“Get back!” I shouted at the vampire, but he never even looked at me. Al, too, was a hunched shadow ignoring me. Mostly.

“Rynn Matthew Cormel,” the demon drawled, a brief shimmer of ever-after cascading over him to leave his nose unbloodied and whole as he straightened. “What brings you slumming here?”

The elegant vampire loosened his coat. “You, in a roundabout way.”

I flicked my gaze between them and felt my neck for the new bruise that was bound to show up. Jenks hovered beside me, spilling red dust that puddled on the floor.

“I’m honored,” Al said, tension in his voice and posture.

“You’re dead,” Cormel said. “Morgan is mine. You will not touch her.”

Oh, that’s nice. Maybe.

Al laughed. “As if you have a say in the matter.”

That was even freaking better. My breath came in sharply and I scrambled back when Cormel jumped at Al, arms reaching and an ugly sound erupting from him. A muffled curse slipped from me, and my back hit the fridge. I watched, shocked, as the two grappled, both moving incredibly fast. Al blurred in and out of existence, making the vampire look like he was trying to catch moving sand. I couldn’t take my eyes away, and my pulse hammered. If Al won, I was going to be bail money. If Rynn Cormel won, I was going to have to deal with a master vampire hyped up on fear and anger who thought I was his.

“Look out!” I cried when Al got a grip on him, but the vampire twisted with an inhuman bonelessness, dislocating his own shoulder to fix his teeth on Al’s neck.

Al screamed and went misty, re-forming to push Rynn backward into the sink. Mr. Fish’s bowl teetered, and when the vampire launched himself at Al, his fangs sheened with blood, I darted to rescue the Betta.

Water sloshed as I retreated. Not looking at what I was doing, I shoved the fish onto the back of the counter. My gaze went to the books hiding my scrying mirror. Minias. I could call Minias. Yeah, one more demon ought to make this farce complete.

Al hit the wall beside Ivy’s computer, and the lights flickered. Gathering my courage, I darted forward, fingers slipping on the cold glass as I found the mirror.

“Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God,” I whispered, not remembering the word to invoke the charm.

“Rachel!” Jenks cried.

They were coming right at me. Eyes widening, I curled my body over the mirror and dove out of the way. Al and Cormel crashed into the fridge. The clock above the sink fell, shattering to send the battery rolling into the hall.

Al had Cormel’s face in his hands and was squeezing with a supernatural strength, but the vampire’s teeth were red. I watched, unable to look away as Cormel reached up and dug his ugly fingers into Al’s eyes.