The Tome of Bill (Book 7): The Wicked Dead Read Online Free Page A

him.”
    “Yeah, but didn’t James and that little Chinese bitch call you that too?” Sally asked.
    “Her name is Gan.”
    “Whatever. Bottom line is that’s gonna get confusing.”
    “Well,” I said slowly, “since neither of them is here right now, who gives a flying fuck?”
    Tom opened his mouth, probably to chuckle, but then closed it again quickly. Sally hadn’t been big on him when she had her memories. Now? Well, who knew how she might react?
    “Okay, it sounds like we’re all in,” Ed said, stepping in before someone got decked. “So when do we unleash the beast?”
    I winced at his use of words, but replied, “That’s easy. Right before we leave.”
    Though it didn’t need to be said, I had a feeling everyone in the room knew it might be for the last time.
     

Busy Little Bees Buzzing Around
    “So when are we going?” Tom asked as if we were discussing running out for coffee.
    “I need about three days to get myself ready,” Christy said, putting a timetable to our plans, which up until then had been nebulous. She turned to Sally. “Sorry, but I’m going to have to suspend our sessions until then. I have a feeling I’m going to need all my strength for this.”
    “That’s okay. I’m sure everyone here will be more than happy to keep reminding me of random shit that might or might not be true.”
    “Hey,” Tom protested. “I was serious when I said we were like this before you got mind zapped.” He held up two fingers intertwined. “BFFs until the end of time.”
    “Somehow, I’m having a bit of trouble buying that,” she said.
    Tom opened his mouth to print some more invitations to the pummeling party he was organizing for himself, but Sally continued. “I need to check out the scene in Manhattan anyway.”
    That one caught my attention. She hadn’t ventured out since we’d arrived. It may have been because she knew we might be forced to leave at any time, but I had a slight suspicion it had also been partially out of fear. Facing the world with big chunks of your life missing struck me as particularly daunting.
    “I can come...”
    “In your pants? Yeah, I kind of figured that.” Suddenly, her tone softened as she became serious. “Relax, Bill. I may not remember much of you, but I still remember Village Coven, and I remember coming back to pick through the ruins of the Office.”
    “Then you have to know there’s nothing left.”
    “No vampires, maybe, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything we could use. There’s a lot of buildings we had space in. There’s gotta be something salvageable in all of it.”
    “I’ll go with you,” Sheila said.
    Sally nodded, which I found a bit odd. I didn’t expect her to want to go traipsing through coven properties, including safe houses, with the Icon in tow. It just didn’t seem a very vampiric thing to do – especially with her scrambled memory.
    They must have sensed me staring, because Sheila added, “I kept up the rent at my old apartment just in case. Assuming the building hasn’t burnt to the ground, I wouldn’t mind grabbing a few extra changes of clothes. I’m getting tired of stealing whatever your neighbors left behind.”
    I was tempted to remark that she looked kinda cute in Mrs. Mahoney’s afghan sweater, but now was not the time. Likewise, there probably wasn’t much I could do to dissuade them. From what I’d heard, Manhattan was a mess – probably already halfway devolved to making The Warriors seem like a Nostradamus prophecy. It certainly wasn’t a place for two attractive women to be wandering alone after dark. Of course, most women didn’t come pre-equipped with extra options like superpowers.
    As long as they didn’t run into anything overly nasty, they’d be fine. Besides, I had been considering a field trip of my own. Now that Christy had laid out her timeline, it seemed a good idea to do so before she started mucking with my head.
    “I’m going to scout out the Brooklyn safe