her full name all evening, and she had never said it. Nobody called her that, except her Nana. She tried to stab him again, but he caught her hand and pressed it against the wall, too, squeezing until the knife clattered to the floor. With his free hand, he wrapped his long fingers around her neck.
"You said... you weren't..." she gasped.
He brushed his nose against her cheek gently, inhaling deeply before whispering in her ear, "I lied."
A thought tried to form in her mind, but it was getting harder to breathe as he squeezed her neck very slowly. She tried to speak, but couldn't get enough air. She punched him with her free hand, in the ribs, but it had no effect. She kept doing it anyway.
"Shh, shh, shh..." he murmured soothingly. "It's all right, we will speak again when you rise."
His words barely registered in her mind. Everything was going dark around the edges, and there were funny blotches in her vision. Is this really how I'm gonna die? she thought distantly. Is that it?
And then the world tilted and winked out.
Two
Tanya drove the stolen car out of the St. Louis traffic and into an alley, turned the engine off, and closed her eyes. “You can do this,” she whispered. She repeated her usual pep-talk, dredging up the memory of Jake and the vampire with steel-gray eyes. It didn’t make her feel any less nervous, but it did make her angry, and she could work with that.
With a deep breath, she opened the car door and squeezed out between the rusting metal and the rough brick wall. The July heat was oppressive, without even the briefest breeze to relieve it. She could almost feel her red curly hair frizzing out in the humidity.
Tanya tugged down the hem of her t-shirt, a couple sizes too small to keep it from getting caught in a fight. It smelled strongly of the musty thrift shop where she bought it, but she was just going to burn it later anyway.
Glancing up at the sky, she saw the sun almost directly overhead, flooding the hidden spaces between buildings with light. Funny thing about TV, she thought, just from looking you don't realize that most alleys smell like piss and garbage. She checked the nearby dumpster and the bag of supplies in the car one last time, then rubbed her hands together to try and calm down. You can do this. You’re always nervous before a kill, but as soon as you get going it’ll be like running downhill. Couldn’t stop if you wanted to.
Summoning that first leap of confidence, she made her way down the alley and took a left, then knocked on an unmarked metal door. It didn't even have a doorknob, and the sunlight made it hot enough to hurt her knuckles. There was a long pause and she fought the urge to rub the sweat off her palms on her pants, but eventually the door opened just a crack.
"Whath’fuck d'youwan?" slurred the man on the other side. The one eye she could see was bloodshot and in constant motion.
Tanya recognized the symptoms of a vampire’s daytime grogginess. Probably not a Master, she reasoned, he didn't open the door all the way. No wonder he's sleepy—it's the middle of the freaking night to him.
"Jimmy had a thing," she said. "They sent me instead." In reality, Jimmy was handcuffed to a railing in a parking ramp five miles away. He'd have a hell of a headache when he woke up in police custody, but she wasn't in the habit of feeling sorry for drug dealers.
The door opened a hair more. "You're late. It wuz s'posed t'be'ere las night."
"Yeah, well, Jimmy's an ass, Okay? I just got the stuff," Tanya whined, shoving her hands in her pockets. Maybe if she acted irritated he would hurry up.
He chuckled at that and opened the door wide enough for her to pass through. "Alrigh, c'mon in."
"Uh-uh." She shook her head. "I dunno how Jimmy does it, but I follow the rules, man. You gotta come out to the car." From the marks on Jimmy, he'd been making a little extra on the side by giving them more than crack. There was no way in hell she was going to go inside and let them make a meal out of her, too.
"Don' be a bitch." He scowled. "A'least pass it through." He held out a hand, just inside the door.
She noticed he sounded a bit rushed. Probably wants to get the door closed as soon as possible. She hid a smile, glad to have regained the advantage.
"Nope. Rules. I show you a sample, you give me the money, I give you the rest." She’d watched Jimmy long enough to know his routine, after his brief "chat" inside.
"I don'ave time fr'this shit!" He growled and lunged at her. A hand on his shoulder stopped him short, and a much more attractive man stepped into view, just inside the door.
"It's alright, Randy. I'll take care of it." Fair skinned and sandy-blonde, the newcomer looked much younger but Randy nodded without question and drifted off into the building.
When he opened the door wide and gave her a winning smile, Tanya recognized him and knew she had the right man. This was Etienne du Lac, the killer she had been trailing for the last two weeks. There was also that tell-tale buzz of static. It rolled off him, making her skin itch.
"My car's just around the corner," she said.
He made an elaborate bow to indicate she should lead the way. Late 17th, early 18th century, she guessed from the fancy gesture. Some habits never wear off. Belatedly, she realized he was trying to flirt with her, so she flashed him a smile.
She led him around the corner and was surprised he didn't even blink as they stepped into the sunlight. He's gotta be the most powerful one I've done so far. Good. You can do this.
"Will you be making all of our deliveries from now on?" he asked, eying her breasts as she pretended to fumble in her pocket for her keys.
She responded in an unintelligible mumble. When he leaned forward to hear her better, she pulled out a miniature can of mace on her keyring, spraying it directly into his pretty face. Just because it wouldn’t do him any real harm didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt like a bitch. And make it harder for him to see.
He screamed, doubling over. That gave Tanya all the opportunity she needed. She wrapped her arm over his head and twisted with everything she had.
His neck didn't break on her first try. Etienne let out a string of French curses and punched her hard in the ribs. Her whole left side burned like it was on fire, and he pulled out of her grasp when she gasped for air.
Damn. She had missed her first chance, her best chance, but she couldn't stop now. His head was at a bit of an odd angle, though. Maybe with the right applied force, she could still break his neck.
He rubbed his eyes with one hand and swung blindly at her with the other, spewing more French profanity. When he called out for Randy, she knew she had to act fast, before any of his minions were stupid enough to brave the sun and save their Master.
She gave the side of his face a hard right hook, and then followed it up with the best roundhouse kick she could manage in so much pain. There was a dull crack, and Etienne's body sprawled on the gravel.
"Son of a bitch..." Tanya put a hand to her side. There wasn't any blood, but damn did it hurt, especially when she breathed. She probably had broken a rib or two. She kicked him for good measure, but he was unconscious. Oh well, she thought, that'll make the next part way easier.
