Scary Dead Things - 02 Read Online Free PDF

closest of Samuel's team. In as cold and dead of a voice as I could muster, I asked, “Do you still want to fight?” After a second or two of the stare-down, he slowly shook his head. I then went down the line, asking the same thing to each and every HBC vamp in the room. Now this part I wish someone was taping because, damn, I bet it looked badass. I felt like Don fucking Corleone, I tell you.
     
    When I had reached the last one - and received the exact same answer from him as from the rest - I said, “Regardless of whichever of you is now in charge, it appears that this coven war is over. We shall go back to where we were before and respect each others’ members and territory. Agreed?” When there was silence around the table for a bit too long, I repeated myself with a little more ( empty ) threat in my voice. “Agreed!?”
     
    This time, there were nods all around the table from HBC and Village Coven vamps alike. “Very well. It is done. Only one final business remains. In accordance with the laws of our people, as the victor of this battle I may set forth further terms of my choosing.”
     
    There were a lot of ugly looks around the table at that. Sally had told me of this little clause in vampire turf wars, with perhaps a little too much eager glee in her voice. I could use this time to do something like expand our own territory, demand that the Howard Beach Coven cede some of their membership numbers to us, or any such thing so as to further weaken them. No wonder she hadn't wanted a successful treaty. Little miss hot pants behind me had herself some ambition.
     
    “The terms are...” I started, every eye in the room upon me, “this safe house is pretty trashed. Clean this place the fuck up, OK, guys?”
     
    There was an audible gasp of relief from the HBC vamps, as well as a sharp intake of breath behind me that my sensitive vampire ears picked up on. I could feel Sally’s eyes boring holes in the back of my head. Heh! Fuck you, bitch. This'd teach her to remember that I wasn't her little boy toy to screw with as she pleased. Well, OK, maybe that was a poor way to phrase it. Sally had looks that would make her seem right at home on the cover of Cosmo . If she and the phrase 'Screw with me as she pleased' ever came up, who was I to argue?
     
    * * *
     
    The peace conference adjourned, and the HBC members left to return to their territory. I likewise ordered my contingent back to Manhattan. There had been enough misadventure for one night, and dawn was only a few hours away anyway. While most of what you know about vampires is total bullshit, the whole catch on fire under the rays of the sun thing was pretty much spot on. A few minutes of sunshine was enough to turn even the strongest of vampires into a plate of flambé.
     
    Once the others had left, I finally relaxed in my seat and let out a huge sigh of relief. Now that the action was over and the prying eyes were off me, all of my bravado left. I was once again just Bill Ryder, an online game programmer who still had no idea how I wound up neck deep in a pool of vampire related shit.
     
    “So are you really that dumb, or did you just let them off the hook as a big fuck you to me?” said a voice from over my shoulder, jarring me out of my reverie. It was Sally. Somehow I knew she hadn't left with the others. She was one of the few vampires who knew the real me, not the pseudo-scary ‘ Dr. Death ’ persona I tried to make everyone else believe in. On the one hand, it was nice to have her around. I didn't have to pretend to be anyone else with her...and she wasn't exactly hard on the eyes either, as I believe I’ve already mentioned. Any comfortable feeling, however, was tempered by the fact that Sally was a sarcastic bitch with an attitude problem that could have spanned the Verrazano Bridge and beyond.
     
    “Maybe a little of both,” I quipped without bothering to turn towards her.
     
    “Fair enough. I probably deserved it. Although you