One Foot in the Grave (28 page)

“Yes.”

It was Juan who spoke. His eyes were bright with unshed tears. “We wake him up and let him choose. I miss my friend. I don’t care what he eats.”

That lump was back, with reinforcements. Nearby Cooper shrugged. “I didn’t know him very well, so my opinion should count the least. However, if Cat can handle being half of a freak, couldn’t Dave handle being a whole one? It would seem easier to me.”

Tate stared at Bones in a measured, calculating way. “You don’t give a shit what the rest of us think. You’re only offering to do this for her.”

“Absolutely,” Bones said at once. “Better for the rest of you as well? That’s just your luck.”

“Yeah, well, I say go for it, but I think you’re full of shit and you can’t pull him out from under that headstone. But I’ll be sure to apologize if I’m wrong.”

Don and I were the only ones not to ante up, and it was betting time. There was almost no hair left at the end of my uncle’s eyebrow as he stared at Bones.

“We have a saying in the military: Leave no man behind. We haven’t done that on any of our missions yet, and I’m not about to start. Bring him up.”

That only left me. I thought of Dave, and the fear of trying to get him back and failing. Or even worse, him coming back and then being repelled into suicide by what he was. Finally I thought of Dave’s last garbled comment as he bled to death in my arms:
’on’t…let me…’ie…

That made the decision for me. “Do it.”

T
HE CEMETERY WAS COMPLETELY QUARANTINED
off. Even the airspace above it was closed. My entire team was in place around the perimeter. Farther back, there were more guards. Don wasn’t taking any chances on interruption. He was even filming, and one of the dozen men in the immediate vicinity of the grave held a portable camera.

Rodney glanced at all the pomp and shook his head.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Look at all this shit.”

“All this shit” encompassed the hundred-plus military presence. Rodney was camera-shy. He didn’t trust the government as far as he could throw them, which, in his case, was actually pretty far, but suffice it to say he didn’t like the audience of brass.

Bones didn’t care about the onlookers. When it was finally time, he held up three fingers. From the dozen volunteers in our unit, that number stepped forward. We could have used plasma bags, but according to Bones,
fresh blood had more kick to it. My three captains and I weren’t on the menu tonight, because he wanted us strong in case things went south. Like Dave’s head, for example. A sword was at my feet just in case. I’d insisted on being the one to wield it, if it came to that. Dave was my friend. If he wanted to die a second time, it would be from the hand of someone who loved him, although what comfort that might give was questionable.

A medical team stood by, discreetly out of direct eyesight. After Bones drained them to the point of dizziness, the three men staggered over to the med unit. They would get transfusions on the spot with the handiness of modern science.

The casket had been raised from the dirt. It hurt just to see it. All the clamps and seals were broken, and the spotlights illuminated Dave’s face when the lid was flipped back. We were under a tent even though it was well after dark. Don’s paranoia that someone would witness this attempt mandated the tent, on top of everything else. A little corpse reanimation made him downright jittery.

Rodney had a special curved knife for the next part. The five of us gathered closer as Dave was lifted from his casket and laid on the ground.

“Jesus,” Tate mumbled as he saw Dave fully under the lights.

I gripped his hand and found that it was shaking. So was mine. Even Juan trembled next to me, and I clasped his hand as well. My grip increased when they cut the clothes off him from the waist up.

I smothered a gasp when that wickedly curved blade drove into Dave’s breastplate as easily as a knife
through cake. Rodney carved out a sizable piece of his rib cage, exposing the heart and surrounding organs. Bones casually placed that piece aside on a waiting tray that now resembled nothing short of a platter.

Who ordered the ribs?
the macabre thought raced through my mind.

Rodney doffed his shirt and folded it neatly before placing it well outside the circle. He already had a spare pair of pants there. Then he squatted beside Bones, who was dressed only in a pair of dark shorts. His skin gleamed under the fluorescent lights, but my usual admiration was absent. Must have been the sight of him plunging that same dagger under Rodney’s rib cage, wiggling it around, and then drawing out the ghoul’s heart.

Two of the waiting blood donors vomited. The rest looked like they wanted to join in. I couldn’t blame them, but thankfully, my throat stayed clear. Rodney was amazingly quiet throughout, only grunting a few times and making a comment about paybacks. Bones snorted with grim amusement at that. Rodney’s heart was then placed on another waiting tray before they turned their attention back to Dave.

