“If they were vampires, they must have driven up here. Did you hear a vehicle of any kind?”

Rory shook his head. “The police suspect they parked it in the scrub farther up the road and walked in.”

I frowned. “Suspect? Meaning they haven’t found it yet?”

“Not that I’ve heard, but they’re not likely to tell me even if they had.” He paused and reached into the pocket of his borrowed jeans. “I did manage to grab a couple of wallets before I cindered the bastards.”

I took the two of them, then dropped one onto my knees and opened the other. There were a couple of credit cards bearing the name Harry Jones, and a driver’s license that apparently belonged to a Stephen White. I flipped it around so Rory could see the ID picture. “Is that one of the vamps?”

He studied the picture for a moment, then shook his head. “But it’s not really surprising they’d be holding stolen IDs. Most vamps who take a commission don’t carry anything that could accurately identify them.”

“What makes you think the attack was a commission?” I opened the second wallet and discovered another credit card and driver’s license bearing different names, although this time both were female.

Rory shook his head again when I showed it to him. “It’s just a feeling I got. They weren’t moving as a team, but rather separate entities. It was almost as if they were racing each other to get the kill.” He hesitated, then half laughed, although it was a sound that held little in the way of amusement. “That haste was probably the only thing that saved me.”

“You heard them coming?”

“Not initially. But one of them disengaged the safety as he was coming at me rather than doing it outside. It was only a soft click, but it was so out of place that it was enough to wake me.”

I frowned. “If they had guns, why didn’t they just shoot the shit out of the cabin? They would have known your position by the sound of your heartbeat.”

“Aside from the fact it would have woken the entire neighborhood, you mean?”

I half smiled. “Yes.”

He shrugged. “Good question, and one I can’t possibly answer given the state of both the cabin and my five attackers.” He disentangled his fingers from mine. “If I drain any more of your strength, you’re going to be as weak as me.”

In any other circumstance, I would have protested. But he was right; the simple fact was my reserves were already riding too low.

“We need to find somewhere else for you to recover in safety.”

“If they found this place, they’re bound to find any other location we decide on.”