“Really?” Dawn asked, “Canada?”

“Yup. Looks like Timothy ran North.”

“Huh. So how are you going to get across the border? You're still wanted by the cops.”

I shrugged, “it's the Canadian border. What are they gonna do? Apologize at me?”

Dawn rolled her eyes, “I'm serious, Jane.”

“Yeah. Eight hour drive is going to make it complicated. Border aside.”

“Thoughts?”

“Several. Some even relevant. Obviously, the big sticking points are the sun, and my wanted status.”

“Given any thought to Juliet's idea to clear your name?”

I tapped my pen against my lips in thought, “yes. But not just yet. I don't want Tim to get away.” I glanced down at the grimoire on the table, “even if we can find him again. He's out there. Butchering people. I couldn't live with myself if I put sorting my own shit out ahead of stopping this fucker. Though I guess that's still part of sorting my shit out.”

Dawn sat next to me, and rested her head on my shoulder, “that's why I like you.”

“Because I'm hashtag not like other vampires?”

She snorted a laugh, “Yeah. That. You give a shit, Jane. You care about people. Everyone. Goddamn, I put a round through your chest, and threw you down a hole, and you still cared enough to carry me out.”

“Well,” I said, “in your defence, I'd have done the same. Comes to vampires, it's hands on sight.”

“Hell yeah.”

I nodded, “on that note, no point over complicating it. Put me in a lock box in the back of your jeep. We leave in time to get close to the border near dusk, then— sorry. I'm assuming you're coming with me on this personal vendetta.”

Dawn crossed her arms, “of course I'm coming with you. Can't believe you'd question that! I'm with you and Tess for the long haul. Besides, Vampire hunting is what I do. We'll stake this fucker. Together.”

I nodded, “I—” I listened, “we love you.”

“You better.” She grinned, “I'm quite the catch! Now what's the rest of your plan? Get to the border? And what? I smuggle your body across?”

“Let me out before the border crossing,” I said, scrolling the map east, “you cross normally at Sault Ste. Marie. I'll carry the guns here, to this park, and cross the border on the bottom of the river, then you pick me up here, and we continue on our merry way.”

Dawn scowled thoughtfully at the map, “sometimes I forget you don't actually need to breathe.”

“Vampirism doesn't protect me from the water, though. Cold won't kill me, but I'll be fucking miserable.”

“I'll make sure to have a change of clothes at the ready.”

“You're the best.”

—*—

The plan went off without a hitch, and a few hours after dusk I was breaking into a very conveniently located greenhouse to wait for Dawn. My clothes had started to freeze solid in just the few minutes I had been outside after leaving the river. I pulled my phone from the zip lock, and texted Dawn my whereabouts.

I heard her jeep pull up outside the greenhouse. The snow crunched under her boots. The sound reminding me of Timothy stalking prey. Dawn slipped through the door, and tossed me a towel.

“What? Not going to dramatically throw me to the ground, first?” The look of confusion that crossed her face told me she hadn't seen that, “movie reference,” I paused to towel off my hair, “we'll watch it later. It's one of Tess’ favourites.” I paused to listen, “I have been informed that it's my favourite movie, and Tess has simply been indulging my bad taste all these years.”

Dawn chuckled, “at least you're honest about translating her.”

“Be a disservice if I didn't!” I stripped to change into dry clothes. Dawn turned away, “oh now who's the prude?” I teased.

She kept looking away, and displayed a middle finger over her shoulder. I could still tell she was smiling.

I finished getting dressed, and holstered my gun. We returned to Dawn's jeep, and I retrieved a parka from the back. Being dead, I didn't really need it, but it would look weird to be tackling a Canadian winter in my regular coat. Plus it was thick enough to hide my gun. No carry in Canada, open or otherwise. Dawn's rifle wouldn't look out of place at least. The woods were not without wolves.

