Six

six

Zhen

People asked me what part of my job I disliked. Was it the endless traveling? No. Was it the danger? Hell to the naw. Or was it the uncertainty of what my schedule was like from day to day? Not really. That just kept me on my toes.

What I hated? Waiting.

Waiting for my prey to pop out was the worst. There was nothing to do except walk around and try to spot some sign of their appearance. Ugh. I’d rather be shot at than wait.

In this particular case, though, the waiting felt worse for some reason. I couldn’t put my finger on why until I saw the light pan the pond. I looked up sharply to see Kris slowly moving the light across, as if trying to spot our prey as well.

Oh. Yeah, having her nearby when there was danger probably had me even more on edge. Duh, I should have realized that before.

Southern nights sound pretty on paper, but honestly, the reality sucked. It was so humid out here even the devil was sweating today. Plus, the mosquitos kept coming after me even with all the bug spray I had on, which was just rude. I’d taken all the usual precautions against ticks, but I knew I’d better do a thorough check later in the shower. For me and Kris, because I did not trust this area. This was prime tick country right here.

The singing of insects muted but picked back up after a few seconds. I could smell the promise of rain in the air, hear the rumbling of a storm rolling in, and I started praying. Please, oh please, let our bait work so we could get out of here before that storm hit. Bloody Bones LOVED rain. They used it like a staircase to crawl about on land. It made fighting them so much harder.

I knew Jake had sensed the storm as well. He kept tilting his head back like he was gauging the sky. If it really did start raining, we’d have to abandon this hunt for the night. I wasn’t risking Kris by trying to fight it in the rain. Nothing was worth that.

A deep voice appeared out of the darkness right next to me. “Zhen.”

I leapt about two feet in the air, shotgun coming up automatically to aim, then realized who it was. Guo. He stood next to me, massive tongue out to the side in a laugh, golden eyes dancing. The little shit. He’d scared me so bad on purpose.

“I just about lost a baby,” I growled at him in Mandarin. “Don’t do that!”

He laughed outright then. “You make fun noises.”

“Is that all I am? A toy to you?”

Guo’s tongue lolled out. No denial there, huh?

“I came to warn you,” Guo stated, sobering a little. “This area smells…odd.”

I sobered immediately as well. I wasn’t about to doubt his nose. “Odd how?”

“That I cannot explain readily. You said there is a juvenile Bloody Bones here?”

“That’s what we’re thinking, that it’s a kid, but I can’t guarantee that. Why?”

“I do not smell a young one here. But there are signs one lives in this place.”

“Uh…so, what, it might have been a juvie but it’s grown in a week? That’s really fast for a growth spurt.”

His massive head dipped. “Agreed. Be on your toes. Something is not right here.”

“Good to know, and I will. Will you stay next to Kris?”

“She has asked that I patrol the area once more, to make sure it is just the Bloody Bones here, and I, too, want another look at the place. Then I will return to her.”

“Got it.”

Guo disappeared back into the night as quickly as he’d appeared. Freaking ninja. I’d have been mad if I wasn’t so jealous. I wanted skulking abilities like his.

All right, maybe I should make my way closer to Jake and our bait doll. Talk to him a little about pulling out early if it started to rain—

The surface of the pond abruptly broke, a skeletal arm slinging out and reaching for me without any warning. It was long enough to be a crane arm, half-rotting plant life of some sort hanging off of it. I jerked out of range, lifting the gun in my hand and firing quickly. The thing was massive—a giant human skeleton without legs, using its hands to navigate about. I heard the report of Jake’s gun going off as well, and he got in the perfect shot, hitting it in the side of the head.

The thing slumped immediately, a dying gasp rattling from its throat before it collapsed on the grassy bank.

Phew! I stood there and breathed for a second, heart still pounding from the adrenaline. Damn, that one had really come out of nowhere. I was glad Guo had snuck up on me a minute ago and gotten me fully awake. Otherwise, that might not have gone down so smoothly.

Jake jogged over, and despite the wan lighting, I could see the shit-eating grin from here.

“Good shot!” I congratulated him.

“I had a great angle,” he said modestly. “Is it truly dead?”

“Yup, no light in its eyes.” Bloody Bones had a pure red light in its eye sockets, and it wasn’t something it could disguise, having no skin. It was a very obvious indicator it was dead.

I turned and waved at Kris. “It’s dead, we’re good!”

“Oh good!” she called back, then shimmied down the tree.

