Chapter 3

 

Talia whistled cheerfully to herself. This townhouse in Elkton wasn’t half bad. Sure, maybe it wasn’t the nicest place. And, yes, she did sort of miss living in the city, right in the thick of things. But this was… nice. Close enough to Baltimore and Philadelphia anyways. And what’s more, she wasn’t hardly twenty minutes away from her old pal Alex! His daughter…She thought for a moment… Aleda. She would be a teenager by now. About time to take her out, have some fun.

She got in her rental car and wrinkled her nose. Piece of s**t Ford. Her brother better write back soon—she could seriously use the help on her rent. It had been over a month since she had sent that letter. Her job at the Old Navy down the street didn’t pay nearly as well as her old waitressing job in Philly. The people were nice, though.

She had to grin when she saw Alex’s house on the little street in Keeney. All that talk about getting sick of small-town life and dull suburbs and he went and moved into the cutest little suburban two-story she’d ever seen. She pulled her car into the driveway. Alex’s wife, Aria, must be an avid gardener, or else have a lot of time on her hands, because somebody had gone to the trouble of planting several Chrysanthemums around the mailbox and in front of the porch.

Alex opened the door when she rang the bell, a grin lighting up his face when he saw her.

“Talia! It has been too long. Come in, come in!” he exclaimed with a delighted hug. “Aria is in the backyard, and Aleda is upstairs. Here, have a seat.”

Talia pulled her braid out of the way and sat on the couch in their living room, looking around curiously. The house, though not large, was cozy and well maintained. A glass sliding door opened to the backyard and Talia could see a bright red head of hair ducked busily behind a rosebush.

“Aleda! Little angel, Talia is here! Come down and say hello!” Alex called up the stairs before walking to the backyard to get his wife.

Talia swallowed a snort of laughter. Little angel? Oh, the poor girl! She heard footsteps from upstairs. Alex’s little angel stepped down the stairs, smiling hesitantly at her. Talia got up and hurried over meet her.

“Leda! My goodness, kid, you grew up!” she exclaimed, hugging her enthusiastically. “Geez! Last time I saw you, you were just learning to read!”

The poor girl blushed furiously at the onslaught of attention. Definitely have to do something about that. Oh, but she was a pretty thing! Her father’s mahogany curls and her mother’s startlingly blue eyes. Lucky little…

“So how do you like Delaware?” Talia asked. “First time in America, right?”

“Yeah,” Aleda said. She shrugged. “It’s okay. A little cold.”

“Ha, yeah, I bet! After living in Southern Spain all your life, Keeney has to feel like hell frozen over! Ah well, you get used to it. Trust me, I’ve lived in at least five different climates and there’s not one I haven’t gotten used to after awhile.”

“Five? Really?” Aleda asked, her eyes lighting up a bit. “Where did you live?”

“Oh, geez, practically everywhere. New York, Paris, London, Marseilles, California, Morocco…”

“Talia Kavanagh! How have you been?”

Talia looked over to see Aria walking into the house, wiping dirt on her jeans. “Holy crap, it’s Aria! I’ve been great, how about you? Heavens, girl, you don’t look a day older.”

“And you don’t act a day older! Aren’t you supposed to have a few decades on me?”

“Hey, not everybody settles down with a wife and kids, you know.”

“Excuse me?” Alex demanded, finally returning from the backyard. Talia grinned innocently at him.

“What? I said you settled down with a wife and a kid!” she insisted.

“Of course you did. Aria, mi amor, I heard from Mike Connor today. He is clearing a nest this weekend and asked me to come. I will be back by Monday morning.”

“Okay, querido,” Aria said.  She kissed him and turned back to Talia. “So what have you been doing? I hear Elkton’s a nice town. Do you like it there?”

“Well, it’s a change, that’s for sure,” Talia said. “It’s nice enough though. Got a job at an Old Navy outlet. The owner’s a friend of the family, so she lets me pick whatever hours I need to. Pretty handy. Pay kind of sucks, though. What about you? I thought you were going to be in Spain forever!”

“It was wonderful there. I do miss it. But we’d been there too long. You start getting funny looks after a while, you know?”

“I guess so. I wouldn’t know—I’ve never actually lived anywhere long enough,” Talia said, laughing.

“Just you wait. One of these days you’ll get tired of city-hopping and end up with a house and kids just like me!”

