Read Online The Tome of Bill (Book 6): Half A Prayer by Rick Gualtieri - Free Book Online Page A

their scent to conclude the three newcomers were vamps. Most humans who came looking for sanctuary were in pretty dire straits, usually lugging the tattered remains of their belongings with them. Decked out in their black suits and trench coats, it almost seemed these guys hadn’t noticed the world going to Hell around them. Judging by their bored expressions, they found Armageddon about as interesting as watching moths fly into a bug zapper.
    We’d gotten official visits before. The Prefect of the West Coast, a vampire named Yvonne, was known to send her representatives every so often. Sometimes, they came with orders. Occasionally, they came to check on how we were holding up. Rarely did they come with supplies, though.
    The two in the rear carried a large cargo container, roughly seven feet long by about three feet wide and deep, between them.
    “Is it Christmas time already?”
    “Could be,” Sally commented by my side.
    The lead vamp, sporting an overdone mustache and goatee combo that made me wonder if he was going to start bartering for our souls, stepped forward. “Coven Master Sally, I presume.”
    “You presume correct,” she replied.
    His eyes strayed in my direction for a moment, looking as if he wanted to say something, but then turned back toward her. I seemed to get a lot of that lately.
    “We have been ordered to provide safe passage to your newest charge.”
    “My newest charge?”
    “Yes. We are delivering an assignee to your coven.”
    I glanced toward Sally and her eyes met mine. They asked the same question I was thinking: What the fuck is this joker talking about?
    “I didn’t realize Yvonne was in the habit of pre-stocking her covens,” Sally said. “If I’d known, I’d have baked a cake.”
    “We are not from the Santa Clara complex.”
    “Oh?”
    “Orders from the First Coven,” he replied. “For security and safety reasons, the designee has been placed under your command.”
    “Security and safety?” I asked. “Whose?”
    “They didn’t elaborate.” He produced a thick sheet of papers from his jacket and held them out. Ye gods, even in the middle of the freaking apocalypse, the rulers of the vampire world loved their goddamned paperwork.
    Almost as if sensing my disdain, Sally took the bundle from our visitor and passed it over to me. “My assistant will see that these are properly filed.”
    I took hold and promptly tossed them over my shoulder. “Filed. Can we open our present now?”
    The look on the other vamp’s face was priceless. Typically, that sort of thing would mean an instant beating at the hands of an elder, but I had little doubt these clowns knew who I was. Maybe I wasn’t the prophesized flavor of the month anymore, but I still had enough of a reputation that most vamps wouldn’t start shit with me if they didn’t have to.
    Sally, for her part, was wearing an expression that was halfway between exasperation and amusement. She liked the official bullshit about as much as I did, but still had an image to maintain. Concealing the barest of grins, she addressed the lead vamp. “Do you have anything else for me?”
    He shook his head.
    “Okay, then. Steve, provide our guests with some refreshments and then show them the fuck out.”
    Needless to say, her skills as a hostess had been somewhat strained these past several weeks.
    Steve, being a far better subordinate than I, nodded for our guests to follow him inside - most likely to the bar. There was no point in ticking off the Draculas over something as silly as failing to offer their lackeys a little hospitality.
    The two holding the crate let go unceremoniously, and it landed with a heavy thud. A muffled curse sounded from within.
    My eyebrows shot up at the seemingly familiar cadence. Nah, it couldn’t be.
    I held my tongue until the undead delivery boys left the room, leaving Sally and me alone with the package. “Did that sound like...?”
    “Only one way to find out.” She stepped up to the