, and the next, and the next . . .

I heaved an actual sigh this time, fixing Bones with a tired, jaded look. “We might need to see Marie.”

Bones’s face became as hard as granite. “No.”

“Who’s Marie?” Tyler wondered. I’d said that last part loud enough for him to catch it.

I mimed “wait” at him and lowered my voice again, trying to convince Bones that an audience with a woman who’d been both ally and adversary in the past was worth trying.

“Probably no one in the world knows more about ghosts and the afterlife than the ghoul queen of New Orleans. What if there’s a spell that could boot Kramer right off this plane of existence?”

“Then Marie would want too much in return for it, not to mention practicing black magic is against vampire law,” was his immediate reply.

“Since when did you worry about being law-abiding?” I scoffed.

His dark gaze was steady. “Since I fell in love with you and assumed Mastership of a line. If it was proven that we practiced black magic—and I don’t trust Marie not to mention it—the Law Guardians could sentence us to death. That’s a chance I’m not willing to take, Kitten.”

I disagreed that Marie would tattle on us, but I remembered all too well how lethally efficient Law Guardians were when it came to death sentences. I’d briefly been under one of those, and only some quick thinking combined with misdirection had prevented my head from parting company with my shoulders less than five minutes after a Law Guardian pronounced that sentence.

The only other way Marie could help us would be to give me another wineglass full of her blood, but for me to admit that my Remnant-summoning powers had run their course held its own set of unacceptable consequences.

Damn. Back to square one: trying to catch someone who was made of air and for all intents and purposes, immortal. You don’t have a chance in hell, an insidious inner voice whispered.

Fuck you; pessimism never helped anyone, I told it.

“All right,” I said, forcing a smile. “We concentrate on finding the women and let Kramer or his accomplice come to us once we do.”

And if they do, that relentless inner voice continued to taunt, you’re going to need a helluva lot more than burning sage to save the day.

Yeah, I knew that, too. But I’d resolved to believe that things would work out, and that was what I was going to do.





Twenty-two



On October 14, while all of us were in the family room watching a movie to break up the monotony of more fruitless waiting, my new cell phone finally vibrated with a text. I almost leapt up from the couch to read it, praying it wouldn’t be a wrong number, then let out a whoop.

“Elisabeth sent over an address! Let’s move.”

Bones was already on his feet, Spade and Denise following suit, but Ian shot me a piqued look.

“You don’t mean all of us, do you? The movie’s not over.”

“You’ve seen this one before,” I replied in disbelief.

He shrugged. “Watching Snape make fun of Harry is my favorite part.”

“Let him stay,” Bones stated. “He can watch over Tyler while we’re gone. You can rouse yourself to do that if need be, right, mate?”

Ian’s mouth curled at the heavy irony in Bones’s voice. “Probably.”

“I’m not going?” Tyler sounded disappointed, but his thoughts indicated otherwise. Ian, watching over me? Finally, this situation’s looking up!

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, Tyler, you’re staying here with Ian. Try not to let it upset you too much.”

It won’t, he thought, but said, “I’ll manage,” so mildly that Bones let out a snort.

I went to the refrigerator and grabbed multiple packets of sage, handing them out to Spade, Denise, and Bones. It felt weird to be loading up on plants instead of silver before a potentially dangerous situation.

My mother marched over, holding out her hand with a challenging glint in her eye. “You’re not expecting me to stay behind, too, are you?”

“Um . . .” I hedged.

Actually, I had, thinking that Tyler would do better with my mom here to protect him if by chance Kramer showed up. Hell, if the ghost attacked during the climactic scene with Snape, Harry, and Dumbledore, Ian might not even stop watching the movie to heal any mortal injuries the medium received.

“Tyler would feel safer with both of you,” I began.

“The hell I would,” Tyler cut me off, glaring. Cock-blocker! rang across my mind.

If I’d still been human, my cheeks would’ve been flaming. I’d been called a lot of names in my day, but never that one before.

“Fine,” I gritted out, hoping Tyler’s horniness wouldn’t end up being the death of him. “Mom, you’re coming. Here’s some sage.”

She took it almost in surprise, like she’d been expecting me to argue. I wanted to, but between Tyler’s mental berating and the fact that I didn’t want to leave my mother with only Ian to protect her if Kramer showed up, kept me quiet.