I looked the situation over, brain kicking into higher gear. You couldn’t leave a Bloody Bones in place. Doing so would breed more of them, as they were prolific little fuckers. It wasn’t precisely that they reproduced, but they went through the necessary motions to create more. It was all they did, create more of themselves—usually by digging up other skeletons in the area and assembling them—and eating. Worse than rabbits, these guys. We’d need to haul this thing out and properly burn it in a shamanic ritual, otherwise we’d be back here doing the exact same job six months from now. But I couldn’t very well do a ritual or burn it if we had a rainstorm coming in tonight.

Kris knew all this—we’d talked while setting up for tonight—and she pointed a finger toward the sky as she came closer. “That really does not look good. I don’t think you can get the whole thing burned to ashes before the sky lets loose.”

“I’m afraid you’re right. What we might need to do is a ritual to keep anything from using or snatching it, then burn it.” I slipped my gun back into its holster and turned to Jake. “Hey, grab your chain, and let’s haul this thing out. I don’t want it slipping back into the water.”

“Sure.” Jake immediately turned on a heel and jogged for the Jeep.

Damn, what a night this had been. I looked around and blew out a stressed breath.

Our bait doll was very popped now, as the Bloody Bones had landed on it while dying, so that needed to be tossed as well. I gathered it up, dropped the wig, and had to bend again to scoop it up. Honestly, I was not sure how well this thing had worked. It might have worked better in theory than in practice, considering it had been rather ignored. I guessed it took more than blood to bait a Bloody Bones.

Maybe one of those heartbeat stuffies like you gave to puppies—

From behind me, I heard the water break again, like something had just jetted out of it. Water splashed the back of my neck. What the hell? Kris screamed at the same time, and adrenaline shot through me as I whipped around, throwing the doll to the side as I moved.

I took the situation in, needing that second to understand what had just happened. A second Bloody Bones had appeared, and from the size, it was a fucking adult. The bone was more aged—a stark white—and the height of it was more like a house. Just the head alone could’ve swallowed me whole without trouble. Shit . It lurched over the dead one, grabbing Kris’s leg and hauling her quickly down the grass and toward the water.

I snatched my shotgun from its holster, bracing and taking aim, because like hell this thing was taking my wife—

Guo appeared out of fucking nowhere, leaping out of the darkness, fire spewing from his mouth like he was a furnace in the wild, and he got a firm hold on the Bloody Bones’s arm, snarling as his teeth sank in. Mùchén appeared out of thin air not a second later, also biting it, helping Guo draw this thing to an abrupt halt. They stopped Kris from being dragged in, and all my wife needed was that moment. A shot rang out, and the Bloody Bones jerked backward before the light in its eyes died and it slumped abruptly, clattering as it sank onto the dead one next to it.

I raced to Kris, keeping one hand on my gun—I trusted nothing right now—and got an arm around her, hauling her up into my chest before towing her away from the pond. Fortunately, when the Bloody Bones died, the grip it’d had on her leg had loosened, and it was easy to get her away.

Kris’s hands twisted into my shirt, legs a little clumsy as she tried to get her balance. Only when we were a good dozen feet from the pond did I stop. Even then, my heart pounded, and something akin to panic skittered under my skin.

Jake came racing back, gun out and at the ready. “What the hell just— Holy shit! There was a second one?!”

“Yeah.” My heart still raced, and Kris trembled a little, wide eyed. I looked her over, not seeing any obvious signs of injury, but I only had the LED light to go by and it was dark as fuck out here. “Kris?”

“I’m—I think I’m okay.” Her words shook with a fine tremor.

I took that assurance with about a pound of salt. Sometimes with people (me), adrenaline could run so hot and heavy that you didn’t realize how bad an injury was until hours later. I’d have to check her thoroughly once we were back at the hotel and do a cleansing ritual in the shower to make sure she didn’t have any Bloody Bones cooties.

Jake skittered over to her other side, looking her over, too. He looked worried and mad, and those were two emotions I felt as well.

But I was also proud as hell. “She shot it.”

Jake’s brows shot up past his hairline. He let out a whistle. “Damn, Kris.”

A shaky grin teased her mouth up. “What can I say, I do things with a bang.”

“You sure as hell do.” I hugged her tight and whispered in her ear, “It’s very sexy of you.”

That startled a laugh out of her, although it sounded weak. Her heart was still likely climbing back down out of her throat. Mine sure was. Me in danger? Sure, sounded fun. My wife in danger? Hell to the fucking no. That was a whole other level of scary I did not want to explore, thanks very much.

“Take her back,” Jake urged. “I’ll call Sheriff Tucker, have him come help me drag them out of the water. Iron spikes pinning them to the ground will keep them from being shanghaied until you can do the ritual burning, right?”

“Right.” That was a good idea, and I knew Jake had stakes in the Jeep. “You don’t mind?”

