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From the clout oozing off his body, I judged him to be roughly five hundred or a young Master. Out of the seven, he was the most dangerous, and his previous sentence scared the shit out of me. Your old boyfriend . That was how they knew about me. Mother of God, it wasn’t Bones who killed thosepeople, but these vampires instead! What they would have done to him to make him talk both sickened and infuriated me.
    “Where is he?”
    The only question that mattered. If they’d killed Bones, I was going to turn them all into exact replicas of the mattress behind me. Indistinguishable from one particle to the next.
    “He’s here. Alive still. If you want him to remain that way, you’ll do what I tell you.”
    The other minions began to fan out, trapping me with the bedroom as my only exit. Since it was a closed area, there was no help there.
    “Let me see him.”
    Curly Hair smiled smugly. “No demands, girl. Do you think those knives will really protect you?”
    When my grandparents were murdered and I’d rammed a car through a house to rescue my mother, I thought I couldn’t get any angrier. How wrong I was. The unadulterated bloodlust pouring through me made me tremble. They took my shaking for fear, and their smiles broadened. Curly stepped forward.
    Two of the daggers flew out of my hand before I even articulated the order to my brain. They buried past their hilts in the heart of a vamp to my left, who had been licking his lips. He pitched forward before his tongue finished its insinuating path. More knives replaced those, and once again both my hands were full.
    “Now I’m going to ask again, and don’t piss me off. I have spent the morning up to my ass in guts and I am low on patience. The next one’s aimed for you,Brownielocks, unless you show me what I want to see. Your boys might get me in a rush, but you’ll be too dead to care.”
    My eyes bored into his, and I let him see that I meant every single word. Unless they showed me Bones, I was going to assume the worst and go down in flames, and by God, I’d see they went with me.
    There must have been something in my gaze he took seriously. He jerked his head at two of his stunned lieutenants. They took a last look at their friend, who was slowly beginning to shrivel, before trotting off. One untwisted knife wouldn’t have killed the vamp. But two had done the necessary damage to his heart. In the background, I heard the clanking of irons, and then I knew where they had Bones. Hell, once I’d been chained there myself. Now I was sure I could hear a heartbeat. Did they have a human guard on him?
    The leader studied me dispassionately.
    “You are the one who’s been murdering our kind the last several years. A human with the strength of an immortal, the one they call the Red Reaper. Do you know how much money you’re worth?”
    Holy shit, now that was ironic. He was a bounty hunter, and I was his mark. Well, it was only a matter of time, I supposed. You can’t off a hundred creatures and expect no one to get cranky.
    “A lot, I hope. Hate to be on clearance.”
    He frowned. “You mock me. I am Lazarus, and you should quake before me. Remember, I hold the life of your love. Which means more to you—his fate, or yours?”
    Did I love Bones enough to die for him? Absolutely.Relief that he wasn’t behind this made me almost cheerful about my impending death. Any day of the week I’d rather die than suspect him of such cruelty again.
    Sobbing brought my attention back to the situation. What was going on? A glance at my watch showed fifteen minutes before bomb time. Bones would have to get out fast before that missile hit. Lazarus wouldn’t be around to collect any cash. Maybe I’d tell him that before the timer ran out.
    Something human and weeping was thrown to the surface near my feet. I gave it a disparaging look before turning to Lazarus.
    “Quit stalling. I don’t need to see one of your chew toys to believe you’re all badasses. Really, I’m