There was a small red mark on his forehead—probably from the shoe. I had my arms wrapped around myself to keep from shivering. I was dressed for a date, not a jog through a cemetery in late November. If I’d known that was in the cards, I would have at least worn a nice scarf. I felt ill, too: from the fear, from the loss of blood… and possibly from the fajita I’d had earlier for dinner.

“Why were you running?” Gordon looked confused. “I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

“Bite me,” I told him. He was so going to get charged with assault. I might even have to put a restraining order on his sorry ass. “Oh, wait a minute, you already did bite me, didn’t you… you psycho!”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re really going to have to get over that if this relationship is going to have half a chance.”

Gordon finally noticed that we weren’t alone. “Oh” was all he said as the men approached him. “Look, guys, this isn’t what it looks like.”

I glared at him and then tried to smile at “White-teeth.” He sure was cute. Maybe my night was turning out better than I’d thought. “Look, if you guys just want to help me find a cab, I’d really like to go home. Make sure he doesn’t come near me again, and I’ll owe you one.”

White-teeth smiled broadly. “Look what we have here, boys. Girlfriend and boyfriend vampire in a bit of a squabble.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I assured him.

“I’m not a vampire,” Gordon said quietly.

“That’s funny. He told me he was a vampire just a minute ago. That’s why he bit me.” I rubbed my neck tenderly. “He’s definitely crazy.”

“Yeah. Crazy,” White-teeth said before turning to his friends. “How many is this tonight?”

The stringy-haired guy piped up, “It’s been a great night. Maybe five? No, six.”

“Listen, guys”—Gordon looked scared to death— “we can work something out. I have money—”