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Back Up From the Grave Save as PDF
Chapters (52)
  1. Dedication
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Contents
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Epilogue
  43. An excerpt from Halfway to the Grave
  44. An excerpt from One Foot in the Grave
  45. An excerpt from At Grave’s End
  46. An excerpt from Destined for an Early Grave
  47. An excerpt from This Side of the Grave
  48. An excerpt from One Grave at a Time
  49. About the Author
  50. By Jeaniene Frost
  51. Copyright
  52. About the Publisher

Trove glanced behind us, as if guessing our intention. And then he smiled.

I felt the whoosh before that familiar earthy scent filled the room. Katie let out a small gasp.

When I turned around, over two dozen ghouls blocked the other door. From their power levels, they weren’t random guys Trove had teleported from some local undead bar. They were trained fighters, and their muscular builds only added to their air of menace.

“Did I forget to mention?” Trove asked with false innocence. “I decided to bring some friends with me.”

Thirty-four

Thirty-four

This keeps getting better and better, I thought jadedly. We hadn’t brought anyone with us because we didn’t want to draw the Law Guardians’ attention, and now we were outnumbered by a lot.

The leader of the group, a tall African-American with biceps thicker than my thigh, stepped forward.

“Give us the child,” he ordered.

“Fuck you,” flew out of my mouth before I realized that (a) I seriously needed to watch my language now, and (b) diplomacy would be the better tactic. I might be able to wipe the floor with them if I utilized my borrowed powers, but we were trying to prevent a war, not start one.

“Um, I meant fudge sticks,” I backtracked quickly, “and you don’t need to take the child. Your queen agreed to call you off.”

Trove appeared more shocked than the ghouls. “She what?”

I couldn’t resist a smug smile. “Oh, so you weren’t following us when we went to see Marie? We came to terms. All we have to do is hold up our end of the bargain, and she and the ghouls leave us alone.”

Our end was to release a video of Katie supposedly being killed—Marie had said nothing but a public execution would cut it, and the Internet was public—but I wasn’t about to tell Trove that. Or the other surprise we had in store for him.

The burly ghoul pulled out his cell phone, dialing.

“My queen, it is Barnabus,” he said moments later. “I am with the vampires, and they have the child. They claim that they . . .” Pause. “Yes, I understand . . . if that is your command, Majestic.”

He hung up. The other ghouls looked at him expectantly. Trove almost hopped up and down in impatience. My fangs slid out, ready to draw blood, if needed.

“Well?” the demon demanded.

Barnabus stared at me, frustration stamped all over his features.

“The Reaper speaks the truth,” he said, almost spitting out the words.

I didn’t move, but inside, I was letting out a whoop and pumping both fists in the air. Marie had come through! She was renowned for keeping her word, but to say I was worried that she’d make an exception in this case was to put it mildly.

“We have been ordered to leave,” Barnabus continued.