I'd just crouched behind one of the living room chairs when I heard a car door shut and then Fabian's voice.
"You won't believe what I found around the edge of your property," the ghost announced. "A cave with prehistoric paintings inside it!"
I rolled my eyes. That was the best tactic Fabian could come up with? This was a vampire he was trying to stall. Not a paleontologist.
"Good on you," an English voice replied, sounding utterly disinterested. Booted footsteps came to the door, but then paused before going further. I sucked in a breath I no longer needed. No cars were in the driveway, but did the vampire sense that several people lurked out of sight, waiting to pounce on him as soon as he crossed that threshold?
"Fabian," that cultured voice said next. "Are you sure there isn't anything else you want to tell me?"
A hint of menace colored the vampire's tone. I could almost picture my friend quailing, but his reply was instant.
"No. Nothing else."
"All right," the vampire said after a pause. The knob turned. "Your exorcism if you're lying."
I stayed hidden behind the chair, a silver knife gripped in one hand and the remote transmitter in the other. When the sound of boots hit the wood floor inside the house, I pressed the button and leapt up at the same time.
"Surprise!"
Confetti unleashed from the ceiling onto the vampire's head. With a whiplike motion, I threw my knife and severed the ribbon holding closed a bag of balloons above him. Those floated down more slowly, and by the time the first one hit the floor, the vampires who'd been concealed in the other rooms had come out.
"Happy Birthday," they called out in unison.
"It's not every day someone turns two hundred and forty five," I added, kicking balloons aside as I made my way to the vampire in the doorway.
A slow smile spread across his features, changing them from gorgeous to heart-stopping. Of course, my heart had stopped beating - for the most part - over a year ago, so that was my normal condition.
"This is what you've been so secretive about lately?" Bones murmured, pulling me into his arms once I got close.
I brushed a dark curl from his ear. "They're not just here for your birthday, they're staying for the holidays, too. We're going to have a normal, old-fashioned Christmas for once. Oh, and don't exorcise Fabian; I made him try to stall you. If you were ten minutes later, I'd have had streamers set up, too."
His chuckle preceded the brush of lips against my cheek; a cool, teasing stroke that made me lean closer in instinctive need for more.
"Quite all right. I'm sure I'll find a use for them."
Knowing my husband, he'd find several uses for them, and at least one of those would make me blush.
I moved aside to let Bones get enveloped in well wishes from our guests. In addition to Fabian and his equally transparent girlfriend floating above the room, Bones's best friend, Spade, was here. So was Ian, the vampire who sired Bones; Mencheres, his young-looking vampire version of a grandfather; his girlfriend, Kira, and my best friend Denise. She was the only one in the room with a heartbeat, making her seem human to anyone who didn't know better. Our guest list was small because inviting everyone Bones knew for an extended birthday/holiday bash would require me renting a football stadium. Therefore, only Bones's closest companions were present.
Well, all except one.
"Anybody heard from Annette?" I whispered to Denise when she left Bones's side and returned to mine.
She shook her head. "Spade tried her twenty minutes ago, but she didn't answer her cell."
"Wonder what's keeping her."
Annette might not be my favorite person considering her previous, centuries-long "friends with benefits" relationship with Bones, but she'd be last on my list of people I'd expect to skip his birthday party. Her ties with Bones went all the way back to when both of them were human, and in fairness, Annette seemed to have accepted that her position in his life was now firmly in the "friends without benefits" category.
"She flew in from London to be here," Denise noted. "Seems odd that she'd decide a thirty minute car commute was too much."
"What's this?" Bones asked, making his way over.
I waved a hand, not wanting to spoil the festive mood. "Nothing. Annette must be running behind."
"Some bloke rang her right before we left the hotel. She said she'd catch up with us," Spade said, coming to stand behind Denise. With his great height, her head was barely even with his shoulders, but neither of them seemed to mind. Black hair spilled across his face as he leaned down to kiss her neck.
"Why am I the only one without someone to snog?" Ian muttered, giving me an accusatory glance. "Knew I should've brought a date."
"You didn't get to bring a date because the type of girl you'd pick would want to liven things up with a group orgy before cutting the cake," I pointed out.
His smile was shameless. "Exactly."
I rolled my eyes. "Deal with not being the center of slutty attention for once, Ian. It'll do you good."
"No it won't," he said, shuddering as if in horror. "Think I'll go to the hotel and see what's taking Annette."
Denise snorted. "Way to make do with who's available."
I bit back my laugh with difficulty. Denise's opinion of Ian - and Annette - was even worse than my own, but that didn't make her wrong. Still, out of respect for both of them being Bones's friends, I contained my snicker.
Far from being offended, Ian archly rose his brows. "Just following the American adage about turning a frown upside down."
Mencheres, ever the tactful one, chose that moment to glide over. "Perhaps we should turn our attention to gifts."
Bones clapped Ian on the back. "Don't take too long, mate."
"I'll try to limit myself to an hour," Ian replied with a straight face.
"Pig," I couldn't help but mutter. Hey, I'd tried to rein myself in! If vampires could still get diseases, I'd wish a festering case of herpes on him, but I suppose it was a good thing that Ian's ability to carry or transmit STD's died with his humanity.
Ian left, chuckling to himself the whole time.
Bones's arm slid across my shoulders, his fingers stroking my flesh along the way. I'd worn the backless halter dress because I knew he wouldn't be able to resist that bare expanse of skin, and I was right. Heat spilled over my emotions in its own caress as Bones dropped his shields so I could access his feelings. The tie that existed between us wasn't only forged in love. It was also the blood deep, eternal link between a vampire and their sire. Bones had changed me from a half vampire into a mostly-full one, and ever since, I could tap into his emotions like they were an extension of my own. There had been some serious drawbacks to my changing over, but I'd do it again just to have that level of intimacy between us.