Bingo denied.

I tried to scramble away from him, but he grabbed my fuchsia-covered leg and pulled me back until he was completely on top of me, pinning my arms under his knees so all I could do was thrash from side to side like a wounded seal. He grabbed my face and squeezed, making my mouth open up so he could inspect my fangs. He ran a thumb over one of them.

“I usually take these from the young ones I slay. Got myself a nice necklace now.”

I sank my teeth (fangs included) into his hand as deep as I could, and he pulled away with surprise and a sudden yelp of pain.

He smacked me across the side of my face. “Shouldn’t have done that, vampire.”

“You touch me again and my boyfriend is going to rip your lungs out,” I hissed.

“Yeah?” He smirked and looked around from his position on top of me. “I don’t think I see your boyfriend anywhere. Or anyone else for that matter. It’s just you and me.”

“He’s a master vampire and he’s not a big fan of hunters. Lungs? Ripped out? Do I need to repeat myself?”

That got his attention. “A master vampire? In Toronto ? There’s only one that I’ve heard of.”

“That’s him. Do I need to mention the ripping out of lungs again?”

His raised stake lowered slightly, and his brow furrowed. “Did you say your name was Sarah?”

“So what if I did?”

“SarahDearly ?”

I struggled to get out from under him but he had me pinned too firmly. “Get off me, you bastard.”

Surprisingly, he did. As if there were wires attached to his body like a marionette, he sprang to his feet and stared at me with a deep frown while I slowly got up and brushed myself off.

“Sarah Dearly,” he repeated. “The master vampire’s girlfriend.”

I glanced at him warily. “How do you know my name?”