Talia looked horrified. “Heaven forbid! Such mean things you say to me!” The last thing she ever wanted to do was settle down! The very thought sent a shudder straight down her spine. The longest she had ever spent in one place had been when she was growing up in Manhattan with her family. That had been almost forty years ago. After that, she never spent more than a few years in the same city. She just got… restless. Actually, speaking of which—

“Hey, Leda,” Talia said, nudging the reticent girl. “So what’s this I hear about you turning 18 soon?”

“Well, in May. That’s still eight months. Not before I graduate.”

“Oh, geez, you’re graduating, too? When did you find the time to grow up so fast?” Aleda just shrugged.

“Come on now, Talia,” Aria said. “Just because you still look twenty, you can’t expect Aleda here to stay a cute little five-year-old forever!” She smiled at her daughter and tucked a strand of mahogany hair behind her ear.

Aleda groaned. “Mom!” she protested, batting away her mother’s hand. She looked helplessly at Talia.

Well, Talia had never been one to ignore a hint. “Hey, Aria, I think I’m going to take Leda out for some girl time. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Just be sure you have her back in one piece by supper!” Aria said.

“Hey, I resent that!” Talia said. “I always get back on time! C’mon, kid. Let’s go see what there is to do in this town.”

“So how old are you, actually?” Aleda asked when they were in the car.

“Oh, fifty, give or take,” Talia said dismissively. “Actually, it’s what? October? Fifty-one in a couple weeks, then.”

Aleda was impressed. “Really? You could be my age!”

“I will have you know, any disparaging comments about my height,” Talia said. “Or lack thereof, will be taken most gravely.”

Aleda laughed. “Seriously, though. You look really young.”

Talia raised an eyebrow at the girl. “Clearly you have not spent enough time around other hunters. Did they lock you up with mortals in Málaga, or what?”

“Not really. We visited Aunt Firi a lot. And Papá had a few friends in the area. But they all looked kind of middle-aged. You know?”

“Ah… So you’ve only ever seen our dear settled cousins, then.”

Aleda shrugged. “I guess. There really weren’t all that many in our town.”

“Tsk. We are officially going to have to do something about that. Hey, we could go visit some of my friends in Philly! What do you say?”

“Er… Philadelphia? Isn’t that kind of far?” Aleda asked worriedly.

“Nah. It’s an hour drive, tops. Less if we get decent traffic. Besides, it’ll be fun!”

“I don’t know,” Aleda said. “I haven’t actually ever been to a big city before. I always heard they were kind of dangerous. All those things you hear on the news, you know?”

Talia just laughed, and drove.

 

 

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“I think I like the suburbs,” Aleda said once they had made it into the city. She looked around at the tall buildings and endless concrete. And to think, she had considered Delaware bleak! The countless streets branching off in every direction reminded her of her first day of school, nervous, and hopelessly lost. Talia grinned—she was in her element.

“Okay,” Talia said, “I know it’s here somewhere.” She glanced at the street signs to her right.

“What’s that?” Aleda asked.

“Parking garage. I can never remember if it’s this street or the next,” Talia said.

“This street is one-way,” Aleda pointed out helpfully.

“Ah! Next street, then. Here we go.”

Aleda looked at the tiny garage doubtfully. It gave the impression that it was going to collapse at any moment. To her surprise, the attendant nodded at Talia and handed her a free parking voucher.

“Why’d he do that?” she asked, looking at the voucher.

Talia laughed. “Oh, poor little Leda. You might be hunter-born but you’re still a mortal.” Aleda glared at her. Talia took pity on her and stopped giggling. “This place is owned and staffed by our cousins. You do know we can recognize each other, right? Or is that something else your parents failed to mention?”

“No, they told me about that,” Aleda said crossly. She hated feeling like such a child.

Talia found an empty spot and parked the car. There were very few cars there, anyway. No wonder, really, considering the state of the garage. The concrete was cracked and stained, and more than a few lights had burned out. Aleda got out of the car quickly to stand as close to Talia as possible.

“You scared, little Leda?” Talia asked. “Don’t worry, this is the safest garage in the city.” Aleda looked at her doubtfully. “Trust me. If anybody tried to rob you—or, you know, eat you—there’d be a good five cousins down here faster than you can say ‘alarm system’. Besides,” she added, “It’s not as if the guards would let anything dangerous get in.”

“Right, well, that’s all very nice,” Aleda said. “But if you don’t mind I’d still rather not hang around here.”

