Now or Forever Read Online Free PDF

again. Stan didn’t know why. It still wasn’t funny.
    “I’m a vampire, man. I can’t be photographed. Or taped. Or filmed. Or even reflected.”
    “Then why is there a video feed?”
    “Wait a sec. I’ll fuss a bit with the electronic imaging and...there! See me now?”
    There was a vague image of a kid, with purple fuzz around him. He was lanky. Needed a haircut. And he looked about fifteen. Maybe sixteen. Stan’s brows lifted.
    “What?”
    “This is the Vampire Assassin League Headquarters? Right?”
    “Duh. Next question.”
    “You’re...one of them?”
    “Duh. Again. Next question.”
    “How old are you?”
    “A little over sixty... maybe closer to sixty-five. I lost count. Why?”
    “You look fifteen.”
    “Yeah? Well you look about as old as your IQ. And I’m being generous. And now that we have all that decided, want to tell me what you want, Coleslaw?”
    “It’s Stanislaw. And I go by Stan.”
    “Okay. Fine. So, what do you want?”
    “Yes, Nigel. What does he want?”
    A deep, booming voice came through the speaker on the laptop, sounding like it was a PA system in a concert arena. Stan jerked back and hit the volume switch, and then swallowed around the ringing in his ears.
    “Oh. Crap. It’s the old man,” the kid whispered.
    “Nigel. Even if I wasn’t in the adjoining room, I’d be able to hear you.”
    “Oh. Yeah. Right, Sir.”
    “So. Are you going to ask him what he wants? Maybe...soon?”
    Stan worked at adjusting the sound so he’d be able to hear Nigel, and not get his eardrums ruptured by Akron. The leader’s voice was amazing in scope and range. Like it was the return echo off a deep canyon wall or something that vast. Stan had worked with Reika, and now Tassanee. He’d thought female vampires had tear-inducing voices. They’d just been trumped. It must be a vampire thing.
    No. That couldn’t be true. Nigel sounded exactly like he looked. Like a smart-mouthed teenager.
    “Yes, Sir. I was just getting to that. Apparently the new guy is calling in.”
    “The new guy?”
    “Yeah. You know. The guy named Roger, last name something-or-other that rhymes with coleslaw.”
    Akron must have sighed. The entire room around Stan reverberated with it. He turned the volume down lower.
    “Antagonize him later, Nigel. For now, find out the particulars. And before I expire of old age.”
    “Oh. Very funny, Sir. Well? You heard the man, Stan. You’re on. Speak up. How can we help you? And make it quick. We’ve only got eleven seconds left on this call.”
    “Len told me to call. He needs a 4D team.”
    “He what?”
    Stan jumped. Good thing he’d put the volume knob on the first notch. The thatch above him started shaking over Akron’s two word question. And then bits of straw, and whatever else they’d roofed this shack with, started filtering down, catching the light in little specks.
    “What happened to Angkor Wat?”
    “Nothing, Sir.”
    “Nothing?”
    “No, Sir.”
    “Then why do you need a 4D Team?”
    Before Stan could speak, the stool that was the lone piece of furniture in the only other room of this place came through the wall. Or the bit of cardboard-thick paper that went for a wall. Stan barely ducked in time. And then, Len’s voice came through the gap. It sounded like he’d changed his tactic. He might be trying to plead now. Stan peeked over the table edge at the screen.
    “We’ll call you right back, Stan. Don’t move.”
    Don’t move. That wasn’t a hard order to follow. It wasn’t safe to move. Nothing was safe near Len and the vampire chick. Nor could Stan help eavesdropping. Maybe he should have kept the volume up. Or stuck cotton in his ears. Or started whistling. Because Len’s words came through the hole in the wall just fine.
    “Look. It won’t work. Okay?”
    That was Len. Yep. Stan had been right. Len was pleading. He couldn’t hear Tassanee’s reply.
    “You’re wrong. Come on, babe. See sense. Or at least, reality.”
    Stan