“Naw, man. Take care of her. Just give me the stakes first.”

“Sure.”

We all headed quickly to the Jeep after that. Guo and Mùchén were right next to Kris the whole time, and Guo kept getting scratches and pets. I seriously owed them both. I couldn’t stop kicking myself for my oversight. Guo had told me there was something off about this area, but I’d stupidly let Kris come in closer, thinking the job was done. Basic Slaying 101—never take a kill for granted. Apparently, being laid up for a while had dulled my instincts. Kris coming so close to being seriously hurt filled me with guilt, and tangled in with it was panic. An image of what would have happened without Mùchén and Guo there played in my mind and made me shudder. I would not make the same mistake a second time.

Kris didn’t say much on the drive back to the hotel. Thankfully it was only five minutes. Mùchén followed us up to the door and then snuffed at Kris’s hand before melding into the darkness. He generally chose to stay around the hotel’s perimeter to give us couple time, which I appreciated.

“Remind me to buy them a steak later,” Kris murmured as we let ourselves in.

“I’m buying them a whole cow.”

She snorted a laugh, and I could see in her body language she was beginning to unwind a little. Being away from the pond likely helped.

Once we were in our room, I toed off my wet and muddy boots into the little rubber boot tray near the door, then gestured Kris into the chair. “Here, sit.”

“I don’t think I’m bruised or anything.” She sat anyway, already working on one shoe. “Nothing hurts.”

“Just let me make sure.”

I worked off her shoes, socks, and pants in quick order before getting a good look. Her calves and thighs did look fine. The grip had been tight, but apparently not bruising tight. Phew, good. This could have been so much worse.

All right, physically she was fine. Mentally? Emotionally? That was my next question. I looked up at her, still kneeling at her feet, and gave her a once-over. Her expression seemed…well, overwhelmed just about covered it.

“How are you feeling, lǎo pó ?”

She held up two fingers, one on each hand. “On the one hand, I’m damn proud of myself for getting that shot off even while I was panicking.”

“It was definitely sexy of you,” I said in agreement. “What’s on the other hand?”

“Still rattled. Because that was close and I’m… Like, my head keeps playing this visual of what could have happened, and being dragged into the pond would have been terrifying.”

“For you and me.” I didn’t mind saying it. I didn’t want to discount what she felt, as she had every right to find the idea terrifying. I found it terrifying. “Know that if it had happened, I would have immediately been on your heels. So would Guo, Mùchén, and Jake. Nothing would have stopped us.”

Her face relaxed into a warm smile. “I do know that.”

“Good. Are you up for a hot shower? I want to do a basic cleansing ritual on you.”

“Ewww, do I have Bloody Bones germs on me?”

“That and pond scum.”

She didn’t even think about it for more than a second before nodding decisively. “Shower. Now.”

“May I join you?”

Kris leaned in and smacked a kiss on my mouth. “Always.”

She was going to be just fine. She was already bouncing back from this.

I stood, bringing her up with me, and we retreated into the bathroom. I had pond scum and monster cooties on me, too, so a shower was a necessity for both of us. Kris got the water going, and I ducked out to grab my salt scrub. It was a specialty made by my mother. It not only exfoliated the skin, but it also cleansed all rotten energy. I’d packed a new bottle before leaving, but now I was thinking I should have brought two.

When I returned to the bathroom, Kris was already naked and in the shower, her head tilted back to let the water sluice over her. I paused for a moment, in part to appreciate the view because her curves were damn fine, but also to search for anything I may have missed. She still didn’t appear bruised or scratched up, which I considered to be a miracle.

Proving she could hear fine over the water, Kris spoke without moving a muscle. “You going to just look?”

“It’s a very nice view.” I grinned and moved the glass door so I could step in with her. “You can’t blame me for stopping to appreciate it.”

She tilted her head to look over her shoulder, smirking up at me. “You’re so easy.”

“Guilty.”

“Is that a salt scrub in your hands?”

“Mom’s concoction, and yes. It will cleanse your aura of any bad juju clinging to you. Plus, it smooths the skin out.” I screwed the lid off the glass bottle. “Hands up.”

She stretched her arms up. I started at her armpits and worked my way down, careful of the tender skin from her recently closed wound, but I hit it especially, as I didn’t want swampy swamp infection in it. Then I continued down over her legs, muttering the cleansing ritual as I did so. It wasn’t anything complicated, basically repeating you do not have permission to be here, off with you over and over again. I made sure to linger over her calves and feet, but I also felt like she was fine. The salt and water had done the trick.

“Okay, your turn.” Kris made a gimme motion with her hand.

