Free Home for the Holidays: A Night Huntress Novella by Jeaniene Frost

the uncompromising gleam in his vibrant turquoise gaze.
    “You do that, and I take back every nasty thing I’ve ever said about you.”
    He grinned, his mood changing from serious to wicked in an instant. “Why? I’m all those things and more.”
    I shook my head. Ian was more proud of his depravity than anyone I’d met, but if he helped me pull Bones out from under four bespelled vampires and one demonically-enhanced vamp, I’d shower him with prostitutes and porn while swearing he was an angel.
    However, Mencheres could decapitate us with his mind, and on my best day I couldn’t take Bones in a fight, so neither of us might live through tomorrow. We were going up against our friends and loved ones, which made us operate under the constraint of not killing anyone. It didn’t take a crystal ball to know that with Wraith’s spell pulling their strings, we wouldn’t be shown the same consideration.
    Oh well. Time to ante up on that “ ’til death do us part” section of my vows. Living forever sounded boring anyway.
    I STRODE U P the gravel road that led to my house. Bare tree limbs swayed in the breeze and the air was crisp enough to see my breath, if I had any. Today was aptly referred to as Black Friday, when malls and Walmarts became bargain war zones for holiday shoppers hunting for the best deals. My war zone consisted of a steep wooded hill with two picturesque cabins at the top of it; my coveted prize the brown-haired vampire who’d publicly disowned me.
    I knew when my presence was detected by the sudden hush of conversation in the main house above. Fine. Wraith’s voice had been grating on my nerves anyhow.
    “Honey, I’m home!” I called out loudly, quickening my pace.
    By the time I reached the top of the hill, the front door was open and Wraith stood framed in it. My face stretched into a smile that felt more like a sneer. No need to pretend I was under his demonic thrall anymore.
    “Well, hi there, bro. Couldja send the hubby on out?”
    “You are not welcome here, Cat,” he said, as if he owned the place.
    “ Au contraire, my good man. Cut off or not, I’m still Bones’s legal wife, and vampire law states that wherever one spouse is, the other automatically has an invitation, too. So either send Bones out, or I’m coming in.”
    The bottom of my black jacket rustled in the cold wind, but not the top. That was too weighted down with weapons. Wraith had either heard enough about my reputation to guess that, or he could tell from my expression that “no” wasn’t an acceptable answer to me. He disappeared inside the house, and seconds later, another vampire came out, but not the one I was here for.
    Mencheres stood in the doorway, his Egyptian features schooled into hard, unreadable planes. It only took one look into his eyes to know that Wraith had ordered him to kill me.

 
    Thirteen
    T HE SUDDEN OVERWHELMING pressure on my neck came before I could even attempt to run, not that running would have done any good. Mencheres didn’t need me to stand still to rip my head off.
    But just as quickly as that awful squeezing started, it stopped. A red dot appeared on Mencheres’s forehead, darker gore spattering the doorway behind him. He dropped to his knees, the strangest look on his face as he slowly pitched forward.
    “Nice shot, Ian,” I muttered, and then ran toward the door. The single silver bullet wouldn’t kill Mencheres, but silver took much longer to heal, buying us precious time until his brains unscrambled and he regained consciousness.
    And once that happened, if we were still here, we’d be toast.
    Someone crashed into me right as I cleared the threshold. It happened so fast I didn’t see who it was, but the softer flesh made my attacker either Annette or Kira. Her momentum propelled us into the nearest wall and pain thudded through me from blows I made no move to defend against. Blond hair caught my eye as my attacker bent to rip her fangs through my shoulder, missing my