Despite her urgent instructions for me to go out again, they insisted I let enough time pass to give the impression that the vampire had done whatever he’d been planning to do.

“Does it always go that easy?” I asked as I eyed the pile of ash. The skull had remained mostly intact and the eye sockets seemed to be staring at me accusingly.

“Catch them by surprise when you outnumber them,” Jo said. “Sure.”

“Much harder one on one,” Patrik added.

“It’s why we need to lure them down here,” Jo said with a nod of agreement to her partner. “If we tried to get up there, aside from the spectacle it would make, we’d be torn apart.”

“Really?” I asked with more than a little apprehension. It was me, after all, who was expected to go up and find the next victim.

“Ja. Many vampires in here. Would be a tough fight and we would lose.”

“You should go back up about now,” Jo said as she stood up from where she’d been lounging on the upholstered seating that filled most of the alcove. “But first…”

She approached me with her knife out and I flinched back as she grabbed my arm. “Be still,” she hissed as she jabbed the blade down into the underside of my wrist with two quick strikes. A heavy bead of blood rose up from each puncture and I scowled at her.

“Necessary,” she said. “They’ll expect to smell some fresh blood on you.”

“A bit of warning would have been nice.”

“Calm down and go get another.”

“You’re doing fine,” Patrik said.

I offered him a smile and accepted the tissue he offered me. Holding it against the puncture wounds for a minute before dropping it into my clutch. I had no intention of leaving any evidence behind, not that I was sure what they could do with it.

The same bouncer waved me up the stairs again. His eyes followed me as I walked past, a slight upturn of his lips and a look of pity crossing his face. No doubt he suspected I would be like those other girls, coming back for more.

“Back again so soon,” the girl in the red dress said as I reached the top of the stairs.

“Is that bad?”

“Not at all,” she cooed. “A sure sign that you enjoyed yourself. Is your companion…”

“He said he had some business to attend to and sent me back up.”

“Ah, of course. Well, you were certainly noticed last time. A number of VIP’s have asked for your attention.”

“They have?”

“Oh yes,” she smiled and dimples formed in her cheeks. “I think, you’ll be very happy with this next guest.”

“I will?”

The girl just linked her arm with mine and directed me through the VIP area. She led me right to the far end, a shadowed area with a single table before a wide sofa. With the night vision I had, I’d no problem seeing the lone occupant.

To say she was beautiful was an understatement. Raven black hair flowed down to her shoulders and she had the sort of cheekbones, models would sell their souls for. Pouty lips and caramel skin, with a narrow waist that gave her a true hour glass figure.

She gestured for me to come sit beside her as the girl left with a final smile and bow of her head to the lady. I felt suddenly boyish and decidedly plain as I settled down beside her.

“And what would be your name?” she asked. Her voice was smooth, sensual even. I could feel the pull of her, a desire to be closer to her with each word she uttered. As though she’d cast a spell.

“Lena,” I said. “Selena, I mean. But people call me Lena.”

I was babbling. Why was I babbling? How could this woman make me feel so off balance? She’d only spoken once and I couldn’t wait to hear her voice again.

“A beautiful name,” she said. “It suits you well.”

“Ah, thank you.”

She waved away my thanks and leaned forward to pick up a long, thin flute from the table. She placed it to her lips and sipped at the golden liquid it contained. My head swam from the scent of jasmine that she wore, and something else beneath it, that I suspected was entirely her.

“How do you like our little club?” she asked and I realised she had no intention of giving me her name.

“It’s different.”

“Oh?” she looked at me, her face covered by shadow that was no real barrier to my sight. She raised one slender eyebrow as the corner of her mouth turned upwards.

“Nice though,” I stammered slightly in my rush to assure her. What am I doing?

“Would you like me to kiss you?” she asked as she placed the glass down.

My heart was beating so fast that I was sure I would hear it above the music. There was something about her, something alluring that was undeniably attractive. I said, “yes.”

That smile came again, contemptuous but amused, as one would be by a child. She leaned in slowly, my heart seemed to be trying to burst from my chest and I struggled to breathe as her lips met mine.

