celebrate our
birthday.
Or maybe I’d been screaming at the thought of being trapped in the park with so many
humans.
The darkness closed in again as I continued to follow the tracks. A ghostly apparition appeared
on the top of a mural staircase, and it took me a heartbeat to realize that apparition wasn’t the
work of lights but rather the red heat of life sitting perched atop the faded artwork.
Only it wasn’t human size. It was bird size.
And either that bird had weird roosting habits, or our vampire had been a shifter before he’d
undergone the change. It would certainly explain why Kade had been unable to find anything when
he’d done the search. A roosting bird probably wouldn’t emit much in the way of emotions, and
Kade certainly wouldn’t have been looking for something that size.
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my laser, flicking it on as the weapon settled into
my palm. As I did so, the bird squawked and took flight. Not flying away, but coming straight at
me. The vampire had balls, I had to give him that—especially given a pigeon wasn’t exactly as
threatening as a bird of prey.
I ducked under his swoop, then twisted around and fired. The red beam flashed out, briefly giving
the shadows an eerie glow as the shot clipped the bird’s wings. Feathers fluttered downward as it
squawked and awkwardly tried to fly down the hall. I fired again, but the bird dropped at the
wrong moment, and the laser sliced though the edges of a dancing skeleton. I swore softly and ran
after the bird.
“Kade,” I said, keeping the creature in sight but not firing, “he’s on the run. He’s also a
pigeon.”
“A pigeon? Good lord, that’s almost as bad as a seagull. No wonder he became a
vampire.”
He wasn’t getting an argument out of me. A seagull might be one of my alternate forms these days,
but I had something of a love-hate relationship with it.
“He’s going to have to shift shape to come out these doors,” Kade continued. “I’m ready and
waiting.”
“You always are,” I said, ducking under the ghostly tendrils of fake cobwebs.
Kade’s laughter rolled through my inner ear. I fired the laser again. This time the bright beam
clipped tail feathers before slicing into a bed that came complete with a white draped body hung
with cobwebs.
The vampire squawked and fluttered to the ground, landing rather ungracefully on the old wooden
track. I slid to a stop and trained the laser onto him.
“Directorate,” I said, my voice edged and low. “Whoever you are, shift shape or you’ll die in
bird form.”
He hopped around until he faced me, his beady black eyes glaring somewhat balefully.
“Your choice,” I said, pressing my finger against the trigger. The whine of the weapon powering
up cut through the surrounding noise, and the pigeon hopped backward in surprise.
After a moment, a shimmer rolled across his bloody feathers, hiding his form, reshaping it, until
what stood in front of me was cloaked in human skin.
Only it wasn’t a man but a boy. A child. A cute, cherub-cheeked child with golden hair and big
blue eyes.
A kid this size could certainly survive on a diet of pigeon and seagull blood, although why had
no one noticed the steady supply of dead birds?
Then the adorable image shattered when he snarled, revealing teeth that were long and pointed and
every inch a vampire’s. He came at me, fast and furious, and though I had my finger pressed
against the laser, I didn’t fire.
I couldn’t.
It was a kid , and I couldn’t shoot a kid. I didn’t want to shoot a kid—even one that was a feral vampire attacking other
children.
Surely there was hope for him. Surely there was a chance …
I jumped as a gunshot boomed through the darkness. The breeze of it burned past my ear,
signifying the bullet was silver, then the little vampire went down. The back of his head
disappeared, splattering a mess of blood and bone and gore across a
birthday.
Or maybe I’d been screaming at the thought of being trapped in the park with so many
humans.
The darkness closed in again as I continued to follow the tracks. A ghostly apparition appeared
on the top of a mural staircase, and it took me a heartbeat to realize that apparition wasn’t the
work of lights but rather the red heat of life sitting perched atop the faded artwork.
Only it wasn’t human size. It was bird size.
And either that bird had weird roosting habits, or our vampire had been a shifter before he’d
undergone the change. It would certainly explain why Kade had been unable to find anything when
he’d done the search. A roosting bird probably wouldn’t emit much in the way of emotions, and
Kade certainly wouldn’t have been looking for something that size.
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my laser, flicking it on as the weapon settled into
my palm. As I did so, the bird squawked and took flight. Not flying away, but coming straight at
me. The vampire had balls, I had to give him that—especially given a pigeon wasn’t exactly as
threatening as a bird of prey.
I ducked under his swoop, then twisted around and fired. The red beam flashed out, briefly giving
the shadows an eerie glow as the shot clipped the bird’s wings. Feathers fluttered downward as it
squawked and awkwardly tried to fly down the hall. I fired again, but the bird dropped at the
wrong moment, and the laser sliced though the edges of a dancing skeleton. I swore softly and ran
after the bird.
“Kade,” I said, keeping the creature in sight but not firing, “he’s on the run. He’s also a
pigeon.”
“A pigeon? Good lord, that’s almost as bad as a seagull. No wonder he became a
vampire.”
He wasn’t getting an argument out of me. A seagull might be one of my alternate forms these days,
but I had something of a love-hate relationship with it.
“He’s going to have to shift shape to come out these doors,” Kade continued. “I’m ready and
waiting.”
“You always are,” I said, ducking under the ghostly tendrils of fake cobwebs.
Kade’s laughter rolled through my inner ear. I fired the laser again. This time the bright beam
clipped tail feathers before slicing into a bed that came complete with a white draped body hung
with cobwebs.
The vampire squawked and fluttered to the ground, landing rather ungracefully on the old wooden
track. I slid to a stop and trained the laser onto him.
“Directorate,” I said, my voice edged and low. “Whoever you are, shift shape or you’ll die in
bird form.”
He hopped around until he faced me, his beady black eyes glaring somewhat balefully.
“Your choice,” I said, pressing my finger against the trigger. The whine of the weapon powering
up cut through the surrounding noise, and the pigeon hopped backward in surprise.
After a moment, a shimmer rolled across his bloody feathers, hiding his form, reshaping it, until
what stood in front of me was cloaked in human skin.
Only it wasn’t a man but a boy. A child. A cute, cherub-cheeked child with golden hair and big
blue eyes.
A kid this size could certainly survive on a diet of pigeon and seagull blood, although why had
no one noticed the steady supply of dead birds?
Then the adorable image shattered when he snarled, revealing teeth that were long and pointed and
every inch a vampire’s. He came at me, fast and furious, and though I had my finger pressed
against the laser, I didn’t fire.
I couldn’t.
It was a kid , and I couldn’t shoot a kid. I didn’t want to shoot a kid—even one that was a feral vampire attacking other
children.
Surely there was hope for him. Surely there was a chance …
I jumped as a gunshot boomed through the darkness. The breeze of it burned past my ear,
signifying the bullet was silver, then the little vampire went down. The back of his head
disappeared, splattering a mess of blood and bone and gore across a
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