“Sure thing, little Leda. I’ve got to show you the city anyways. Hey, what do you say to some lunch? My treat.”

When Aleda thought of lunch, she pictured a smallish restaurant that served fries and coleslaw with every entrée. If not the smallish restaurant, she pictured a busy fast food restaurant with barely enough room to stand in line. What Aleda did not picture was a seedy bar with a dartboard and a broken neon sign out front.

“Hey, um, Talia?” she asked nervously.

“What can I do for you?” Talia asked.

“I… thought you said we were going to have lunch,” Aleda said.

Talia looked at her blankly. “Yeah, and…?”

“In there?”

“Sure, why not?”

“…It’s a bar.”

“Oh. That.” Talia shrugged cheerfully. “It serves food. Come on!”

Aleda stared after her while Talia walked eagerly into the darkened bar. For a moment she had the thought that she would never go in there. Forget being severely out of place, there was no way she would want to eat lunch surrounded by drunk men! She glanced behind her. Then again, maybe it would be better to not wander the streets of Philadelphia by herself. She swallowed and walked in.

The bartender, who had been getting Talia’s order, looked at her strangely. Aleda paled as, one by one, every set of eyes turned to watch her. This. Right here. This was why she had not wanted to come in here. Talia came to her rescue half a second before Aleda decided to walk back out again.

“Leda! Come in! Sit!” she called, patting the barstool next to her. “What do you want to eat? They’ve got great buffalo wings.”

“Hey, Talia,” the bartender said, continuing to watch Aleda from the corner of his eye. “Who’s your… friend?”

Talia grinned like a maniac. If Aleda hadn’t known better, she would have sworn she was enjoying this.

“Who, this kid?” she asked. “She’s only seventeen, so be nice to her. This is my friend Aleda.”

The rest of the patrons watched the exchange intently. Aleda sent a fervent plea to the merciful heavens to let it be over soon. Talia casually sipped her drink. She looked the bartender square in the eye.

“…Alejandro’s daughter.”

The bartender stared at Talia for a moment, then burst out laughing.

“D****t, Talia! You near to gave me a heart attack! Making me think you’d brought a mortal to our place. Shame on you!” he exclaimed, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. He finally looked over at Aleda with something other than doubt. “Sorry for that, kid. Didn’t know you were hunterborn. I’m West, nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand. Aleda shook it. She felt like kicking Talia. “Alejandro’s daughter, huh? Man, I sure am sorry to hear what happened to your grandparents.”

Aleda looked at him sharply, surprised.

“Talia told us after the war,” he said. “And to think, they weren’t even doing any fighting. Real shame. Lily was a sweet girl. Hey, let me get you something to drink, on the house.”

“Seriously?” Aleda asked, stunned that he would give her alcohol even after hearing her age.

“Sure,” West said. “Whatever you like.”

“Well, I don’t really know…” Aleda mumbled. The only experience she had with alcohol was the wine her parents would sometimes drink with dinner.

“Oh, get her a Blushing Persian,” Talia said. “That’s one of my favorites. You’ll love it,” she told Aleda.

“Okay,” Aleda said. “One of those, please.”

West winked at her and turned to make her drink. Aleda took the opportunity to glance back around at the bar. Must be a hunters’ bar. The other patrons had lost all overt interest in her once she had been recognized. She smiled a little to herself. It was like an exclusive club, and she was a member. Well, almost a member.

She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed it before. She scanned the handful of other patrons again to be sure. A group of young men and women played a round of darts at the far end. Several men with drinks in their hands were shouting at football match and cheering every time their favorite team scored a goal. Smaller groups sat around the tables and chatted. One or two sat quietly, reading the paper or checking appointment books. They ranged from young and on a budget to older and successful.

Not one had even a single wrinkle. There were no gray hairs, nor shoulders stooped with age. They could have been a group of teenagers dressed up for a play. Even the businessman sorting through his briefcase and sipping his coffee could have looked twenty with a different haircut.

Locked up with mortals, indeed.

“Here’s your drink, kid,” West said, handing her a glass full of something opaque and faintly pink. “Can I get you something to eat?”

Aleda looked over at Talia, who was munching happily on a hamburger and fries and shouting occasionally at the football match. “Cheeseburger?”

“Coming right up.”

On closer inspection, her drink was also slightly fizzy. She felt like asking what was in it. No. She was not going to be a kid anymore. Just drink it.

