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I had just enough time to see him raise an arm to block the pebbles before I sprinted off. I was about halfway down the strip mall’s backside at this point.

“Why are you running?” the vampire asked, his voice infuriatingly calm even though he was racing after me. “What if I just want to talk? We could be friends—isn’t that what this touchy-feely-city is striving for?”

He was so close that I swear I could feel his breath on my back.

This time, when he reached out, I felt him touch my left hip—I think he was trying to grab hold of the belt loop there.

I careened to a stop and before the vampire could smack into me, I raised my right arm—elbow up and stabilized. I braced myself, so I stayed standing when he bumped into me and rammed my elbow into his throat.

He took a step back and held both of his hands up, giving me space to run. He didn’t even cough or sputter from the strike I’d just delivered to him.

No, he laughed.

The vampire actuallylaughed. Like a loon! It wasn’t a cruel noise. It was worse than that. His laugh sounded terrifyingly close to delight.

I hadn’t ever had a vampiredelightedwith me. I was pretty sure it was a very bad thing for my overall longevity, so I listened carefully for his footsteps as I kept running.

As his laughter faded away, so did his footsteps and right when I was about to turn around the corner of the strip mall—which would aim me towards the front of the building where Binx, Tetiana, and the lost dog were—I risked glancing back.

He was gone.

Only the fae were there—still unconscious. Even when I strained my senses, I didn’t feel his power.

He’d left.

I didn’t risk sticking around—safety in numbers, after all—so instead I kept running, popping out on the front sidewalk.

“What happened?” Binx strode towards me, pausing a few feet away. I thought maybe she was going to ask if I was okay since she looked me over, then the fragile hope was shattered. “We heard laughter.”

“Malelaughter,” Tetiana was rubbing the lost dog’s ears—he must have gotten over his initial fear of us because he was wagging his tail as she cradled him, his belly up. “Unless, do you have a very masculine and unhinged sounding laugh?”

“No.” I looked back over my shoulder as I carefully exhaled. “I encountered a vampire—the same one Grove, Brody, and I reported.”

“And you told him a good joke?” Tetiana asked.

Binx shot her a look. “Now is not the time for your stupidity act, Tetiana, it won’t help her.” Binx rested her hands on her hips. “I take it the vampire did that?” she nodded in the direction of the still unconscious troll.

“Yes,” I said. “And some others. In the back parking lot.” I rolled some of the leftover tenseness out of my shoulders.

Tetiana whistled. “Sounds like he was busy. Shall we call it in? Binx already notified Sarge we caught the dog—we’re supposed to take him to the Cloisters until his humans can be contacted.”

“I’ll make the call,” Binx decided.

Tetiana nodded and rocked the canine.

I waited a second trying to measure out the group—that was one of the things I missed about fighting with my family. We always had clear roles and expectations. Half the battle of fighting with my squad was trying to guess what they wanted from me. “I’ll start the report?” I asked, my voice cracking with the question.

Binx picked something out of a pouch on her belt and handed it to me. It took me a moment to realize it was a butterscotch drop.

Is she saying good job? Or telling me my cracking voice needs soothing?It was hard to tell—I wasn’t very confident in my understanding of how werecats operated but I was pretty sure it was a positive thing, so I took the candy.

“Thanks,” I said.

Binx didn’t acknowledge my thanks. Instead, she plucked her radio up and peered down at it, reading the buttons despite the darkness, with her cat eyes.

Maybe I need to do some reading, I considered as I unwrapped the candy and stuffed my hand under my mask to pop it in my mouth.There must be books about the psychology of other supernaturals. It might help me figure out how to interact with them.

“This is Team Blood,” Binx said into the radio. “We have a situation.”