I ran into the kitchen and my worst fears were confirmed. Myra was dead, sprawled on the floor. Her throat had been viciously removed, her face frozen in her last second of life. Her eyes were wide, mouth agape. She saw her killer before he scratched out her windpipe.

I hardly had time to react as Sean’s clawed, red-haired fist came smashing through the steel mesh of the antique elevator. My gun was empty. I was out of options, so I ran for the stairs and out into the streets. Cowardly maybe, but until I had a plan or some kind of weapon, it was my only choice.

It didn’t buy me much time, though. Sean was big, fast, and angry, and he was on my ass in no time flat. All werewolves are so fucking angry. That’s why I hate dealing with them. Of all creatures, they’re the most unreasonable. There’s just no talking to them.

I knew I didn’t have time to get into my car, and I wasn’t about to let that big red freak have at my slick paint job, so I bolted down the desolate street toward what I now recognized as the Staples Center. Maybe if we hit a populated area he’d give up and turn around. I paused and looked behind me. At the end of the street, right next to the Catalina, a huge red wolf stood on hind legs. I also noticed a piece of paper on my windshield. If I got a ticket I’d really be pissed.

Sean came straight at me. I had about a hundred yards on him, but he was fast as shit. When he dropped on all fours he could probably outrace a car. I didn’t wait to find out if my guess was right. I bolted toward the intersection where Myra and I had stood only an hour earlier. Traffic had picked up considerably. Maybe I could get him hit by a car.

I kept right on running. Suddenly, people were everywhere. A stadium event must have let out, changing the ghost town into a mob scene. Traffic was heavy, but I didn’t slow down—not even slightly. I ran right into the intersection with Sean nailed to my butt. Unfortunately, the plan (if you could call it that) didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped.

I got mowed down as soon as I hit the street, rolling over a car’s hood and flying through the air like a scarecrow shot out of a cannon. Horns and brakes blared, but above it all, I heard the howling cry of the werewolf as he leapt after my rag doll body. There was chaos, people screaming and yelling out in confused terror. I lifted my head and there he was, the biggest fucking werewolf I’d ever seen. He was poised over me, arm raised, about to slash me open.

There was nothing I could do. I was dead meat.