She took a tentative sip, waiting for the telltale sting of the alcohol on the back of her throat. To her surprise, it tasted like nothing so much as…

“Peaches and cream,” she said aloud.

“Whole milk, actually,” Talia said. “And a little club soda. Good, isn’t it?”

Aleda stared at her in consternation. “You knew!” she accused.

Talia grinned that endearingly infuriating grin of hers again. “Of course,” she said, and then started giggling. She pointed at the rack of bottles behind West. “What don’t you see over there, little Leda?”

Aleda looked. There was nothing in any of the bottles.

“There’s no alcohol.” She frowned. “Why isn’t there any alcohol?”

“Alcohol’s kind of expensive for something that doesn’t even work with our metabolisms,” Talia said. “If anybody but cousins came in here, West would probably stock up. As it is, he doesn’t even have a liquor license.” She leaned over the bar and motioned Aleda to do the same. “The whole back of this is refrigerators. See? Soda, fruit, juice, and a crapload of milk.”

Aleda sat back in her seat and shook her head. It figured. It really did. No matter what, she always ended up looking silly. It made her wonder why her parents had neglected to tell her so many things. As soon as she got back home, she was going to start asking. At least her drink was, in fact, delicious. She ate her cheeseburger in silence, watching the other patrons in the bar. Every so often another would come in and be greeted warmly by the rest. Definitely a friendly bunch, despite the coarse environment.

It was also interesting watching which new addition would end up sitting with which group of people. Her favorite was when an elderly lady sat at a table with a group of large men wearing flannel and then slipped off her white wig to reveal short, dark curls. Eventually she got bored and turned to watch the game with Talia.

 

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The two girls arrived back in Keeney an hour later. Aria invited Talia to stay for dinner, but she declined.

“Thanks, kid, but I have to get back. I work the evening shift on Saturdays,” Talia said, giving Aleda one last wink before getting back in her car. Aleda had already extracted a promise that she would come back the next weekend. All in all, it had actually been a good day.

Talia fiddled with the radio in the car. What she needed was a good oldies station. There were never enough oldies stations on the radio. At least the horrible syntho-pop from the eighties was over and done with. She finally found a decent station and left it alone. It was a good thing, too. She certainly didn’t want to have to spend the twenty minutes it would take to get back home messing with the radio!

Home. Well, she supposed it was home now. As much home as any place had been home in the past forty years. She had been living in Elkton for two months. Actually, that was longer than some places that she had stayed. Not the cities, of course—she usually stayed in a city for a year or two. She liked cities. It was the smaller places in which she stopped that she did not linger. A small village here and there, usually on the way to the next city. She would stay just long enough to clear out the demon nests before moving on. To be perfectly honest, living in a place like Elkton was a completely new experience for her.

For that matter, living on the Mid-Atlantic coast was pretty new, as well. She didn’t really count living in Philadelphia for a year. Philly was still, essentially, a city. This endless expanse of suburb was… startling. She kept expecting to turn down a road and find herself surrounded by countryside. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought that Elkton and Keeney were the same town. She would never be able to understand how her father had put up with it for so many years, living in New Jersey. It had just better be worth it.

She turned onto Fletchwood Road and sighed. Pine Hill Apartments. Home sweet home. She pulled into the lot and parked, smiling and nodding to one of the other tenants. He looked at her oddly and nodded back, but Talia barely noticed. The sun was way too bright and cheerful to ignore, and she still had most of an hour before she had to get to work.

Her apartment was small, but it suited her well enough. The few odds and ends she had collected over the years weren’t nearly enough to fill up the space. If she ever stayed in one place long enough she might build up some clutter, but as it was she preferred being able to pick up and leave whenever she wanted. No need to worry about moving a whole truckload of useless junk with her.

She set her purse on the dining table and was about to grab her towel and a book when she saw her answering machine light blinking. She frowned. Who could have called her? Maybe it was work? Although a night off would be nice, especially a Saturday night, she really did need the money. Ordering pizza every other night probably didn’t help the situation, no matter how hot the delivery boy was.

She punched the button to hear a familiar deep-toned voice. She gasped and leaned closer to hear.

“Hello my sister dearest, I’m sure you’re wondering if I finally dropped off the edge of the Earth. I just thought I’d call to tell you I haven’t, and that I got your letter. I was tired of the jungle anyway. I should be there sometime tomorrow morning. See you then.”

