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Some things won't stay buried . . . at grave's end
It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover's finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.
As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones's past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat's about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she's learned as a special agent won't help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.
Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series and the Night Huntress World novels. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to nineteen different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling—by car. Airplanes, children, and cookbooks frighten her.
At Grave's End
Chapter One
The man smiled and I let my gaze linger over his face. His eyes were a lovely shade of pale blue. Their color reminded me of a Siberian husky, except the person sitting next to me was no animal. Of course, he wasn't human, either.
"I have to leave now, Nick," I said. "Thanks for the drinks."
He stroked my arm. "Have another one. Let me enjoy your beautiful face a little longer."
I stifled a snort. Wasn't he flattering? But if he liked my face so much, then his eyes wouldn't have been glued to my cleavage.
"All right. Bartender . . ."
"Let me guess." The loud voice came from across the bar. An unfamiliar face grinned at me. "A gin and tonic, right, Reaper?"
Shit.
Nick froze. Then he did what I was afraid he'd do...he ran.
"Code Red!" I barked, vaulting after the fleeing figure. Heavily armed men in black clothes sprinted into the bar, shoving the patrons aside.
Nick threw people at me as I went after him. Screaming, flailing bodies hit me, making my attempts to catch them and fling a silver knife through Nick's heart even more difficult. One of my blades landed in Nick's chest, but too far center to have hit his heart. Still, I couldn't just let those people splatter to the floor like so much garbage. Nick might think of people that way. I didn't.
My team fanned out, guarding all the exits and attempting to herd the remaining patrons out of the way.
Nick reached the far end of the bar and glanced around frantically. There was me, advancing with my silver knives, and my men with their Desert Eagle handguns pointed at him.
"You're surrounded," I stated the obvious."Don't make me angry, you won't think I'm pretty anymore when I'm angry. Drop the girls."
He had two of them in his grip, one hand on each vulnerable throat. Seeing the terror in those girls' eyes made anger flare through me. Only cowards hid behind hostages. Or murderers, like Nick.
"I leave, they live, Reaper," Nick hissed, no romance in his tone any longer. "I should have known. Your skin's too perfect to be human, even if your heart beats and your eyes aren't gray."
"Colored contacts. Modern science's a bitch."
Nick's icy blue eyes bled to glowing vampire green and his fangs slid out.
"It was an accident," he yelled. "I didn't mean to kill her, I just took too much."
An accident? Oh, he had to be kidding me. "Her heartbeat slowing down would have warned you," I replied. "Don't try that accident crap on me, I live with a vampire, and he hasn't had an 'oops' moment once."
If possible, Nick looked even more ashen. "And if you're here . . ."
"That's right, mate."
The accent was English, and the tone was lethal. Invisible waves of power rolled over my back as my men parted to let Bones, the vampire I most trusted...and loved...through.
Nick's gaze didn't shift, which I'd been hoping for. No, his eyes didn't leave me as he suddenly yanked my blade from himself and then stabbed one of the girls in the chest.
I gasped, catching her instinctively when Nick threw her at me.
"Help her!" I yelled to Bones, who'd lunged at Nick instead. With that wound, unless Bones healed her, she had only seconds to live.
I had time to hear Bones mutter a curse before he spun around, abandoning his pursuit of Nick to drop to his knees beside the girl. I vaulted after Nick, doing some cursing myself. Gunshots went off, but only a few. With the rest of the bar patrons still scrambling for the doors, plus Nick holding the other girl like a shield, my team couldn't just open fire. Nick knew that, and so did I.Nick leapt across the heads of the crowd in a gravity-defying burst, flinging the girl at a member of my team as if she were a weapon. Helpless, the nearby soldier fell back with the girl on top of him, just in time for Nick to swoop down and yank his gun away.
I flung three more of my knives, but with all the jostling from the people around me, my aim was off. Nick let out a yell as they pieced his back, missing his heart. Then he turned and fired at me.
I had a fraction of a second to realize that if I ducked, those bullets would hit the people around me instead. They weren't half vampire like I was; it would likely kill them. So I braced myself . . . and was spun around in a blur in the next heartbeat, my head jammed into Bones's chest while three hard vibrations shook him. The bullets meant for me.
Bones let me go, whirling around and flying across the room to Nick, who tried to snatch another hostage. Nick didn't make it. Bones plowed into him hard enough for both of them to smash through the wall. I ran, hopping over people, in time to see Bones twist his knife in Nick's chest.
I relaxed. Silver twisted through the heart meant curtains for Nick...and any vampire.
Bones gave one last twist for good measure and then drew his blade out, his eyes flickering over me.
"You're bleeding," he said, concern creasing his face.
I touched my cheek, where someone's belt or shoe or whatever had scored me when Nick was using people like human speed bumps to slow me down.
"You've been shot, and you're worried about a scratch on me?"
Bones came over, touching my face. "I heal instantly, luv. You don't."
Even though I knew what he said was true, I couldn't help but feel his back to reassure myself that his skin was smooth, no more shredded flesh from the bullets.
"Speaking of, there are dozens of injured people here you need to heal. You can get to my scratch later."
Bones ignored that, drawing his thumb across a fang and touching the cut it made first to my cheek, then to my mouth.
