Aurya leaned her forehead against the sliding glass door and stared out at the immaculate lawns of suburbia. She watched the sun’s orange blaze drift beyond the horizon and leave world awash in blue—her favorite hour. The crux between day and night, light and darkness.

Occasionally, the evening runner or dog walker drifted by. They all looked the same, wore the same Under Armour yoga pants, owned the same tiny, useless dogs, chatted about the same mundane things.

Such were the motions of Rochester Hills. She’d chosen an apartment out here to limit her contact with people. In the city, people always wanted to talk, to be friends. In this little slice of suburbia, she only got the occasional wave, or a note on her door asking her to donate to some charity or another.

How the retirees in this area hadn’t succumbed to madness was beyond her. She’d jumped the gun and left her job too soon. So over the past—how long had it been? Months? Years?—she’d been bored out of her mind, bouncing between the walls of her home and watching excessive amounts of television. She popped out every once in a while to visit her favorite coffee shop or see a movie, but kept herself scarce for the most part.

Aurya had told her fellow teachers that she’d gotten a job outside of the country, which forced her to stay away from the parts of town they frequented. She stuck to the Pontiac area, about half an hour away.

Bide your time, she reminded herself. There was excitement waiting for her around the corner. Whether she lost her mind before then depended on how far away that corner was. Which reminded her, Delgado was due for an update. She plucked her phone from her pocket and asked for an update.

Will have one soon, he replied.

Aurya tossed the phone on the couch, casting her gaze out the window once more. Her eyes tracked the frantic path of a big, fluffy dog dragging its owner this way and that. She wondered if Delgado lived in such a place, as well, or if he immersed himself in the electric buzz of city life. All she’d gleaned from watching his statues on WhatsApp was that he hated his job and had a cute cat.

Perhaps his life was just as boring as hers.

She waited until twilight turned to dark to pull the curtains shut and went around the breakfast bar separating the living room from the kitchen. Leftover Chinese food sat next to the tubs of pasteurized pork blood in her fridge. The former went in the microwave while the latter went into a wine glass.

She leaned against the counter and sipped, the metallic taste biting her tongue. Her financial documents hid most of the breakfast bar’s dark granite. She’d sold almost all of her shares, and those she couldn’t sell, she donated. Months ago, she’d warned her bank she’d be taking all of her money out, yet they still held tight to some of it.

The manager at the local branch would get an earful from her tomorrow, when she emptied her safety deposit box. Damn banks, you gave them your money to hold, and they thought they owned it.

The beep of the microwave cut through her thoughts, and as she turned to grab her food, her phone buzzed. A thread of her power shot from the base of her skull and ran down her arm to the tips of her fingers. She flicked it across the room, wound it around her phone and dragged the thing through the air to her waiting hand. It only took the duration of half a microwave beep between triggering her power and the phone reaching her hand.

Still too slow. Too sloppy.

With her free hand, Aurya took her food from the microwave and, with her mind, willed a fork from the drawer. She took a bite of fried rice and chased it with some blood while checking her messages. One from Delgado.

Hey, one of the accounts posted. Sal Black.

She almost dropped her wineglass. A message from Sal. A grin split her lips. Oh, blessed be. The corner wasn’t far away; it was right there. No more biding her time. No more wading through the quagmire of suburbia. Now she could taste blood and death and dance upon the ashes of her former brethren.

Aurya took a calming breath. She needed to approach this situation with delicate hands. Bait Sal and his stooges into her hand, make them feel like they had her cornered, on the ropes. She wanted to be the prey that became predator, the sweet, unassuming mongoose that slays the cobra.

Delgado… he could help her set the trap. Her knowledge of social media was pitiful, and she lacked the desire to learn anything beyond the basics. Heck, she could barely manage WhatsApp. She often marveled at her students and colleagues who were able to maintain multiple accounts on multiple platforms. But Delgado could help, and she’d pay him handsomely for it.

Aurya mentally tapped the call button and put it on speakerphone while taking another sip of blood.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Delgado?” she said, with a little more pep in her voice than she was used to. Silence came through and she checked to see if the call was still connected. “Hello?”

“Uh…” He cleared his throat. “Hi, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting your call.”

Aurya smiled. He had a nice voice, not deep, but smooth and warm and sunny. “I apologize for my… spontaneity. What did Sal say?”

“He said it’s good to be back. I’m uh… I’ll send you a screenshot.”

It must be good, she mused. It must be really good. She hadn’t seen Sal since he put a sword in her throat. Those dark eyes had gazed at her down the length of the blade, thin lips curling into a smile. She remembered everyone else looking on, their expressions caught between disinterest and boredom.

“And there’s a picture. I guess it’s him,” Manny continued. “In Paris.”

Aurya swirled the remainder of her blood. “Dark hair, dark eyes, dark suit, beautiful woman draped over his arm?”

“Uh… everything but the woman.”

“How surprising. Listen, Delgado. I need a favor. Can we meet tomorrow? Or is that a bad time for you?”

“I can do tomorrow,” he said without missing a beat.

“Good. Very good.” She twisted the stem of her wineglass. “You can choose the location.”

Delgado was silent for a moment before saying. “There’s a coffee shop called the Morning Bean in downtown in Pontiac. Unless that’s too far?”

“No, that’s fine. What time would you like to meet?”

“I get off at three, but it’s a fifteen-minute walk from where I work, so is three thirty fine?”

“Three thirty is lovely. Thank you, Delgado. I’ll see you then.”

She topped off her glass of blood and studied the screenshot Delgado had sent. Sal wore the same snide smile he’d given her while she’d squirmed on the end of his blade. The same snide smiled he’d given her before she put him on his ass in front of his colleagues. If only her power could reach all the way to Paris and break all his pretty little teeth.

In theory, it could. But finding him amongst his brethren would prove troublesome. She’d have to settle for the mental image of breaking his teeth for now, while she planned. If Sal was back that meant many others of his clan would be back too.

Good. Very good.

Aurya popped a piece of orange chicken in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. If everything worked out as planned, she’d be dead in five days. And she’d drag half the vampire horde down to hell with her.