Read Halfway to the Grave for Free Online

the blinds and letting the sun stream in will do the trick, forget it.
    “Crosses. Unless they’re rigged up like yours, crosses don’t do much more than make us laugh before we eat you. You seem to know that one yourself, so we’ll move on. Wood, as you are also aware, might give us splinters and piss us off, but won’t stop us from ripping your throat out. Holy water…well, let’s just say I’ve had more damage done to me by someone throwing dirt in my face. The whole religious thing is bunk when it comes to hurting our kind, got it? Your only advantage is that when a vampire sees that special stake of yours, they won’t be put off.”
    “Aren’t you afraid I’ll use this information against you?” I interrupted. “I mean, why should you trust me?”
    In all seriousness he leaned forward. I leaned back, not wanting to be any closer to him.
    “Look, pet. You and I are going to have to trust one another to accomplish our objectives. And I’ll make this very, very simple: If you so much as look cross-eyed at me and I even wonder if you’re thinking about betraying me, I’ll kill you. Now, that might not scare you, being the big brave girl you are, but remember this: I followed you home the other night. Got anyone you care about in that barn of a house? Because if you do, then I suggest you make nice with me and do as you’re told. If you cross me, you’ll live long enough to see that house burned to the ground with everyone still inside. So if you ever make a go for me, you’d better be sure you finish me, understand?”
    Gulping, I nodded. I understood. Oh God, did I ever.
    “Besides”—his voice brightened like a spring day—“I can give you what you want.”
    Doubtful. “What could you possibly know about what I want?”
    “You want what every abandoned child wants. You want to find your father. But you don’t want a happy reunion, no, not you. You want to kill him.”
    I stared at him. He’d spoken aloud what I hadn’t evenallowed my subconscious to whisper, and he was right. It was the other reason I hunted vampires, to kill the one who fathered me. More than anything, I wanted to do that for my mother. If I could, I would feel I had in some small way atoned for the circumstances of my birth.
    “You…” I could barely speak with all the thoughts flying through my mind. “You can help me find him? How?”
    A shrug. “For starters, I might know him. Know a great many undead types, I do. Face it—without me, you’re looking for a needle in a fangstack. Even if I don’t personally know him, I already know more about him than you do.”
    “What? How? What?”
    He held up a hand to stop my babbling. “Like his age, for example. You’re twenty-one, right?”
    “Twenty-two,” I whispered, still reeling. “Last month.”
    “Indeed? Then you have the wrong age as well as the wrong address on that fake license of yours.”
    He must have gone through my purse. Well, it made sense; he’d also stripped me when I was unconscious. “How do you know it’s a fake?”
    “Didn’t we just cover this? I know your real address, and it’s not the one on that license.”
    Oh crap. That defeated the purpose of why I’d gotten the phony ID to begin with, in case I ever lost against a vampire and he rifled through my things. I hadn’t wanted one to be able to track down my family. That had been the thought, anyway. Stupid me never expected a vampire to follow me home.
    “Come to think of it, pet, you are a liar, possessor of false identification, and a murderer.”
    “Your point?” I snapped.
    “Not to mention a tease,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Foulmouthed, as well. Yep, you and I will get along famously.”
    “Bollocks,” I said succinctly.
    He grinned back at me. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But back to the subject. You said your mum carried you for, what, four months? Five?”
    “Five. Why?” I was more than a little curious as to his reasoning. What