She began to swing back and forth, which increased the pressure on my throat. My vision clouded, and my spine popped like I’d gotten an adjustment from the world’s most sadistic chiropractor.

With one last swing, Deb hurled a leg up around my waist. The momentum helped me to roll over in midair, allowing her to resettle herself on my back. I carefully bent my knees and re-centered our weight, hissing in pain as strained back muscles made their unhappiness known.

Once we’d stabilized, I looked around to try to get a read on the new arrivals. Vampires, most likely. They could fly, and they didn’t seem to have any trouble with water, which narrowed down the potential species. No wonder we hadn’t spotted any Vanguard boats: they hadn’t bothered to bring any.

Two more vampires rose up behind another ship. They touched down on deck, seized the closest crewman, and hauled him into the air before anyone could react.

If the vamps were of the bulletproof variety, this would turn into another slaughter, far worse than what I’d seen in Lansing. I couldn’t let that happen. I reached for another book, but before I could use it, a floodlight on the farthest ship swiveled around to focus on one of the vampires.

In less than a second, the light burned him to nothingness.

Another vampire dove into the water, dragging a struggling guardsman down with him, but the light followed them. Moments later, the guardsman surfaced and began swimming back to his ship.

More floodlights chased the other vampires through the air. The Coast Guard had to be using ultraviolet bulbs, powerful enough to simulate the sun’s rays. Not only had they been ready for the sirens’ magic, they’d prepared for vampires as well. They’d known what Vanguard was sending to intercept them . . .

This was a test. A fucking research project. That was why every previous Vanguard attack had involved only a single species. Too many variables weakened your results.

Send werewolves to assassinate the governor and attorney general, and make sure the FBI is en route. Time how long it takes the werewolves to complete their mission, then measure their effectiveness against law enforcement. Anyone who got their hands on the surveillance footage would have a trove of data on speed and strength, as well as the effect of the mundane bullets that killed one of the werewolves.

Now they’d moved on to more advanced weapons, designed specifically to work against inhuman species.

Had the Porters helped them develop those weapons? UV was a known vampire weakness. It was possible the Coast Guard had developed those spotlights on their own. But they’d also known roughly where to search for the sirens.

Deb couldn’t have known. She wouldn’t have sent those werewolves out to die as lab rats. She and the rest of Vanguard were pawns.