Read Club Dead for Free Online Page A

“Please explain.” I was sure I was showing extraordinary patience under the circumstances.
    “These humans owe allegiance to the king of Mississippi.”
    I knew my mouth was falling open, but I couldn’t seem to stop it. “Excuse me,” I said, after a long moment, “but I could have sworn you said . . . the king? Of Mississippi?”
    Eric nodded without a trace of a smile.
    I looked down, trying to keep a straight face. Even under the circumstances, it was impossible. I could feel my mouth twitch. “For real?” I asked helplessly. I don’t know why it seemed even funnier that Mississippi had a king—after all, Louisiana had a queen—but it did. I reminded myself I wasn’t supposed to know about the queen. Check.
    The vampires looked at one another. They nodded in unison.
    “Are you the king of Louisiana?” I asked Eric, giddy with all my mental effort to keep varying stories straight. I was laughing so hard that it was all I could do to keep upright in the chair. Possibly there was a note of hysteria.
    “Oh, no,” he said. “I am the sheriff of Area 5.”
    That really set me off. I had tears running down my face, and Chow was looking uneasy. I got up, made myself some Swiss Miss microwave hot chocolate, and stirred it with a spoon so it would cool off. I was calming down as I performed the little task, and by the time I returned to the table, I was almost sober.
    “You never told me all this before,” I said, by way of explanation. “You all have divided up America into kingdoms, is that right?”
    Pam and Chow looked at Eric with some surprise, but he didn’t regard them. “Yes,” he said simply. “It has been so since vampires came to America. Of course, over the years the system’s changed with the population. There were far fewer vampires in America for the first two hundred years, because the trip over was so perilous. It was hard to work out the length of the voyage with the available blood supply.” Which would have been the crew, of course. “And the Louisiana Purchase made a great difference.”
    Well, of course it would . I stifled another bout of giggles. “And the kingdoms are divided into . . . ?”
    “Areas. Used to be called fiefdoms, until we decided that was too behind the times. A sheriff controls each area. As you know, we live in Area 5 of the kingdom of Louisiana. Stan, whom you visited in Dallas, is sheriff of Area 6 in the kingdom of . . . in Texas.”
    I pictured Eric as the sheriff of Nottingham, and when that had lost amusement value, as Wyatt Earp. I was definitely on the light-headed side. I really felt pretty bad physically. I told myself to pack away my reaction to this information, to focus on the immediate problem. “So, Bill was kidnapped in daylight, I take it?”
    Multiple nods all around.
    “This kidnapping was witnessed by some humans who live in the kingdom of Mississippi.” I just loved to say that. “And they’re under the control of a vampire king?”
    “Russell Edgington. Yes, they live in his kingdom, but a few of them will give me information. For a price.”
    “This king won’t let you question them?”
    “We haven’t asked him yet. It could be Bill was taken on his orders.”
    That raised a whole new crop of questions, but I told myself to stay focused. “How can I get to them? Assuming I decide I want to.”
    “We’ve thought of a way you may be able to gather information from humans in the area where Bill disappeared,” said Eric. “Not just people I have bribed to let me know what’s happening there, but all the people that associated with Russell. It’s risky. I had to tell you what I have, to make it work. And you may be unwilling. Someone’s already tried to get you once. Apparently, whoever has Bill must not have much information about you yet. But soon, Bill will talk. If you’re anywhere around when he breaks, they’ll have you.”
    “They won’t really need me then,” I pointed out. “If he’s already