My eyes closed as the sounds of the club faded into the distance. Her scent overpowered me as her lips, soft and smooth pressed against mine, the taste of her lipstick on my tongue. Her hand pressed down against my thigh, fingers moving to explore beneath my dress.

I didn’t push her away, didn’t want her to. I wanted to lose myself entirely in her, to have her bring me such pleasure as her fingers promised as they found their way beneath the thin material of my underwear.

It was intimate, sensual and more intense than anything I’d felt before in my life. It was also wrong. My eyes opened and saw the roiling darkness around hers, the scabrous grey skin and smelt the stench of old death beneath the jasmine.

Her hand, beneath my dress, was a greater violation than that of the bouncer who’d done much the same, because she’d somehow made me want her to keep doing it. I found my fury.

She roared as roiling darkness cast her away from me to crash into a bottle filled table. Shattered glass and expensive booze covered the floor and a look of rage crossed her face.

“Shadowborn!” she snarled as I reached into my clutch for the knife hidden there.

The warnings of earlier rose in my mind but burned away before the rage that consumed all other thought.

I ran at her as she climbed to her feet, straight into a backhanded blow that sent me careening into the railings that surrounded the VIP lounge. I slumped to the floor with a groan and forced myself to my feet.

“Kill her,” the vampire snapped and several men and women in expensive clothes turned towards me as the humans scattered, headed for the stairs and safety.

The shadows coated me in a thin veil and with a gesture, they boiled out of my hand to wrap around the base of a table. I snapped my arm to the side and the table was flung towards the nearest pair of vamps as the others rushed at me.

I could see their faces, their true faces, clearly without need of them touching me. I cared nothing for their numbers, and just knew they were a hindrance to my killing her.

Tendrils of shadow shot out and caught the leading vampire in the chest, knocking it from its feet and sending it across several metres of floor to crash against the far wall. The others slowed, glancing at each other as they reassessed the threat I posed.

With my free hand, I made a grasping motion at the next nearest and shadow boiled forth to wrap around an auburn-haired vampire with a heavy bust and round face. She screeched as I yanked back my hand and she flew forwards, over the railings behind me and down into the crowd below. Somewhere, the music stopped and screaming began.

A third vamp rushed in and I swiped at it with my knife. It ducked below my swing and thundered a fist against my ribs. Several cracked loudly as I doubled over. Its hand grabbed the back of my neck as a foot pressed down on my knife hand.

“What sort of half-breed are you?” she asked as she came into view, my head helpfully twisted up by the vampire holding me so that I could see her. “Powerful, whatever you are.”

I strained to lift myself free as two more leapt onto me. Holding me still as the shadows moved over and through me. I couldn’t seem to direct them outwards though with my arms and body held in place.

“No matter. Kill her,” she said and turned her back to me.

My head was forcibly turned so that I could look up into the eyes of the vampire holding me. It grinned, revealing fangs and an evil gleam in its beady little eyes. It opened its mouth to speak but stopped, eyes widening as flames spread beneath its skin.

As it crumbled to ash, I caught sight of Jo with another silver bladed throwing knife raised in one hand over her head, ready to throw as Patrik rushed forwards.

The female vampire scowled in contempt at the two hunters and hissed as the knife flew towards her. She lashed out and smoke rose from her hand as it collided with the knife, knocking it aside. My head hit the floor as one of the vamps slammed it down and Patrik picked up the other.

When my vision cleared, the VIP lounge was empty and the big man hauled me to my feet. Jo approached anger and frustration warring on her face.

“What happened?”

“Later,” Patrik said. “Now, we leave, ja?”

“Dammit!” Jo snapped as she scanned the area, her knuckles white on the hand that gripped her knife.

“Did you kill her?” I asked and she shook her head.

“She’s gone and there’ll be security on the way. Come on.”

With that, she dashed to the stairs and I followed as best I could with a little help from Patrik. My head was ringing and the earlier anger had gone, leaving me confused and scared. Not quite sure about what had happened.

