Night Reigns Read Online Free PDF

said. “And stronger. A lot stronger. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    “So what happened?”
    He named the guys who had fought beside him again, then—giving plenty of bloodthirsty description and exaggerating his own skills—laid out what had transpired.
    “So you just ran?” Henry growled as Eddie wrapped it up.
    “No, I didn’t run,” Eddie lied. “At least not the way you make it sound. He cut down seven guys, Henry. I was the only one strong enough to fend off his death blows, but even I could see I wouldn’t be able to take him alone, so I came back here for reinforcements.”
    “What for?” Henry pounced. “If he’s as fast as you say he is, he could be all the way to Winston-Salem by now.”
    Eddie racked his feeble brain for a response that wouldn’t make him sound like a wuss, opting not to mention the second encounter that had led to Keith’s and Bill’s destruction.
    “At least he can confirm what no one else has been able to,” Wes said. “Roland is still in North Carolina.”
    Howard nodded. “Which means Bastien probably is, too. I bet Dennis will be happy to hear that.”
    Eddie heard the heavy door of The Hole open and moved until, between the vamps congregating around him, he spotted Dennis in the doorway.
    “Eddie,” Dennis spoke in that commanding voice of his.
    At least he seemed to be in a decent mood tonight. Eddie would rather face Jason, Michael Myers, and Freddy Krueger all together than Dennis in a temper.
    Straightening, Eddie said, “Yes, sir?”
    “A moment, please.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The other vampires parted, allowing Eddie to slip through them and join Dennis in The Hole’s doorway.
    “I could use your help evaluating some potential recruits,” Dennis said, drawing him into the room.
    “Sure,” Eddie answered, willing to do anything to put off telling Dennis that he had had Roland in his grasp and had failed to capture him. He had hoped being able to confirm that Roland was still in the area would make up for the fact that he had run like a little pussy. But after Henry’s reaction ...
    A somewhat battered kitchen table rested in the center of The Hole, the only furnishing it boasted. On the opposite side of it, looking almost like slovenly soldiers just returned from a weekend bender, a dozen and a half men stood. All were human and younger than Eddie by a few years. None had yet been transformed by the vampires who had captured them. Dennis liked to transform the recruits himself whenever possible. And these recruits were pretty lame.
    Eddie curled his lip as he studied them.
    There were a few of the typical, totally wasted college students: the type who liked to pants other students and routinely sought ways to humiliate those weaker than themselves for fun. They didn’t seem to be all that sure what was going on. Or to care, for that matter.
    There were also about a handful of tough-as-nails gang-bangers or gangstas or whatever, sporting tattoos, saggy-baggy pants, and FU attitudes. A few goths had been rounded up. Decked out in black clothes with pale makeup, dyed black hair, and nose rings, they looked positively orgasmic over being in the same room with two real-life vampires.
    A couple of late night joggers had been wrangled, too. That pretty much summed it up.
    Losers, Eddie thought smugly. I could take these guys in a heartbeat.
    One of the pros of becoming a vampire was not having to worry about getting your ass kicked anymore. He’d been bullied a lot as a kid. And as a teenager. And once had been beaten badly enough to land in the hospital his sophomore year at Duke. (His mamma had just shaken her head and told him he shouldn’t have been running his mouth the way he had.)
    But now, he was the bully. Now, he kicked ass.
    And even if these guys wanted to kick his ass once Dennis turned them, they wouldn’t be able to, because any soldiers caught fighting amongst themselves were locked in The Hole just before sunrise.
    “This, gentlemen,