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

crate, extended her claws, and shoved them under the lid. One quick heave later and the nails holding the top shut squealed against the wood as they gave way to her strength.
    The cover clattered to the floor and we found a very familiar face staring angrily back at us from within.
    “It’s about fucking time. I couldn’t breathe in this thing.”
    Smiling broadly, I offered a hand to help our newest recruit out. My eyes glanced toward Sally. “So what do you think? Return to sender?”
    “Nah,” she replied, a wicked grin forming on her face. “I think this one has possibilities.”
     

The Newest Member of the Team
    “I would never presume to speak for our voluptuous coven master,” I said, earning a glare from Sally, “but I think it’s safe to ask for both of us: what the fuck are you doing here?”
    “You mean besides the fact that vampires are assholes?” Ed asked, looking none too pleased despite being out of the packing crate and having a nice stiff drink in hand.
    I could sympathize, having traveled as a boxed lunch before. The shiner on the right side of his face further drove the point home. “Let me guess - they didn’t ask nicely?”
    “Oh, they did...once.” He lifted the shot glass and drained its contents in one gulp.
    “Need something for that?”
    “Just a couple of aspirin and the names of the vamps who grabbed me.” He reached across the bar for the bottle of Scotch, but Sally pulled it away before he could grab it.
    “Sorry, shipments of single malt are a little behind these days. Besides, I don’t recall opening a tab for you.” Her voice was only semi-serious, although I knew there had been several thefts from the booze stockpile as of late - mainly because I was the one doing most of the stealing. “Now, if you two are done stroking each other off, let’s get down to business.”
    She got up and walked out, her meaning clear - follow. There were too many prying ears around, both human and vamp, and they’d probably heard too much already.
    There would no doubt be questions as to his recruitment status. Ed’s condition was...well, weird. Bitten by a former Templar turned vampire, he’d been saved, if just barely, by Sheila’s healing touch. However, something had gone not so much wrong as off with the process. Ed had returned to the land of the living, but it would have been a lie to categorize him fully under the species sapiens of the genus Homo . His blood was now somehow infused with the power of faith, making it extremely lethal for the undead to partake of. At the same time, though, James had casually remarked that Ed still had some vampire taint - his words, not mine - upon him.
    The problem was most of the vamps who’d been witness to Ed’s power since then had either exploded, freaked out, or gone batshit insane with the desire to kill him. How that translated to him being here, though, I had no idea.
    * * *
    Sally closed the door to her office and sat in her chair, which now stood in the middle of a mostly empty room, her back against the formerly gaping portal overlooking the club. It had once again been hastily covered with plywood, at least until the next time I pissed her off. She ignored Ed’s look of confusion and gestured toward a couple of other seats in the room.
    “Don’t ask,” I mentioned to him as we sat.
    “Smart of James to send you here,” she said.
    “James?” I asked. “How do you...”
    “He’s the only one who makes sense. Calibra is still a prisoner, Vehron wants him dead, and Colin wouldn’t spare him two thoughts if he was the last blood-bag left on the planet.”
    “That doesn’t really add up,” Ed replied.
    “Actually, it does,” I said. “Remember that bullshit story he gave the HBC about you, how you were some sort of half-assed biological weapon?”
    “Don’t remind me. He was talking like I was some sort of fucking virus.”
    “Don’t feel bad. To most vampires, humans pretty much are,” Sally replied. “Tasty