We continued the drive to the town of less than 800 souls. Even fewer now that Timothy had chosen this as his hunting ground. I wondered why. Town this small, folk were bound to notice people go missing. Bad news for a hunting vamp for the town to be on high alert. We parked at the bar. The only one. Having been born and raised in Chicago, the small town affectations were— jarring to say the least. And I had never expected the TV trope to be a real thing, but well and truly, every eye in the place turned on us as Dawn and I entered. I waited for a record scratch that never came.

The very tattooed woman behind the bar yelled “what are ya, heating the outside? Close the door and take a seat. Be right with you.”

Dawn nudged me ahead, and we picked a table in the corner. She ordered a beer, and I a water. Not like I could drink it. But something about keeping up appearances. No one was staring anymore, but occasional furtive glances, and hushed whispers were unmistakable.

When the bartender came back around to bring Dawn another pint, I asked “what’s the local news? Everyone here looks on edge.”

She almost dropped the glass, “sorry. Yeah, no. It’s— a pack of wolves moved into the area. Must be hungry, too. Wolves don’t usually go too close to the town. They’ve got—” she paused to sigh deeply, “half a dozen folk over the last month. Probably. Mounties have only found a few of the bodies. Ripped to shreds. Real grisly shit. You folk armed?”

Dawn nodded, “rifle’s in the jeep.”

“Good. Keep it close. And if you're planning on sticking around town, there's hunting parties going out for the pack.” She left the full glass on the table, and returned to her post.

I repeated Tess’ words for Dawn, “Tess says a few people walked out while we were talking to the bartender. Says she got weird vibes from them. Wait, what do you mean weird vibes? — Just weird? — Ah, supernatural weird. Fuck. I miss being a mundane detective.”

“Hey!” Dawn said, “something you can add to your list of things you miss other than cheeseburgers!”

I laughed, “fuck off!”

She hid a smile behind the lip of her glass, then spoke, “think they might be more vampires? The ones Tess got vibes from?”

“Maybe. Bartender did say they only found a couple bodies. And we know Timothy's penchant for turning folk on a whim.”

“Well, of the three of us I still need to eat actual food. Let me grab a bite, then we can get ourselves situated in the motel. Don't want to start hunting unless you have a safe place to sleep the day away.”

—*—

Once we were checked in and unpacked, Tess told us that we had been followed from the bar. She wasn't sure by who, but she was sure the followers were there, and more than four.

“Fuck.” I said.

Dawn worked the lever of her rifle, checking the chamber for debris, “we need to find your sire before he turns the whole town.”

“Well, if we've got followers, they might know where Tim is laying low.”

“Plan?”

I listened to Tess. “Tess is suggesting we split up. See if they follow both of us, or just one. Says she can snap between us to watch our backs.”

Dawn nodded, “but for that you need to—” she trailed off, rubbing a hand over the side of her neck.

“That would be the implication, yes.” I tried my hardest not to lick my lips. Fuck. Goddamn fuck. I was feeding on Dawn way too often. It was a good plan. But fucking shit, I was finding it hard to come up with an alternative. A plan that wouldn't involve me feeding off my girlfriend. Fuelling my addiction.

Dawn missed my internal struggle and stepped closer, pressing herself against me. Resting her chin against my shoulder. Her neck was exposed so very close to my mouth. My lips brushed her flesh.

“Are you sure?” I whispered.

“It's a good plan,” Dawn said.

“I—” I hesitated, “that doesn't answer the question.”

Dawn grabbed my hips, and pushed me half a step away to look into my eyes, “Jane. Are you sure?”

“Fuck. I don't know. It's just— I'm worried I'm feeding on you too much.”

“I'm a big girl. I've got blood to spare.”

“Not that. I know it's been for a good cause,” I paused to gesture at Tess, “but damn it. Just now, I don't like the way the thought of fresh blood made me feel.” I pulled a word from our past, “inhuman.”

Dawn pushed me down on the bed, and sat next to me. Tess took up a position on my other side, she rested a hand on my thigh.

“It's all right, Jane.” Dawn said, “half the reason I let you feed on me at all is that you're able to recognize when you might not be fully in control of yourself.”