I was all right with that. I handed the salt scrub over. “You got the mantra?”

“You only repeated it a hundred times.” She winked. “I think I got it.”

I shrugged and let her do it. Plus, it was nice having her hands all over my body, even if this was more clinical than amorous.

She finished all too soon, capped the bottle, then stuck it on the showerhead caddy. The second it was there, she turned immediately and glomped me about the waist, her head tilted back as she blinked up at me in the most adorable fashion. The water had turned her hair a glorious wheat gold, the heat of the shower flushing her cheeks, and I did love me a wet wifey. She looked very tempting. Seriously, whatever she was about to ask for, she’d be getting a yes. I had no immunity against her.

“Shower sex?”

Oh, thank fuck, it was something I wanted to say yes to. “Your wish is utterly my command.”

That put the sparkle back in her grey eyes. She leaned up to kiss me, and I met her halfway, taking those soft lips with mine. Kris was always a pleasure to kiss. Her delight was so apparent, and I couldn’t resist such obvious pleasure and joy.

Her hands trailed down to my ass and gave it a loving squeeze. I was weak for having my ass played with—she knew this—and she was egging me on just then. Such a wicked creature.

A little ball of stress unraveled over the knowledge she felt at ease enough to tease. After the events of tonight, I was still riding adrenaline pretty hard, and the bitterness of panic was still a tang in my mouth. I wanted to get past it all, to let the past be the past, so I threw myself mentally into the present.

I trailed my mouth down her cheek, searching for the spot right below her ear that always got a sigh from her. She tasted like warm skin and water—a lovely combination. Having her close like this, with all of my senses filled with her, shoved the darkness of tonight further aside.

Those lovely hands of hers skimmed around the sides of my hips and down, and mmm , that was delightful right there. She was really ramping me up. It didn’t take much, really. All she needed to do was enter a room and give me that look of hers and I was pretty much gone. Still, I loved the attention right now.

I got both hands under her butt to lift her up a little, startling a laugh from her, just so I could get my mouth on one of her breasts. I’d discovered she liked it a little rough when I touched her breasts, so the laugh very quickly changed to a moan when I gave one hard suck.

She was so easy to love. It was part of why lovemaking was so fun with her. And I really wanted to drive her crazy. I lowered her back to her feet, switched my mouth to her other breast, and put my hands to work.

Gorgeous sounds poured out of her as I played, spiking my own arousal, and her fingers slid into my hair to grip in the way she knew I loved. They tightened in my hair as she came with a long moan, and it pulled a groan out of me in return.

Before she’d even fully caught her breath, I felt hot fingers wrap around me and start stroking. Now she played with fire. The more she did that, the more desperate I was to be inside her. Scratch that—I needed in her now .

I pulled off, freeing my mouth to ask, “Brace against the wall, or—”

“Mm, no.” She pulled free of me completely, then turned so her back was to me, hands braced against the tile. Her look back was pure sin. “Like this?”

“Hell yeah.”

I slid right in, her amazing ass pressed up against me. Damn, it never got old, being able to do this. Also, I was very glad she’d gotten on birth control because I did not have the patience just then to get out and fetch a condom.

Kris gave a little wiggle once I was fully seated, impatient with me, and that was even hotter. If she got any more sexy than this, I might well combust.

I slid back an inch, pressed in, felt her moan more than heard it. Ahh, too good. It felt too good. I picked up speed, found the rhythm we both liked, all the while Kris egged me on by matching my pace.

It was perfect, but I wanted as much skin contact with her as I could get. I leaned in over her back, one of my hands finding hers on the tile, twining our fingers together. The new angle changed the sounds she made to this breathy little cry.

Oh? She liked that angle better? Well, I could do that.

I kept going, but my thrusts got harder, sharper, as I loved the sounds pouring out of her throat. She sounded like she was having the time of her life, and I absorbed her pleasure like it was my own.

My free hand slipped down and around, and she went from enjoying the friction to damn near coming out of her skin. Her fingers dug into my upper arm, head thrown back, breath short and choppy. She loved all of this, and I couldn’t hold back from driving her even higher.

Then she clamped down, her entire body seizing as she came hard. It felt like she sucked my climax right out of me, as I thrust in hard and came without any real warning.

I managed to keep my balance somehow, despite the fact I was a little fuzzy around the edges. My hand kept her up, somehow, my hold tight around her waist.

Kris’s head rolled a little so she could kiss my jawline. “Must have more shower sex.”

“Must,” I agreed without hesitation. “For now, get out?”

“ Mmm , yes. Water’s starting to cool off, anyway. Plus, sleep.”

After the night she’d had? “Absolutely.”