“It doesn’t matter who I am,” the stranger replied to White-teeth. “You are invading my personal space. Kindly take your business elsewhere.”

White-teeth glowered at him. “We’ve just come to claim this little piece of vampire ass and we’ll be on our way, so you can get back to”—he looked around— “whatever it was you were doing.”

I grabbed the hem of the stranger’s coat and held on for dear life. “Don’t let them hurt me. Please.”

He yanked his coat away from me. “I don’t want anything to do with this.”

“Too late.”

White-teeth had started to squeeze through a section in the cement at knee level that wasn’t protected by the veil, his cigar clenched between his teeth. “Here I was going to be a gentleman and kill you quick. Well, sort of quick. Now I’m going to take all the time in the world to tear you apart. You’re going to feel every second of it.”

White-teeth was halfway through and reached out for me. I yanked away from him, spun around, and kicked him with my bare foot. There was a sickeningly wet squish as my big toe met his left eye. It was the most disgusting thing I’d ever felt. He screamed in pain and clutched at his face. The cigar fell out of his mouth and down to the river below. I lost my footing, but before I could fall, the stranger reached out and grabbed me around my waist, pulling me safely against him.

“Thank you.” I barely got the words out, my teeth were chattering so hard. “I thought you weren’t going to help me.”

“Reflex,” he said.

The two vampire hunters who weren’t currently howling in pain—although Stringy-hair looked a little tender from the groin incident—pulled their injured friend away from the opening and started to climb through themselves.