I nodded, “and the other half?”

A mischievous grin crossed her face, “Tess.”

Tess and I laughed, “understandable. She is pretty great.”

“Fuck this night,” Dawn suggested, “let's rest up, and hunt your fucking sire tomorrow. It'll give us time to come up with a plan that doesn't involve you having to feed on me.”

I listened, “Tess says we can save the blood play for her time with you.”

The two women smiled, and pulled me down to the bed.

—*—

I woke to see Tess pacing the foot of the bed. “Hun?” I asked.

“Dawn hasn't come back yet.”

Still groggy, I dropped an arm over the other side of the bed. Empty. “Where?”

“She said she was going to try to find our followers while the sun was up. Confirm if they were vamps.”

I looked to the heavy blanket covering the hotel's window. I couldn't see past it, obviously. But I didn't need to see to know the sun was down. “Fuck.” I scrambled out of bed and got dressed as fast as I could. “Did she say where?”

Tess shook her head, “no. Just out to hunt.”

I was just tying my second boot when my phone rang. It was the custom ring tone set for Dawn. I dove for it, and yanked it off the charger. “Where are you? Are you okay?”

Not Dawn answered, “patience, vampire.” The woman on the phone had a thick French-Canadian accent making the word sound more like pat-zi-ence. “Your thrall is safe. For now.”

I bit back a correction. I knew fuck all about who I was talking to at the moment, and correcting them would do nothing but give this woman more information. “My questions stand. Where the fuck are you? Though I don't give a fuck if you're okay.”

“We'll get to that, vampire. North West corner of Boyer Preserve. There's a dirt road leading to a cabin. You will gather your coterie and arrive unarmed. Ma meute will meet you. Guide you in. Make haste, vampire. Please.” She hung up without waiting for a response.

“What in the goddamn fuck is a coterie?”

Tess answered, “it's a group of people sharing similar interests or goals.” She shrugged, “I suppose a coterie is a better name than a cloud of vampires.”

“Well I sure as fuck don't have a goddamn coterie.” I paused to finish tying my boot, “there was something odd about the way she said vampire.”

“The accent?”

“No. More like, well, like she was referring to an out group. I don't think she was a vampire herself.”

“Then what?”

“Dunno. A hunter, maybe? Dawn hasn't exactly made more friends by dating us.”

“Right. So what's the plan, then?”

“Sure as fuck not going to go unarmed. But if they're hunters, can't exactly go in guns blazing, either.”

Tess clapped her hands together, “so! We go. I scout ahead as far as I can. Let you know what's inside the building.”

“And make it up from there.”

“That's not a very good plan.”

I shrugged, “not a whole lot we can do about that. She has Dawn, and we don't have the luxury of enough time for a proper recon. Improvise, adapt, overcome.”

Tess laughed, “well! Let's be about it, then!”

—*—

I felt the biting cold, even through my dead flesh. I scratched the itch on the back of my hand through my glove. I found the road easy enough. The other paths were still snowed in, and the right way was the only one with tire tracks. My boots were good, but they weren't meant to be waterproof. I kept to the compacted trail made by the tires. Ahead, lights illuminated the snow. A cabin, or some kind of building dominated the clearing. I heard the bolt of a rifle work. I froze, and slowly raised my hands.

A voice called out from behind me, “hold it there. Where's the other vampires?”

“It's just me,” I told them.

Soft muttering. Unintelligible. Then louder, “hold still.”

I felt hands press against my arms. Shoulders. Breast. “Hey! Watch it.”

The hands moved down. Pulled my gun from my holster, and the stake from behind that.

“You were supposed to come unarmed.”

“Forgot it was even there.”

The one searching me sighed and finished patting me down. Taking my boot knife, but missing the Constant Companion in my belt buckle. I felt a hand on my back shove me forward.

“Move.” The voice said.

I walked.

“There's four,” Tess said, “no idea how they got the drop on you, sorry.”

