Time wasn’t on her side, though. Before she could recover, there were three more Vampires baring down on her, two musclebound brutes and a woman who reminded her of Aurora because she was huge and probably just as strong as the men. “Did someone call in the brute squad?” she said as she regained her footing.

“We are here to destroy you,” the woman said through clenched teeth.

“Not today,” Cadence replied, though she didn’t feel quite so confident that that wouldn’t be the case when one of the men grabbed her right arm, her stabbing arm. She reached for her Glock and fired directly into his face, but it...