Kiss of Pride Read Online Free Page A

opinion. “For two hundred and sixty-seven VIK members? That was the number last count I heard.”
    Vikar nodded.
    “Is that even possible in four weeks?”
    “It will have to be. You know the alternative.”
    Trond cringed. “What did you do to piss Mike off?”
    “I mocked his molting wings.”
    “Oh, I remember now. Anyhow, you wouldn’t have wanted to be a gladiator. Lions stink, in case you didn’t know. Speaking of stink, what is that smell? Have you been eating hard-boiled eggs again?”
    Vikar flashed Trond a dirty look. ’Twould seem his brother’s brain must be melting, too. Either that or he was changing the subject to make him feel better. Fat chance! “Very funny! You know damn well what that smell is. Lucies.” Long ago, the vangels had invented that nickname for Lucipires. “I killed one of Satan’s pals who snuck in here last night.”
    “And it still reeks?”
    “Molly Maids were supposed to start working here today. Yeah, I know we’re supposed to avoid outside help, but . . .” He shrugged. “Anyhow, the two ladies who showed up took one look at my bloody broadsword over there on the counter and the pile of slime left behind on the floor and took off faster than a Saxon with an arrow in his arse.”
    Any time one of Satan’s vampires was killed by the vangels, either with a bullet containing a tiny shard of wood representing slivers of the True Cross or metal weapons “quenched” or hardened in the symbolic blood of Christ, they melted into a puddle of smelly, sulfurous slime. Holy water was a great deterrent, too, but it only burned their skin off, didn’t kill them. And you did not want to see a skinless Lucipire. Eew!
    “Aren’t you worried about them going to the police?”
    “No. I told them we have a theatrical group rehearsing one of those mystery weekend skits for when the hotel opens.”
    “And what happens when the hotel never opens?”
    He shrugged. “By then, I hope they’ll have forgotten, or chalk it up to eccentric pretend-vampires up at the castle.”
    “Still. Lucies in our private domain is nothing to disregard.” Trond drew his broadsword out of its scabbard and began prowling about the huge kitchen, sniffing at the windows and doorways. The presence of Lucipires in the area was serious business.
    “It’s safe for now. This castle is a mess, but I’ve armed all the karls and ceorls. Even the thralls. We’ve secured the castle itself. As soon as Cnut arrives, we’ll have high-tech equipment out the yin-yang. Not only in and around the structure, but within a mile perimeter, all the way around. There are a hundred acres with the property to be patrolled.” His brother Cnut was a highly skilled security expert, when he was not being a soldier in William the Conqueror’s army or a Regency gentleman. He and his team of ceorls would get the job done within one day, at least for the immediate vicinity.
    “Nice hair, by the by,” Trond remarked. “You better cut it before the Reckoning, though.”
    Vikar did have good hair. Really good hair. Shoulder-length. Blond. Like silk, thanks to modern hair products. A source of pride that would be frowned upon by Mike.
    “How about a tour of this dump?” Trond looped an arm over his shoulders. As they began to walk through the rooms where karls and ceorls were busy carrying out old furniture, carpets, and bath fixtures to a commercial Dumpster parked out back, Trond asked, “By the way, Vikar, how many years do you have left?”
    Hard to believe but their seven hundred years had been up more than five hundred years ago, but, being Vikings, none of them had been able to maintain a saintly life. As a result, years kept being added. At this rate, they would be vampires until the Apocalypse, and that wasn’t coming any century soon.
    “Two hundred and seven, last count,” Vikar replied. “You?”
    “One seventy-eight, but I’ve been bad this year. I expect the tally to go up. Big-time.”
    Vikar glanced at