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would-be warrior was puking her guts out.
     
    Cursing herself for her weakness, Kela prayed she wouldn’t retch again. Seeing what the vampires had done to the blonde woman was beyond comprehension. Without hesitation, the stranger had helped the victim. He’d done to the blonde what she hadn’t had the opportunity to do to Roland. Her failure hit her with a powerful mixture of disgust and guilt. How many young women had died?
    “We should leave this place,” he said.
    Kela wiped her mouth with her glove and straightened, turning toward the stranger. Although she still held a stake, Kela didn’t fear for her life. If he’d wanted to kill her, he’d had ample opportunity while she’d lost her dinner. “Who are you?”
    He stepped out of the shadows. “Ansara.”
    Ruggedly handsome, despite the scar on his right cheek, Ansara’s face was chiseled with features worthy of an ancient coin. He wore an earring, a cross dangling from his left lobe and wide metal bracelets adorned with silver crosses around his wrists. More crosses embellished his belt. “Thanks for coming to my aid.”
    She waited for him to respond, perhaps explain his timely arrival. Instead, he remained silent and walked toward her. His shoulders were broad and his arms bulged with muscle. Beneath the open vest, his chest was smooth. He looked like a pro wrestler. All he lacked was a name like The Holy Decapitator.
    Kela shoved the stake into the holster hanging from her belt and adjusted her leather jacket. The crisscross of rips and slashes were irreparable. “Damn vampires.”
    Ansara touched a forefinger to her chin, moving her face to one side. “One of them scratched your face.”
    “She was trying to take my cross. Roland ordered them to take it.”
    “Tell me about Roland.”
    “He was my fiancé, until he became one of them.”
    “When did this happen?”
    “A few weeks ago. He fell in with a bad crowd.”
    “We must leave before they regroup.”
    He didn’t have to explain who they were. “My car’s a few blocks away.”
    “Let’s go.”
    Kela looked at the blonde. “We can’t just leave her.”
    “We can’t take her with us. She’s drained. They have no further interest in her. When we’re away from here, you can call the proper authorities.”
    “Okay.”
    Now all she had to do was find a working payphone. Kela wasn’t about to identify herself or use her cell phone. The police already thought she was a nutcase.
    Kela had to hustle to keep pace with Ansara’s long stride. The street was empty of foot traffic, yet Kela sensed they were being watched. Ansara was as eager as she was to leave the area. When they reached her SUV, Kela pressed her remote key.
    The moment they were inside her vehicle, Kela locked the doors and started the engine. She hit the gas and the SUV lurched forward. At this hour, vehicle traffic was light. Her hands trembling, Kela gripped the wheel and glanced at her new friend. “The vampires were watching us.”
    “Yes.”
    She stopped at a traffic light, drumming her fingers on the wheel until the light changed. She punched it and shot through the intersection. She tapped the brake at a stop sign, glanced both ways and accelerated.
    “I could feel vampires all around us. So many of them watching and waiting. Why didn’t they attack?”
    “The demon didn’t want me to decimate his army.”
    She looked at Ansara. “Demon?”
    “His name is Vakkar,” he said, reaching out to steady the wheel. “I sensed his presence in the area.”
    A chill slid down Kela’s spine. “Demon.” Half expecting to see a gargoyle-like creature, she checked her rearview mirror and glanced to each side. “Not only are there vampires, but there’s a demon?”
    “Where there are vampires, there are demons. The vampires are the foot soldiers, the demons rule. Do you need me to operate the vehicle?”
    Kela looked at him.
    “You shouldn’t travel through the red signals, correct?”
    “I ran a