He was almost completely skinned. His flesh had melted from the bone. I didn’t want him to touch me and fell backward against Mo’Lock, who was no less repulsed than I. The crowd of ghouls and vampire bangers screamed and scattered around us. I rolled, avoiding the bloody bone-hands that reached for me. Mo’Lock wasn’t so lucky. As I jumped up, I saw the vampire lift the ghoul off the ground and toss him away like a rag doll. Mo’Lock hit a tree and slid to the ground headfirst.

That was it. I was pissed off.

I moved toward Dave. He was little more than a dripping skeleton. He had only one eye in his skull, which he was using to scan the ground where the shredded bodies of his monkey-things lay scattered. He backed away, but there wasn’t going to be any goddamn chase this time. I moved fast, and slammed my fist straight into the side of his skull. It exploded like a tomato in a microwave, glorious fireworks of bone and blood.

The headless vampire stood in place, swaying for a moment, then collapsed in a heap of bones and slime. It was over.

The half-vampires and ghouls began to come up to me. One started clapping, then another. Soon the entire crowd was applauding, including Mo’Lock. It really got to me, so I reared back my head and howled at the sky.

Then I stopped. What the fuck was I doing? I couldn’t live like this—as the very thing I’d made a living hunting and destroying.

I gestured for everybody to shut the hell up, and turned to Benito and Mo’Lock. They were waiting for some kind of answer from me. First I had to take care of business.

“If something is happening, I’ll be your personal bloodhound. Everybody keep their ears to the ground. If there’s been a sudden surge in paranormal activity, there has to be a reason and a source, so let’s wait and see what happens, okay?”

The crowd all nodded to each other. Benito turned and gave a signal to his boys and they began to head out.

“Right now all I want is a thousand beers and some sleep.”

Mo’Lock and I walked the other way as the crowd dispersed. I turned full-wolf and dropped to all fours without even realizing it. I felt a terrible sense of dread and loss, a sadness I’d never felt before. I should have been exhilarated with all this power, but I wasn’t. It felt as uncomfortable as an itchy sweater. The werewolf thing was cool, but it wasn’t me.

For now, I knew I could somewhat control my transformations between human and lycanthrope, but what would happen when the bloodlust took over? I could lose control. I couldn’t live with that.

“Will I ever be a real human again?” It came out sounding a little more desperate than I’d intended.

“I’m not sure,” said the ghoul. “Have you ever heard of a cure for shape-shifters?”