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“But Noah?—”

I nearly scream again when I see Noah wrestle the gun from Silent Vampire and then slam a stake into his chest.

Astakeinto hischest.

Max swears again, all traces of amusement gone, whisper-yelling at me to get out of the car. But I’m transfixed by my ex-conservator.

Big-neck Thug is on his knees seconds later, staring up at Noah and begging for his life. Noah has the gun pointed at the man’s head.

“Piper,” Noah says calmly, raising his voice to be sure it will carry to me. “Please call the police.”

I hit the unlock button and push Max out of the way with my door. Hurrying over, nearly tripping in the gravel drive thanks to my heels and shaking legs, I fumble to unlock my phone. “Like, 911? Or the non-emergency sheriff’s number?”

Noah snorts out a morbid laugh, but he doesn’t look away from the guy he has at gunpoint. “Usually when death and guns are involved, you go right to 911.”

Max stares at the lifeless guy bleeding onto my front porch. “Grandpa won’t be happy if that stains.”

I laugh at the absurd image of me scrubbing blood off the painted wood…and then I’m choking back tears, which is annoying. But there’s no stopping them.

“Are you okay?” I ask Noah, and then I see the hole in his sleeve and the blood oozing through the leather. “You wereshot.”

“It grazed me.”

“If by graze, you mean it embedded itself in your flesh! There’s aholein your jacket.”

“It’s just my arm.”

“We have a situation at 1234 West Chokecherry Lane,” my brother says into his cell, beating me to it. “Two guys attacked my sister’s boyfriend.”

Boyfriend.

“He’s been shot in the arm. One of the guys appears to be dead, and the other is…contained.”

“Tell them they’re vampires so the officers will be prepared,” Noah says. “And let them know a hunter is on the scene and has one of the attackers subdued at gunpoint.”

“I can’t tell her that!” Max hisses, pressing the face of the phone into his stomach to muffle the words.

“You can, and you need to.”

Scowling at Noah, Max lifts the phone up to his ear and reluctantly says, “This is going to sound insane, but my sister’s boyfriend says he’s a hunter and that these arevampires. He’s subdued one with a gun.” His face goes blank. “I said vampires. You…got that? Thevampirepart?”

I don’t know how she responds, but Max looks like he’s one uttered “vampire” away from losing his cool.

The operator must have told him to stay on the line because he doesn’t hang up. We stand here for what feels like an eternity. But in reality, it’s probably only been a couple of minutes.

The vampire thug is edgy, too. He shifts, his knees probably beginning to ache on the hard wooden porch deck. Sweat beads on his temples in the glow of the porch lights. “Listen, if you let me go, I’ll?—”

“Shut up,” Noah says impatiently. “Tell me about your boss. Why isn’t he in the system?”

“Do you want me to talk or shut up?” the thug asks. “Make up your mind.”

“Do I need to remind you brains don’t regenerate?” Noah says. “You’re not coming back from a bullet to the head.”

The man swallows, and a trail of sweat makes its way down the side of his face. “He paid a vampire to bite him. He knew what he was getting into, so he didn’t go to a doctor.”

“He hasn’t seen a doctor at all? What about his prescriptions?”

“He goes to Mexico for medical stuff—checkups and whatnot—and comes back with all the drugs he needs.”