Bones is wrong, I don't know him, I thought as I looked at the unfamiliar vampire. He was about six feet, with an angular face framed by long brown hair and a tight beard. A wide, pale forehead set off deep-set eyes. He wasn't handsome in the classic sense, but his looks were striking. I would have remembered him if we'd met before.
Scars crisscrossed the hand he extended to me. "You must be the Red Reaper."
He had an odd accent and his greeting wasn't "hello, how do you do?" typical, but I'd heard worse. "You have me at a disadvantage," I replied, shaking his hand.
Power sizzled up my arm. Whoever he was, he was a Master. And several hundred years old, at my guess.
"I rather doubt that." As he gave me the same evaluating stare I was giving him.
"Stop undressing her with your eyes," Bones snapped. "Though you weren't at the wedding, I'm certain you're aware that she's my wife."
The stranger laughed. He had unusual eyes, I noticed. Copper-colored and ringed with emerald. "My invitation must have been lost in the international mail."
Bones ignored that. "Mencheres, I hope there's a reason you brought him?"
"He has information," Mencheres said before turning to me. "Ah, Cat. Pleasure to see you again."
After all this time, you'd think I'd have known better, butCan't say the same was my first thought.
Bones gave me a look. I grimaced.It just flew out! Truth be told, I didn't know why I always had a knee- jerk reaction of dislike with Mencheres. Maybe we'd been enemies in a former life. By now, I'd believe anything.
Mencheres didn't comment on my uncouth version of "long time no see," so I tried for something polite out loud.
"Mencheres. Hi."
"Let's get this over with," Bones grumbled, turning to the other vampire. "Kitten, this is Vlad."
A bark of laughter escaped me before I could stuff it back. Jeez, someone had issues. "Not too original. You're the dozenth Vlad I've come across."
His thin lips curled. "I rather doubt they came by their names at birth as I did."
I waited for the punch line, but it didn't come. Bones still had that annoyed but serious expression on his face, and with growing awareness, I saw that none of the other vampires were laughing.
Finally I found my voice. "You'reDracula? You have got to beshitting me!"
While I was busy being flabbergasted, the other undead guests said hello. Vlad was greeted with tempered courtesy by everyone except for Annette. She gave him a kiss on the mouth that had me shaking my head at her.
Oh, Dracula as well, Annette? I guess if Frankenstein and the Wolf Man were real, they'd already have double-teamed you.
A wheeze came out of Mencheres. If I didn't know better, I'd have said it was a laugh.
Bones gave me another "watch your thoughts, for bloody sake" look. I redirected my observations about Annette's sexual history to the undead legend in front of me.
"Dracula. When I was sixteen and trying to learn anything I could about vampires, I read a lot about you. Bram Stoker almost made you sound nice, because the historical record paints you with a much nastier brush."
Bones lost his frown at once and gave me an approving grin. I rolled my eyes.So it's okay to insult him, just not Annette? Hypocrite.
"I don't answer to that name, and you shouldn't be so quick to believe everything you read. Recorded history's nothing if not fickle. I wonder what it will have to say of you, Catherine?"
"My name is Cat," I corrected him at once. "You remember mine and I'll get yours right."
After further introductions were made, we settled in the family room. Yes, the living room would have been nicer, but I wanted comfortable surroundings while plotting to murder one famed historical figure with another one. Vlad took the chair nearest me, situating himself as if it were a throne. He gave Bones an arch little smile that made me think he'd done it just to piss Bones off, which it had. Bones took his place beside me on the couch and clasped my hand, pointedly.
Despite the circumstances, the ten-year-old child inside me wanted to pepper Vlad with questions.Who's buried in the church by your castle? Did you really nail turbans onto the heads of the sultan's emissaries when they refused to take them off? When did you become a vampire-before or after you supposedly drank glasses of blood on a battlefield as you dined among the men you'd impaled?
"A peasant of similar height. Yes. After, and it was red wine I drank."
Motherfucker, I thought before slamming my mind shut.Another one.
"Impressive." Vlad flicked his gaze from me to Bones. "I wonder where she learned to develop such exceptional mental shields? Have you been hiding something, young man?"
"Don't come into my home and patronize me, you crusty old bat. You're a guest, so behave as one."
"Vlad..." There was a touch of reprimand in Mencheres's voice. More interesting was that Vlad responded to it with a conciliatory flick of his fingers.
"Yes, right. I promised to set our differences aside for the greater good and that's why I'm here. You know I don't like you, Bones, and you don't like me. In fact, if Patra had sided against you without also crossing Mencheres, I might be sitting with her now."
Bones shrugged. "And if it weren't for Mencheres, you and I would have danced a long time ago. But Mencheres holds you in high esteem and he must have a reason for it, so I'll trust his judgment that you're not the worthless sod I think you are."
I blinked. Talk about an uneasy truce.
Mencheres stood. His courtly manners made him seem harmless, but I knew looks were deceiving. In a fight, I was betting he'd be terrifying.
"Bones, I was shocked to hear Patra used magic against Cat. It's forbidden for vampires to practice magic, as you're aware. But we do have an advantage. Utilizing such a spell will weaken Patra for days, which gives us time to strike back at her, if we can find her. Vlad has information on where one of her people might be."
Bones turned a cold gaze to Vlad, who just grinned at him.
"Never thought you'd need something from me, did you?"
"You've already made up your mind whether you're going to tell me or not, so either spit it out or rack off," Bones replied shortly.
Vlad's eyes flicked to me, and then, oddly, to Tate.
"I can smell his lust for Cat. He doesn't even try to hide it. Pisses you off a great deal to have someone in your line openly lusting after your wife, doesn't it?"
"Hey, just a minute," I began, even as Bones raised a brow and snapped, "Your point?" to Vlad.