Then I turned my attention to Leila, wrapping her in a hug before a zap of electricity reminded me that she gave off voltage due to a power line accident when she was a teenager.

“Congratulations,” I told the lovely, raven-haired bride.

She thanked us while looking a little overwhelmed, not that I could blame her. The first time I’d been in a room filled with thousands of supernatural creatures, it had freaked me out, too, and I’d only been half-human at the time. Leila was fully mortal, new Mrs. Dracula or not. If I’d had a stiff drink on me, I would have given it to her at once.

Bones kissed her gloved hand while offering his own congratulations. Before we left them, I slanted a glance at Leila, and mischievously said, “No one thought what you just did could be done, you know. You’ll earn the nickname of The Dragon Slayer.”

Vlad glowered at me, but Bones laughed. As we walked away, he leaned down until his lips grazed my ear.

“Makes me wish Denise were here,” Bones whispered. “She could show Tepesh a dragon that would put his house emblem to shame.”

She certainly could if it wouldn’t out her as one of the world’s only shapeshifters. A demon had branded Denise with his essence, which became permanent after his death. Now my best friend had all the powers the demon had had, including near immortality and the ability to shapeshift into anything she chose. She’d picked a dragon to scare off Heinrich Kramer when the ghost had been about to kill Bones. Though I’d seen it with my own eyes, part of me still couldn’t believe Denise had transformed into a two-story-tall mythical creature just as easily as if she were changing clothes . . .

I stopped walking so abruptly that only vampire reflexes kept the couple behind us from barreling into our backs.

“What’s wrong, Kitten?” Bones asked, drawing me away from the throngs of people.

Excitement made my voice vibrate though I was careful to speak only in a whisper.

“I know how we’re going to infiltrate that underground facility in Point Pleasant. They’re going to let us in.”

Twelve

We had turbulence on the long flight back to the States. I was fine with it, but Bones, who hated to fly even under good conditions, was in a less-than-charming mood by the time we landed in St. Louis. It was his bad luck that Spade and Denise hadn’t been staying at their England estate. That would have been a relatively short trip from Romania.

Of course, his ill temper might be because he hated my plan. Still, as I’d told him more than once on the bumpy fight back, if he had a better idea, I was open to hearing it. His silence on that subject spoke volumes, but I knew Bones. He wasn’t done fighting yet.

Then again, neither was I. Besides, while I felt confident of Denise’s response, we also had to convince Spade to go along with this. If he wouldn’t, Bones had nothing to worry about.