Undead and Unappreciated Read Online Free Page B

Undead and Unappreciated
Book: Undead and Unappreciated Read Online Free
Author: MaryJanice Davidson
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wrong, and I’d never get OSHA off my ass.
    “That was under the old management,” I told him. “We’ve been over this. Look, we can run a profitable nightclub for vampires without having to be horrible to regular people.”
    “We can?” he asked, now looking around at the totally deserted dance floor.
    “Oh, shut up. Look: put your thinking cap on your tiny little head, because we’re doing it. If you were a dead guy, wouldn’t you like to hang out in a place where you won’t get hassled?”
    “Yes. And where I could drink and have fun.”
    “No, no . I mean, yeah, drink, have a daiquiri, have three, go crazy. Not…you know.” I made a slashing gesture across my throat.
    He shrugged.
    “We’re going to make it work, Slight Overbite,” I reminded him. This had been my mantra for the last three months.
    He shrugged again.
     
    “Majesty!” Alice cried, running out to greet me. At least somebody was happy to see me tonight. Well, that wasn’t fair. Andrea and Daniel had been happy to see me. They’d even come to see me. Well, to ask a favor. Still, it was nice to have any kind of company. “Welcome! You should have told me you were coming.”
    “How’s it going, Alice?” As always, I admired her undead creamy complexion (she’d been turned into a vampire after puberty but before adolescence really got its claws into her, so no zits, ever). “How are the Fiends doing?”
    “Really well,” she enthused. “One of them escaped, but I got him back before he killed anyone this time.”
    I shuddered. “Good work. Is it the same one, the one who keeps getting out?” Nostro’s property—another vampire I killed, and don’t go making assumptions, because I’m not that kind of queen—had a high fence around it, but the Fiends were weirdly clever. More animal than human, they were vampires who hadn’t been allowed to feed and had gone feral. This happened under previous management, you understand.
    Anyway, I didn’t feel right about staking them—it wasn’t their fault they’d gone insane with a supernatural hunger for blood—and resisted heavy pressure from Sinclair and Tina to put an end to them. Alice was my Fiend keeper. She kept them clean, kept them fed, kept an eye on them, kept them from feasting on the local children.
    “It’s George,” Alice confirmed. “He’s a free spirit, I guess.”
    He was an insane nutty vampire who forgot how to walk upright, but never mind. “I can’t believe you’ve named them. Sinclair freaked when you told him. Run them by me again.”
    “Happy, Skippy, Trippy, Sandy, Benny, Clara, Jane, and George.”
    I laughed. “Right, right. Good job.” I tried to sober up. Poor things. It wasn’t right to laugh at them. “So, you got George back?”
    “Yes. He wasn’t out for long this time. If you’re looking for him, he’s right behind you, Majesty.”
    I whirled. I loathed how vampires could sneak up on me, and the Fiends were…well, fiendish. George looked exactly like the others, with raggedy long hair, long filthy nails (Alice did her best, but like all of us, she had her limitations), unkempt and hungry-looking, with filthy clothes.
    Though, thanks to Alice, they didn’t look quite as wild-eyed as usual. They scuttled like dogs…she was trying to remind them how to walk upright, but they always toppled over, then scampered away. The others stuck around, since they were being fed, but George was a wanderer.
    Right now, he was inching toward me and sniffing the air. The Fiends, luckily for me, were weirdly devoted. In fact, they’d devoured Nostro for me. (I tried to delegate when I could.)
    “Quit that,” I told him. I never knew how to speak to them. It was wrong to treat them like pets, but they weren’t exactly human, either.
    “Stop running away. Be good and listen to Alice.”
    “I don’t exactly talk to them,” she explained. “But I appreciate the support, Majesty.”
    “How’s the house? Everything running okay?” I was
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