Chloe knew the plan.

It was her bloody idea in the first place to corner the vampires on the other side of the glass factory where there was an abandoned parking lot full of weeds, a broken-down wall for cover, and nothing else.

Not, I repeat, not by the road where anyone might drive by. It was unlikely, true, but still possible.

And yet there she was, hollering like a lunatic and launching herself at us.

I didn’t know where the others were, beyond not here and not close enough to be of any immediate help. What had Spencer been thinking, to let her run off on her own?

She managed to knock Nigel off his feet, at least. She’d improved in the last week, but not enough to take on five vampires and survive, even with my help. I took advantage of the brief moment of surprise when the vampires whirled to see what crazy animal had pounced on their friend. I stepped back and liberated the stake from my thigh holster. Matthew glanced at me and licked his lips.

“Well, now, Amber,” he said as his fangs protruded from his gums. “Aren’t you suddenly more interesting.”

I didn’t waste my breath answering him. The other four circled Chloe, showing their own fangs.

If we lived through this, I was so going to kill her.

I only had the one stake. If I used it on Matthew, it left Chloe unprotected. And she was already on her knees, a hole ripped in her jeans, blood on her lip. She used her wrist harness to send a stake through Nigel’s heart. He crumbled into ash. Go, Chloe.

Of course, now the rest of them were really pissed.

And I couldn’t reach her.

Our teachers were always going on about how vampires would chase you if you ran away; the predator in them found it hard to resist the hunt.

I really hoped they were right about that.

As backup plans went, this one kind of sucked.

I turned and ran, pausing only to shoot Matthew the most taunting smirk I could manage. Because teasing an angry vampire is always such a good idea.

I ran fast.

Matthew, of course, was faster. Much, much faster. And so were his friends.

On the plus side, it left Chloe only one vampire to deal with, and he was fairly small.

On the minus side, it left me three.

I didn’t make it to the glass factory parking lot, but I was close enough that a good yell should alert the others, if there wasn’t a cold pale hand currently squeezing my trachea. I gagged on a breath, eyes burning. I clawed at the hand out of instinct, even though I knew it wouldn’t do me any good. When I started to see spots, my training kicked back in.

I had a perfectly good stake.

I shoved it through Matthew’s chest as hard as I could. My vision was gray and watery and lack of oxygen was becoming a serious issue. I didn’t quite get his heart; I was an inch or so shy on the left. But at least it hurt him enough that he released me with a yell. Blood welled around the stake, still sticking out of his rib cage, while I heaved air into my screaming lungs. I also turned to deliver a kick to his wound with the heel of my shoe. He didn’t turn to dust but he stumbled out of reach. And then Belinda had me by the hair, wrapping it around her wrist and yanking savagely.

I could all but hear Grandpa’s grumble of disapproval.

Why did a certain kind of girl always go for the hair?

My neck muscles stretched near to breaking, my head angled painfully to the side, exposing my jugular. Saliva dripped on my arm and onto the ground. She was drooling. Gross.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Matthew said, approaching me. He plucked the stake out of his flesh as if it were a thorn off a rosebush. Red petals of blood scattered around him. Belinda held me steady for him, giving into the temptation of my blood by nipping me once. It was no worse than a bee sting but I recoiled, going cold down to my bones. She licked at the tiny puncture marks as if I was bleeding ice cream.

“Ew,” I tried to elbow her. “Get off me.”

I couldn’t see how Chloe was doing, couldn’t even hear her. I could only see Matthew’s sharp teeth and the way he twirled the bloody stake over his knuckles, like a street juggler. Even his polo shirt was suddenly menacing.

“Ever wonder how it feels to get one of these in the heart?” he asked pleasantly.

I tried to shrink back, even as Belinda forced me forward. I crushed her instep. She didn’t let me go but she did swear viciously, which I enjoyed.

Where the hell was everyone?

“It seems only fair,” Matthew continued. “A bit of karma, if you will.” He twirled the stake again. “Shall we see how long you scream?”

“Are you ever going to shut up?” I snapped, fear and irritation filling me in equal measures. “This isn’t your monologue, Hamlet. It’s the battle scene, in case you’ve forgotten.”

His eyes narrowed so fast they nearly sparked. They were the color of honey on fire. One of the others growled like an animal, low in his throat. It made all the hairs on my arms stand straight up.

I was going to die for making fun of Shakespeare.

My English Lit professor would be so proud.

And then Matthew was screaming.

The stake clattered at my feet but I couldn’t reach it. I used Belinda’s iron grip to secure a pivot that knocked Sam off both his feet as he came at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Matthew hit the ground, broken glass grinding under his weight. There was a blur of movement and then the shadow coalesced into a dark shirt, pale skin, and blue eyes like burning gasoline.

Quinn.

I had no idea where he’d come from and I didn’t have time to wonder about it. Belinda was clacking her teeth at me.