Rodney came out to meet us. The ghoul had the same smoldering-furious look in his eyes that I probably did. On impulse, I hugged him, feeling a lump in my throat when he squeezed me back, hard. Bones would walk through fire to get my mom back, if that’s what it took, but he’d do it out of love for me. Not out of any affection for her. My mother didn’t have many fans, which was her own fault; but right now, it meant more to me than I could articulate to know someone cared for her, flaws and all.
“She’s tough,” Rodney said. His beard rasped my cheek as he leaned back. “If we can get her back, she’ll make it. Doesn’t matter what she is now or what he’s done to her.”
“She wanted me to kill her,” I whispered. “God, Rodney, she always said she’d rather be dead than be a vampire.”
“She’ll make it,” he repeated. His voice hardened. “You had it hard growing up, but so did she. Justina’s shocked and scared now, but she’s not a quitter. I’d bet my life on it.”
“Rodney, the laws,” Bones began.
“Save it.” The ghoul let go of me to stare at Bones. “If you don’t manage to kill Gregor soon, I’m going after her, laws or no laws—and backup or no backup.”
“Don’t be a fool, that would be suicide,” Bones snapped.
Rodney gave him a cold smile. “You always said no one lives forever.”
I was torn between wanting to hug Rodney again and knowing Bones was right. “She’ll need you when we get her back,” I said, choosing logic for once. “My mother and I, you know we clash. You’re the only one she seems to listen to, but you can’t help her cope with being a vampire if you’re dead.”
Rodney flicked his gaze to me, then walked back into the house without another word. I had no idea if that meant he’d wait, or if that was his way of saying he wouldn’t.
“This won’t last long, Kitten,” Bones said, breaking the loaded quiet. “Gregor’s run out of tricks. He’ll be forced to seek me out soon, because each day he doesn’t, people will question why Gregor refuses to face the man who stole his wife and who’s daring him to a duel over her.”
That snapped my attention away from my mother. “When did you dare him to duel?”
Bones’s gaze was dark and steady. “I publicly challenged Gregor as soon as Mencheres told me he was invading your dreams.”
I’d known Bones had planned to fight Gregor in New Orleans, but I hadn’t known a standing challenge had been thrown down. The realization that at any time Gregor could accept it, resulting in a fight to the death between him and Bones, filled me with icy fear.
“He’s stronger than you are.” My voice was barely above a whisper.
Bones snorted. “I know that, luv, but he won’t be the first bloke I’ve shriveled who exceeded me in power. All I need is one mistake from Gregor, and he’s mine.”
I didn’t say aloud the thing that made my heart ache with dread.
But what if Gregor doesn’t make a mistake?
Two days passed with no word from Gregor. Rodney and I took turns wearing holes in the carpet pacing. Bones kept cautioning patience. If Rodney was anything like me, he loathed that word by now.
One thing the stress seemed to be good for was forcing myself awake and moving after dawn. I could now even walk through the entire morning hours, though it must look like I was doing an impression of a staggering drunk. Aside from stress being a motivator, I also continued to notice that the more I drank from Bones in the morning, the more I could push off the paralyzing effects of the sun breaking the horizon. Maybe good nutrition really was the key to health, for people or vampires.
Today, I’d marked a personal milestone; making it down the three-story winding staircase to the kitchen and back again. It took me two hours, something that in the afternoon, I’d accomplish in seconds, but I was happy with the progress even as I collapsed, exhausted, on the nearest chair.
“Tomorrow, I’m going outside,” I said. Direct sunlight would be even harder on me, but I had to get myself up to speed. Fast. As it was, a human could kick my ass from dawn to noon.
“Do you have any idea how remarkable it is that you’re even awake?” Bones said, gesturing to Mencheres. “Tell her. I slept from dawn until dusk for the first two months. It was considered admirable progress for me to be about during daylight at all in my third month. This is only your second week, Kitten.”
“It’s unprecedented,” Mencheres agreed.
His tone made me glance up at him. I caught a flicker of something on his face that quickly smoothed into impassiveness. Bones must have caught Mencheres’s tone, too, because he arched a brow.