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and she suspected the strange group would still be lurking outside, waiting for her. She didn’t like the idea of fighting with them, she didn’t harm humans, and she sure didn’t want to tangle with that man. She hadn’t given him the full force of her power earlier, but unlike the other vampires she’d killed with it, she had a feeling he would still be standing if she did completely latch onto him.
    Ugh, she’d never been a chicken before; however, there was something entirely off putting about him. She hated this cowardice, but even as she cursed it, she began to polish another glass while Angie restocked the cooler. “This is what happens when you never get laid,” Angie muttered.
    Quinn shot her a look, but she didn’t offer up a witty retort. Angie didn’t know anything about her history, they were friends, but Quinn would never reveal that to anyone. They’d run screaming from her if they ever knew the truth. She slid another glass onto the rack over her head as a knock sounded on the front door.
    “We’re closed!” she called out. “Did you remember to lock it?”
    Angie paused with two bottles of beer in her hand. “I don’t remember.”
    “Angie,” she moaned.
    “Hey, if you hadn’t decided to turn into Mrs. Clean we could have been out of here by now.”
    Angie’s point was good enough to suppress any further complaints from Quinn. “I’ll make sure it’s locked,” she said as she dropped her rag on the bar and walked around the end of it toward the door.
    Through the window of glass on the front door, she could see the hulking figure of someone huddled within their jacket. Her hands went to her apron pocket; she tugged her keys free as she caught a whiff of something more than human outside the door. Power wafted from whoever stood out there. The scent of it reminded her of cayenne peppers, potent yet almost pleasant. It had the strange effect of pricking her hunger and causing her fangs to tingle.
    She fought constantly against her volatile and lethal nature, but she couldn’t deny that the power right outside the doors was nearly as enticing to her ability as the human blood she denied herself every day. It wasn’t as potent as it had been from the vampire who had been here earlier. She may be able to take this one in a fight, but not in front of Angie.
    The doorknob began to rattle when she was halfway across the bar. “We’re closed!” she called out again but she knew, before she took another step, it didn’t matter.
    She slid her keys back into her pocket and rested her hand on the small wooden stake she kept tucked into a holder against her waist. The black shorts she wore were part of her uniform but they hid her weapons well, as did the nearly knee high black boots she wore.
    She hoped to avoid having to stake the vampire in front of Angie, but she might not have a choice. The knob on the door turned, then it thrust open forcefully. Her gaze locked onto a pair of surprisingly beautiful turquoise eyes; however, all attractiveness about the man standing across from her ended there. His hawkish nose was over large and crooked to the side, his eyebrows so bushy they had become a solid unibrow. His thin lips pressed into a disapproving frown she suspected might be permanent.
    His lips pulled back to reveal his glistening fangs, eliminating any doubt she might have had as to why he was here. Judging by the power radiating from him, he was older than her. She had no idea what ability he had, but then he was just as clueless about what she could do too. He’d come here thinking he would win an easy battle with a younger vamp, but he’d encountered a war.
    “We’re closed mister,” Angie said from behind the bar.
    His gaze didn’t even flicker toward her. The glass bottles Angie placed into the cooler clattered together, it was the only sound in the hushed room. Quinn’s fingers tingled, she had to keep this guy away from her friend, and keep Angie from witnessing something