Dead Girls Don't Cry Read Online Free PDF

Why?”
    Stupid fool mouth.
    The queen laughed, “Because I wish it.”
    Right. Because she said so. A slight movement over her shoulder caught my eye. Jonathan stepped into the light, his face a calm mask.
    “Your sire once granted me the gift of your song. You didn’t know it was me at the time. Perhaps, someday, your voice will return, my dear Nightingale.”
    Huh? I had no idea what she was talking about. I never sang as a vampire. I paused, my brain skittered to a stop. That wasn’t true.
    A quick glance at Jonathan confirmed it. For a brief moment, before he turned me, I sang freely in his presence. Out from under my parent’s restrictive thumbs, I could be myself. Before everything went to hell. Regret filled his eyes. His lips pulled into a tight line.
    Our shared guilt so thick, I was shocked Queen V didn’t feel it too.
    “Charity Belmont,” the queen addressed the crowd, holding my wrist as high as her short stature would allow, “I bequeath to you my cuff.” With a single swift motion, a smooth golden bracelet latched onto my left wrist.
    “Never give it away. Under any circumstance. Do you understand?” The queen’s voice compelled me to obey.
    “Yes, your Majesty.”
    A strangled cry erupted in the back. Someone clearly didn’t like the queen’s decision.
    The queen arched an eyebrow. “I knew she’d react like this.” In a loud clear voice, Victoria addressed the assembly. “This is my will. No one shall attempt to take this gift from my chosen recipient. To do so is an act of treason.”
    The words hung heavy in the air. The undead audience did what they did best: sat there like lifeless corpses. For about ten seconds. Then, a hundred different conversations popped the silence. The babble of noise hurt my ears. The crowd’s reaction was out of proportion with the gift.
    What was the big damn deal? It was a plain bangle. The bracelet’s surface was smooth, absent decoration. Unremarkable. Walmart had better costume jewelry.
    I fingered the cool metal band and snuck a glance at my sire. Jonathan’s stiff posture froze me in place. Whatever the queen had bestowed on me was probably about to make my life more complicated. Why would anyone think I would be useful? The most taxing thing I did each day, aside from performing, was scheduling acts and monitoring the club’s financial statements.
    The queen smiled as if reading my mind. “I have faith in you. All things come to an end in time. Carpe diem . Seize the day. Be sure to grab hold of what’s next.”
    Before I could say a word or even offer my thanks, the queen was gone. She was there one minute and halfway up the theatre aisle the next. A large retinue detached itself from various posts around the room and followed her out of the door.
    I took one last look at the audience. Ian, the only vampire not watching the queen’s departure, fixed his intense gaze solidly on me.
    The cuff warmed against my wrist. I stared at it. I tore my gaze off the bangle and searched for Jonathan, who, surprise, surprise, was nowhere in sight. Figures. When I want to speak to him, he’s not around.
    The stagehands dropped the curtain in my wake, nodding to me as I passed. I took a robe and tied it tightly around my waist.
    “You can’t keep that,” a female voice snarled from behind. God, if this was Pearl having one of her possessive fits, I was going to deck her.
    “Excuse me? Pearl, you can just,” I turned expecting to see the pintsized dancer, “kiss my –”
    The words died in my throat. I bowed my head at the angry vampire. “Princess Thalia. I’m so sorry.”
    “Give the cuff to me.” Thalia’s dark eyes gleamed in the dim light. Her angular face was a bit too long and sharp, containing none of her mother’s fair beauty. “She only gave it to you to punish me.” A pale pink tongue darted out and swept across the tight line of her lips. Tremors shook her fingers, while she fidgeted. Movements of a junkie looking for a fix. Or of a