Let Them Eat Stake: A Vampire Chef Novel by Sarah Zettel Read Free Book Online Page A

every time.
    “Actually, somebody’s already been in touch.” I popped another kidney.
    “Felicity Garnett?”
    “No points for that one. I guess the Aldens decided it was time to get serious about the food.”
    To my total and complete surprise, Oscar did not rise to the bait. Instead, he mimed tugging at a forelock. “I wish you and Felicity very happy.”
    “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what happened with you and the Aldens?”
    Oscar smiled. “Like you’ve always said, I’m a spoiled little boy in a big chef’s coat. Who knows what I’ll do next?”
    An uneasy ripple strolled slowly up my spine. Oscar was into all kinds of things, but self-deprecation was not one of them. “I think you found out they couldn’t pay.”
    His smile spread, just a tiny bit. “You would think that, wouldn’t you?”
    “If it’s not the money, then what? The bride wouldn’t sleep with you?”
    “What’s the matter, Charlotte? You in over your head? Again?”
    There was a snicker from somewhere deep in the entourage. Of course they were listening. The entire place was listening. I was surprised one of the boys wasn’t out on the street hawking tickets.
    “Not me, but you clearly were. I saw that menu you put together. It looked like you were auditioning for head chef at an all-you-can-eat buffet.”
    The bar went dead quiet, leaving my words to hang in the air long enough for me to wonder if I’d maybe gone a little too far. I also got to watch the fascinating way the color red seeped up from under Oscar’s collar to engulf his entire face.
    “Oh, this is pure Charlotte Caine, isn’t it?” he said, low and dangerous. “Always so sure she knows just what’s going on. So keen to put the rest of us in our places. You want to know why I quit? I don’t like being bribed or jerked around.”
    Deanna had been right. “Jerked” was definitely not the first word he’d thought to use. “You were bribed?”
    He nodded. “To plant some gossip about Karina Alden in the media. It didn’t matter what, just something that would get her name out in the press in a bad light.”
    “What would you possibly know about Karina Alden?”
    He rolled his eyes in disbelief. Ah. So that was it. He’d managed to start sleeping with Karina. It did, however, raise the question of why no one had seen fit to mention their ex-caterer was also the boyfriend, or at least the hookup, ofthe bride’s on-the-outs sister. The Aldens were starting to make my personal relationships look straightforward.
    “So, who put in the order for character assassination?” I asked.
    “You know, if you’d called me first, I might just have told you. But as it is, you wanted this job so bad, you can find out for yourself just what kind of mess you’re in.” Oscar reached down, dipped my last kidney in mustard, and popped it back, chewing. His eyes didn’t water either. “Good-bye, Charlotte Caine.” Still chewing, Oscar strolled back to his waiting followers.
    I watched him for a while, but he wasn’t watching me anymore. For the first time in our acquaintance, Oscar Simmons had dismissed me—and not just a little, but absolutely, the way you dismiss someone you’ve beaten.
    Except I had no idea what game I’d just lost.
    The uneasy ripple up my spine came back, and it brought friends.

6

    Somewhere, a phone was ringing.
    I dragged the covers off my face and, on reflex, tried to shove the hair out of my eyes. My bedside clock read nine twenty, which is in fact way-the-hell too early when you remembered I hadn’t gotten to bed until five in the morning. Out in the living room, I could hear Jessie, my number one roommate, singing about bad romance.
    I flopped backward and stuffed my head under the pillow.
    My phone rang again. I lifted the pillow and glared at it. Jessie switched from bad romance to putting rings on it. The phone rang again. This had to be Felicity. I punched up the screen, ready to read her the riot act.
    “I’m sorry,”