Free At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost Page B

the ugly side of the undead?
    “Bones, I’m not some delicate flower. I won’t be seeing anything I can’t handle.”
    “Yes you will,” Bones replied. “If you go, you will be horrified, because I’m going to make damn sure it’s horrifying, else it doesn’t serve its purpose. No, Kitten. Your compassion is one of the things I love most about you, but in this case, it will drive us apart. You’re not going, and that’s the end of it.”
    I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Hurt and anger competed inside me. How could Bones just take it upon himself to decide what I could and couldn’t handle? This was supposed to be a relationship, not a dictatorship.
    “Want to know one of the things I’ve loved most about you ?” I asked, a feeling of betrayal welling up in me. “That you never lorded your age over me. Yeah, there’s nothing I’ve seen or done that isn’t old news toyou, but you’d always treated me like an equal. Well, now you’re treating me like the pathetic little girl Max accused me of being. You want to have your nasty event without me? Fine. But whatever I would have seen later wouldn’t have come between us as much as what you just pulled did.”
    “Kitten…” Bones said, reaching out to me.
    I brushed past him and went upstairs. Below, Juan cleared his throat. Rattler whispered something about giving me time to cool off. Don coughed and muttered that he had to make more calls. Bones didn’t say anything else, and he didn’t come after me.

S EVEN
    M Y HURT LASTED THE REST OF THE DAY. I stayed in my room, not wanting to talk to anyone, especially Bones. He’d left me alone, too, not even attempting to come upstairs.
    But as the sky darkened, I decided I couldn’t just keep sulking. I showered again and went downstairs. Rodney had made dinner. God only knew where he’d gotten the steaks from; he must have sent someone to the store.
    Don, seated at the table with my mother, gave me a wintry smile. “We were just discussing hiring Rodney to cook for the team. I think it would improve productivity by thirty percent.”
    I snorted, noticing Bones was outside on the porch. “Probably more. Speaking of the team, where’s the new base?”
    “Tennessee, that former bomb shelter the CIA used to occupy. With some basic renovations, we should be up and running again within a week or two. The underground reinforcements make this facility the safest choice.”
    “I agree. When are you going there?”
    “Later tonight.” Don nodded at my mother. “You’ll have a place to stay there as well. We’ve also relocated your friends Denise and Randy on the off chance that Max discovered their home as well as yours.”
    “God, I hadn’t even thought of that!” I exclaimed, lashing myself for being an idiot. How could I have forgotten to consider the safety of my best friend and her husband?
    Don sighed. “You had other things on your mind. Being tortured and almost killed will do that to a person.”
    Rodney set a plate in front of me, and one in front of my mother. I almost fainted when she began to eat instead of hurling it at him. Had one of the vampires gotten tired of her bitching and bitten her into a better mood?
    She caught my flabbergasted look. “I watched what he put in it,” she said defensively.
    Rodney, instead of being insulted, just laughed. “You’re welcome, Justina.”
    I dragged my attention away from the unbelievable sight of my mother eating food a ghoul had prepared. “If you’re going to the new compound later, Don, I’m going with you.”
    Bones had been pacing on the porch while talking on his cell. At that, his booted stride stopped.
    Don cast a pointed glance out the window before meeting my gaze. “Are you sure that’s wise?”
    “Unless you fire me, I am going there today to check on my team,” I interrupted him. “That’s where I’m needed.” Since I clearly wasn’t wanted with Bones later.
    I ignored the muttered curse outside. Don spread out