Alex was starting to feel more confident in her ability to lay low. In the month since Millicent's death, only one vampire had tracked her down, and she'd killed him easily. Sure, plenty of people still wanted her dead, but she'd had a death sentence hanging over her since she was thirteen. She could handle a few vampires.

She was going back to her apartment from the grocery store, not paying enough attention. She didn't recognize the guy sitting on the stoop, or his smell, until she was almost on top of him.

Her first instinct was to go on the offensive, and her grip on her grocery bag tightened as she snarled and stepped towards him.