Apparently it was the right thing as the man snarled, showing me his teeth as he rolled in to make room for the rest. The window over the sink exploded inward, and I swung my gun, little puffs of air unnoticed in the howl of attack.

Someone touched me. It wasn’t Trent, and I loosed a blast of energy through my body, sending the vampire screaming in pain to fall backward into two of his buddies.

“That’s right!” I yelled, shooting at them, but they darted back and my spells broke harmlessly against the cupboards. “Run, you little chip-fanged wannabes!”

My heart thundered. Eyes wide, I found Trent. He looked magnificent, magic arching from hand to hand as he blasted anyone who got a foot inside the kitchen. There were six down already, and he took out the two I’d missed even as I watched. Breathless, I smiled as he shouted and blew a hole right through the wall and four more crashed backward into the fireplace. That was okay. Ivy had been talking about opening the two rooms up.

“Trent!” I shouted, realizing Bis was still on my shoulder, his wings open as he kept his balance. “I think we can do this!” I wouldn’t have to leave my church. I wouldn’t have to abandon the only place I’d ever felt was mine.

His expression was wild. He met my eyes, and something plinked through me. He loves me, I thought, knowing he’d do anything if it would keep me safe, even if that meant letting me do something stupid like try to save my church.

A head poked up behind the smoldering couch, visible past the broken wall. There was a sudden flurry of motion, and five bodies dove out of the open back door. The one remaining slowly stood. Smirking, he dropped something heavy. I watched it fall as if in slow motion.

Trent grabbed me, spinning me down and around. Bis’s wings flapped madly as we hunched into a ball.

The last vampire launched himself at the door, fleeing.

I gasped, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Now, Bis!” Trent shouted, and the world exploded.

The roar of fire washed over us, eating away at the bubble Trent had thrown up.

And then it was gone, the pulse of heat vanishing into the hum of the lines and then evolving into the shush of water on a beach. Bis had jumped us, and I had no idea where we were.

My heart thudded as we slowly stood from our crouch. It was dark, hours before dawn. My feet sank into cool sand. We were on the West Coast? Behind us was the great blackness of the Pacific, before us the extravagant lines of a modern two-story home, wall-to-wall windows facing the beach. The wind lifted through my hair and pulled the heat from the bomb away.