Undead and Undermined

UNDEAD AND UNWED
UNDEAD AND UNEMPLOYED
UNDEAD AND UNAPPRECIATED
UNDEAD AND UNRETURNABLE
UNDEAD AND UNPOPULAR
UNDEAD AND UNEASY
UNDEAD AND UNWORTHY
UNDEAD AND UNWELCOME
UNDEAD AND UNFINISHED
UNDEAD AND UNDERMINED

DERIK’S BANE

SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES
SWIMMING WITHOUT A NET
FISH OUT OF WATER

Titles by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi

JENNIFER SCALES AND THE ANCIENT FURNACE
JENNIFER SCALES AND THE MESSENGER OF LIGHT
THE SILVER MOON ELM: A JENNIFER SCALES NOVEL
SERAPH OF SORROW: A JENNIFER SCALES NOVEL
RISE OF THE POISON MOON: A JENNIFER SCALES NOVEL

Anthologies

CRAVINGS

(with Laurell K. Hamilton, Rebecca York, Eileen Wilks)

BITE

(with Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Angela Knight, Vickie Taylor)

KICK ASS

(with Maggie Shayne, Angela Knight, Jacey Ford)

MEN AT WORK

(with Janelle Denison, Nina Bangs)

DEAD AND LOVING IT

SURF’S UP

(with Janelle Denison, Nina Bangs)

MYSTERIA

(with P. C. Cast, Gena Showalter, Susan Grant)

OVER THE MOON

(with Angela Knight, Virginia Kantra, Sunny)

DEMON’S DELIGHT

(with Emma Holly, Vickie Taylor, Catherine Spangler)

DEAD OVER HEELS

MYSTERIA LANE

(with P. C. Cast, Gena Showalter, Susan Grant)

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group
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South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. BERKLEY
^®SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Davidson, MaryJanice.

p. cm.

ISBN : 978-1-101-51687-4

1. Vampires—Fiction. 2. Taylor, Betsy (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Sinclair, Eric (Fictitious character)—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3604.A949U52527 2011
813’.6—dc22

2011010153

http://us.penguingroup.com

To all the readers
who assumed I’d lost my teeny,
tiny mind after
Unfinished,
but hung in anyway, my deepest thanks.

Acknowledgments

Where, oh where to begin? For starters, book ten? Book
ten
? Holy Fritos, Batman. Even as I typed that I felt my jaw sag. Book ten? How’d that happen? Am I proud? Am I freaked? Am I taking a bow? Am I talking to myself, and more important, can I stop? Or am I just ducking away from a well-deserved smack?

So, ten books! Weird. This is proof that goofing off in high school and not going to college were excellent decisions on my part. Who’s laughing now, Honor Society? Huh?

Anyway, thanks for reading ’em.

Thanks also to my terrific assistant, Tracy “You Don’t Scare Me” Fritze. She knows exactly what she’s getting into (for two years now!), yet she keeps coming back. It’s baffling to me.

My folks, for telling strangers about my books and urging people they’ve never met to buy them. My sister, who travels almost as much as I do, because she always calls me from whichever airport bookstore she’s seen my books in. “Add DC to the list!” she’ll chortle into my voice mail, “and you still haven’t given back my cake pan.” Yeah, well, you can choke waiting for that cake pan. It’s awesome and I’m not giving it up.

My dear friends Cathie Carr and Stacy Sarette, who are remarkably patient with me when I disappear off their radar for months at a time. I don’t deserve them, but at least I know it.

Special thanks to my friend Austin Robinson-Coolidge, who told me a decade ago when the tea craze was starting that, to him, chai tasted like Glade air freshener. I finally got around to stealing that and making Betsy think it. Ha! Ponder
that
next time you’re staggering your way through a marathon, ARC.

And finally, my in-laws and husband, who had a shitty year but never flinched. I’m always amazed by their core strength. It’s like their bones are lined with titanium or something. Oooh! Like Wolverine, except not tortured and angry and berserk-ey. Usually.

“My God, your mother-in-law beat a burglar to death with her walker!” “Yeah, she doesn’t like people touching her things.” My in-laws are like superheroes, except people are scared shitless of them.

—MARYJANICE, WINTER 2010

Author’s Note

The most luxurious RV in the world, which Betsy calls the Mansion on Wheels, and which Jessica refers to as the Mystery Machine, really exists! I didn’t make any of that up. I don’t know if that’s cool or weird.

Also, I’ve never been to the Cook County Morgue, but I’m sure it’s very nice. And unfortunately, bodies have gone missing there in the past. But I’m sure they’ve got that all worked out by now.

Finally, this book is essentially a trilogy within a series, and
Undermined
is the second book.
Undead and Unstable
will follow. So if you finish this book and find you still have questions, there’ll be another Betsy book coming down the pike in about twelve months or so.

The Story So Far

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