This part was much simpler with his breastplate off.
Swish, swish, swish
, and out came Dave’s heart. Rodney unceremoniously shoved it inside his chest cavity while Bones arranged Rodney’s former ticker in Dave. Finally satisfied with the placement, he leaned over Dave’s torso and dragged the knife deeply across his own throat.

The soft outcry came from me, not him, at the sight of his neck hacked open. Bones had warned me that this
would be graphic, but hearing and seeing were two different things. With his power, he forced the blood from his body. It came in crimson streams. He had to cut his neck three more times after it healed, and there were more sounds of indigestion from the troops. When that red flow finally slowed, Bones set the knife down and waved at the remaining donors.

“Move it,” I hissed when there was hesitation.

One by one the seven men knelt down, Bones drinking from their necks before they stumbled away. When the last one headed for the medic unit, Bones reopened his artery and the faucet was turned back on.

Something began to happen. I could feel it before seeing anything. The air became charged with energy. My skin crawled as it slipped over me. Blood continued to gush into Dave’s chest, overflowing the cavity, and then my own heart stopped for a second when I saw his finger twitch.

“Holy fucking Christ,” Tate breathed.

Dave’s hand lazily curled, flexing. Next came his feet, toes flinching sporadically even as the torrent of blood from Bones ebbed again.

“He needs more. Get another six men,” Rodney barked, since with his throat open, Bones could hardly speak.

I shouted out the order, unable to tear my eyes away. There was scrambling as more donors were rounded up. Rodney helpfully held them in front of Bones long enough for the refills to take place, and then each man was dragged away to the medics. Distantly I hoped they’d brought enough plasma, because this was taking much more blood than we had anticipated.

When Dave’s head tilted to the side and his eyes opened, I fell to my knees. Rodney placed his severed rib cage back over Dave’s chest like fitting a piece into a puzzle. Bones rubbed the area with the blood pooling around him, and I had to try twice before I could speak.

“Dave?”

His mouth opened and closed before a scratchy reply sent tears coursing down my cheeks.

“Cat? Did…the vampire…get away?”

God, he thought he was still in the cave in Ohio! That made sense, since it was his last memory. Bones and Rodney moved away. Juan wept, mumbling in Spanish. Tate knelt, shell-shocked, before he touched Dave’s hand and broke into tears at the answering squeeze.

“I don’t believe it. I do not
fucking believe it!
”

Dave frowned at the three of us.

“What happened? You guys look awful…Am I in the hospital?”

I opened my mouth to respond when he reared back suddenly and sat up.

“There’s a vampire! What…”

He finally noticed the blood. Bones was also covered in it where he sat a few feet away. I held Dave by the shoulders and spoke urgently to him.

“Don’t move yet. Your chest hasn’t knitted together completely.”

“What—?” He looked down at himself, and then around the tented area before his eyes settled on the coffin and the headstone bearing his name.

“Dave, listen to me.” My voice was thick. “Don’t worry about the vampire; he won’t hurt you. Neither
will the ghoul next to him. You…you weren’t hurt in that cave in Ohio.
You were killed
. This is your grave, and that’s the coffin you’ve been inside for the past three months. You died that day, but…we brought you back.”

He stared at me as though I’d gone crazy, then a heartbreaking smile tugged his lips.

“You’re trying to scare me for breaking formation. I knew you’d be mad, but I never thought you’d go
this
far—”

“She’s not trying to scare you,” Tate croaked through his tears. “You died. We saw you die.”

Dave glanced in alarm at Juan, who gulped and hugged him hard, crawling behind him.

“
Mi amigo,
you were dead.”

“But what…how…”

I went to Bones and Rodney, laying a hand on each of them.

“We had a choice, Dave, and now you have to make one, too. These two brought you back, but there’s a price. Your humanity died with you, and nothing can change that. You’re only with us now…because you’re a ghoul. I’m so sorry for not warning you in time when that vampire ran out of the cave. He killed you, but you
can
continue on…undead.”

The denial filled his features as he looked at us, his surroundings, and then the headstone.

