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Don’t think. Don’t hesitate. Point. Aim. Shoot,I told myself.Go home safe.

When your back is against the wall, you find out a lot about who you are. The extent you’re willing to go to protect what’s yours.

I was about to break the promise I’d made to myself when I’d woken up as a vampire. That night, I’d told myself that I had a choice in what I wanted to be. That just because I was different didn’t mean I had to be a monster.

Now I was going to tap dance right over that last edge by taking life. Human life.

I listened carefully as my prey drew near. Liam touched my shoulder, squeezing it.

If I missed, he’d be there to cover.

I needed to not miss.

The scrape of a boot came from the other side of the planter. Liam threw a rock at the store across the street. The store front’s glass shattered.

All of the hunters twisted to look.

Mistake number one.

I stepped from my cover, grabbing the closest hunter’s gun and forcing it away from me. I held my gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

He dropped. One down.

“Not fair! She has a gun!”

I grabbed the dead man and used him as a shield as I moved with vampire speed away from where I’d been standing.

“Did you think you were the only ones with a few tricks?” I snarled, hoping to distract them from Liam’s position.

I fired another shot, hitting a second hunter. He fell.

Two more left.

My ploy worked as the remaining hunters focused on me. I kept moving, not giving them time to remember there were supposed to be two quarries.

Liam burst from his hiding spot, his body a blur. He was on the hunter in the next second. Liam grabbed the man, yanking his head up as he buried his face in his throat.

The last hunter, a woman, spun to point her sawed off shotgun at Liam.

I fired. She fell to the ground with a hole in her chest.

“The gun shots are coming from over here,” someone screamed from the end of the sheet.

I rushed to Liam’s side, tugging him from the human.

He lifted his face with a snarl, his eyes an unnatural blue.

I cupped his face the same way I had earlier, ignoring the tacky feel of blood. “They’re coming. We can’t stay here.”

Reason returned to his eyes. Liam released the hunter’s body, letting him fall to the ground.

I didn’t stop to check if the human was alive, not caring one way or the other.

Having ingested more blood, Liam was a little steadier as we raced down the street away from the hunters.

Gunshots rang from behind us. Instinctively, I ducked. We turned the corner in the next second, buying ourselves a brief respite.

It didn’t last long as a second group rounded the corner up ahead, blocking our path forward.