Undead and Undermined

Chapter TWENTY-TWO



Hours later, the good Dr. Graham’s phone beeped again. Tina this time, with curt directions. Not even so much as a “thank goodness you’re safe, Your Majesty.” I swear, she could have out-Pattoned Patton.

I promised obedience, then thanked Dr. Graham and gave him back his phone. When I asked if he was going to get into trouble, he laughed even as he erased everything on his phone. I hadn’t told him to do that, and Tina hadn’t told me to tell him to do that . . . that was interesting. He was either good at precautions or a coward. Or both.

“Bodies go missing here all the time. Actual dead ones, not bodies like yours, not ones that get up and walk around.” He was staring at my tits. He’d had a bad night, so I didn’t smack him. Stupid too-small T-shirt.

“I could probably make you forget everything that happened,” I suggested. “Then you wouldn’t be scared or horny or both. You’d just be . . . however you are when you haven’t been attacked by a ruthless naked denizen of the undead.”

“Don’t you dare.” He held up his hands and backed away. “You keep your vampire hypnosis to yourself. I earned those memories; you can’t have them.”

“Okay, okay, simmer. Sorry again. You better go, my ride’s here.”

“Yeah, and I have to go drink a whole bunch of vodka . . . for a long, long time . . . nice to meet you, I guess . . .” Graham wandered away, and I went out to the loading area Tina had told me about (thank goodness for the Internet).

Unloading area, actually—I was standing (blurgh!) where they dropped off the dead bodies. The ones that were better at staying dead than I was. I don’t know how Tina managed it, either, but the unloading area was empty. It was like a big creepy warehouse, very well lit (the fortune they must spend on gigantic fluorescent bulbs!) and clean. It was just me, and all the lights, and my ride.

And what a ride!