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He never passed by.

I held my breath as I waited and prayed as I had never prayed before. What if he was waiting for me? What if he never stopped waiting until I came out? How did he know who I was?

My heart stopped when I heard footsteps—but from the other direction, further into the alley. I almost melted into the bricks, I plastered myself so tight to them.

It was a matter of either waiting to see who or what came out, or running back to the sidewalk and finding out what waited for me there.

Terror kept me frozen instead, panting like a trapped animal.

“Well, well, well. You thought you could just run out on me like that, huh?” A female voice.

It didn’t make me feel any less threatened, especially since it sounded so menacing. Light, but with an undercurrent of nastiness.

She came closer, and I recognized her eyes right off. The girl from the dance floor. Who could forget ice-blue eyes, ringed in red?

I had seen so many eyes like those over the weeks I had spent at the vampire clubs and wondered where the contacts came from. They seemed popular.

I kept my mace hand tucked down by my side and put the other hand on my chest. “You scared me.”

“You look scared. Why? What are you doing here in this alleyway?” She came a little too close for comfort, and I took a step to the side.

She followed.

Like we were dancing.

She didn’t look so tall in the club—her partner must’ve been built like a skyscraper if he made her look short. Purple hair shone in the light from that lone bulb, and pale skin. Didn’t she ever go outside in the day?

“A guy was following me,” I whispered. “But I think he’s gone now.”

“A creep?” She shook her head. “This city is a cesspool. Absolutely disgusting what men think they can get away with, isn’t it?”

“It is.” I couldn’t help but think of that office, and the hand up my skirt.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could punish all those men? Those predators?” She leaned in a little, and there was a scent hanging around her that I couldn’t put my finger on. Not perfume, not sweat. Maybe a little bit of both mixed with a lot of something else.

I couldn’t focus on figuring it out when her eyes seemed to glow the way they did.

“Yeah. That would be great. They need…”

“To know they can’t get away with being the way they are,” she finished, nodding slowly. “And you know what?”

“What?” I breathed.

It was so easy to listen to her. Her voice was like music.

She smiled, and her teeth almost glowed, too. “I know how to do it. To punish them, I mean. To be strong enough.”

“How?” I could barely hear my voice, it was so small.

She was so close. And that was all right. She was smart. She knew what she was talking about. She wanted to help me… with something. I didn’t know what, but she’d make it all clear…

Only she never got the chance.

A tall, dark blur burst in from my right, knocking me back against the bricks and tackling her to the ground.

I shook my head, dazed, and looked over in time to see her fly through the air like a rag doll and hit a dumpster with a sickening crash.

A scream fought its way to my mouth, but I couldn’t draw in enough breath to let it out. Nobody could survive something like that.