Scary Dead Things - 02 Read Online Free PDF Page B

threw away a perfectly good opportunity to increase our leverage in the vampire community.”
     
    “ Our leverage?” I asked.
     
    “Well, you are our fearless leader,” she purred, putting a little playfulness into her voice. Heh, times like this were when I trusted her least. At least you knew where you stood when she was in full-blown bitch mode. “I just keep the books in line,” she finished.
     
    “That you do.”
     
    “You're pissed, aren't you?”
     
    “Oddly enough, no,” I answered truthfully. “Don't get me wrong, I should be. Your little game almost got me killed, and you definitely got a lot of other people killed tonight.”
     
    “Nobody who'll really be missed.”
     
    “That’s beside the point,” I answered. “We're supposed to be partners in crime here; however, it usually turns out I'm the partner while you're the one committing all the crimes.”
     
    In my mind's eye, I saw her grinning at that. “You’ve probably got me there. I suppose it wouldn't kill me to keep you in the loop a little more.”
     
    “That would be nice,” I pointed out.
     
    “But still, you're really not pissed?”
     
    “No,” I replied. “That's the crazy part! No matter what bullshit exploded in my face in the last few hours, I don't feel anything but relief. I'm here in the middle of a murder scene that would give the NYPD a conniption; however, the only thing I can think is that this is the first time in months that I don't feel like someone is standing behind me holding a stake!”
     
    “Eh hem,” Sally said in response.
     
    Sure enough, I turned around in my chair, and she was standing there holding a splintered off two-by-four.
     
    “Et tu, Brute'?” I asked.
     
    “Sorry,” she said, tossing it aside. “I was holding onto it in case the premises weren't entirely clear.”
     
    “Allow me to rephrase myself,” I continued. “This is the first time in months I don't feel like someone is going to try to kill me every five minutes - or are you going to pull out a shotgun and ruin that one, too?”
     
    “Left it in my other dress.”
     
    “I thought the strip club wasn't letting you leave your laundry there anymore.”
     
    She ignored the quip and asked, “So how are you going to celebrate your newfound lease on life?”
     
    “I'm thinking maybe a few weeks off from the vampire lifestyle. That is, if you think you can hold the fort down.”
     
    “No problem,” she replied in an innocent tone. “What kind of trouble could I possibly get into?”
     
    I probably shouldn't have, but I was tired and my defenses were down. Thus, I couldn't help but laugh.
     

Dating Habits of the Undead
     
     
     
    Before I was allowed to go on my infernal vacation of the damned, however, Sally wanted me to pop by the office the next night to take care of some paperwork. The office was a few blocks from the loft in SoHo where I had been turned and had originally associated with our coven's goings on. What can I say, you die horribly in a place, and you get a little nostalgic for it; however, the loft was ultimately little more than a hangout. The coven had space in lots of buildings in the surrounding area, not to mention the nooks and crannies below street level. One such space was an entire floor of an office building close to NYU. During Jeff's reign as coven head, the space mostly went unused. A few vamps might have squatted in it during the day, and some used it as a larder for the occasional wayward college student they were able to lure to it, but that was it.
     
    Under my leadership, that had all changed. Yeah yeah, it was mostly Sally, but I had to nod and agree to most of it...emphasis on most . Whatever kudos I had given her for the organizational improvements she put into place were completely wiped out by one of the slimier operations she had started for the coven. It creeped the utter shit out of me. Unfortunately, considering the alternatives, it was the lesser of evils...although