The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

Bull.
‘I’m not afraid of what you might do to me,’ she said.
    Bull smiled. ‘Nor should you be,
sweetness. When you die, I promise you it’ll be quick,’ he said. ‘You have
nothing to be afraid of.’
    ‘Wish I could say the same for
you.’
    ‘I beg your pardon?’ Bull’s
voice took on a more surly tone, suggesting he took offence to the remark.
‘Since when did you get so cocky?’
    ‘Since I realised my boyfriend
is the Bourbon Kid.’
    ‘That’s hardly a reason to be
cocky.’
    ‘Really? Because the smart money
says I’m going to live. My boyfriend has been killing vampires for years and
he’s still alive. He’s up there on TV. I don’t see you guys on TV. No one’s
talking about how many people you’ve killed, apart from you . You guys
need to wake up to one very important fact.’
    Bull’s nostrils flared. She was
definitely getting under his skin. ‘What’s that then?’ he snarled.
    ‘You’re all gonna die.’
    Bull stared hard at her for a
few moments, clearly surprised at her brash display of confidence, and no doubt
rattled by it too. He nodded at Razor. Whatever the nod meant, it triggered an
instant reaction. With a deft jab from his right fist, Razor blindsided Beth
with a sharp blow to the side of the head, knocking her out cold.

 
    Thirty-Eight

 
    ‘Flake, you’ve done a wonderful
job,’ said Bill Clay, patting her on the shoulder.
    The switchboard on the reception
desk at the police station had been overwhelmed with calls from panicked
residents and Flake had done her best to keep them calm and offer advice. There
had been all kinds of strange calls, including one from a girl called Caroline
who claimed she’d been chased into a library by a vampire who was then killed
by the Bourbon Kid. Flake couldn’t tell the crank calls from the genuine ones,
so she was grateful when Clay had come downstairs and dictated an answerphone
message to her. They had recorded it and diverted all further incoming calls to
the automated message.
    ‘I sure could use a coffee after
all that,’ Flake said.
    ‘You’ve certainly earned it. If
I was you I’d head home.’
    Flake peered over to the front
doors of the station at the dark streets outside. ‘I think I might stay here,
if it’s all the same to you,’ she said.
    ‘Can’t say I blame you. We’ve
got a few comfy sofas on the upper floors, I’ll see if I can find some blankets
for you.’
    ‘What about you? Are you staying
too?’
    Clay shook his head. ‘Nah. I’m
due to meet the Captain later tonight at the museum.’
    ‘Where’s he now?’
    ‘Addressing the city on the
local news. So he’s probably dead by now. Any word from Sanchez?’
    ‘No, he never showed up.’
    ‘That’s too bad. Come on
upstairs, I’ll find some blankets for you.’
    Flake had a few other things she
wanted to attend to. Things she didn’t particularly want to share with Clay.
‘I’ll come on up in a bit. Just got a few things to do first,’ she said.
    ‘Suit yourself. I’ll see you in
a while.’
    Clay headed back upstairs via
the stinky elevator. Flake grabbed a cup of coffee from a vending machine and
settled back in at her desk. It was eerily quiet and made her long for Sanchez
to show up. He had promised to drop by before heading off to the Casa de Ville
with The Book of Death. She had a horrible feeling that he was about to put
himself in danger by making the trip to the Casa De Ville on his own. He seemed
to hold Jessica in very high esteem without any good reason. Flake didn’t trust
Jessica at all. The woman acted like a total bitch most of the time, yet no
matter what she did, Sanchez seemed very forgiving.
    Now that she finally had some
time to herself Flake pulled open the bottom drawer on her desk and moved a few
items aside. At the bottom of the drawer, underneath the clutter was The Book
With No Name. She pulled it out and laid it down on the desk. She soon found
the page where she had stopped reading the day before. She took a sip from her
coffee and began scanning through the pages in the hopes of finding out
anything more about vampires and cursed books.
    It didn’t take too long to find
some more sketchy information about The Book of Death. It was described as a
large black hardback book, just like the one she had hit with her car earlier.
There was also a mention of the book’s owner, a powerful man known as Rameses
Gaius. The name sounded familiar to her but she couldn’t recall where she had
heard