I was led in through the front door. Tess had already let herself in by way of phasing through the wall. She gave a worried look as I passed her.

“It's bad,” she said, “at least a dozen more inside. And it looks like they hurt Dawn.”

I saw what Tess meant as I entered the vast main room. Dawn was bound and gagged in the middle of the floor. One hell of a bruise forming around an eye. I clenched a fist, and made eye contact with the woman standing over Dawn. Christ. She was tall. I wasn't exactly short myself, but she looked to be closer to seven feet than six. And the heels just exaggerated that. Who the Fuck wore heels in weather like this?

The accent revealed this woman to be the one I spoke to on the phone, “where is your coterie, vampire? You were to lead them as lambs to the slaughter, and now all we have is you.” The guy who searched me earlier displayed my weapons to the woman, “you were also supposed to come unarmed.”

I shrugged, “what can I say? I'm a bad listener.” Lambs to slaughter, huh. Definitely Hunters.

“I am curious,” she said, “as to why a vampire and her thrall carry stakes. Rather dangerous, no?”

“Only if you find yourself on the sharp end.”

She laughed, “a sense of humour on you. I like that.” Her expression soured, “ that will not save you from your final death, I'm afraid.” She pressed a heeled foot to Dawn's neck and began to press. Dawn grunted.

I yanked the knife from my belt buckle, and jammed it into the back of my hand. Into the center of the symbol I had carved there, hidden by the glove. I felt a bullet impact my shoulder blade. Goddamn, these guys were quick. But it was still too late. The spell activated and every pore on my body exploded with blood, the droplets turning to thick black smoke as they contacted the air. The whole ground floor was choked out and I was really fucking hungry. I tamped down the hunger and sprinted forward. I leapt, and hit the woman trying to break Dawn's neck. It was like body checking a brick wall. But I hit high, and she couldn't see me coming. She stepped back away from Dawn. I left my knife embedded in her neck as I fell. I rolled over Dawn and flipped her into a firefighter carry. I sprinted for the door, hoping the people in the room had enough trigger discipline to not shoot wildly into the smoke.

The cold slammed into us as I booted the door open, and ran us into the snow. I stopped before we crossed the trans Canada highway. I freed Dawn from her bonds.

“We need to move. Run.” She said, checking for traffic.

“From the hunters?” I asked.

“What? No. From the werewolves.”

“Were—” My question was cut off by a two hundred pound mass slamming into me. I felt teeth sink into my neck. Oh fuck, oh fuck, I did not have the blood on board to lose any more. The blood cloud spell took a lot out of me. My flesh tore as the mass and I hit the highway, and slid across the surface. I got my legs under it and tossed it off as we hit the snow bank on the far side. I scrambled to my feet, and came face to maw with the biggest goddamn wolf I had ever seen. My blood dripped from its mouth. Fuck. Hadn't been this hungry since before I knew I needed blood. I cocked my head. The wolf was between me and Dawn, and I couldn’t risk taking my eyes off of it. But my peripheral caught the high heeled woman. Her shoes clacked as she crossed, stopping on the double yellow line bisecting the highway.

“Clever, vampire. Clever.”

I held my hand to my neck to stem the blood loss. We were in a bad spot. Tess reported a dozen wolves in the woods off the highway. Dawn was tough shit, but Hunters worked best on ground they chose for the fight. Starting a fight when and where they chose. Dawn moved her arms. To an outside observer, one might think she was simply stretching muscles sore from bondage. I knew her well enough to know she was miming working the lever on an imaginary rifle. I nodded, then spoke to the woman in the street, “you’ve got beef with vampires. I get it.” I rolled my shoulder, trying to loosen up the joint. The move also made me all too aware of my empty holster, “we’ll fight. You’ll die. But leave Dawn out of this.”

