Part 2

(Marcie)

I was not pleased. A new vampire in town was not a good thing. It was bad news. The group would be as mad as I was. The number of Night People here was kept to a minimum.

There were only three that we knew of in the entire town. Too bad they all attended the same high school that we did. But they were smart enough to know not to mess off the Dark Hunters. We're an elite group of vampire hunters, we kill all kinds of Night People, even the so called "good" ones who were Circle Daybreakers.

I made a face. I left the boarding house and headed down the quiet streets to the DH'S headquarters, an old and seemingly abandoned building on the edge of town. My steps were fast and sure as I reached the building in less than ten minutes.

I could have been there in just over five if I'd run. But as far as I knew, for the time being Catalina didn't seem much of a threat that was worth running for.

I banged loudly on the door. A tiny slot opened revealing a pair of striking blue eyes. I sighed heavily. "The night has a thousand eyes."

It was the code for most vampire hunter groups, but I wished we could come up with something new and more original. The door opened a few inches, just enough for me to be let inside. Then the door slammed shut and was bolted and locked from the inside.

My eyebrows raised. "A little paranoid, aren't we?"

The boy who had let me in just shrugged muscular shoulders. "Can never be too careful. In this game, paranoid is just another word for careful."

Devin York gave me a stunning, to-die-for smile. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply. Sighing heavily again, but this time with pleasure rather than annoyance, I let myself give into him. I pulled back a little while later, smirking.

"Don't you two have anything batter to do?" a sarcastic voice sneered.

I had to stand on tip toe to look over Devin's shoulders, glaring at the girl who'd spoken. "You know, Dayna, maybe you should just get your own boyfriend."

Dayna Thompson laughed derisively. "Love is for the weak." Her eyes locked with mine meaningfully.

I met her gaze, not flinching. It was too bad for me that mine and Dayna's monster egos clashed, or I supposed we would have made a good team.

"Now, now, if you guys want to play cat fighting, go do it outside," an amused male voice said.

"Get bent, Zane," I muttered.
Zane McKormack was our leader. He was the one who had put our group together after he'd watched Night People slaughter his family. He'd started hunting then, and met Dayna, who had stumbled upon a vampire attacking a young girl and she'd started attacking *them*. They had then found Devin, when his girlfriend bad been killed. They had saved me when Night People had tried to attack me.

We were the best. And no Night Person had ever beaten us.

"Do you have anything useful to contribute?" Dayna asked in her snotty, superior voice, getting up from the couch she'd been sitting on and tossing back her long blonde hair. "It's a stretch, I realise."

I muttered insults under my breath. "Actually, I *do* have something to contribute," I mimicked.

Devin's arms slipped around my waste from behind. "Do tell."

"There's a new vampire in town. She moved into the boarding house this afternoon."

Zane frowned. "That's not good."

"You think?" Dayna snorted.

I felt like punching her. Dayna's superior attitude was really starting to bug the hell out of me, and I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one.

"We might need a *little* more info than that," Dayna added, smiling unpleasantly.

Zane's green-cat eyes rolled. "Knock it off, Dayna."

Dayna glared sullenly and shut up.

"Her name's Catalina Blackwood and as far as I know she lives alone. She said she has no family," I reported. "That's all I know."

Zane paced up and down, his fingers rummaging through the cluttered desk, looking for a notepad or something to write the name down. "Is she a threat?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. She didn't seem particularly threatening. She seemed like kind of a loner."

"Maybe we should keep an eye on her, anyway," Devin suggested.

I nodded. Night People were unpredictable monsters. They needed to be wiped out. But for now there was nothing to do but watch...and wait.

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