We made it to the bottom of the stairs and joined the crowd as they tried to get down to the ground floor. Several bouncers were pushing the other way, trying to get past to find out what was going on but didn’t seem to notice us in the crowd.

When we reached the ground floor, Jo led us away from the main entrance towards the rear exit. We were slowed by having to push against the crowd, most of whom had no idea what was going on and were milling around in confusion.

A hand grabbed my arm and I raised my knife as I whirled to face my attacker, only to haul back as a face I recognised came into view.

“Evie?”

“What’re you doing?” she said. “What’s going on? Who’re are these people?”

“Come on!” Jo called and Patrik tugged gently on my arm. I glanced over to him.

“We must leave, ja?”

I shot an apologetic glance at my friend and said, “you need to get out of here, I’ll call later.”

“Not a fucking chance!” she snapped as she followed along.

We reached the exit without any problems and Jo led us through. Evie, asking questions I couldn’t possibly think of a way to answer the way my head was ringing. As the door slammed shut behind us and the cool of the evening air hit me, I bent over and threw up.

“Nice,” Jo said with a look of disgust. “Wait here while we get the car.”

“What? Why wait?” I asked.

“We’ve just stirred a fucking hornet’s nest,” she snapped back. “We’ll make sure we can reach the car without any…” she looked at my friend and scowled before continuing. “Without any problems, alright?”

“Stay here,” Patrik said with a pointed look at Evie. “We’ll be back for you in moment, ok?”

“Sure,” I said as I leaned back against the wall. My ribs hurt, my stomach churned and I had the mother all headaches. I couldn’t bear to look at Evie and I had no idea what she was doing here.

Evie waited until the others disappeared behind the side of the building before she turned on me. “Where’ve you been? What’s going on? Are you ok?”

“Wait,” I said and waved a hand in her direction. “One question I can’t bloody answer at a time please. Why are you even here?”

“Mickey brought me,” she said then put a hand up to her mouth as she looked back at the door we’d exited through. “Oh crap! He’ll be wondering where I am.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” I said as I rubbed at my temples in an effort to stem the headache.

“The police are looking for you,” she said. “I’ve been looking for you. I was worried, Lena!”

“Sorry,” I said. “I’ll explain when I can, but for now, things are a bit hectic.”

“Who are they?”

“Them two?” I asked with a wave towards the way the others had gone. “Just friends.”

“Friends?”

“I do have some friends other than you,” I said and tried not to sound hurt.

Anything else she was about to say was cut off when the door swung open to crash against the wall with a bang and Mickey strode out, all broad shoulders and cocky swagger. He looked pissed.

“Not her fault…” I said as he stalked over to us.

I crashed to the floor as his right cross caught me by surprise and I tasted blood in my mouth as Evie cried out. “What the hell?” I snapped as he reached down and grabbed my throat in a vice-like grip.

Shadows swirled around his eyes and mouth as he grimaced and his eyes seemed to glow like embers in the darkness.

“He told me to watch you,” he said. “Keep you close and report back.”

“Who did?” I managed to ask as Evie stared at us in horror.

“You caused me trouble you stupid bitch! I’m not losing you again,” he said as he hauled me to my feet. I rolled my eyes as I sought my bag and the knife it contained.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Evie cried but he ignored her, eyes boring into mine.

“Now, I’m going to fucking hurt you a little and then just take you to him.”

I didn’t answer, just thrust my arm out towards my bag. Evie’s eyes widened as she saw the shadows flow from my hand, tendrils twisting around each other as they forced their way into the bag to wrap around the dagger. It was so easy, I could almost feel the knife through the shadow and with a silent command, it was carried up to my hand.

My fingers closed around the hilt and I grinned at Mickey, showing blood reddened teeth. For a second he seemed unsure and he tightened his grip, pulling back his other hand and readying to strike.

His mouth opened as I jammed the dagger blade through his ribs and into his heart. A thin wail came out as the fire spread through him. In moments he was a cloud of ash floating down to litter the ground around his blackened bones.

“I’m sorry,” I said to Evie as she started to scream.