Talia squealed to herself. He was coming! All those years apart and they were finally going to be a team again, like it should’ve been all along. She was so excited that she nearly forgot about work. She grabbed her purse and was halfway to the car before she remembered she still had the better part of an hour before she had to leave. Feeling a bit foolish, she finished her original intention of lying out on the porch in the sun for a while.

Talia and her brother had been as close as two siblings can be growing up. He was four years older than her, adopted by their father when he was a baby. That had been back before Daddy married Talia’s mother. As long as she could remember, Ryan had always been watchful of her. He was practically her bodyguard, and it was a good thing, too. If it hadn’t been for him, she never would’ve survived childhood. She still had the scar on her arm from when she had decided to climb onto the roof of their apartment building when she was five years old. She had fallen, of course, grabbing helplessly at the rusty metal grating and cutting her arm. She had been sure she was about to die. But Ryan had caught her. He had been right there, coming after her as soon as she had disappeared. He knew just as well as she did how much she tended to get herself in trouble.

He’d never even been jealous of the little blonde girl, not even when it became plenty obvious that she was her Daddy’s little princess. Not even when Talia started to hang out with the popular girls in middle school while he never even seemed to have a crowd, or a gang, or anything. That had been back when her father was teaching her what it was like to be a hunter. She had been so proud of her blood, and had teased Ryan relentlessly about not sharing it, much to her shame. That was forty years ago.

They’d traveled together for a while after she graduated from high school. Neither one had been fond of spending too long in one place. For Talia it had always been that way. She loved the city. Loved it for its busy atmosphere and its constant change. She loved the throng of people and the possibility of meeting new faces every day. Yet even at eighteen she had gotten bored of the island and longed to see as many new places as she could.

Ryan had been different. He had gotten anxious to leave New York, too. The difference was that he had never really liked the city. Even living there his entire life, he never got used to the big crowds of people. Talia had always called him a recluse, though really he was just shy. Talia chuckled to remember. Ryan, the tall, dark, and dangerous—shy! Oh, not that he was really dangerous—except to demons, of course—he’d just always had that aura. He didn’t mind. It meant that people were more likely to leave him alone.

But he had been starting to get a little confidence, in those years before they left. He would go with her to parties sometimes, though he claimed he only went to ‘keep an eye on her’. Talia knew better. She would see him talking to people at those parties, and knew he was enjoying himself, whether he intended to or not. Then it had all evaporated and he got even more mopey and reclusive than before. It was not long after that they left New York. They skipped from city to city, following their whims. More specifically, they followed Talia’s whims. Ryan couldn’t care less about their destinations. He just wanted to keep moving.

Then, in 1981, the second war started. They had been in Los Angeles at the time, staying with friends and working what jobs they could find. For three years they fought. Keeping regular people from catching on was almost harder than the actual fighting, and more than a few witnessed things that no mortals should ever see. Talia, as fast as she was, and Ryan, who was freakishly strong, had had a pretty decent time of it. Others weren’t so lucky. They lost many friends in that war. Too many. It had nearly destroyed him. He left without a word once the announcement came. The fighting was over; there was no reason for him to stay. Not even his sister could keep him around. Talia had proven herself in that war, and Ryan knew he didn’t have to look after her anymore.

Ever since then, he had wandered the most remote, isolated, ends-of-the-earth places he could find. Unknown villages of the old world, hidden in the mountains. Poor as hell settlements on the dry savannah. He went everywhere. He would still write her every so often, knowing she liked to hear all about his adventures.

In small villages he never had to encounter the large crowds of strangers. He could stay for a few weeks, long enough to clear the area, and move on. Since hardly anybody bothered with the most remote areas, there was always something to hunt, and most of the people there already knew full well what the nasty creatures were. They welcomed him, and got it when he left as abruptly as he had arrived. It made his work easier.

If Talia was ever tempted to try to follow him, she was held back by the fact that he didn’t want her around. Sometimes she wondered if he might’ve stayed under different circumstances. If they’d been in another city when the war started. If they’d spent less time worrying about the frustratingly nosy mortals. If she had only fought a little harder, or if only they’d been a little smarter, or a little quicker. There were too damned many ‘if only’s. In all honesty she couldn’t even blame him for leaving. To have seen so much bloodshed was enough to make anyone reevaluate the value of life. Talia buried herself even further in the energy of the cities; cities full of people, cities full of life. Ryan just ran away.

