Read Online Texas Hold 'Em by Patrick Kampman - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Patrick Kampman
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kind . I never thought I’d say that when talking about vampires. Funny, huh? And then there are all these rules ! Who would have thought, right? Hope you don’t mind if I blame it on you?” She kicked the head and watched it roll, teeter on the brink of the stairs, then slowly tumble over the edge.
“Go ahead.” It was getting increasingly hard to breathe; I stifled a cough while trying not to listen to the soft wet thuds as the head made its leisurely way down the staircase.
“No loss. He was new. Christian finished making him last night. It wasn’t taking well; he was out of control. Did you know that there’s a right way and a wrong way to make vampires? Who would have thought, right? And some never quite make it, while others are, well…” She gave me a grin and shrugged. “…naturals.”
“Katy, where is Fred?”
“The old man? He went to pieces in the other room.” Her toothy smile at her own sick joke made my stomach turn.
For once I was at a loss for words. Katy had become a little unhinged after her sister’s death six months ago, and now the hinges were completely gone. My mind was trying to reconcile the thing before me with the girl I’d known a few short weeks ago. She had been the one that started us hunting vampires in the first place, pulling Robert out of retirement and getting me in on it. Now she’d chopped up a guy and set fire to his house. I didn’t know where to begin trying to come to grips with it all.
“Don’t look so glum, Chance. The two of us are back together! That’s all that matters, right?”
Before I could formulate a reply, another vampire came out of a room at the far end of the hall. This one looked like she could have been a thirty-something-year-old schoolmarm when she was turned. I’m talking the schoolboy-fantasy teacher, complete with scarf, cashmere sweater, and pencil skirt wrapped tightly around an hourglass figure. She seemed unconcerned with the smoke that billowed around her as she flipped through an address book. Her aura was strong. Nowhere near Christian’s, but troubling nonetheless.
“What’s going on out here? You guys were supposed to make this look like an accident, not a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And what’s with the gunfire? Can’t you handle a couple of senior citizens? Now stop screwing around and start searching, we’re supposed to be looking for—” She stopped when she finally glanced up and saw me. She must have assumed the source of the gunfire was dead, and that Katy had been talking to Old Headless.
“The old man resisted. I didn’t have a choice,” said Katy, pointing to the holes in her chest. Her tone was snarky. She was obviously annoyed at the schoolmarm for interrupting us. “But I think Christian will get over it once I bring him Chance here, don’t you think? This is the last of Robert’s new hunters. That just leaves what-his-name—Josh? Jacob? And then we’re done, and I can finally start enjoying myself!”
“What happened to Clarence?” The schoolmarm was seething as she looked down at the headless vamp.
“Chance killed him,” Katy said with an innocent smile she had practiced on her parents for years.
She wasn’t buying it. “With your axe? Or would you have me believe he cut his head off with a gun?”
“The dude’s name was Clarence?” I couldn’t help myself; it slipped out.
Katy shrugged, answering both questions with a single gesture.
“And yours, apparently, is Chance—don’t judge, dear,” said the schoolmarm, looking back and forth between Katy and me, her shock at seeing me rapidly overshadowed by her fury at what she saw as a bungling of Fred’s murder. Reaching an internal decision, she closed the book she was holding and tossed it to Katy, who snapped it out of the air and slid it into her back pocket.
The schoolmarm at least had the decency to flash me a forced smile before trying to kill me.
She was a blur, moving so suddenly that even Katy was taken
“Go ahead.” It was getting increasingly hard to breathe; I stifled a cough while trying not to listen to the soft wet thuds as the head made its leisurely way down the staircase.
“No loss. He was new. Christian finished making him last night. It wasn’t taking well; he was out of control. Did you know that there’s a right way and a wrong way to make vampires? Who would have thought, right? And some never quite make it, while others are, well…” She gave me a grin and shrugged. “…naturals.”
“Katy, where is Fred?”
“The old man? He went to pieces in the other room.” Her toothy smile at her own sick joke made my stomach turn.
For once I was at a loss for words. Katy had become a little unhinged after her sister’s death six months ago, and now the hinges were completely gone. My mind was trying to reconcile the thing before me with the girl I’d known a few short weeks ago. She had been the one that started us hunting vampires in the first place, pulling Robert out of retirement and getting me in on it. Now she’d chopped up a guy and set fire to his house. I didn’t know where to begin trying to come to grips with it all.
“Don’t look so glum, Chance. The two of us are back together! That’s all that matters, right?”
Before I could formulate a reply, another vampire came out of a room at the far end of the hall. This one looked like she could have been a thirty-something-year-old schoolmarm when she was turned. I’m talking the schoolboy-fantasy teacher, complete with scarf, cashmere sweater, and pencil skirt wrapped tightly around an hourglass figure. She seemed unconcerned with the smoke that billowed around her as she flipped through an address book. Her aura was strong. Nowhere near Christian’s, but troubling nonetheless.
“What’s going on out here? You guys were supposed to make this look like an accident, not a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And what’s with the gunfire? Can’t you handle a couple of senior citizens? Now stop screwing around and start searching, we’re supposed to be looking for—” She stopped when she finally glanced up and saw me. She must have assumed the source of the gunfire was dead, and that Katy had been talking to Old Headless.
“The old man resisted. I didn’t have a choice,” said Katy, pointing to the holes in her chest. Her tone was snarky. She was obviously annoyed at the schoolmarm for interrupting us. “But I think Christian will get over it once I bring him Chance here, don’t you think? This is the last of Robert’s new hunters. That just leaves what-his-name—Josh? Jacob? And then we’re done, and I can finally start enjoying myself!”
“What happened to Clarence?” The schoolmarm was seething as she looked down at the headless vamp.
“Chance killed him,” Katy said with an innocent smile she had practiced on her parents for years.
She wasn’t buying it. “With your axe? Or would you have me believe he cut his head off with a gun?”
“The dude’s name was Clarence?” I couldn’t help myself; it slipped out.
Katy shrugged, answering both questions with a single gesture.
“And yours, apparently, is Chance—don’t judge, dear,” said the schoolmarm, looking back and forth between Katy and me, her shock at seeing me rapidly overshadowed by her fury at what she saw as a bungling of Fred’s murder. Reaching an internal decision, she closed the book she was holding and tossed it to Katy, who snapped it out of the air and slid it into her back pocket.
The schoolmarm at least had the decency to flash me a forced smile before trying to kill me.
She was a blur, moving so suddenly that even Katy was taken
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