This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, #5)(13)

The elevator doors opened to reveal a darkly handsome vampire on the other side, black hair in a loose ponytail and normally playful expression subdued.

“Hey, Juan,” I said, managing a limp smile.

“Querida,” he murmured, opening his arms. Even though I was upset with him, I went into them, giving him a brief hug.

“Lo siento,” he whispered when I let him go.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, too,” I replied bleakly. “You, Tate, Dave—all of you should have told me.”

“Don made us promise not to. He didn’t want to worry you.”

I was too upset to laugh at the irony of that. “Too late now.”

“Bones, mi amigo, cómo es usted?” Juan said next. Bones answered in the same language, but I was too distracted to bother translating their Spanish as I headed for the Wreck Room. Despite my vow not to think about Don’s condition, a part of me was still busy plotting ways to save him. Maybe the vampire blood Don used to treat his cancer just wasn’t strong enough. If he started ingesting a Master vampire’s blood—like Bones’s or Mencheres’s—maybe his results would be different.

Farther down the hall, the double doors to the training area opened and Tate walked out. He headed straight for me, but I didn’t even look at him as I strode down the hall toward the same room he’d just left.

Tate caught my arm when we drew level with each other. “Cat, there’s something I need to—”

“Save it,” I replied, shoving his hand off. “You couldn’t run fast enough to tell me when you thought Bones was cheating on me last year, but when it came to Don and something that was actually true, then you’re all about respectful silence.”

“That’s not—” he began, reaching out once more.

Bones grabbed Tate before his hand could brush my skin, appearing faster than if he’d materialized from the air around us.

“If you fancy keeping this,” he said in a growl while his fingers tightened on Tate’s arm, “don’t try touching her again.”

Any other time I would’ve objected, knowing Bones never bluffed and he would rip Tate’s arm off, but today I didn’t care. Out of everyone’s silence about my uncle’s health, Tate’s hurt the most. Yes, things had been strained between us ever since Bones came back into my life, but for a long time before that, Tate had been my closest friend. Facing death together on countless missions had forged strong bonds between us, but this was the last straw for me.

“Better yet, try touching me again and I’ll rip your arm off,” I snapped, stepping around him to continue down the hall. “I’ve put up with a lot from you despite your animosity to Bones and refusal to accept that you and I will never be more than friends. But after this, we’re done, so stay away from me.”

Behind me, Juan cleared his throat. “Ah, querida . . .”

“Don’t bother defending him,” I replied, yanking open the heavy doors of the area we’d dubbed the Wreck Room due to how intense training got. “I’m not—”

My voice trailed off while my eyes bugged. There, in the middle of the room, was a brunette vampire running through what looked to be a new obstacle course, easily dodging the cement blocks that swung at her.

“What?” I gasped.

The vampire didn’t hear me. Tate muttered something that sounded like “I tried to warn you,” but I didn’t turn around. She’s wearing a uniform, my mind hazily noted, immediately followed by Why the HELL is she wearing a uniform?

“Mom!” I shouted at her. “What are you doing here?”

Her head whipped around—and then she was knocked off her feet by the next swinging cement boulder. Even from the distance, I caught the aggravated look my mother threw me as she jumped back up.

“Sloppy, Crawfield!” Cooper barked at her from his position overseeing the obstacle course.

“Catherine’s here,” she replied, pointing.

He swung around, a guilty look crossing his mocha features. My shock dissolved enough for me to march inside, barely noticing Bones mutter under his breath that they were bloody lucky my temper no longer manifested itself in fire.

He was right. If it had been just six months before, fire would be shooting from my hands from this new shock to my already volatile emotions. Three months before and I would’ve ground all the activity in the Wreck Room to a halt with a furious squeeze of my mind. But with those borrowed abilities now gone, all I could do was lash out with my voice.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I snapped to the room at large. “I thought it was crappy no one told me about Don’s condition, but who knew you guys had even more secrets up your sleeve!”

“Everyone, take ten,” Dave called out. The dozens of team members stopped whatever grueling activity they’d been involved in to file out of the room—taking the door opposite the one I was closest to, I noticed.

In minutes, the training room was empty of everyone but Cooper, Dave, Tate, Bones, Juan, and my mother, who was the only one aside from Bones who didn’t have a shamefaced expression.

“Catherine, stop overreacting,” she said in a chiding way as she walked over to me. “After all, I’m not doing anything you haven’t done for over a decade.”

“And I’ve almost gotten killed more times than I can count,” I shot back, resisting the urge to shake her.