Another set of footfalls moved over the wooden boards in solid, deliberate steps.

I had to sneak closer. Coyote glanced at me and I pantomimed to ask if he'd seen anything. He shook his head and waved me forward.

I picked my way through the dry brush. Branches scratched my shirt and trouser legs. I dropped to a crouch and peered through an opening in the shrubs.

Floodlights illuminated Cragnow's house, turning the structure into a collage of vivid colors and shadow. A wooden deck separated the house from the parking area. The floor plan of the split-level house seemed built upon overlapping circles. Picture windows on the curving walls peeked over hedges trimmed low to not spoil the view. A round cupola with a coolie hat tile roof sat atop the tallest part of the house.

To my left, the lawn sloped toward a vista of Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles, a constellation of lights receding toward the distant illuminated haze above Marina Del Rey.

Coyote disappeared into the chaparral behind me.

I crept around until I observed the south side of the house. Two stories of tall windows and another deck overlooked the vista. Light from inside the house washed over the deck. I crawled around a row of barrel cactus marking the perimeter of the lawn.

Framed within the picture windows, Mordecai Niphe and Lucky Rosario sat on plush wing chairs facing the middle of the room. They both smiled and looked relaxed.

A reedy young woman in a silvery halter top with matching microskirt and stiletto heels strutted before them. A braid of brunette hair trailed down her naked back. She swapped highball glasses with Niphe, taking his empty and giving him a full one.

Niphe pulled the woman onto his lap and undid the knot holding up her top. She rolled her head back and let him nuzzle her neck.

Rosario said something. The woman laughed and pulled herself free from Niphe. The halter top fell to the floor. She walked to the right, out of my view. Niphe picked up the halter top, balled it up, sniffed it, and tossed it out of sight.

Their auras glowed a pleasant red. Everyone here expected a good time.

Niphe and Rosario stood. Cragnow appeared, an old-fashioned in one hand. His aura simmered orange. Small tendrils waved along the penumbra, indicating concern. The sleeves of his white shirt were folded to his elbows. His gray hair was combed back, which emphasized his prominent forehead.

As I studied Cragnow, my talons extended and my kundalini noir flexed. I should crash this party and settle the score.

Yet something was wrong. Cragnow had to know I could come after him.

So where were his guards? As clever as I thought I was, this infiltration seemed too easy.

Cragnow faced Niphe and Rosario. They nodded and laughed. What was the joke? Me?

A vampire-his aura gave away his supernatural identity-who looked like a running back entered the scene. He had an African-American complexion and wore a black dinner jacket over black dress trousers. The vampire stood beside Cragnow and whispered into his ear. Cragnow's aura blazed. He turned around and looked right at me through the window.

Time to scram and find Coyote.

The smell hit me.

Meaty. Musky.

Wolf.

I crawled from between the cactus and retreated deep into the dry brush. The branches and dead leaves crunched beneath me. Where was that wolf? My talons and fangs extended.

A growl came from the left. Another from the right. And another from the parking lot. Not wolf but wolves. Here were Cragnow's bodyguards, vampires transformed into wolves.

I drew my pistol-grateful that I carried silver bullets-and executed a time-honored military maneuver. I turned and ran.

A wolf lunged from the brush, its aura an orange comet and the eyes twin embers burning with malevolence. The long jaws snapped, the ferocious teeth flashing like a saw.

I jerked my gun toward it when another wolf tackled me from behind. I fell into a mass of bramble, the thorns raking my face and neck.

The wolf's jaws locked on my left shoe, the teeth tearing into my foot. I kicked the wolf's snout and fought to roll over on my back to get a shot with my pistol.

The first wolf clawed through the bramble and snapped at me in a whirlwind of teeth, fur, and blazing eyes.

I let fly two shots. The wolves backed off enough for me to get up and run limping out of the brush and into the parking lot.

One wolf followed me. The other circled around. No more wild shots. I couldn't afford to waste ammunition.

When I reached the gravel lot, the wolf behind me surged forward, snarling. The second wolf lunged from my right side. His jaws clamped on my pistol hand, my wrist feeling like it had been smashed between bricks. I punched the wolf with my left fist.

The wolf wrenched its head, wrestling to knock me off balance. The other wolf snatched my belt and pulled the other way.

An orange blur streaked from the woods and crashed into the wolf clutching my hand. The wolf let go and spun about, its jaws snapping at empty air.

The blur settled into the shape of a coyote, its jaws a flailing set of teeth.

The wolf hunched its shoulders, the hair on its neck bristling. It lunged forward.

The coyote was in front of the wolf one instant, then beside it the next. The coyote clamped onto the wolf's throat. The two of them snagged forelimbs and rolled into a ball of fur and orange auras.

The other wolf tugged at my waist and nearly pitched me over. I leveled my pistol and squeezed one shot.

The bullet grazed the wolf's flank. It let go, backed off a couple of steps, then reared on its hind legs to spring for my face.

I fired once into its torso.

The wolf stopped, its front paws waving through the air. The fury in its eyes was replaced by a dimming sadness. Its aura tightened around the furry body.

I held the pistol in a two-hand grip. My next shot thumped low in the wolf's sternum, right where the kundalini noir should be.

The wolf's limbs twisted and elongated. Fur disappeared into smooth white skin. The snout retreated into a grotesque face, as wolf transformed into dying vampire. I recognized the ragged sandy hair on his big head. Kacy. The vampire who tried to run me over with a Jaguar convertible and later missed again when he shot at me in Trixie's Bistro.

Kacy stood naked, his unfocused eyes staring into oblivion. Smoke curled from the holes my bullets had punched into him. His mouth opened and a gasp escaped. His orange aura shrank around him, becoming a weak glow frail as a tiny candle flame. The glow flickered out. Kacy the vampire was no more.

He was a newly converted vampire, so instead of dissolving into dust, his corpse remained whole-until sunlight hit it. His body toppled backward, leaving the stench of his burning undead flesh lingering in the air.

What about Coyote?

He stood beside the fallen corpse of the other wolf, now writhing as it transformed into a vampire. Coyote panted and acted worn out. Shiny mats of blood spotted his disheveled fur. Coyote glanced from the man to me, giving a look that said, Where you been?

Heavy steps stormed over the wooden deck of Cragnow's house, accompanied by the metallic click of weapons being readied.

Time to go.

I ran limping across the parking area, Coyote loping by my side. We headed for the entrance onto Cragnow's property, into the dark tunnel formed by the overlapping branches of the trees.

There had been three wolves. We killed two. Where was the other one?

I glanced over my shoulder back toward Cragnow's house. Red auras surrounded the men carrying guns. Good. They were human and so couldn't see our auras. That made our escape easier.