Deaths Excellent Vacation

his hand pinning my wrists above my head.
    “Kitten.”
    As soon as I saw his face, I knew how bad it was. That should’ve occurred to me before, considering I had a silver knife with shriveling hand still attached to it in my chest, but somehow, the pain had blinded me to reality. Now, however, I realized these were my last moments on earth.
    I tried to smile. “Love you,” I whispered.
    A single pink tear rolled down Bones’s cheek, but his voice was steady. “Don’t move,” he repeated, and slowly began to tug on the knife.
    My chest felt like it was on fire. I tried not to look at the knife. Tried to focus on Bones’s face, but my own gaze was blurred pink, too. I’ll miss you so much.
    The blade shivered a fraction, and a spasm of pain ripped through me. Bones compressed his lips, letting my wrists go to press on my chest with his free hand.
    “Don’t move . . .”
    I couldn’t stand it. That burning from my chest felt like it had spread all through me. A scream built in my throat, but I choked it back. Please, don’t let him see me die screaming . . .
    The agony stopped just as abruptly as it started. Bones let out a harsh sound that was followed by a clatter of metal on the ground. I looked down, seeing a slash in my chest that began to close, the skin seaming back together as it healed.
    And then Bones spun around. A vampire stood behind him, holding a big knife and wearing the weirdest expression on his face. He dropped to his knees and pitched forward, a silver handle sticking out of his back. My mother was behind the vampire. Her hands were bloody.
    “Rough, quick, and thorough, or you won’t get a second chance,” she mumbled, almost to herself.
    Bones stared. “That’s right, Justina.” Then he began to laugh. “Well done.”
    I was stunned. Bones swept me up, kissing me so hard I tasted blood when his fangs pierced my lips.
    “Don’t you ever frighten me like that again.”
    “He didn’t die,” I said, still stunned by the recent events. “I twisted a blade in his heart, but he didn’t die .”
    “Like he said, situs inversus.” At my confused expression, Bones went on. “Means he was born with his organs backward, so his heart was on the right. That’s what saved his life before, but he shouldn’t have admitted it while I could hear him.”
    I hadn’t known such a condition existed. Note to self: Learn more about anatomical oddities.
    Bones scanned the parking lot, but the only vampires out here were the ones gathered around the side of the nightclub. Onlookers, I thought in amazement. Had they stood there the whole time and just watched ?
    Fear leapt in me. “Where’s Tammy?”
    “I ran her inside after the car blew up,” my mother said. “She’d be safe in there, you said.”
    And then she’d come back outside to face a pack of hit men. Tears pricked my eyes even as Bones smiled at her.
    “You saved my life, Justina.”
    She looked embarrassed, and then scowled. “I didn’t know if you were finished getting that knife out of Catherine. I couldn’t let him sneak up on you and stab you until my daughter was okay.”
    Bones laughed. “Of course.”
    I shook my head. She’d never change, but that was okay. I loved her anyway.
    Verses walked out of Bite with Tammy at his side. From her red-rimmed eyes, she’d been crying.
    “It’s over,” I told her.
    Tammy ran and hugged me. I wanted to say something profound and comforting, but all I could do was repeat, “It’s over.”
    At least Tammy wouldn’t remember any of this. No, her memories would be replaced with one where she’d been sequestered by boring bodyguards provided by her father’s former friends. Tammy would go into adulthood without the burden of knowing there were things in the night no average human could stand against. She’d be normal. It was the best birthday present I could give her.
    “You fought on the premises,” Verses stated.
    Bones let out a snort. “You noticed that, did you, mate?”
    “Maybe if you hadn’t stood there and done nothing while we were am-bushed, your precious premises would still be in one piece!” my mother snapped at Verses. “Don’t you have any loyalty? Bones said you were a friend!”
    Verses raised his brows at her withering tone, then cast a glance around at the parking lot. Vampire bodies littered the area, one of the cars was still on fire, and various others were smashed, ripped, or dented.
    “I am his friend,” Verses replied. “Which is