Hex on the Beach by Kelley Armstrong

Chapter Two

Iwaited until I couldn’t hear Katie’s footsteps anymore before I said, “She’s up to no good out there.”

My mother’s eyes widened. “She isn’t smoking, is she?”

“I wish,” I replied with feeling.

Justina gave me an appalled glance. My wave dismissed it.

“That would at least be an expected form of pre-teen rebellion. She’s sneaking off to practice killing.”

Saying it out loud made it more real. Guilt, grief, and rage scalded me with its usual toxic mixture. I saved Katie from the human monsters that had held her captive, so why couldn’t I save her from the horrible things she’d learned from them?

“You’ve been spying on her?” Bones sounded more surprised by that than he was by hearing of Katie’s activities.

“I prefer ‘practicing attentive parenting,’” I muttered.

His look plainly said, Who are you bullshitting?

I threw up my hands. “Fine! Spying on her is messed up, but that’s hardly our main concern, is it?”

“Kitten, we told Katie it was wrong to kill anyone who wasn’t trying to harm her, but we never told her that she couldn’t still train.”

My eyes widened. “Isn’t that focusing on the letter of the law while ignoring the intent?”

“Maybe training is just familiar to her?” my mother said.

Justina, the excuse-making, indulgent grandmother? Never would’ve pegged her for that, but here she was, showing Katie more understanding for her trial slaughters than she’d shown me my entire childhood.

“She wasn’t just shadowboxing, Mom. She was kicking trees in half and then decapitating their fallen stumps.”

And appearing to enjoy it. That worried me the most. Had she enjoyed killing people in her former life?

Bones didn’t look concerned. For a second, something flashed across his face that looked traitorously like approval.

“Oh, come on,” I snapped. “She’s just a child!”

His dark brown eyes seemed to stare into my soul. “Yes, but she’s no ordinary child, and you know it. So, what’s really bothering you about this, Kitten?”

“I keep screwing things up with her!”

The words burst from me while emotions that I tried not to think about, let alone show, exploded free like a cork shooting out of a shaken-up champagne bottle.

“I wasn’t there for the first seven years of her life when she was experimented on and forced into becoming a killer,” I said, trying to regain control. “Now? What sort of mother am I? I can’t cook, I keep dropping f-bombs, I could barely stitch the tear in her favorite pants, and, oh yeah, I’m spying on her.”

My mother stood, not appearing to notice that she upended her chair with her fast, jerky movements.

“You love your daughter as she is.” Her voice vibrated, and I was shocked to see her eyes shine with unshed tears. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen my mother cry.

“I failed to do that with you when you were growing up, and it almost killed you. Don’t worry about the other stuff. Keep loving your daughter unconditionally, Catherine, and unlike me, you’ll always be a wonderful mother.”

With that, she left. Moments later, I heard her car start, and then the spin of gravel as she pulled away.

“Your mum is right.”

Bones’s statement broke the silence. I turned toward him, a humorless smile tugging my mouth.

“You and my mom agreeing? Is it the apocalypse again?”

He smiled back although his gaze was serious. “Hope not, but still, she’s right. You’d see it, too, if you weren’t so busy punishing yourself for what happened to Katie before we found her.”

Damn Bones. He always cut to the heart of matters, and worse, he frequently used logic as his scalpel.

“I know I’m not responsible for what was done to Katie, but I feel like I am,” I admitted. “Maybe, deep down, Katie feels that way, too? Maybe that’s why she’s acting out this way?”

Bones let out a soft snort. “Kitten, Katie isn’t doing this because she blames you for what happened to her.”

“Why, then?”

Bones gave me an unfathomable look. “Ask her, but not now. Ask her after you’ve had a mental break from trying to make up for every evil deed that someone else committed against her. That way, you’ll be able to truly hear her answer.”

“How do you propose I get this cleansing mental break?” I said with a wry scoff. “Give myself a lobotomy?”

His lip curled. “Those don’t work on vampires, so we’ll go with the more effective option of going on a getaway.”

I waited, but he didn’t follow up with ‘just kidding!’ “You think I’ll stop worrying about Katie if we’re off somewhere where neither of us can make sure that she’s okay?”

“’Course not,” he replied in an easygoing tone. “That’s why I’ll be staying behind, and you’ll go.”

I laughed. He only arched a brow.

“I’m quite serious. Denise was just saying it’s been too long since she’s seen you. I’m sure she’d love the chance to catch up, and Charles can certainly spare her for a week.”

Charles was Bones’s best friend, just like Denise was mine. I hadn’t seen her in several months, and I missed her, but…

“I can’t just up and leave. Katie—”

“We will be fine,” Bones interrupted. “I’ll be here, your mum and Tate are right down the road, and your uncle still floats by frequently though the spectral sod thinks I don’t know it.”

“That sounds great, but…uh…”

“Can’t imagine doing something solely for yourself?” Bones let out a knowing grunt. “Like most good mums, you’re too focused on everyone else, and now you’re burnt out from taking on too much. Time to recharge, luv. You deserve it. I’ll miss you, but we both know you won’t relax unless I’m here with Katie, so ring Denise and tell her you’re inviting her to a girls-only getaway. She’ll love it.”

I had no doubt. I kind of loved it, too, even if I had already started to think of a hundred reasons why I shouldn’t do it. Still, I hadn’t had a vacation in…God, several years.

“Fine. I’ll call Denise.”

“Call her later. Now, we’re making the most of Katie being out of the house. Have to give you a good reason to miss me, don’t I?”

He gave me a heated glance while a far hotter emotion slid through my subconscious, suffusing me with tantalizing sensations. He’d changed me into a full vampire, and that bond meant I felt his emotions as if they were my own—if he wanted me to. He wanted me to now, and when he grabbed me, his low laugh teased my lips before his mouth covered mine.

I barely noticed the blur of household fixtures as Bones flew us out of the kitchen and up the stairs. When we reached our bedroom, the door closed behind us on its own, and my clothes came off without either of us touching them.

Cooking wasn’t the only thing Bones excelled at. He’d also become a fairly powerful telekinetic, and he’d expanded his abilities far beyond moving simple objects with his mind. My moan turned into a gasp as both his hands and his power slid over me, caressing and teasing with knowing, skillful touches. Then my gasps turned into cries when his mouth replaced his hands, and his tongue shot honeyed fire through my veins.

I writhed beneath him, too caught up to say more than a panted “Now!” as I tried to pull him up from between my thighs.

His laugh hit my flesh like an erotic brush of feathers.

“Not yet, Kitten. I did say you needed some ‘you’ time, didn’t I? Let me get back to work on that…”