No. No, that wasn’t fair. Mustn’t think like that. She loved her brother, and as much as she loved him she understood a bit of how his head worked. Only a small bit, of course — he was still completely incomprehensible to her most of the time. But she understood well enough to know that he wasn’t running away.

So she went her way, and left him to go his. He would always send her a postcard, and she would always write back. Sometimes months went by without a word, but eventually he would write again. She was always afraid that he would stop writing. She knew he didn’t always tell the Council where he was going. Never mind that she had no idea where to send her letters when he didn’t. Never mind that her letters were sometimes held for months because they had no address until he would finally send word.

But he was finally coming back. After nearly twenty years, she was going to see her brother again. Just the thought that he would be at her apartment in less than a day was enough to make her forget the past twenty years of frustration. It was enough to make her forget—

“S**t!” She had completely lost track of the time! Now she had all of two minutes to get to the Old Navy before her shift started. She threw her towel at the couch and grabbed her purse, almost forgetting to lock the door.

 “S**t! Stupid! Son of a … His fault! Gonna… Damn it!” The incoherent stream of curses didn’t end until she was almost to the store.

She checked the dashboard clock and whimpered. This would be the seventh time she was late this month. Diane was going to have her head. Talia skidded into a parking space and ran for the door.

“Talia! So glad you could make it this evening,” a voice called from the counter. “Should I even ask what kept you this time?”

Talia grinned sheepishly and stashed her things behind the counter. “You’re the bestest boss ever?” she tried.

“Nice of you to say,” Diane said, “But I seriously doubt that you were late because of it.”

“Sorry, Diane. It’ll never happen again, seriously!”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Diane said. She glared at Talia a bit longer, and then grinned. “Come on then, you’re not as late as you usually are. Clock in, and then I’ve got some shirts for you to fold.”

Talia sighed in relief and did as she asked. Diane really was the best boss ever. The job wasn’t quite as good as her old waitressing gig in Philadelphia, of course. Her wages may have been terrible, but cute blonde waitresses tend to make excellent tips. Besides that, her hours had been a lot more flexible at her old job. The general manager had certainly been grateful that he had a waitress who volunteered to work late at night.

Retail work was easy enough to do on autopilot, anyway. She didn’t have to think in order to fold shirts, straighten clothing racks, and ring up the occasional customer. It meant that she was able to give all of her attention to the customers themselves. Most were harmless enough. And who’d notice if one worker out of several occasionally ducked out back to follow one of them? If anyone even saw her leave, they just thought she was taking a smoke break.

Unfortunately, this was a Saturday night. For this neighborhood, that meant that she had to deal with an awful rush of customers. Not as easy to spot a gap in the sea of souls. More people to cover for her if she had to take a ‘smoke break’, though. It probably evened out.

Talia folded the shirts absentmindedly. After this, Diane had promised her plenty of clothes to re-hang and, if she was lucky, some old inventory to move to the back. And she still had four hours to go until her shift was up.

After what seemed like ages, she finally looked at her watch to see that she only had ten minutes left until she could go home. She took as long as she could on the jeans she was hanging, trying to will the time to go more quickly. A passing group of indeterminately young women made her glance behind her.

Black as death.

S**t.

Well, she could explain to Diane later.

She left the rest of the jeans where they were and moved to a rack closer to where the young women stood. They didn’t seem to be shopping for anything. They chatted with each other about nothing in particular, glancing around every so often. Talia ducked her head and pretended to inspect some shirts, hiding her claws between the clothes. A group like that would be on the prowl for a healthy male, someone with plenty of meat on his bones—wait, no. These weren’t feeders after all. Feeders always smelled like rotting meat, at least to her nose. These… smelled like blood.

Today was just getting better and better.

Not for the first time, Talia cursed her small size. Blood or meat, they always liked a full meal. Especially with a group as large as this. Hard to distract them from the other customers with just herself as bait.

Well, only one way around it.

“Hi there!” she exclaimed cheerfully. She folded her hands behind her back and tried to force the claws back with sheer willpower. There were way too many bloody people around to take any risks. “Can I help you girls with anything?”

One raised an eyebrow at her, then turned back to her friends with a smirk.

“Anything at all?” Talia insisted. “We’ve got a great selection of new sweatshirts in!”

Another of them glared at her disdainfully.

“Although, ha ha, you girls probably aren’t the sweatshirt type, huh? Hey, how about skirts? There’s some great minis just over here, I hung them myself this morning.”

She saw a jaw clench.

