The Tome of Bill (Book 7): The Wicked Dead Read Free Page B

if this goes bad, and we both know it.”
    I held up a hand. She didn’t need to elaborate. That was the very nightmare scenario that had kept me from pursuing this up until now. When Tom and Ed had first learned of my little Jekyll and Hyde issue, they’d been all over that shit – pestering me to learn how to control it. I hadn’t because I had a feeling that if anything went wrong, their blood would pay for it.
    Hell, that still might be the case.
    * * *
    “It’s about fucking time,” Tom said, crossing his arms before turning to Christy. “So what did you say to get him to stop pussing out?”
    “She didn’t say anything. It was my choice.”
    As requested, I’d waited for Christy to get some rest, then summoned everyone up to our apartment’s living room. If there were any bad reactions to my plan, I could always retreat to the safety of my bedroom.
    I let out a heavy sigh. No, the new me would face down my detractors. I’d look them in the eye and...
    I glanced up and caught Sheila staring at me pensively, then immediately averted my gaze. Okay, so I still needed a little practice with this new outlook on life.
    “Tom’s right,” Ed said. “If you’d have done this when we said to, then that whole bullshit with you running off and getting kidnapped to Switzerland would have gone down differently.”
    “That, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation because you’d all be dead,” Sheila countered from her spot next to Sally on our tattered love seat ... which, admittedly, hadn’t seen too much love as of late. “Don’t forget, you told me what happened after I got shot.”
    “I know, but don’t forget I heard it secondhand.”
    Both of them glanced toward Sally, who waved them off. “Don’t look at me. I don’t remember any of that. Honestly, I’m still having a hard time even believing it happened.”
    “Well, believe it. You were there.” I addressed the group again. “Sheila has a point. Even though it’s all a blank for me, I know in my gut I tore Remington to shreds. That wasn’t the worst of it either.” I visualized the cell back in Chillon Castle – all the broken bodies scattered about, thralls sacrificed to my darker half.
    I willed the images away with some effort. “That part of me is a monster, a rampaging hell-beast that likes nothing better than bathing in buckets of blood.”
    “How would one bathe in...?”
    I held up a hand to Tom. “I’m talking figuratively, numb nuts. I’m sure the rest of you get my point. The thing is, Dr. Death isn’t as mindless as we all thought.”
    “And you know this how? ” Sally asked.
    “Because I had a conversation with him.”
    * * *
    I took a seat and explained to my suddenly attentive audience the internal dialogue I’d had back when I was Alex’s prisoner. It had been pretty weird experiencing it, but it was only slightly less odd telling them all of getting a knock on the door only to find a demonic, and somewhat assholish, version of myself staring back.
    When I finished, Ed asked, “And you’re sure you didn’t dream it?”
    “Pretty positive, especially since evil alternate Bill seemed to know the details of what had gone on in my life after I’d passed out. He also knew Alex would be waiting for me naked when I woke up.”
    Stunned silence met my inadvertent confession for a moment, until Sally commented, “All right, now this is getting good.”
    “It’s not like that.”
    “So Alexander was dressed?”
    “No.”
    “Why didn’t you tell us this part when you got back?” Tom asked, a shit-eating grin upon his face.
    “Don’t be an ass,” Ed said, coming to my rescue. “Obviously, some memories are best cherished in secret between lovers.”
    Or not.
    Tom, Ed, and Sally brayed laughter like a trio of jackasses. Sheila pretended to find something interesting on the wall while failing to suppress a smile. Only Christy kept a straight face, her look more one of exasperation, although whether for me or