“Look, mate, feel your neck,” Bones said practically. “You don’t have a pulse. Take that knife.” He pointed at the instrument that had been busy all evening. “Slice it across your hand. See what happens.”

Dave cautiously placed two fingers to his throat,
waited, and then his eyes bugged. He grasped the bloodied blade and drew it swiftly across his forearm. A thin line of blood welled before his flesh neatly closed together, and then he screamed.

I abandoned my previous position and clutched his hands. “Dave, let me tell you from experience that you can overcome an unexpected heritage. We are who we make ourselves to be, no matter what.
No matter what
. You’re still you. You’ll still laugh, cry, do your job, lose at poker…We all love you,
listen
to me. There’s more to you than your heartbeat! So much more.”

He started to cry, pink tears leaking out of his eyes. Juan, Tate, and I wrapped him in a group hug, covering him as he shook. Finally he pushed us back and wiped his eyes, staring at the blood on his fingers.

“I don’t feel dead,” he whispered. “I remember…hearing you scream, Cat, and seeing your face, but I don’t remember dying! And
how
can I go on if I’m dead?”

Tate answered fiercely, “Dead is stuffed inside that box, not what you are now. You’re my friend, always will be, no matter what the fuck you eat. I didn’t believe that pale prick when he said he could wake you up, but you’re here, and don’t you dare think of covering yourself back up with dirt. I need you, buddy. It’s been hell without you.”

“I missed you,
amigo
,” Juan said in almost incoherently accented English. “You can’t leave me again. Tate’s boring and Cooper only wants to train. You stay.”

Dave stared at us. “What’s been going on that you have a vampire and a ghoul raising the dead for you?”

I clutched his other hand. “Come with us and we’ll tell you all of it. You’ll be all right, I promise you. You used to trust me before; please,
please
trust me now.”

He sat where he was, silently staring at the headstone and the faces close to him. At last a wry smile twisted his lips.

“This is the weirdest thing of all. I feel fine. My mind’s cotton candy, but for a dead man, I feel pretty goddamn great. Are we in a cemetery?”

At my nod, he slowly stood up. “I hate cemeteries. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

I threw my arms around him and the tears fell again, but this time, I smiled through them.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

Juan led him out of the tent. Wordlessly, Don clapped a hand on his back, his own gaze shiny as they walked away. Bones still sat on the ground by Rodney.

I flung myself on him so hard it flattened him, heedless of the blood soaking him. With all my joy I kissed him, and when I finally pulled back, he smiled.

“You’re welcome.”

“Ahem.” Rodney grinned. “I helped, too, remember?”

I gave him a fervent lip-lock of gratitude that had Bones snatching me back with a snort of amusement.

“That’s thanks enough, luv. You won’t be able to get rid of him if you keep it up.”

“You look awful, Bones. God, is it always that brutal?”

Rodney answered the question. “No, not normally. Just about a pint usually does the trick, but your boy was cold for a long time. Frankly, I didn’t think it would work. You’re lucky Bones is strong.”

“I am lucky,” I agreed, but not only for that reason.

“Hey Crypt Keeper.”

It was Tate, and he had a resolute look to his face.

“I keep my word, so I’m here to say I’m sorry for saying you were full of shit, and in this case, I’m fucking thrilled to be wrong. Since vampires are more about actions than words, though, you can have a swig at my expense. You look like shit. Anybody ever told you you’re too pale?”

Bones laughed. “Once or twice, and since I’m knackered, I’ll take you up on your offer.”

He rose to his feet and Tate tilted his head. “Don’t kiss me first,” he snidely remarked.

Bones didn’t reply to that, but just sank his teeth into him. A minute later, his blond head lifted.

“Apology accepted. Kitten, we don’t want to keep your friend waiting. He has a lot to learn. Rodney, your assistance was greatly appreciated, but I know you want to go. I’ll ring you in a few days.”

I gave the ghoul a last hug before he disappeared into the night. Bones walked with his arm around me while Tate kept pace at my side.

“We still have to deal with my mother,” I said.

“Indeed, yes. Can’t have her trying to kill me all the time, can we? But don’t fret. She won’t be any harder to manage than raising the dead.”

“Don’t be so sure.” But even my mother couldn’t dampen my mood. Not with the empty grave behind me, and its former occupant waiting ahead of us by the car.