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Aprils
    ago for my funeral.

    No, it was good for Nick to be at Jessica's side when he wasn't foiling killers and petty
    thieves.

    Same with Tina. When she left to check on the European vampires, she had no idea this
    was going to happen. No, I couldn't blame her, either.

    But Marc? He of all people didn't have a life, and he picks now to disappear? To not call,
    or return calls?

    Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) Mom? (Like she couldn't have gotten someone else to watch Babyjon?)

    Sinclair? The guy who knew friggin' everything didn't show up for the double funeral?

    Laura? She rebelled against her mom, the devil, by being the most churchgoing, God-
    fearing person you ever saw (when she wasn't killing serial killers or beating the shit out of
    vampires), but she couldn't be bothered to go to a family funeral?

    Cathie the ghost, on a fucking world tour?

    Antonia? Garrett? Okay, I hadn't known them very long, but they did live in my (Jessica's)
    house rent-free. I'd taken her in when her Pack 'wanted nothing to do with her. When the
    other werewolves were scared shitless of her. And Garrett? I'd saved him from staking
    multiple times. But they took off on me, too.

    What the fuck excuse did any of them have? They were supposed to be my friends, my
    fiancé, my family, my roommates. So why was I rattling around in this big-ass mansion by
    myself? Except for Babyjon, snoring in the corner? Shit, nobody even sent me flowers! It
    wasn't fair. And don't tell me life isn't fair, either. Like a vampire doesn't know that?

Chapter 7

    “Oh, Your Majesty!" Tina gasped, sounding tinny and distressed on the other end of the
    line. "I'm so dreadfully sorry! My deepest condolences. Oh, your poor parents! Your poor
    family! I remember when I lost mine, and it's still as fresh as it was—"

    "Me time, Tina, got it?"

    Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com )

    "Majesty, how may I serve?"

    I puffed a sigh of relief. Some things, in this last crazy week, hadn't changed. Tina had
    always treated me like a queen, and anyone Sinclair loved, she served with everything she
    had. In fact, she'd had a bit of a crush on me when we first met, until I took care of the
    little misunderstanding ("I'm straight as a ruler, honey") and since then our relationship
    had been kind i complicated: sovereign/servant/friend/assistant. She was still overseas, but
    at least she was answering her linking phone.

    "How is the king taking it?"

    "That's just it. He's not."

    "I am sure he will comfort you in his own way," she soothed. "You know as well as I that a taciturn man can be difficult even during the—"

    "Tina, did you forget English when you went to Trance? He's not taking it because he's
    gone. Vamoosed. Poof. Buh-bye."

    "But—where?"

    "Like / know? We haven't, um, been getting along lately, and he went off a bit ago—"

    "And you've been too proud to call him."

    Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) I said nothing. Nothing!

    "Majesty? Are you still on the line?"

    "You know Goddamned well I am," I snapped, taking evil pleasure in her groan at the G-
    word.

    "I will call him," she said, sounding cheered to have something to do. "I will request he come to your side at once. Whatever . . . difficulties you two are having, surely deaths in
    the family will supersede other considerations."

    "They'd better, if he ever wants to get laid anytime in the next five hundred years," I
    threatened, but felt better. Tina was here for me (sort of) and on the case. She wouldn't be
    trapped in France forever.

    Sinclair would turn up. Marc would reappear from whatever dimension he had slipped
    into. Antonia would get over her snit-fit and come home, dragging Garrett behind her on a
    leash. Jessica's chemo would triumph over the cancer, and she'd sprint home, bossing us
    around as was her