The Bloody City by Megan Morgan Read Free Book Online

but every day you sit here and do nothing, and all you can come up with is to throw us to the vampires. You’re as dumb as Robbie thinks you are.”
    Micha stalked across the room, toward the stairs.
    “What the hell else can I do?” Sam yelled after him. “If you can come up with something better, why don’t you tell me what it is!”
    Micha thundered up the stairs and disappeared. Sam snarled and stormed off to the kitchen.
    June spread her arms at Jason, begging him for some sort of answer. He shrugged.
    “Men,” she muttered.
    She weighed her options: soothe Micha or talk Sam down. Or let them both stew.
    She followed Sam, because Micha’s issues were complicated and not likely to be resolved in one conversation. Sam took affront to the lack of appreciation for his efforts, and that was at least understandable. She could have left them both alone, but she was bored.
    A stone patio jutted from the back of the house, and Sam sat at the umbrella-shaded table on it. A tall wood plank fence ringed the backyard, impossible to see over or through. The grass had grown tall since no one had been mowing it.
    She flopped in a chair across from Sam.
    “Your boyfriend is pissing me off,” he said. “That little cocksucker.”
    June squinted against the sunlight. “I like how I’m the only one who doesn’t use that word.”
    “Cocksucker?”
    “Boyfriend.”
    Sam eyes were particularly dark under the shade of the umbrella, black and bottomless.
    “Sorry.” He flicked a leaf off the table. “The guy you’ve been screwing for the past four months. I thought it was a commitment.”
    “Shows how much you know.” She pulled one leg up and propped her bare foot on the edge of the chair seat. She smoothed a hand down her calf, trying to come up with something comforting to say. She was not a motivational speaker.
    “To hell with Robbie,” she said. “You knew he would do this. He wants to show you how wrong you are for not being crazy like him.”
    “I never killed anyone—well, except for Eric Greerson. But I argue that was in the utmost self-defense.”
    “I agree. Also, he had it coming. Big time.”
    “I never killed anyone to make a point. I never thought violence was the answer. I never tried to give my followers that impression. We raise a lot of hell, yes, but that’s only because no one in this city listens to the paranormal unless we’re yelling. We never hurt anyone, even the bastards at the Institute who deserved it. But that monster was right there in my ranks, turning my followers, killing our own kind and letting the SNC be the scapegoat for it.”
    “Being a leader means setting an example, which it sounds like you did. But some people can’t be directed or convinced.” How she’d managed to crap out that gem of wisdom, she didn’t know. “Some people are just crazy. They don’t have morals.”
    “If I don’t resurface soon, they’re all going to turn to him.”
    “No, they won’t. Losing the good guy doesn’t mean people automatically go to the dark side.”
    “Times are tough. People want action. Like your boy—” He paused. “Like that self-righteous asshole in there.”
    “Don’t call him that, either.” She put her leg down. “And yeah, people want action. Desperate times and all that. But being desperate doesn’t mean you don’t think for yourself. Most people won’t give up their morals for a quick and violent fix. Your followers are still loyal to you. You know that. You hear about it. They’ll do the right thing.”
    Before Sam could respond, the patio door slid open. Jason stood inside. “Code red.” His voice came out strained.
    She and Sam jumped to their feet. “Code red” meant the silent alarm around the perimeter of the property had been tripped.
    “Muse?” June asked Sam.
    “She’s not due back for another hour.”
    Jason left the doorway and they hurried inside.
    “Maybe it’s an animal again,” June said.
    “Hopefully the four-legged kind.”