[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
liked about myself. "Nobody ever heard the knock at the front door. No one except Ron.
He was Dave's sub, a rookie straight out of the academy. He was still kind of sick from the
slaying, not the vampire bit, the human part that comes before you get to the vampires.
Anyway, he'd been visiting the upstairs bathroom periodically." We watched him, a young,
spiky-haired version of David Spade, with the physique of a marathon runner and the
constitution (at least temporarily) of a tubercular alcoholic. He was coming down the
stairs, one hand on the rail, the other on his stomach.
In the living room it was my deal, and I'd just begun to shuffle the cards.
Ron came down the steps slow, stepping in eerie time to the rhythm of my shuffling. When
he reached the bottom, he heard a knock at the door. Nobody else did. They were all
yelling at me.
"Get the lead out and deal the cards already!" Jessie roared, throwing her paper airplane at
my head.
I grinned. "Just getting the cards warmed up for you, Jess."
A chorus of "Aw, come on!" and "Deal, dammit!" drowned out Ron, who was saying,
"Please tell me you didn't order more pizza," as he opened the door.
A blue-eyed, long-legged blond stood on the threshold, carrying an insulated pizza box
container. She smiled coyly at Ron. "Hi. Wow, are you a S.W.A.T. guy? I love your
uniform!"
Ron grinned. The poor fool couldn't help it. She resembled every centerfold he'd ever
drooled over. "Kinda," he said. "Um, how much do I owe you?"
"Sixteen-fifty," she said, flashing a couple of dimples, this time accompanied by a tempting
bit of cleavage. "Do you mind if I come in?" she asked, looking over one shoulder with
just the right hint of fear. "It's kind of creepy out here in the dark."
"Sure, come on in. My house is your house," he said, a chivalric knight taking temporary
ownership of federal property to save his distressed damsel. It turned out she was just
damned. Ron died with both hands in his pockets, fishing for a twenty while a goofy, I've-
bagged-a-Playmate smile played across his face Pizza Girl had lunged for his throat and
torn out his larynx before he understood his mistake had killed us all.
The complaints from my comrades had finally reached a satisfying peak and I'd just dealt
Matt his first card when we heard Ron's body hit the floor. Jessie, who had the best view
of the entrance, jumped up and yelled, "Vampire!" just as Pizza Girl cried, "Enter and be
welcome!" out the front door.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)
A stream of vamps poured into the house with the impact of a tidal wave. But we were
nothing if not prepared, and all of us still wore the weapons we'd used to clear the nest
earlier that day.
Brad and Olivia fought shoulder to shoulder, pumping bullets into the vamps. Pizza Girl,
her chest a mix of her own blood and Ron's gore, waded through the barrage, lofted the
love seat and threw it at them. They went down in a flurry of splinters and stuffing and the
vamps went after them, swarming like locusts until all you could see were Brad's twitching
fingers and all you could hear were Olivia's fading screams.
Dellan smoked two of the vamps who came after him, but with no time to restring his
crossbow, he had to resort to hand-to-hand combat. His punches rocked the three
monsters who came for him, his kicks knocked them back, and I'm sure I heard ribs crack
before they overpowered him. One vamp, who looked like he should've been doling out
the cash at First National's drive-up window, picked Dellan up and threw him head first
into the fireplace where he lay, limp and broken as a discarded doll. He followed up with a
poker through Dellan's heart.
Thea emptied her magazine into the swarm before retreating to the fireplace wall and
having at them with the ash shovel. She held her own until Dellan lost his battle. The
momentary distraction of seeing him fade to nothing was all her attackers needed. They
jumped her like a gang of rapists, only it wasn't her body they wanted. They bled her dry
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]