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trouble.”
    Throwing his broken weapon aside, he snatched the knife from his friend’s hand and advanced towards me, appearing far more comfortable with the knife in his hand than his buddy had. The accelerated healing and increased speed of the wolf meant I could tolerate a hell of a lot more punishment than a mundane, but that didn’t mean I relished the idea of taking a beating. Besides, being faster and stronger will only get you so far when you’ve got no idea how to fight or defend yourself.
    Chuck Norris I’m not.
    I heard the whisper of footsteps as Baseball Cap took a step towards me and wondered if my hearing had suddenly developed an echo. When the sound came again a second later, my heart constricted in fear at the thought of more cronies showing up to join in the fun. I was having a hard enough time dealing with my two assailants and was pretty sure that the addition of a third would mean lights out for me. Luck, for once, was on my side.
    At the same moment my assailants realized we weren’t alone anymore, I caught the mildew smell of a vamp. Looking over Baseball Cap’s shoulder I spied Chuckles pounding down the street towards us, and, for the first time in my life, found myself grateful for one of their kind showing up uninvited. Hollywood likes to portray vamps as moving so fast that they appear as a blur, and like much of the other stuff that comes out of Hollywood, it’s total crap. If they really moved that fast they’d all end up setting themselves on fire from the friction alone.
    Still, vamps do move faster than mundanes, and before the Twins had a chance to react, Chuckles knocked the knife aside, sending it clattering to the sidewalk once more. Apparently not the brightest bulb in the box, Mike moved to retrieve his weapon, lurching to a halt when Chuckles rumbled, “Don’t even think about it, meat sack.”
    It was fairly benign as threats go, but his milky-white stare and the accompanying flash of fang sent a shiver of fear sliding down my spine. Mike, it seemed, didn’t share my sense of self-preservation and continued to reach for the knife. His movement was halted by a large, pale fist smashing into his face, a fount of blood erupting from his nose. I didn’t bother trying to hide my smile of pleasure as he turned wide, watery eyes towards us.
    “You fucking fanger! You broke my nose!” he exclaimed through the fingers pressed over his face.
    “And I’ll break your neck next if you try anything else,” Chuckles rumbled, his wide grin leaving no doubt in my mind he hoped Mike was just that stupid. I guessed that the wolf wasn’t the only one excited by the scent of spilled blood.
    Before either one of my new friends could fire off some vitriol laden comment that would inspire Chuckles to follow up on his threat, he pulled two zip ties out of his pocket and offered them to me.
    “Want to do the honors?”
    “I’d love to,” I replied, accepting them from him with a smile.
    I guess all vamps aren’t so bad after all.
    Once my new buddies had been secured, I retrieved Chrismer’s file from the pavement and followed Chuckles back to the club.
     
    * * *
     
    The thumping music of the club grated on my nerves even more than the first time as Chuckles and I herded the Idiot Twins towards Cordova’s office. I anticipated an endless string of shouted insults and threats and was genuinely surprised when they both remained tight-lipped. It seemed they actually had enough common sense to avoid inciting the wrath of a dozen vamps in an enclosed space.
    Will wonders never cease?
    Trudging up the narrow stairs, pushing Baseball Cap ahead of me, my legs felt heavy with weariness. Keeping one hand on the back of his shirt to keep him from inadvertently falling flat on his face, I had to wonder at how quickly things had spiraled out of control. I hoped that it wasn’t a portent of things to come, but had the unsettling feeling that such a hope was doomed from the moment I’d agreed to