The woman cracked her knuckles. She whistled. The wolf between Dawn and I slunk back to the South side of the highway. I shared a glance with Dawn. She nodded, and turned to run into the darkness. Unarmed as we were, this wasn’t the fight for her. Yet. I knew she’d be back to the battle. It’s why I loved her. Mortal as she was, it wouldn’t stop her from throwing herself face first against the supernatural. But she was smart enough to avoid trying to fist fight something with teeth.

The woman kicked her shoes off, and took two steps forward. Bare feet on frigid asphalt. She tossed my small knife. It slid to a stop at my feet. I scooped it up. She stripped off her suit jacket. She held it out to the side for an ally to grab. She started unbuttoning her shirt. Oh shit. If I had enough blood left I might’ve blushed.

“Are we going to fight or fuck?” I asked. “Am I supposed to strip, too?”

“Non,” she said, “it’s a nice suit. I don’t want to ruin it.” Mostly naked in the middle of the night in the middle of the street, she changed.

It was— a fuck of a thing. Sounded like a dozen bones breaking all at once. Bone breaking and distending. She was noticeably taller now. Broader in the shoulder. Her jaw cracked, and reformed into a muzzle. Fur sprouted, covering her nakedness. Well. That explained the strip tease. Bitch was built before, but now there was muscle on muscle. The others I saw looked like ordinary wolves, but not her. Oh no. She kept a humanoid shape. Though only vaguely. She stood on hind legs, but looked like she could run on all fours if she wanted. And that she did right at me.

I dove and rolled to the side. I didn't make it far enough out. I felt a giant clawed hand clamp around my ankle. Next thing I knew I was flying through the air. I landed against a tree. Hard. I rag dolled to the ground. Fucking ow. I felt the hand close around my throat. I was slammed back against the tree. I grunted as her free hand clawed into my abdomen. I bled. Through gritted teeth, I managed to get out “that's one way to a girl's heart.” I stabbed driving the small knife into the area behind her wrist. Tendons severed, I fell. Again. Fuck. The werewolf gave a wordless howl, And planted her good hand on my chest. Pressing me into the snow. A hind leg pinned my knife hand, keeping from pulling the same trick twice. I grabbed her wrist with my other hand, trying to relieve the pressure. The vampirism had greatly pumped up my strength. Could bench twice what I did in life. It wasn't helping here. Between the spell, the bullet hole, and now the gaping chest wound, I had no blood left to— was the werewolf wincing? The fuck? Smoke rose from between my hand and the werewolf's wrist. My left hand. The one with my silver wedding band. Well now. I wound up and punched as hard as my awkward position allowed. I hit the inside of the werewolf's elbow joint. My finger broke given the improper fist I was making. But it was fine. Had to make sure I hit ring first. They collapsed, falling forward. I punched again, connecting with their jaw. Their head snapped back exposing the thick canine neck. Before I could think. Before I could stop myself, I found my jaws locked around it's neck. Blood flowed. It was like trying to drink from a fire hose. Blood sprayed around us, reddening any snow not already coloured by my viscera. But I got more than a mouthful. And holy shit. Hooooly shit! What in the goddamn fuck was in her blood? I felt amped up. My fangs locked tighter to the flesh of her neck. I was— oh shit— I felt like I had slammed back a four pack of Monster. Felt like I could run a marathon twice over. Hadn't been this energized since— ever. I got my feet under the chest of the werewolf and kicked. She flew back. The claw sized hole in my chest was already sealed. I wiped the blood from my face. I licked the back of my hand to get every last drop. I leapt atop the supine form. I grabbed her ravaged throat with my right, and started laying down punch after punch with my left. My ring leaving noticeable gashes in her wolf-like face. My advantage didn't last long, and amped up as I was, I was still outmatched in this brawl. She caught both my wrists in one giant, clawed hand. She stood, and I dangled from her grip. The edges of my vision pounded red. Spurring me on to continue the fight. I tried to kick, but I had nothing to brace against. She caught a leg in her other hand. I yelled in pain. Oh fuck. She was trying to literally rip me limb from limb. I glanced to the side. “Hey,” I said. The pulling stopped for just a moment as she quirked her head to the side, “my wife wants to say hi.”