At Grave's End. Copyright © by Jeaniene Frost. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.Married at least in terms of vampire laws, half-breed Cat Crawfield and pure bloodsucker Bones are euphoric. They were manipulated cleverly by her family keeping them apart for years. Now they live together and Bones has joined the government agency run by her uncle hunting rogue vampires.<BR/><BR/>Already the most successful team due to Cat¿s unique prowess, the addition of Bones makes the unit seemingly invincible. However, the vampire world recently learned that Cat is the notorious Red Reaper making her a Scarlet letter type target to her enemy and that Bones is a traitor. While struggling to stay alive from hunter-vamps especially one who loathes Bones for dumping her, they must prevent a war of magic from devastating the world.<BR/><BR/>The latest Night Huntress urban fantasy (see HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE and ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE) series is a powerful entry as the overarching theme moves forward with increasing complexity; while also containing an action-packed story line and intensifying the lead couple¿s romantic relationship. Now that Cat is outed, she wears a bulls-eye on her forehead as vampiric gunslingers know taking her down would make them into an over night superhero, not that Bones will sit idly allowing that to happen. Sub-genre fans will fully enjoy Cat¿s saga, as Jeaniene Frost¿s tour of the world of the ¿Grave¿ is deep yet fun to follow.<BR/><BR/>Harriet Klausner
23 out of 27 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sat Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2011
No paper & printing costs, not to mention shipping (with these gas prices) but priced the same...will NOT purchase until price reflects reduced costs!!!
7 out of 24 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This was a really fun read. Now that Cat and Bones are married you would think life would start slowing down¿¿.. Actually it seems like things are getting worse! However bad it gets, Cat and Bones stick it out together. This book didn¿t have a minute to spare. It has action, sex, humor, emotional scenes and interesting creatures. Cat¿s father makes a rather nasty appearance and almost succeeds in getting her killed. Justine is very surprising in this one. All in all I think this book was just about perfect. I like how Cat and Bones (and now I can say the gang) keep evolving instead of rehashing the same old story. I love the direction the book is taking and can¿t wait for the next installment, An Early Grave due out July 2009. I highly recommend this book and the rest of the series.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.luvgr8books
Posted Sun Aug 14 00:00:00 EDT 2011
Five stars and definately two thumbs up!!! I totally suggest reading in order to fully appreciate the story and comprehend the events! If you love action, romance (sex), and just a great series, this is the series for you! Anita Blake fans, oh hell yeah, you'll love it!!!!
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Book three continues with another great plot. Personable side characters are back as well as new characters being introduced. There were some moments where I held my breath and chewed my nails. I was so engrossed in the story. Bones is fast becoming one of my favorite vampires. These just keep getting better. Well done!
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.vampcrazy
Posted Sun Oct 23 00:00:00 EDT 2011
I'm a big vampire buff! and in all honesty I think this is the best paranormal book I have read yet to date. Its a 100 times better than twilight!!!!!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012
This is a must read series...I love all these books so much that after I read them I turned right around and read them all again. You'll love Cat (Kitten) and Bones...they had my eyes turning bright green with excitment and thrills...can't wait to see what will happen next ;-)
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Wow I love this series! I have read a book a day, am now reading spin off #1 as it felt appropriate since it stats where book 3 leaves off. I really hope Vlad gets his own book, L really love that old guy!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Another installment in the Cat and Bones saga. Not my favorite thus far, but very good nonetheless.
My favorite things about this book:
- Bones, of course. Still incredibly hot and sexy, and now even more powerful than before.
- Cat. I like her attitude overall. She's not a wishy-washy female lead. She sees what needs to be done and does it. She does not let emotions interfere with her actions.
-Cat's mom (Justina). This book shows a whole new side of her. I was laughing so hard reading the sections about her. Rodney deserves a medal!
I wish:
- We would have gotten more of Dave's transition to ghoul. This book picked up about four months after the last book, so we missed the newness of him. I would have really liked to see what it was like for him and the struggles involved with that. I'm sure it cannot be easy waking from the dead!
- We would have gotten more of Patra. There was so much potential for a whole background story on her and Menechres, and I feel that it was all just pushed to the side and let die. I would have loved to know more about the magic used and the daughter of Cleopatra.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I've enjoyed the whole series.It was a entertaining story with likable characters.Light reading.Who doesn't like vampires!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The sexual tension between Cat and Bones just wasn't there, and the action sequences were a bit unbelievable at times (Cat is almost TOO indestructible), but I still enjoyed the book. It's not as solid as the first two, but I'm still a loyal fan.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I have never read a series of books that made me laugh, and cry out loud
Outstanding - I loved loved these books. Bravo
Ola
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed Jul 25 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I'm hooked. Love this seried
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed Jul 25 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I so enjoyed this book! I just couldn't read it fast enough. There was ALWAYS something
to hold your interest from beginning to end.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Mar 09 00:00:00 EST 2012
This was a great book, probably one of my favorites in the series.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Feb 05 00:00:00 EST 2012
Warning: may turn you into a crazy fan
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2012
The series seems to get better with each book I read. I'm really pleased with it.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Dec 04 00:00:00 EST 2011
I am loving the Night Huntress Series. At Garve's End really has a twist. This is a must read!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Tue Jun 03 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I was skeptical and only got to readinf the series out if lack of others to choose from but I fell head over heels. I found myself desperate to find out what happened next. Loved the characters and how the story wrapped me up. It was hard to put down from start to finish!!!!!
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Posted Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Loved it!,,
Reading the next one
Overview
It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover's finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.
As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones's past is...