Free The Tome of Bill (Book 6): Half A Prayer by Rick Gualtieri Page A

okay?”
    “Better than okay,” Ed replied, thankfully dropping the subject of boning Sally. “The tenants in our old place have been moving out in droves. Most of Christy’s coven took over their leases. I won’t lie. Living in witch central does translate into a better night’s sleep these days.”
    “Cool. Any of them single?” I asked half-heartedly.
    “I hate to interrupt,” Sally interrupted, “but it’s time, Bill.”
    “What?” I looked at my watch. Fuck! “C’mon; can’t we skip a day? I mean, it’s practically a celebration here.”
    “Then you can celebrate downstairs. Now let’s go.” She stood and pointed to the exit.
    “What’s up?” Ed asked, confused.
    “Only the most hilarious part of my day. You’re welcome to come along if you want. There’s nothing quite like watching Bill’s combat training.”
     

Training Day
    I’d been pretty down in the dumps when I’d first joined Pandora Coven. It stung finding out that Sheila had moved on. The only thing keeping me from blubbering like a little baby had been the misconceptions I’d had about my new gig.
    In between fights for survival in an increasingly hostile world, I figured I’d at least get some downtime surrounded by multitudes of T&A. That’s only logical, right? You get a job at one of the premiere strip clubs in Vegas and you expect a few perks, like heavily discounted lap dances. Things like that can go a long way toward mending a broken heart.
    Not so much with Sally as the proprietor. It didn’t help that, unlike Village Coven, most of the vamps under Sally’s rule were a by-the-book bunch. Sure, there was Kara, but Sally had read me the riot act before we’d even first stepped through the door - not that she needed to. I mean, jeez, she was Tom’s baby sister. It’s not like I would’ve thought...well, I would’ve thought about it, but I wouldn’t have tried - much.
    My next mistake was in thinking my various interactions with the other vamps would be the same. I’ll admit to having run Village Coven fairly loosely. Usually, I’d show up on the weekends, grouse about how Sally was fucking things up, yell at anyone for being too...well...vampiric when it came to hunting humans, and occasionally sit around and watch the more attractive members jiggle for a little while. All in all, it wasn’t a particularly demanding gig - minus the occasional assassination attempt, coven war, mage bombings, and the like.
    I had been considered the coven master on paper, but Sally had been my partner all along, so I assumed our relationship would continue along that path. In that, I was likewise wrong. These days, if she said I needed an ass-kicking, my status as the formerly unique Freewill didn’t mean shit.
    I contemplated this as I slammed upside down into the solid concrete wall. Judo was quite the effective combat technique. Adding vampire strength to it made it utterly brutal - cool to watch, but a lot less fun to experience.
    “Again.”
    I peeled myself off the perpetually damp floor. The subbasement wasn’t technically a part of the sewer, but was connected to it. As a result, the humidity was always high and there was always an ever-so-slight background smell of ass. In short, it was gross. Painful, too, because Sally didn’t believe in using mats.
    I turned and faced the large vampire who’d tossed me. He was a big guy, about six-foot-four and a former bouncer, according to Sally. His name was Brock, but I always referred to him as John Holmes behind his back - mainly on account of the ridiculous porno-stache he wore. Jeez, one of these days I was gonna have to break it to this guy that the seventies were over. For now, though, I did as Sally ordered and once again approached my larger, and much better trained, opponent.
    It wasn’t quite boot camp, but Sally insisted on a training regimen for all vampires under her leadership - especially me. Don’t get me wrong - some of it was cool. I mean, watching Kara