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blood of a familiar would be especially tasty? Forbidden fruit, and whatnot?"
    The brown-haired one shrugged. "She can taste like nectar and ambrosia, it still wouldn't be good enough to be worth pissing off Nathan. Let's go."
    "You're going, alright," said a voice to Cassie's side, and she drew a sharp breath when she realized it was Sam's. Apparently, he had come in through the alley entrance and through the break room. "Get away from her."
    The blond vampire drew back as though she had stabbed him, and put his hands up, placating Sam. "Listen man, you were gone-- it wasn't poaching because you were gone."
    "We were within our legal rights," said the shorter one, who Cassie noticed had also taken a few steps back. It was strange, watching the vampires get defensive in Sam’s presence. Part of her wanted to cheer that the cavalry had come, while she couldn’t help but notice that her protector was the thing the other monsters were scared of. She shuddered with the thought that something about that was deeply wrong.
    Sam stopped next to Cassie. She looked up at him, surprised to see his eyes were their normal brown color. She thought that facing down a pair of vampires would probably be a good time to pull out the glowing glare, but hey, if he could prevent her from being kidnapp ed, she wasn't going to critique his presentation.
    "That's true, you were," he said, his tone calm and even. "Your master had every right to send you to claim an abandoned familiar. In court, I would have no right to kill both of you for still being here in ten seconds; there would definitely be some kind of fine. It might even be worse than an overdue library book.”
    Cassie's jaw dropped as both men turned tail and ran- - there was no better way to explain it. Quicker than she would have thought possible, they cleared the shop with superhuman grace, the blond one jumping over the counter in his haste. For about two seconds, they could all hear their leather boots hammering against the pavement, then silence.
    Sam exhaled, looking tired. "Is everyone okay?"
    "Dwight. They punched him," said Cassie, pointing.
    "Where?" said Sam, walking towards the cafe. "Dammit, I didn't even see him because of the counter."
    He knelt at Dwight's side, checking for signs of life. "It's okay," he said. "They just knocked him out. He'll wake up when he's ready."
    Cassie took a relieved breath, noticing that the air smelled different since Sam had entered. There was some kind of dark, musty scent to him that she had a feeling probably wasn’t cologne. It wasn’t unpleasant, but she couldn’t identify it.
    Jay stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Hey, Sam? Were those guys really...." he trailed off.
    Sam stood up, looking at Jay. "Vampires? Pathetic bottom-feeders, more like it. But yes."
    Khalil coughed. "Look Sam... don't take this the wrong way, since I'm glad you came back and got rid of those...yeah. But uh, what the hell are you?"
    Sam scratched the back of his head, like the question embarrassed him. "Well. About that."

Chapter Four
    "I'm telling you Mom, we dropped an entire vat of caramel on the floor! It could take hours to clean up!" Cassie exclaimed into her phone.
    "Honey, it's after midnight. They don't pay you enough for this."
    "They're paying me extra, and it's not a school night. Also, Jay's here-- we'll go home together when we're done."
    That seemed to pacify Annette; for a moment, Cassie dwelled on how strange it was that Jay was now considered her protection. When they were little it had always been the other way around. "Alright, but if that manager pulls this again- -"
    "He won't, Mom. See you tomorrow!" She hung up and put her phone back in her pocket. Ironically, that was one of the least stressful conversations she'd had with Annette lately, and she was lying through her teeth.
    Dwight, Khalil, Sam and Jay were all sitting around the table in the break room, a plate of cookies and snacks in the center. Normally, someone would brew a