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told Thaksin. “They can’t get in here. Save his life. I’ll be back.”
    Then I was off texting Mami and Daniella at the speed of light, telling them we’d been ordered to stay clear of the apartment because of a reported gas leak. I sent Miguel and Una a more detailed version of events. Then, with my heart leaping in my throat, I called Rafael.
    “Please pick up. Please. I need you now! They’re here! They’re outside my apartment door, and if you don’t get here soon, they’re going to start killing.” A loud beep, and then the machine informed me the inbox was full.
    I hesitated over Yu Li’s name. Then I sent her a HELP ME! message, and immediately jumped up the list to call Jaehoon. The yelp made the phone slip through my sweaty fingers. I heard Thakshin shouting.
    I rounded the corner to see that Saja, true to his lion namesake, had bravely tried to attack the vampyres. They’d grabbed him by the throat and hurled him into a corner. His head smacked the wall, and then he fell limp.
    “Time’s running out, missy!” the vampyre called. “Let us in, and we won’t go on a killing spree of your neighbors. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”
    ATTACK THEM! Wolf roared, singeing me like an unexpected wildfire. For a moment, the adrenaline built up in my chest threatened to overwhelm me. Furious, I swallowed Wolf back down. My fingers twitched around the hidden blade of the kitchen knife I’d grabbed. I’d only get one shot at this.
    The elevator red light blinked. For a second, we were all still, watching it. Floor 7…8…9…
    “Who could that be?” the first vampyre asked. He seemed content to mock me; the other paced back and forth like a caged animal.
    “Friend of yours? Mommy? ”
    Floor 10…11…
    The vampyre’s eyes began to bleed with excitement. I didn’t glance toward the elevator door as it dinged! open. I hurled the knife at his chest.
    I didn’t stake him with as much force as I’d intended; the bloody thing moved too fast.
    “Ouch!” he cried. “You stupid bitch!” He raised the knife over Saja’s head, but then a blur of white smashed into him.
    Yu Li . My knees shook with relief, and I collapsed into Wolf. The second vampyre scared me, but time was wasting, so I knocked him into the closing elevator door. The sliding doors clobbered his head, and then broke apart with a startled ding!
    I didn’t let him get up. I leaped on his chest and slid my canines into his throat. He angrily tore his flaps of skin free and kicked me in the pelvis. I dodged his lunge and jumped on his back. A mouthful of greasy black hair came away in my mouth.
    The frightfully strong arms wrapped around my legs and flipped me over. The vampyre stabbed for my defenseless belly, but then a golden coil looped around his throat.
    Thaksin, in glorious werenaga form, jerked the vampyre into my apartment doorway. The vampyre’s legs began to kick and writhe. He couldn’t enter inside. Thaksin pulled him closer, tongue flicking at his face.
    I wearily approached, and with a sudden explosion of violence, tore off the vamp’s dangling head.
    Both of us were bowled over by the sudden appearance of the werebear. He barely squeezed through my doorway, before he was off and lumbering toward the vampyre who’d wounded him. Bellowing at Yu Li to move out of the way, he mauled the other vampyre’s head off with one blunt paw. Bellowing again, this time in pain from his deep wounds, he collapsed in the middle of the hall.
    A sudden scrabbling of footsteps echoed at the end of the hallway. I wouldn’t have picked it up if I hadn’t been Wolf.
    Someone was watching us!
    A vampyre scout . Assigned to sit back and watch the outcome of the battle. Yu Li’s blue eyes flickered over me, not unsympathetically. Maya will know this is one of our safe houses now.
    She already knew . I tried to reassure myself that nothing important had been lost, but I still felt sick to my stomach. I’d rescinded Khyber’s