I got to the hall the same time as Ezra. I’m not sure how well the fight between Milo and Jonathan had been going, but Ezra flew in and grabbed Jonathan by the throat and pinned him back against the concrete wall.

Milo’s costume was in tatters and he was out of breath, and he just stood across from Jonathan, glaring at him. Jonathan fought against Ezra, but then Olivia appeared behind Ezra, and he completely stopped.

“Enough,” Ezra boomed, and let go of his throat. Jonathan licked the blood from his lips and straightened out his clothing.

My mouth had blood on it from when I’d bit him, and I wiped at it with the back of my hand. I could almost taste it, but I refused to. It was Jane’s blood, and I didn’t want any of it.

“I don’t want to see you around here anymore,” Olivia said, and her voice sounded surprisingly commanding. “Is that clear?”

Jonathan didn’t say anything. He looked at the ground and started hobbling down the hall. His tendon hadn’t healed yet. I couldn’t quite figure out why he’d listened to Olivia, but I didn’t have time to think about.

“Are you okay?” Milo knelt on the ground next to Bobby.

Bobby slumped against the wall, and he was bleeding, but I’m not sure from where. He nodded, and I could tell he was fighting back tears, but otherwise he was alright.

I would’ve like to stay and make sure they were both okay, but I had to get Jane. I ran back in the room and scooped her up in my arms, and she hung like a rag doll. Her sheer, tiny dress revealed all her ribs, and I felt her spine. The wound on her neck had started clotting, which meant there had to be some life, but that was the only sign I had.

“That’s your friend?” Ezra looked in the room at her, and his expression was grim.

“Yeah. Can you help her?” I held her out towards him, like I was a small child and she were a broken toy I expected him to fix.

“We’ll take her back to the house,” Ezra said simply. Gingerly, he took her from me, and I felt better just knowing that he had her. In my mind, he could fix anything.

“Take the back way out,” Olivia suggested when she saw Jane. “You remember how to get there?”

“Yes. Thank you for all your help,” Ezra said.

“Anytime,” Olivia smiled at me. “You take care of yourself. Try and stay out of trouble, okay?”

“I’ll try,” I nodded, but I was already walking down the hall, following Ezra. Milo and Bobby came more slowly behind us. Milo tried carrying Bobby, but he kept insisting that it wasn’t necessary, even though it kind of was.

When we left the club, the alley around us was deserted, and Ezra had planned ahead because he had parked right next to it. He commanded Milo and Bobby to go straight home, and we’d meet them there.

He laid Jane in the backseat of the Lexus, and I climbed in back with her, resting her head on my lap. Very slowly, her neck wound was healing, and I could feel her breath coming out faintly. Somewhere in there, she was still alive.

“Why’d he bite her neck like that?” I asked, more to myself than Ezra. I brushed her hair back, trying to get the blood out from it, and held back tears. “Was he trying to kill her?”

“Not exactly,” Ezra said and looked at me in the rearview mirror. “He was trying to get more blood, and she was running out.” I sniffled and looked back down at Jane. “Are you okay, Alice? Did that vampire hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine.” I glanced at my shoulder, and it was almost entirely healed. “What about you? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am.” Ezra didn’t appear to have a mark on him, but he had come in for the last minute of the fight. Although, I couldn’t help but wonder if it would’ve gone on longer if he hadn’t had Olivia with him.

“Why did that vampire seem so afraid of Olivia? She doesn’t seem that scary to me,” I said. Most of the time, Olivia seemed too drunk and hazy to be anything but harmless. But this was the second time she’d saved my life.

“Well, for one thing, that’s her club, and for another, she used to be a vampire hunter,” Ezra said. “Although, she tries to keep it quiet on both accounts.”

“Wait. What?” I looked incredulously at him. “She owns the club, and she’s a vampire hunter? But she is a vampire! That doesn’t make any sense!”

“People can’t possibly take down a vampire, not with a wooden stake or an uzi,” Ezra said. “You could barely hold your own against one, and you are a vampire. So the only ones that can police us are other vampires. We don’t have a system of laws, but every now and then, vampires get too renegade, and someone needs to be called in. That someone used to be Olivia, but she retired years ago and bought the club.”

“Why do I feel like you’re making this up?” I asked.

“Because Olivia is easily underestimated, but that’s part of her strength,” Ezra said. “She’s one of the strongest and oldest vampires I’ve ever met. She must be… nearly six hundred years old.” He looked at me in the rearview mirror. “And she’s quite taken with you.”

I might have found that more amusing, but Jane made a sound in my lap. Ezra sped up, probably deciding that there might actually be hope for her. He carried her into the house, shouting for Mae as soon as we got in the door. For the second time in a matter of days, Ezra’s expertise with blood was called into action.

Much to Peter’s dismay, Ezra kicked him out of his room, and Mae and Ezra went about making Jane comfortable in there. I tried to help, but I was too upset to be useful, so they sent me downstairs. Milo was in the main bathroom, tending to Bobby’s lacerations, and I went in under the guise of helping, but really, I wanted a distraction.

I sat on the edge of the bathroom tub and watched them. Bobby had a few minor scratches across his chest and shoulders, and a bite wound on the back of his neck. The bite was already healing, thanks to vampire saliva’s healing properties, but it hadn’t been that bad in the first place. Still, that was the wound that concerned Milo the most. He rinsed off all the rest of them, but he cleaned off Bobby’s neck with peroxide.

Bobby winced. He sat on the bathroom counter with his head tilted over the sink as Milo scrubbed mercilessly at the swollen bite mark on the back of his neck. The peroxide fizzled white, and Milo rubbed at it with a damp rag.