Dead and Everything (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 2) by P. S. Power Read Free Book Online

the Council wants done?” That would probably involve
death for the reporter, even if that wasn’t going to make any difference in the
long run. Too many people already knew the story and Eve was willing to bet that
it was huge online.
    It made
her want to go and check herself, but she didn’t bother mentioning it, since
Lenore fled the room rather directly.
    They could just compel the man, and make him not only leave, but forget about the whole
thing, but they couldn’t do everyone in the whole world, could they? There were
whispers from the next room, but five rather awkward minutes later, the boss
lady came out again, and spread her hands.
    “It
seems, and I don’t know that I agree with this, that we’re supposed to simply
answer any questions that anyone has of us? About public information. If you
want to know whom I’m dating, then you’ll have to soften me up first, like
anyone else.”
    The man
seemed relieved, or possibly less tense, then. Like they were really going to
do more than send him away. It would make for a better story if he had
information.
    Eve
stood back, knowing that Lenore would do a better job with things, since they
might well still be hiding a lot of information from the public. Things that
she wouldn’t have been briefed on yet.
    “Great,
can I get your names?”
    “Lenore
Hawthorn, and Eve Benson.” She waited, poised and ready to simply pounce on the
man, it seemed like, though the man didn’t really get that yet.
    He
scratched the names out slowly, asking for spellings. She had told him
to make sure he got everything right, on pain of death, hadn’t she? It was a
real enough thing, too, so she didn’t take it back. If he screwed up, he was
probably toast. Maybe even if he got it all correct, depending on how things
all fell out. She was a bit put off by the fact that anyone higher than her was
willing to even say anything.
    “So, are
you both Vampires? Or, Human, um, slaves to Vampires?”
     Lenore
shook her head, firmly.
    “Slavery
isn’t allowed in the United States, Mr. Wise. That goes for Vampires, too. To
answer your question, yes. Both my colleague and I are Vampires.”
    He
pulled a small camera from his right hand pocket, and then looked sheepish.
    “I don’t
suppose I could get a picture? Can you do the eye and fang thing? That was
pretty impressive, on television last night. We can’t really compete that way,
but whoa !” He actually jumped back, as Lenore flashed her fangs at him.
    She
didn’t go red eyed, but Eve did, since it was part of what the man would want
for his pictures. He recovered enough to snap several, and then check them to
make sure they were coming out all right.
    “This is
good. Very good. So, you… Drink blood? Crosses and garlic aren’t making a
showing at Thanksgiving dinner? Do you eat food?”
    There
were more questions than that, and Lenore actually covered all of it pretty
openly.
    “Crosses
do nothing, of course. Garlic has a strong odor, but won’t drive us away, and
we can enter places as easily as the next person. As a rule we don’t uninvited,
because it would simply be rude to do otherwise. We do consume blood, but only
to form links to others, so that we may draw energy from them. They need to be
alive for that, and we never take enough to harm them, since that would be
counter to survival. We don’t eat, for the most part. Some of us can manage to
nibble a bite every now and then, but it isn’t a habit of mine. Eve?”
    She
shook her head, then lied, knowing that doing so would be important, soon
enough. Darla and the others had been right, and she knew it. The real trouble
was going to come from the religious people that would instantly think they
were all demons.
    “We do
holidays, though. We like parties, and a lot of us are really religious
and conservative. God is a big part of our community. I’m Catholic, myself,
but… Lenore, you’re Baptist, right?”
    There
was no hesitation at all, but she shook her