Bad Blood (Battle of the Undead Book 1) Read Online Free
Author: Nicky Peacock
eyes. “Just go to the Dead Hare, okay?”
She looked down at Buttons. “They don’t allow dogs in pubs. Will you look after him for me? He likes you, gets so excited when you come over to see us.”
She handed me his leash. No good deed goes unpunished! I’d saved her , but had ended up with Satan on a string!
The idea of hugging me flickered across her face . She then thought better of it and turned back into her flat to pack for the Dead Hare.
She’ll be okay there , I thought, and you never know, she might find love with one of the many old war heroes who frequent the place.
I looked down at Satan . He’d probably never be known as Buttons again. He eyed me with curiosity then pushed his head against my hand. I stroked him before leading him into my apartment.
I locked the door and barricaded it with as much heavy furniture as I could, then nailed the balcony windows shut and covered them with broken wardrobe pieces. Suddenly, my massive luxury flat looked very small and shadowy. The walls seemed to push in on themselves, and part of me wanted to rip off all the barricades I’d just made so I could breathe again. The other part of me, the sane part, wanted me to nut up, remember that vampires d idn’t need to breathe, and that if even one zombie got in while I slept, I’d be done for.
By the time I’d finished, Satan and I felt very alone, shut off from the rest of the world, and worried.
Vampires don’t need much sleep, but when we do sleep, we are vulnerable. When you commit to it, you have to sleep for nine hours straight. We don’t do siestas or power naps. Once we’re down, we are down for that amount of time. Maybe nine has some mystical meaning I’ve yet to discover. Maybe it has no meaning at all, but I knew that if zombies got in during those nine hours, I’d be dead…well, deader. It took a while for me to drop off. I heard sirens echoing in the distance, and I’m sure I smelled blood in the air. I lay curled in bed with Satan by my side and waited.
I’m unsure why I dream ed that night. I could speculate it was the chaos outside my walls, the knowledge that, when I woke, the world would have changed more dramatically than my normal perception could accept. Whatever the reason, I hadn’t had a dream in centuries, but that night, I found myself tangled in distant memories and dark thoughts. I looked down at myself and found I wasn’t in my usual outfit. Instead, I was layered in mounds of lace and silk, an array of soft pastel colors that drenched my frame. My hair was long still, but its color was no longer dark blue. Instead, it was angelic gold, and my skin had a light tan dusted with freckles. And he was there. Langdon. The only man I’d ever loved and the one I’d been engaged to marry.
In 1562, women were married off for money, power, titles, and to cover debts. I was the luckiest girl alive back then . Not only was I the youngest daughter of a wealthy clothes merchant—hence the fabulous outfit—but my father was allowing me to marry Langdon, who was a captain in His Majesty’s army. My older sister had married a title, and we had no need for money anymore, so I was free to marry for love. In the dream, although no music played, Langdon stood in uniform in front of me, offering his hand for a dance. I fluttered my eyelashes and tried to look coy, but as I turned away, his image changed and melted. Now, instead of Langdon, Nicholas stood before me, hand still outstretched and a wicked, satisfied grin across his face.
I awoke to the sensation of a mouth warm and slimy around my wrist. I turned to see Satan pulling on me gently, his blue eyes pleading with me to let him out to do his business. I removed my wrist from his soft jaws, ruffled his fur, and pulled the wooden blockade down from my balcony. I opened the doors, and he sped out to pee up my neighbor’s dividing wall. The wafting warm, acidic smell made me gag, so I ventured further onto the balcony for some fresh
She looked down at Buttons. “They don’t allow dogs in pubs. Will you look after him for me? He likes you, gets so excited when you come over to see us.”
She handed me his leash. No good deed goes unpunished! I’d saved her , but had ended up with Satan on a string!
The idea of hugging me flickered across her face . She then thought better of it and turned back into her flat to pack for the Dead Hare.
She’ll be okay there , I thought, and you never know, she might find love with one of the many old war heroes who frequent the place.
I looked down at Satan . He’d probably never be known as Buttons again. He eyed me with curiosity then pushed his head against my hand. I stroked him before leading him into my apartment.
I locked the door and barricaded it with as much heavy furniture as I could, then nailed the balcony windows shut and covered them with broken wardrobe pieces. Suddenly, my massive luxury flat looked very small and shadowy. The walls seemed to push in on themselves, and part of me wanted to rip off all the barricades I’d just made so I could breathe again. The other part of me, the sane part, wanted me to nut up, remember that vampires d idn’t need to breathe, and that if even one zombie got in while I slept, I’d be done for.
By the time I’d finished, Satan and I felt very alone, shut off from the rest of the world, and worried.
Vampires don’t need much sleep, but when we do sleep, we are vulnerable. When you commit to it, you have to sleep for nine hours straight. We don’t do siestas or power naps. Once we’re down, we are down for that amount of time. Maybe nine has some mystical meaning I’ve yet to discover. Maybe it has no meaning at all, but I knew that if zombies got in during those nine hours, I’d be dead…well, deader. It took a while for me to drop off. I heard sirens echoing in the distance, and I’m sure I smelled blood in the air. I lay curled in bed with Satan by my side and waited.
I’m unsure why I dream ed that night. I could speculate it was the chaos outside my walls, the knowledge that, when I woke, the world would have changed more dramatically than my normal perception could accept. Whatever the reason, I hadn’t had a dream in centuries, but that night, I found myself tangled in distant memories and dark thoughts. I looked down at myself and found I wasn’t in my usual outfit. Instead, I was layered in mounds of lace and silk, an array of soft pastel colors that drenched my frame. My hair was long still, but its color was no longer dark blue. Instead, it was angelic gold, and my skin had a light tan dusted with freckles. And he was there. Langdon. The only man I’d ever loved and the one I’d been engaged to marry.
In 1562, women were married off for money, power, titles, and to cover debts. I was the luckiest girl alive back then . Not only was I the youngest daughter of a wealthy clothes merchant—hence the fabulous outfit—but my father was allowing me to marry Langdon, who was a captain in His Majesty’s army. My older sister had married a title, and we had no need for money anymore, so I was free to marry for love. In the dream, although no music played, Langdon stood in uniform in front of me, offering his hand for a dance. I fluttered my eyelashes and tried to look coy, but as I turned away, his image changed and melted. Now, instead of Langdon, Nicholas stood before me, hand still outstretched and a wicked, satisfied grin across his face.
I awoke to the sensation of a mouth warm and slimy around my wrist. I turned to see Satan pulling on me gently, his blue eyes pleading with me to let him out to do his business. I removed my wrist from his soft jaws, ruffled his fur, and pulled the wooden blockade down from my balcony. I opened the doors, and he sped out to pee up my neighbor’s dividing wall. The wafting warm, acidic smell made me gag, so I ventured further onto the balcony for some fresh
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