He waited, waited for them to get clear of the car and the cover. The thin cop was walking toward the other one, then stopped to take a phone call. Rolf put the crosshairs over his heart and began to squeeze the trigger.

Then the entire side of his head seemed to explode with pain and he screamed and grabbed at the flames that were shooting out of his empty eye socket.

“Are we doing this right?” Tommy asked. They were several blocks behind Rolf, who was moving so smoothly and easily through the Marina district that Tommy would have thought he lived there and was out for his evening jog. Except that no one in the Marina would be wearing a black duster. It would either be cashmere or Gore-Tex, business or fitness. The Marina was a rich, fit neighborhood.

“We’re following him,” said Abby. “How many ways can you do that?”

Jody was leading them. She held up a hand for them to stop. The blond vampire had stopped at the corner of a four-story apartment building and was scaling it using just the space between the bricks as handholds.

Tommy looked around and spotted a flat-roofed building down the alley. “That one has a fire escape. We’ll be above him, we can watch him.”

“I don’t think watching is going to be enough,” Jody said.

“He looks badass,” said Abby.

“He’s watching those cops over at the Palace.”

“He won’t just shoot a cop,” said Tommy. “Why would he shoot a cop?”

“Plain clothes unit pulling in,” Jody said. “It’s Rivera and Cavuto.”

“And Marvin,” Abby said.

“He knows they know,” said Tommy.

“We need to go,” Jody said. “Abby, you have Rivera’s number?”

“Yeah.”

“Call him. Give me that laser thing.”

“The light from their jackets magnified through the scope will work,” Tommy said.

“Let’s go.” Jody ran to the edge of the roof and stopped.

Abby hopped on her toes. “Spider-Man it, Countess.”

“No fucking way,” Jody said, looking down just as Tommy ran by her and jumped across the alley to the next building.

They were coming across the roof of a building a block away when they saw the side of the vampire’s head ignite and heard him scream. He rolled away from the gun, clawing at his face.

“Too far,” Jody said. The final gap between roofs was over a full street, not an alley, and they were a floor lower than the blond vampire. “Down.”

Without thinking, Tommy jumped, then said, “What the fuck did I just do?” He landed on the balls of his feet and went down to crouch, catching himself just as he was about to drive his knee into the concrete. He looked up. Jody was still on the roof.

“C’mon, Red, I’m not going up there alone.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” she said, and then landed beside him and rolled.

When he saw she wasn’t hurt, he said, “Graceful.”

“He’s getting up,” she said, and she pointed at the next building.

Tommy knew if he thought about it, he’d never do it, so he just started climbing up the corner of the building as fast as he could. He’d done this before. He didn’t remember it, but his body did. Climbing the wall like a cat. Jody was right behind him. As he reached the top of the wall he stopped and looked back. “Sunglasses,” he whispered so faintly that only someone with vampire hearing would hear.

He wedged his right hand between the bricks, then reached into his shirt pocket, flung open the sunglasses, and put them on. He couldn’t climb with the laser in his hand. He’d have to clear the top, then grab the weapon out of his pants pocket.

Jody had her glasses on, too. She nodded for him to go.

He coiled, and sprang to catapult himself over the edge of the wall, but in midair a bright light went off in his head and he felt himself spinning, then a bone-crushing impact on the ground. Something had hit him, probably the rifle butt. He rolled over and looked up the wall.

Jody was still clinging there, six feet below the edge, too far to be hit with the rifle. The blond vampire, his face charred, was turning the rifle, working the bolt. He was going to shoot her in the face.

“Jody!”

He saw her let go with one hand, reach for the small of her back, then there was another blinding light. He’d lost his sunglasses during the fall. Something splatted beside him on the pavement. He could smell burned flesh, and blood.

“You okay?” she said.

He felt a hand on his face. “I’m kinda blind. And I think I have a couple of broken ribs.” He blinked the blood tears out of his eyes, then saw something dark, circular on the pavement.

“What’s that?”

“That’s the top of his skull,” Jody said.

Footsteps, then Abby was there. “That was awesome. Gruesome, but awesome. You were amazing, Countess.”

“Not feeling all that amazing.”

“You probably should drink some blood, Tommy. You’re kind of fucked up.”

He took the plastic blood pack from her and bit into it, draining almost the whole pint in seconds, feeling his bones and skin knitting together. Then Abby snatched it away from him and started drinking herself.

“I feel like death on toast. I probably shouldn’t have eaten that pigeon.”

Marvin ruffed three times fast, “Biscuit, biscuit, biscuit.” Then, as he pulled Cavuto around the corner and smelled the fourth dead one he ruffed again. “Another biscuit.” Then, mission accomplished. He sat.

“Marvin!” Abby said. She dropped the empty blood bag and scratched between his ears, then fed him a Gummi bear.

Rivera came around the corner with his Glock drawn. Jody stood, reached past the gun, and snagged the battery out of the cop’s inside pocket. Abby did the same to Cavuto, who leveled a long orange Super Soaker at her.

“Really, Ass Bear?” she said. “Really?” She snatched the squirt gun out of his hand and backhanded it a full block down the street where it shattered.

“I have a gun on you, Missy,” said Rivera.

“Biscuit,” Marvin ruffed. Clearly there are three dead people here and part of a fourth, and biscuits are in order.

Jody snatched Rivera’s Glock out of his hand so quickly he was still in aiming position when she popped the clip out of it. Cavuto started to draw the big Desert Eagle and Abby caught his arm and leaned in close. “Ninja, please, unless you’re going to use that to take your own life out of humiliation for the squirt gun, just let it go.” She turned and looked at Tommy, who was sitting splayed-legged on the sidewalk, holding his ribs. “This fucking vampy power rocks my deepest dark.” Then back to Cavuto. “I’d slap you around a little, but I’m feeling kinda nauseous.”

“Yeah,” said Cavuto. “I get that. That’s how I know you’re around.”

“So you three are, all, uh, them,” said Rivera.

“Not exactly them,” Tommy said. “Jody just took the top off the head of one of them.” He pointed at the charred brainpan.

“He was about to take you out with a sniper rifle,” Abby said. “That’s why I called. Thanks for just doing what I said and not being an assbag, by the way.”

“You’ll find the rest of him along with the rifle on the roof,” Jody said.

“That’s who called in the vampire cat attack?” Cavuto said.

Tommy nodded. “There are at least three of them. Maybe two, now. Very old. They came in that black yacht that’s down at Pier Nine. They are cleaning up the mess Elijah left. They must know you guys are hunting Chet and the vampire cats.”

“He must have seen us last night, with the Animals. We thought the cats got Barry.”

Tommy climbed to his feet. “Barry’s dead?”

“Sorry,” Rivera said. “So they know about the Animals, too?”

Tommy said, “The Animals were the ones who took Elijah’s art collection and blew up his yacht. Of course, they know about the Animals.”

“We’ve got to get over there,” Rivera said. “They’ll be hunting the Emperor, too. He’s been calling all day about a black ship. I thought it was just more craziness. I don’t even know where to start looking for him.”