Tess launched herself from behind the werewolf and landed a grievous blow to the back of the werewolf's head. Apparently her ghost form was amped up same as me from the wolf blood. The werewolf rocked forward and dropped me. They didn't move, save the steady rise and fall of her chest. A rifle cracked from the far side of the highway, the bullet knocking a leaping wolf off it's course. With the boss lady down, everyone else was seemingly keen on revenge. I scrambled to my feet, and sprinted towards Dawn. She kept her rifle up, dissuading pursuit.

“Jane?” Dawn asked, eying up my bloody face. She turned to run alongside me, back to town.

“I'm fine.”

“You—”

“I'm FINE.” I snapped. Adrenaline, battle fury, and whatever the fuck was in the werewolf blood putting me on edge. I concentrated. Trying to get myself back under control. “I'm sorry.” I said, then continued to run in silence.

Dawn kept up. She was in great shape. She didn't try to talk again until we were safely in the hotel room.

“Jane.” Dawn said, securing the chain over the door. “Are you—” she paused to gesture at my blood smeared face, “are you feeling okay?”

“I— I'm— I'm really not, no.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and held my face in my hands. “I've got a mountain of excuses. Some good ones. Always been a fan of fighting dirty. But— wasn't even thinking. Just hungry. Saw her neck and—” I trailed off.

Dawn sat next to me. “I get it hun. It's basically a relapse for you. But tomorrow is a new night. Start fresh from there.”

“What if that had been you? I had no control, Dawn. Pretty sure the only reason I didn't drain her dry was the excess of blood someone that size has.”

“Because that wouldn't have been me.” Dawn's voice was reassuring, “when you do feed on me, it's never for hunger. It's always for Tess and I. Selfless. That back there? That was a hell of a fight. You and I would never be in that scenario, ergo, you'd never hurt me like that.”

I was silent. Letting her words rattle around my head. I lifted my eyes to hers. I ran a thumb across her bruise, “what about you. Are you okay?”

She smiled, and lightly punched my arm, “give a shit about yourself for five minutes, Jane! But yes. I'm fine. Nothing broken. Now go shower. You're getting blood on the sheets.”

I did as commanded, Dawn going after me. We wouldn't be hard to track back here, and we wanted to make sure at least one corporeal person was on watch at a time.

Dawn slept until dawn, then took over watch while I slept the day away. If the wolves tried to get close, neither of us noticed.

With the sun below the horizon, Dawn cracked the door. No sign of werewolves, at least. “We've got mail,” Dawn said. She gingerly lifted a package that had been placed outside our door.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Think it's a head?”

“Hope not.” I listened, “Tess is pointing out the drawing on the lid. She says it looks like a sharpied wolf face.”

Dawn turned the box, “so it does. Does the one who can regenerate want to do the honors?”

“Sure thing.”

I waited for Dawn to cross the room before I flipped the lid. It did not explode.

Dawn returned to look over my shoulder, “your gun?”

“Yeah. Our stakes, too.” I plucked the last item from the box, “a coupon. For the one bar.”

“Apology or invitation?”

I freed a cartridge from the cylinder, and inspected it for sabotage, “well either way, you need to eat. 10% off burgers and beer. Breakfast of champions.”

Dawn chuckled, “I left the jeep at the bar, anyway. Fingers crossed the werewolves haven't ransacked it.”

I listened, “Tess wants to know if we have a plan if it's a trap.”

Dawn turned to look roughly in Tess’ direction, “thought we'd try shooting our way out.”

“She says ‘okay Master Chief, what's the actual plan.’”

“Ha! Glad you got that reference. As for plans, I'm a vampire hunter, not a werewolf hunter. I don't carry silver on the reg.”

“I think we might be safe enough,” I said, “at least in town. There's a reason they bundled you off so far out of the way. Remember how on edge the bar patrons were? Minutes away from torches and pitchforks.”

