Spade filled his satchel with enough clothes for a few days and went downstairs to the garage. Once settled behind the wheel of his Porsche, he put on dark shades and then clicked open the garage door. Bloody sun was already up. Spade gave it a baleful glare as he pulled out into the dawn.

Humans. Aside from tasting delicious, they were usually more trouble than they were worth.

Denise could barely breathe. Pain seared from her chest up her right arm and seemed to spread through her whole body. Lights danced in her vision. I’m dying…

“Why did you spray me with silver?” a conversational voice asked.

The hand came off her face and she sucked in deep, painful breaths. Some of the burning left her chest, and her eyes focused enough to see that she was still in the foyer by her front door. Denise tried to push against the man gripping her, but she was so weak, she couldn’t even raise her hands. If the stranger let go of her waist, she’d crumple to the floor.

“Answer me.” A new flash of pain accompanied his demand.

Denise managed to reply even though the tightness in her chest made it hard to breathe.

“Thought you were…a vampire.”

The stranger laughed. “Wrong. Insulting, too, but interesting. What do you know about vampires?”

Her gun was on the table six feet away. Denise sagged in his arms, hoping he’d let her go. Maybe if he did, she could make it to the gun.

“Answer me,” the stranger said again, jerking her around to face him. His eyes burned with red highlights, but aside from that—and the faint smell coming from him, like he’d just set fire to something—he looked like a college student. His hair was a lighter brown than hers and pulled back into a ponytail. With his flared jeans and tie-dye T-shirt, he could have doubled as a young hippie.