I scream and slap the bars as the three vamps close in on him again. How many knives does he have left? Does he even have a stake still?

One appears in his hand, and he calls a knife into the other.

I will not watch someone die like this.

My pulse slows. The rapid change from panic to calm is jarring, but I’ve trained for this. I take a deep breath as they rush him and draw the two knives from my boots. I’m a knife thrower with magic. It doesn’t matter if I’m behind a fence.

They’re on him before I can throw, but then I stick a knife into the head of the woman, sending her reeling back. She drops Roman’s arm that she was already pinning down. My other knife hits the guy with glasses in the throat and slows him just enough for Roman to plant a stake in his heart. He goes down, screaming and clawing at his chest. I grab my last stake, the best shot I’ve got, and send it for the guy in plaid. He’s the ringleader, so maybe if he dies, it will give the woman pause. But he’s too far away. I hit his shoulder, and all he does is snarl in my direction.

It’s not enough. Roman’s outnumbered. They’ve got his arms, and he’s not as strong as them. He struggles and then stills. Their backs are to me. I’ve got one knife left, but what would that even do? I could call the other knives back to me, but I need stakes, and I need to be close enough to use them. Roman twists his head like he’s trying to see me. Probably to tell me to run again.

Like hell.

“Don’t drain him out in a huge rush like the last one,” blue plaid vamp says.

The woman grumbles.

They both latch on to his neck, and I have to bite back a scream. Instead, I move as quickly and quietly as I can to the other side of the gate and the ten-foot chain-link fence that’s keeping me from the fight.

I’m sure I’m not that quiet, but neither glance my way as I climb over and down the other side. My breath is heaving, and I can’t make it stop. I drop to my knees and search the two piles of ash from the soccer mom and the goth girl until I’m covered in bloodsucker waste. I hope I appear terrifying.

Nobody’s looking though. Roman’s eyes are closed. His head droops forward. The vampires seem to be holding him up now, their faces buried as they suck his life away.