“Yeah. Rile up the townsfolk too much, and you've got a mob on your hands.” She slipped her stakes back home to their holsters. “Shall we?”

—*—

The bar was much the same as our last visit. All the regulars, and the same bartender. Only difference was the ring of empty tables around the woman I had fought some hours before. She waved us over. Dawn picked a spot as far away from the woman as possible while still keeping the door in her peripheral. I sat so as to keep an eye on the back. There was an empty chair for Tess, but she wandered the bar, inspecting the patrons for suspicious activity. There was tense silence at our table. I broke it with a short, sharp “so?”

“I would start with an apology,” the woman said, accent coloring her words, “I'm sorry. We may have gotten off on the wrong paw.”

“You kidnapped and beat my girlfriend. Wrong paw is an understatement.”

“I am deeply sorry for that as well. The one who hit her was reprimanded severely.”

“Don't apologize to me, Dawn's right there.”

Dawn scowled at the woman as she apologized again, “I've been hit harder by worse people.”

“I'm sure. But I believe introductions are in order. I am Daïna. I am—” she paused to gesture, hunting for a word, “the English words would be pack mother, but that's not entirely accurate. I'm a go-between for the disparate packs, and when one calls for aid, I assist. And you,” she looked at Dawn, “are Dawn, and not a thrall as I had surmised.”

“No.” Dawn said, leaning back in her chair. She let her coat fall open to reveal the stakes, “vampire hunter.”

“And yet—” Daïna trailed off, cocking her head at me.

Dawn shrugged, “Jane's different. Hates vampires almost as much as I do.”

“I see.” Daïna's brow furrowed in concentration, “again, I apologize. Many assumptions I made were incorrect. May I ask who struck me at the end of our battle? Ma meute says I fell without taking a hit.”

“Ah. That would be Tess,” I gestured at the other chair where Tess had appeared, “my wife— and Dawn's girlfriend.”

Daïna raised an eyebrow, “could not join us?”

“She's a ghost.”

“Strong arm for a ghost.”

“It's complicated. Now. Care to tell us why we're here.”

“I was hoping to learn what brought you to this humble little town. My fear is we acted too hastily.”

I glanced at Dawn, “we're on the hunt.”

“A vampire who is a hunter of vampires. Why?”

Dawn answered, “for all three of us, vampires really fucked us over. We're up here hunting Jane's sire.”

“I see.” She leaned forward, resting on her elbows, “I think we may have a common goal.”

“Not surprising. Timothy is an abrasive shit. Makes a lot of enemies. Planning a team up to take the fucker down? What do you have to gain from it?”

“I am considering the option. What do you know about the loup-garou?”

“Weak to silver,” Dawn stated, “fast and strong. Piss em off, and they'll keep your scent for days. Hunted less than vampires, though. I only know a couple.”

I shrugged, “just recently learned y'all existed.”

Daïna nodded, “we are infrequently hunted because the loup-garou are protectors. We do not act in a way that would draw attention or ire. The deaths in town. That was your kin. Not mine.”

“Sure as fuck not my kin.”

“My apologies.”

Dawn chuckled, “damn, Canadians really do apologize a lot.”

Daïna looked at Dawn with a smile, “some of the stereotypes ring true.” She returned her gaze to me, “my point being vampires and loup-garou are at odds as a matter of principle. Your sire riled up the townsfolk against my people. For that, he will die. I am proposing an alliance, but you are a vampire. I have to know if we will be at odds, too. How, Jane, do you feed?”

My mind flashed back to my jaws closing around her canid neck, “with—” I paused to connect my thoughts, “with infrequent exceptions, I only feed from blood bags. You were only the third person ever.”

“She always asks for permission before she eats me,” Dawn added.

Daïna stared at Dawn, then me in turn. She smiled, “very well. I think we can come to an accord. I will be hunting your sire regardless, but a pack is stronger together.” She stood, her chair scraped along the floor. “Gather your belongings, and check out of your hotel. We leave tonight.”