“Wow, you really have nice clothes already. Why are you shopping in here? I love that blouse! Where’d you get it?”

“Hecht’s,” came the hissed reply. “Now scram, girl.”

“You know what? You’re right! I’ve absolutely got to have a smoke or I’ll just die. How did you know? Do you smoke too? It’s an awful habit, I know, but you would not believe the stress you get working at a place like this. And there’s this great little alley right behind the store, next to the dumpster, so my boss can’t see me. Hey! You girls wanna join me?” Talia asked, her eyes shining false excitement.

They looked at each other. Didn’t take long to reach a conclusion. The world would be a far, far better place with the horribly obnoxious blonde brat dead. One nodded.

Talia gave her cheesiest grin. “Awesome! Come on, it’s back here,” she said. She turned and led them towards the back exit, a spring in her step and a smirk on her face. She made her way to the back of the store, catching Diane’s glance. The woman nodded. Talia walked as quickly as she dared, not wanting those following her to be distracted by the other customers.

Five of them. More than she liked. Usually had a partner with a group this large. Feeders, five were nothing, But these suckers…

Employees’ entrance, back of the building. Push open the door to reveal the alley and dumpster, just as she said. They filed out after her. She could almost feel their hunger. She didn’t stop walking until she heard the click of the door. She turned, still careful to conceal her claws. They circled around her like a pack of wolves. Blood on their breath and blood in their eyes.

There was no pretence of a cigarette. The one who had answered her before stalked closer and ran a sharp fingernail down her cheek. Talia feigned incomprehension for a moment, allowing her to get closer.

She struck.

Claws through the heart and the girl fell to dust. The others stopped their progress toward her, staring in bafflement. Talia grinned wide.

They were not stunned for long. Animal instinct claimed them. One of their own had fallen and the killer would pay.

Her claws had been seen. Unavoidable, at this point. Unfortunately, she now had to get rid of every last one. Carelessness in that sort of thing was the sort of thing that started wars.

But would they know what they faced? The answer was not so certain as it had been a few decades ago. But no—their dead eyes betrayed their confusion. That would make her job easier.

She strode purposefully up to one, ducking a blow aimed at her throat. Her claws came up to scratch her side. The girl moved out of the way and backed off, her flesh twisting under the torn fabric as it healed.

Feeders, Talia mused, were a lot easier to kill.

Two attacked from behind, clutching her lower arms. A third sprang forward to claim her throat. Talia crouched and leapt. The grasp on her arms allowed her to flip forward and up, her foot snapping up and relieving the sucker of her head. Talia continued to turn in the air. She landed gracefully behind her would-be captors, their arms bent oddly with the effort of their continued hold.

As soon as her feet touched ground Talia yanked as hard as she could, sending them crashing into the dumpster behind her. She turned to meet them, swiftly skewering one in the heart. The other, having been allowed the split-second, immediately attacked, grappling with her and dodging the deadly claws.

They wrestled for several seconds, and Talia was unable to free herself enough to twist out of the way. She had speed and surprise on her side, but could barely match this creature for strength. She felt the sting of tearing flesh in her shoulder – the damn thing must have scratched her. Honestly, every time she found a shirt she really liked, something like this happened. Suddenly this fight was personal. She head butted the sucker, breaking her nose. Nose bleeding momentarily, she relaxed her grip enough for Talia to gain access to her ribcage. She thrust all ten claws into the sucker, completely skewering her midsection. At least one must have struck true, for the girl collapsed and dissolved into dust.

Talia stood there for a moment, regaining her breath. The skin on her shoulder had already regrown; her shirt was not so lucky. Still, though, she was happy. Five vampires were almost too much for her to handle, but damn it, she’d done it! Then a treacherous part of her mind, the part that had been counting the dust piles, whispered urgently at her. She had only killed four.

She spun around just in time to see the fifth girl leaping at her. Just before she reached the little blonde, her progress was abruptly halted. A hand shot out of the night, tearing the head from the rest of the body. The corpse landed at Talia’s feet before dissolving, and she looked up sharply.

A tall man stepped into the light of the streetlamp, shaking the dust from his hand.

“Nasty things, vampires. At least feeders have the decency to vanish completely,” he said, stepping toward her. He sighed. “Little Talia, always getting herself into trouble. What am I going to do with you?”

Talia squealed and rushed the man, squeezing him so hard he thought she would crush his lungs. “Ryan,” she squeaked happily.