One Grave at a Time (Night Huntress #6)(88)

“Madigan confiscated some amateur footage a week ago of you throwing a car off yourself, so he knows you’re in Iowa. He’s hot to get his hands on the ghost who killed his men, and he knows you’re after it, too. So we’re supposed to keep a lookout for you.”

“Was the footage from a cell phone video?” I wondered irreverently.

Tate nodded. “Those things f*cking annoy me.”

He’d get no argument from me on that one. “Someone reported seeing a flaming person fly through the air with one of the 911 calls about the fire,” Tate continued. “We were deployed to investigate if it that was hysterical witness exaggerating, or if something supernatural was involved.”

“You will all be thrown into the eternal lake of fire!” Kramer shouted. I slammed my elbow into his face without bothering to look at him. From the zzzt! sound that followed, Bones zapped him again.

“So Madigan’s after me because he wants revenge for his murdered soldiers,” I mused.

Tate grunted. “No. He wants you to trap the ghost, then have us steal the trap so he can use the thing later as a weapon. Stupid bastard thinks he could control it.”

“And what are you intending to report to him?” Bones asked, his aura changing to icy, warning currents.

Tate shrugged. “That I didn’t see any vampires here but me.”

Kramer continued with his ranting about how we were all going to suffer, burn, beg, etc. None of us paid any attention to him, which enraged him more.

“This is the ghost,” I said, noting the shock that crossed Tate’s expression as he looked at the very solid Kramer. “We need you to make sure your team stays here for a while so no one follows us.”

The slightest smile crossed his face. “Then again, maybe I did see something suspicious on the far end of the field. Might take hours to investigate.”

I smiled back. “Thank you.”

He cast a final glance at Kramer before heading back toward the helicopter. The dangerous currents eased from Bones, changing into waves of determination.

“Let’s finish this, Kitten.”

I looked at Kramer and, for the first time, saw fear in the Inquisitor’s green gaze.

“Yes, let’s,” I drew out with supreme satisfaction.





Epilogue



A car pulled up to the former combined sewage facility, no door on the driver’s side. Denise sat behind the steering wheel, bundled up in a thick coat with her seat belt around the outside of it. Not a hint of the damage Sarah had inflicted on her showed anymore, as her bright smile evidenced. My mother dozed in the passenger seat, her lids fluttering when Denise parked. The sun had come up a few hours ago, and she was still noticeably feeling its effects.

“We here?” I heard her mumble.

Denise rolled her eyes at me. “Do you know how many times I had to poke her awake so she could mesmerize the cops who pulled us over into forgetting we were driving a car that clearly isn’t street legal?”

Seeing her so chipper after the awful thing that had happened to her brightened my mood even more. She didn’t say a word about my hair, which meant Spade had called her and warned her in advance. Oh well. There were always wigs if Bones had been stretching the truth about special vampire hair-growing abilities to lessen the stress I was dealing with at the time.

Spade stood, smiling at Denise in a way that made me glad my best friend was so cherished. Then again, I knew what that felt like, as Bones’s arms around me and his mouth brushing my temple attested.

Elisabeth floated out of the facility, Fabian close behind her. I’d always thought she was beautiful, but today, she looked especially radiant even without the more vivid effect of being solid.

“You sure you want to stay here?” I asked her. “He’s been screaming in there for hours and it’s well past the time when he’d be air again. If he could’ve gotten out, he would have already.”

“I’ll wait until you seal the area off permanently. I don’t know what I’ll do after that.”

The words seemed to sink in, and I could almost see Elisabeth realizing that her long quest for justice was finally over. She let out a laugh that was half-nervous, half-filled with wondrous joy.

“I have no idea what I’ll do after that.”

Fabian cleared his throat, which, considering he was a ghost, was as obvious as a sky-written message.

“Perhaps I might, ah, might be able to assist you with your options,” he stammered, and, though it was impossible, I could’ve sworn he blushed.

Elisabeth’s mouth dropped open, catching his meaning. Then she tilted her head in a very feminine, contemplative manner, a slow smile stretching her lips.

“Well,” she said at last. “Perhaps you can.”

Bones turned away so that they couldn’t see his grin. “Everyone, let’s leave them to their guarding,” he said, the faintest wicked emphasis on that last word.

“No, I want to stay and see this,” Ian protested.

Spade’s hand landed heavily on his back. “Get in the car, mate.”

Ian rose, shooting a last regretful look at Elisabeth and Fabian, who floated much closer to each other. “Only trying to enhance my repertoire with continuing education,” he muttered.

“I’m sure it’s plenty enhanced already,” I noted dryly, accepting Bones’s hand up. “Now get it out of here.”