I followed Bones’s voice to the second floor. He was in a navy-and-wood-paneled study/parlor—whatever rich people call extra rooms they seldom use. He’d showered and changed into a new set of clothes, too. His color looked better, indicating that he’d fed, but I was most relieved by his aura. It wasn’t fractured with exhaustion like it had been before. Bones might not be up to full strength yet, but at least he didn’t feel like he was about to keel over.

Mencheres was with him, his long raven hair pulled back into a single plait. No surprise, another mastiff was curled by his feet. Obviously, no one had told him that Egyptians from his era were supposed to be partial to cats.

“How’s Cooper?” was my first question. Please let nothing have gone wrong with his transformation . . .

“He’s fine, luv. Safely secured in a room below.”

One worry assuaged. I took a seat next to him on the couch, absently noting that the leather was butter soft.

“Any news about Katie?”

“Ian rang a few hours ago, said they hadn’t found her yet.” Bones stroked my arm, looking thoughtful. “Tate wasn’t surprised. Said she’d avoid people and hide until she’d fully assessed her situation.”

He sounded like he was quoting Tate. Once again, anger flared when I thought of everything that had been done to her. Katie shouldn’t be alone and operating with military-like caution. At her age, her biggest concerns should’ve been playing with dolls versus action figures.

I almost didn’t want to ask, but I had to. “Madigan?”

At that, Bones’s features tightened. “The same.”

Strike two. I took in a hopeful breath. “Any luck pulling some info off the hard drives we brought back?”

Mencheres answered that one. “I have my people working on them, but as of yet, they’ve been unable to recover any data.”

Strike three. Frustrated, I let out my breath. “So we’re nowhere closer to finding out who’s been backing Madigan all these years.”

And that person was probably on red alert now after hearing what happened at the McClintic compound. In short, we were back to square one. Maybe even a few squares behind since we had no idea if more Katies existed at other secret facilities.

Some days, it didn’t pay to get out of bed.

“Mencheres has a theory about that.”

If the edginess in his voice wasn’t clue enough, those soothing strokes on my arm stopped. Clearly, Bones wasn’t a fan of this idea.

“What?” I asked, staring into Mencheres’s fathomless obsidian gaze.

“Vampires and ghouls in Madigan’s condition often remember nothing of their human lives. Some, however, remember pieces of their past, if presented with the proper stimuli.”

“Bones stimulated the hell out of him with the beat down he delivered,” I responded flatly. “It didn’t work.”