Billy the Kid & the Vampyres of Vegas (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #5.5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

happened,” she added. “But it’s your own fault: you should never have engaged the cucubuths. They were ordered to leave you alone.” She leaned forward to look squarely into Billy’s face. “Good evening, Billy.”
    “Evening, ma’am. Or should that be good morning?”
    “I see you’ve met,” Scathach said.
    Billy nodded. “The Morrigan is an old friend of Quetzalcoatl—my master. She’s come a-calling once or twice.” Although he kept his face expressionless, he was unable to disguise the distaste in his voice.
    “It is not too late for you to turn back, Billy. Siding with this”—the Morrigan paused, looking for the correct word—“this creature would be a mistake.”
    “That’s what she said.” Billy grinned. “And I didn’t listen to her, either.”
    “And while the cucubuths are under instructions to leave the Shadow alone, the same protection does not extend to her companions.”
    Billy laughed. “I ain’t afraid of no dogs.”
    “You should be,” Scathach and the Morrigan said simultaneously.
    “Since when did you two become my mother?”
    The Morrigan glanced up and down the street, then folded her arms and leaned casually against the side of the car. She looked down at Scathach. “I seem to remember that you were told you would die in an exotic location.” She deliberately spoke in English for Billy’s benefit.
    “I’m not sure Las Vegas counts as exotic,” Scathach answered. “It only thinks it’s exotic.”
    “You will die here, Shadow. Before the sun rises.”
    The red-haired girl shrugged. “So, I take it you know why I’ve come?”
    “I do.”
    “Is it true, then? Is he here?”
    The Morrigan blinked her black eyes and then she nodded. “He’s here.”
    “A prisoner of the vampyres?”
    “The blood drinkers are everywhere.”
    “And you—why are you here, Morrigan?”
    “Oh, Scathach,” the Crow Goddess said, reverting to the Irish language. “I was there at the very beginning, all those centuries ago. It is only fitting that I should be here at the end. I will give you a proper burial and sing the old songs over your corpse.”
    “I’d really prefer that you did not.”
    Scathach and the Morrigan eyed each other silently, and finally Billy cleared his throat. “Ladies,” he asked, “are we going to sit here and chat all night?”
    The Morrigan tossed a scrap of paper at Billy, who deftly caught it in his right hand.
    “It’s the address of an as-yet-unopened hotel and casino,” the Morrigan snapped. “Drive around the back and into the garage.” She smiled at Scathach, and a dark hunger flickered behind her eyes. “You will find what you are looking for on the top floor,” she said in English, and then continued in the ancient language of Danu Talis. “I will come for your corpse after your defeat.” She looked at Billy. “Take her there now … and if you value your immortal life, turn around and drive away.”
    “See you on the top floor,” Billy said cheerfully.
    The Crow Goddess glared at the immortal. “You won’t even get past the lobby.” She stepped back into the shadow of the bus shelter, and her form warped and changed. Billy pulled away from the curb as the huge birdlike figure took to the sky in a slow ascending spiral.
    They drove down Las Vegas Boulevard toward the garish lights of the enormous hotels and casinos. After a few moments Billy broke the silence.
    “So what’s the plan?” he asked.
    “I don’t plan. Anyone in my way can either step aside or I will step over them.”
    “You’re my type of girl,” the immortal said admiringly.
    Scathach laughed. “Oh, Billy. I’m a ten-thousand-year-old vampire. I am most definitely not your type of girl.”
    Billy’s cheeks suddenly reddened. “I was talking about planning. I—I’m not that big on planning myself,” he stammered. “I wasn’t suggesting anything else.…”
    “Stop talking now,” the Shadow commanded with a grin.

12.
    Billy felt the familiar