Dead Girls Don't Cry by Casey Wyatt

street clothes —was confirmed by the red jumpsuit I sported. Jay wore one too, a USI logo emblazoned on the left side. The vampire version of NASA.
    Whatever the fruity concoction was, it went down smoothly. Kind of like a warm daiquiri. After two more drinks, I started to feel better. The room didn’t tilt sideways when I stood up and my feet remained firmly on the ground.
    The elation didn’t last long. A weary ache gripped my heart. Jonathan’s absence cut me like a knife. I clutched at my chest. Faint echoes, the family’s collective thoughts permeated my mind. The bond would take some getting used to.
    “I can’t believe he did that,” I finally said. “Why did he sacrifice himself? He gave up without a fight.”
    “He was a good man. I have said many prayers for him.” Jay rubbed my arm with his warm hand as if chasing away a chill. “Together we will pray for him. The traditional way.”
    A wiped away a tear. “Yes. Okay.” Jay’s smile warmed my cold heart. He was the last thread to my old life. To before . “Why don’t you need a suit to breathe?”
    Jay shook his head. “Even the space shuttle has on-board oxygen supplies. A better question would be why does this ship have gravity?”
    “And?” I prompted for the reason.
    Jay frowned, “I have no idea. I’ve been prowling this ship for days trying to figure it out. Prior won’t tell me a thing.”
    “Wait. Prior is on the ship?”
    “As soon as Thalia’s men arrived, he hopped on board. I guess he liked his chances with us better. He knew what would happen to him.” Same fate as Jonathan went unsaid. “I don’t think he planned to come along. He’s a bit freaked out.”
    “Serves him right. We’ll see if his little social experiment works or not,” I grumbled.
    Jay’s nod of approval at my observation irritated me.
    “What? I read you know. I may be a stripper, but I’m not an idiot.”
    “I’ve never thought of you as anything but intelligent and capable,” Jay said. “And you are no longer a stripper. You’re a sire.
    Oh, fudge.
     
    ~ * * * ~
     
    Jay’s reminder of my new position in life was the proverbial ice water to the head. Managing the club’s roster and balancing the books is woefully inadequate training for leading a family of vampires. And it’s not like Jonathan left me a Sire’s Guide for Dummies , either. The only bonus at the moment, the entire family was in stasis.
    And Ian’s rogues. I doubted they would listen to me. Either as a sire or a leader. I shelved them as a problem for another day. Fiddledly-dee.
    From what I gathered, while wandering around the ship, which seemed way larger than the rocket on the pad, three vampires were awake: Ian, Prior and myself. Jay and the human flight crew were the only mortals.
    And I had already made a new enemy. Bonus points for me.
    See, it started with the juice pouches. I explored the ship since there was nothing else to do. Would it have killed them to pack a deck of cards?
    Endless wandering around dried out my throat. I had grabbed a juice pouch from the Mess Hall, one of the places I could now find without getting lost, and I discovered a new door.
    I had no idea it was the Captain’s Lounge. Why he needed another room besides quarters was beyond me. I poked around for a bit. He had some interesting ship models on the desk. And a vaguely familiar stack of reports from Prior. My stack had grown mysteriously every day. I fantasized about what I would do if I caught Prior in my room. I would break his—
    And that’s when Captain Trent caught me. “This is a restricted area, Miss.”
    The man’s body language screamed former soldier. The same ramrod straight spine, stiff neck and polite demeanor. I’d seen a million of his type in my lifetime. Soldiers never changed. They were all the same. Looking down on us civilians, and a female to boot, like we were something stuck beneath their shoe.
    “Please return to your officially sanctioned quarters.”
    The