“I’ll run and get the car,” Reina says. “She’s in no shape to walk that far.” She turns around and pauses, eyes narrowing, and for a moment I think she’s looking at me, but then I realize she’s staring over my shoulder.

“Hello, ladies.”

The hair on the back of my neck stands up. His voice is so neutral and flat that it almost sounds inhuman. I fight the urge to spin around. My instincts are screaming that sudden movements would be bad, like he’s a rattlesnake coiled to bite. But he’s not a snake—he’s something so much worse. I can feel it, not with magic but in my bones.

“You all smell lovely this evening.”

Everything else he says is monotone, but he rolls “lovely” across his tongue as if he’s tasting it. My heart hammers in my throat.

Reina’s wide eyes meet mine. Diantha releases the girl she’s holding, letting her slowly sink to the ground as she places herself slightly in front of her.

“When I said I was visiting California, everyone told me Santa Cruz had the best drinks, and I have to say, it looks like they’re absolutely right… maybe even better than New Orleans.”

I’ve been slowly turning this whole time, and now I see him: wispy blond hair reaches his shoulders. He wears tight leather pants and a lavender tank that seem out of place in this beach town.

I meet his eyes, and he cocks his head at me.

I don’t even see him move. It’s like one second he’s casually standing, seemingly relaxed, and the next I’m staring up into an open mouth flashing extending fangs. The only thing that stops them from sinking straight into my neck is Reina’s arm darting in front of me.

She hisses in pain as the fangs sink into her wrist.

I stumble back and grab a stake from one boot and a knife from the other.

The root that tripped the creepy dude shoots out of the ground and curls around the vampire’s ankle, but he kicks and the wood snaps in an instant. The seagulls are back too, but he doesn’t even register them as they bombard his head. He laughs, even with his teeth buried in Reina’s arm. Some of her blood leaks down his lips.

Her other hand is free, though, and she lunges with a stake I didn’t know she had on her. He swats it away. I need to get a shot in. His back’s against a bus, and she’s trapped in front of him, so I don’t have a clear one.

More roots crawl across his feet.