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skin. So much for her earlier quip of bad guys, oh well . Macabre images flashed one after the other through her mind. Sheer willpower pinned her to the floor, making her think before she bolted straight into danger.
    Normally, she would worry about hiding her scent from another predator, but the place stank so badly that wasn’t an issue. Plus, whoever had killed Michelle had to be human. Nothing else would have confused one of their own with a vampire.
    Slowly, she peered around the edge of the kitchen doorway. A figure hulked in the entrance to the condo, backlit by the lights from the hall.
    Oh, God! It’s—he’s—coming this way.
    Talia shrank back into the galley kitchen, squeezing into the corner between the refrigerator and the wall. She shrank down, making herself small, bending her head forward to hide her pale skin with the dark fall of her hair. There was no need for her to breathe, nothing to disturb the absolute stillness of the dead.
    Except terror. She wanted to run so badly her muscles cramped.
    The fridge hummed, the hard surface vibrating against her arm. Trapped! Through the curtain of her hair, she could see the stranger’s wide shoulders blocking the hallway between her and the door. Her heart gave a single, painful beat, jolted back to life by the adrenaline rushing into her blood.
    Tears of outrage stung Talia’s eyes. She was frightened, absolutely, but she was also furious. Someone had killed Michelle, and now they’d come back. Realized you screwed up? she thought bitterly. Figured out that was human blood all over your hands?
    It galled her to be so helpless. Talia had weapons, but they were stuffed in the top of the hallway closet, gathering dust. She’d thought she’d never have to use them again. Prayed for it.
    Apparently no one listened to a vampire’s prayers.
    You’re hiding in a kitchen filled with knives. Maybe she wasn’t so helpless after all.
    She could see the figure’s shadow slide over the wall, stark against the bright patch of hallway light. His silhouette showed he was tall and big-boned, moving with surprising grace for such a large man. She caught a sharp tang of smoke and chemicals, as if he’d been near an industrial fire. The smell drowned her vampire senses, choking out anything else his scent might have told her. He was coming closer, pausing after each step, his feet all but silent on the carpeting.
    Just a few yards more and he would be past the kitchen door. Then she could make a break for it. Even a fledgling like her could move faster than a mortal.
    Closer, closer . The hiding place where she crouched was just inside the kitchen entrance. If she reached out, she could brush the toes of his heavy work boots with her fingers. Her fingertips itched, as if they had already grazed the dirty leather. He was so close she dared not lift her head to look at him. All she got was a good view of jeans-clad shins.
    And then he was past. She rose in a single, smooth gesture, balancing on her toes. One careful step forward, and she reached the counter opposite the fridge. Silently, she slid a kitchen knife out of the block. Just in case. It was smarter to run than to fight, but he might corner her yet.
    She heard his intake of breath as he reached the living room. She froze, the cool handle of the knife heavy and hard against her palm.
    The urge to vomit washed over her again, but she didn’t dare make a noise. Not even to swallow. She could hear him, just a few yards to the right, the brush of cloth on cloth as he moved around the gory, glistening carnage in the next room.
    Three, two, one .
    Talia darted toward the hall, inhumanly fast.
    He was faster.
    Huge hands grabbed her upper arms, hauling her into the air. She kicked, hearing a snarl of pain as the sharp heel of her ankle boot dug into his thigh. She tried to turn and slash, but the angle was wrong. Wriggling like a ferret, Talia twisted, using Undead strength to turn within that big-knuckled grasp.
    She