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but no matter how much she pretended, she knew the truth. She drank blood, the sun had shunned her when she’d died, and if any human ever learned the truth about her they would leave a person-sized hole in the wall when they fled from her.
    She may not sustain her existence by the senseless murdering of random humans, but she was a monster. She awoke with that realization every day and went to sleep with it every night.
    “I don’t kill innocents,” she told him.
    “Who are you to judge what others do?”
    Quinn put more of her weight into her toes so she could react faster. “I don’t judge; I simply know the difference between right and wrong.”
    “Ah such a foolish child,” he murmured. “You will learn. Passing by, we sensed you from outside.” We? The word caused the hair on the nape of her neck to rise. “I’m here because you would be better off with a group of vampires than on your own, especially now that we’ve all been left so vulnerable by the death of The Elders. Something that also left you vulnerable.”
    “I don’t give a rat’s ass about vampire politics.”
    “You should,” he purred as he folded his hands into the sleeves of the loose fitting shirt he wore. It was a gesture meant to make him appear less intimidating; she wasn’t fooled by it. He would be on her in a heartbeat if she let her guard down. “The oldest of the remaining vampires are beginning to regroup. We’re trying to regain the power stripped from us by The Commission, Hunters and Guardians so we can protect ourselves from them.”
    “The Commission is also on the run,” she murmured. “I’ve heard the rumors.”
    “What is left of them is, but those maniacs were never our biggest concern. They were humans playing God, but the Hunters and Guardians are creating a new force. One bent on destroying every vampire they come across.”
    “That’s always been their mission,” she couldn’t help but say, despite her determination not to believe one word this man uttered.
    “But they’ve grown stronger and more hostile now.”
    Quinn pondered his words before responding. “I’m sure they are but I can’t help you. I only have six vampire years on me; nowhere near enough to be considered an Elder. Sorry you wasted your time coming in here.”
    “You could never be a waste of my time, child. Every vampire is special, and they should all be brought into the fold.”
    He sounded like the leader of a cult, one she wanted nothing to do with. “I’m not a fold kind of girl.”
    That irritating smile curved his mouth again to reveal his fangs. “You think you have some kind of choice in this. Your power drew me here, others may not pick up on it, but I did.”
    “I guess I’m just special.” She took a step away from him in order to get as much distance between them as possible in case he tried to electrocute her.
    “Yes.” The way he purred the word made it one of the creepiest things she’d ever heard. “Yes, you are.”
    Over the tick of the clock and the hum of the cooler, she heard a board squeak in the kitchen. She stiffened as she realized the ‘ we’ he spoke of a moment ago had arrived through the backdoor. One of the kitchen doors swung open and the first of five more vamps stepped into the main barroom.
    They wanted her alive, but what they wanted her alive for, and what they might force her to do, was more than enough for her to decide she’d prefer to be dead. Jerking her arm back, she let her stake fly with deadly accuracy at the first vamp who had walked through the swinging door. She had no shot of hitting the one she’d been speaking with, but these five weren’t completely prepared for her. They would be now as the stake found its intended target and the vampire let out a howl. The stricken vamp fell back, his fingers grasped frantically at the stake embedded deep within his heart. Even if he pulled it free, it was too late for him; his life was over.
    Without missing a step, she bent