Done. She texted Brandon. Where next?

He sent her a screenshot of his map and the blue and red dots nearest her. She slung on her backpack and left the alley, studying it.

The next nearest vamps designated as blue were a block away.

Jonny's nearest vamps were four blocks away.

She stared at the dots pensively for a moment, running Xander's warning through her mind several times over. Five days after her first confrontation with Jonny, she was still angry and embarrassed by her performance. The low hanging fruit was the blue vamps, but some part of her wanted to prove to Jonny she wasn't as weak as she'd seemed when she all but collapsed in his arms.

Her mind made up, she walked past the next blue dot and continued four blocks farther into the downtown area, away from the stadium, and towards the part of town that became a seedy residential area. The location of Jonny's vamps wasn't a warehouse or place of business but a single story house in need of repair with iron bars on its windows. It looked much like the others around it, and she scanned the area visually before striking off down the block towards the location.

Her phone vibrated. Where are you going? Read Brandon's message.

Her brother was tracking her. She responded quickly before replacing the phone in her pocket. The cell vibrated once more and she ignored it.

The house was dark, aside from the kitchen. Ashley hid her backpack and pulled on her mask before approaching. She peered in the window to spot three, perhaps four, vamps. One was in the kitchen, the others moving between it and a room down the hallway.

I'm not afraid of you, Jonny, she told him silently.

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Waiting for the vamp in the kitchen to turn away, she slid in through the back door and raised both batons, smashing them over his head before he saw her. She hauled his body back into the kitchen so none of the others were able to spot him then moved down the hallway. Her heart raced, and her tense form was on edge. She did a self-check for any signs of a looming episode and was satisfied she had none.

Three voices came from one of the rooms. She paused outside it to listen, using her senses to case the rest of the house. There was at least one more in the next room down. Ashley counted to three and then vaulted into the nearest room.

Surprise rendered the vamps too shocked to move, and she had taken one down before the other two rose from their seats at a card table to attack her. One lunged, and she danced away, smacking him in the throat with a baton before facing the other. The vamp from the room next door appeared in the doorway. He was on the phone, and Ashley slung a baton at him to knock it free. The last thing she needed was him alerting someone.




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