"Follow me, Zac!" I ran with him down the hallway, still clutching his hand, to the stairwell. I pushed it open, and looked down, but agents, human and vamp, were on their way up."Not that way!" Zac yelled, as we quickly shut the door. It was too high to jump out the window. I could do it alone. It'd be a piece of cake, but too risky with Zac. Then I had a thought. "Come on!"We ran into a vacant room, then locked and bolted the door. It was an interrogation room with thick steel walls and a thick metal door. The room would buy us at least a minute or two. At the ceiling was an air vent. I abruptly jumped into the air, grabbing the grate covering it, then pulled it down, exposing the air ducts. Zac watched, saying nothing. Holding onto the edge of the hole, I expertly swung my legs up like a trapeze artist until I was safely inside, when agents pounded roughly on the heavy metal door, yelling for us to open up. Hooking my legs into the vent, I reached down and grabbed Zac's exte

I rocked Zac back and forth in my arms, thinking of the choice I had to make as tears slid slowly down my cheeks and fell onto his lovely face. Then, I remembered the words his father told me not yet a week before, to use any means at my disposal to save his life, if it was necessary. And that's what helped me to quickly make my decision. The words 'if it was necessary'. I knew I had to try anything else first. I just couldn't condemn him to a life of constant thirst unless it was necessary. I pulled the shirt from his glorious body, slid my Ballistics knife from the sheath tied tightly around my ankle, and slit my wrist.Blood quickly coursed from the wound. At once, I held my wrist to his lips, letting my thick, crimson blood drip into his mouth. "Drink, Zac!" I yelled into his ear through my tears. "You have to drink, Zac!" My blood has healing powers for humans and I knew that if I could get him to drink it, maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have to turn him into a vampire. With his

Quickly, I darted to the kitchen, flung open the closet door, and lifted the chest freezer door, set to cool instead of freeze. I stared at Rick's blood bags laying inside, warring with myself. Besides the little bit of Zac's blood I had the other night, it had been years since I had fed on human blood. But at this point, I knew I had no choice. Like Rick said, at least no one died for it. Swiftly, I pulled a blood bag from the freezer, shoved a hard plastic straw into its side, and drained it dry, letting the luscious crimson liquid fill my veins and restore my strength. Immediately, I threw the drained bag into the trash can, pulled another blood bag from the drawer, and drained it dry, too. The delicious liquid slid down my throat, filling my body. And it was probably a good thing I was doing human, as I needed all the strength I could get for what was coming. With human blood filling my veins, my body would metabolize it faster, making me much stronger and faster, giving me an edge

"Okay, okay! Don't shoot!" he yelled as I pulled the hammer back on the Glock. "I was running down the street yelling about what you did, how you changed into different people and no one believed me, when suddenly this man grabbed me and pulled me into his limo. He asked about you and I told him about you morphing into different people. Then, he said he'd turn me into a vamp if I would help him find you." "Me?" I asked, my eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "What do you mean, find me?" "I don't know," he yelled, suddenly afraid for his manhood. "That's all I know! Now let me go!" "Not this time," I said, then turned to face Zac's mother, still strapped to the chair. "Don't look." She nodded as Stop and Rob screamed a series of "Don't hurt me!" "Don't kill me!" and the like. Zac's mother closed her eyes as I slit the guy's throat as his screams cut off abruptly with a gurgle and vamp blood spilled over the beige carpet. "Are you okay?" I asked Zac's mother, gathering the vamp b

I opened the door and smiled weakly as Zac's mother walked into the room. She returned the smile as she passed me to enter the room where her son lay. Unable to look behind, I ran quickly out the door at vamp speed, then turned the key in the ignition of the Challenger RT, listening as the hemi engine roared to life. Tears streamed silently down my cheeks as I threw the car into gear and headed toward the main road, leaving Zac and his mother behind. I told myself over and again that Zac would be safe, but I hated myself for having to leave him behind. For a moment, I thought of the other members of my CIA vamp team, but knew I couldn't call them. I didn't know who I could trust at this point. And now with Rick and Annie gone, it was just me. But I knew what I had to do. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor and headed toward the city. I was going to The Mirage. On I-95, I floored it, hoping I wouldn't draw the attention of any uniforms along the way. But, at this point, I had no choice