Ava hit the ground and rolled over, leaping to her feet with the fluid ease of her training. It briefly occurred to me that if we'd properly bonded over the course of my lifetime, I might actually have thought my mum was cool.

I skidded to a halt, and Clara and Luke, bringing up the rear behind me, almost crashed into my back.

Rachel stood in front of us, hands on her hips, posing like a demented superhero. Her long hair fluttered in the breeze, her shadow spilling behind her like a cape.

Behind me, I heard the whisper of metal as Clara drew one of her knives.

Ava faced Rachel, her hands clenched into tight balls at her sides. "Where's my husband?"

Rachel responded with a secretive, maddening smile.

"Tell me," Ava screamed.

"Oh please, do shout at me some more. It's really starting to wear down my resolve," Rachel said, pretending to bite her finger in fear.

Ava darted forward, lashing out with a flattened palm. It would have been a good strike – if Rachel hadn't sidestepped.

"You'll have to do better than that," she said.

My fingers tightened around the handle of my own knife, imagining the blade singing through the air and stabbing into Rachel's face.

Clara's elbow brushed mine, an almost imperceptible gesture meant to subtly catch my attention. "She's deliberately baiting her," she murmured. "If you rush in and get in the way, you'll only make things worse."

As far as I was concerned, things couldn't get much worse.

Rachel's gaze swept over us before landing back on Ava. Her smile widened, showing off the tips of her fangs.

"How about a deal?" she said, her voice silkily poisonous. "If you can beat me in hand to hand combat, Ava Morrow, I'll give back your husband."

"Ava, don't do it." The shout burst out of me.

Rachel glanced at me and amusement crinkled the corners of her eyes. She was loving this.

"Stay out of this, Kiara. My husband, my fight," Ava warned.

"You don't know what she's capable of –"

Ava rounded on me, her eyes blazing with anger and pain. "I have been fighting vampires a lot longer than you have. I can handle this."

Rachel watched us, her eyes shining with glee. We were just puppets for her entertainment; I half-expected her to whip out a bucket of popcorn.

Ava jutted out her chin as she faced Rachel. "If I beat you, you have to swear that you will release Noah."

A smirk curled Rachel's lips. "I swear it."

"Ava, don't be stupid," Clara said. "You can't trust her."

Rachel actually looked offended. "I'll have you know that I value my word, vampire hunter, and I don't go back on it. I will keep to my bargain." Her fangs glinted in the moonlight. "If she can beat me."

I started forward, but Clara grabbed my arm and held me back. "Don't," she warned.

I tried to shrug her off, but she was stronger than me. "We can't let her do this," I cried.

"Do you really think you can stop her?"

Luke touched my other arm. "I think Clara's right. Ava's in such a state right now, she probably doesn't even know what she's doing. If you physically try and stop her from hurting Rachel, she might end up hurting you instead."

"I can't stand by and watch this," I cried.

Clara's fingers tightened on my arm. "We won't." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "If Rachel is back to full strength, then Ava may not be able to beat her. But she can hold her off."

"Until what?"

"Until we can get a shot at her." Clara glanced at Rachel, her eyes hardening.

Understanding eased through the fear in my mind. Ava stood directly between us and Rachel – we couldn't get to the vampire without going through the hunter. And Ava would never let us go through her, not when the stipulation for Noah's safe return was that Ava beat Rachel one-on-one.

But if Ava could subdue Rachel just long enough for us to make our move, we might finally be rid of the bitch vampire.

Rachel affected a loud sigh. "Are we doing this or not? I'm getting bored."

Ava hit her. That time she moved so fast that not even Rachel could sidestep. Ava's fist ploughed into her chin and Rachel reeled back.

"Nice," Clara murmured.

Rachel recovered herself. There was a splash of blood on her lower lip and she smeared it with her thumb until her whole mouth was red, grinning the whole time. Ava swung at her again but Rachel was ready; she dodged the punch, grabbed Ava's wrist and sharply twisted it behind her back. A kick to the back of Ava's knee sent her sprawling in the road.

Rachel's back was turned to us, moonlight painting a ghostly nimbus around her body. I raised my knife, getting ready to jump forward and plunge it into the back of her neck while she was distracted, but Ava recovered before I could act. She charged at Rachel, who promptly ducked Ava's fists and punched her in the stomach. Ignoring the pain, Ava aimed a kick at Rachel's face but Rachel batted it aside. Her savage fingernails raked across Ava's calf, spilling blood.

Tension locked my muscles, and my hand ached from clutching the knife so hard.

Ava dropped into a crouch, clasping her hands to her injured leg. Rachel hummed a little tune as she licked the blood off her nails.

"You're not giving up already, are you? We're just getting warmed up," she said.

Ava didn't answer; her shoulders rose and fell with heavy breaths.

"Come on," Rachel snapped, striding over to her.

She grabbed a fistful of Ava's hair, hauling her upright, and Ava neatly spun and landed a hard elbow to Rachel's nose. The vampire howled and blood sprayed down her face.

"You're right," Ava sneered. "We're just getting warmed up."

She went on the offensive, throwing punches and kicks in quick succession. Rachel tried to dart out of the way, but pain from her broken nose had her eyes watering, and her reactions were off, turning her previously graceful movements into ungainly stumbles.

The next thing I knew, she was lying in the road, her breath furiously huffing in and out of her lungs.

"Well I'll be damned. She might actually take that mad bitch out," said Clara softly.

In my head, I waved a pair of pom-poms, cheering Ava on. I tossed my knife to her, the blade clattering as it scraped over the concrete surface of the road. Ava scooped it up and stabbed down at Rachel's chest. Rachel's hand blurred up, catching Ava's wrist and stopping the blade inches from her face. Ava grunted with the effort, throwing her weight downwards in an attempt to drive the knife home.

Rachel's other hand snaked between them; her fingers flicked and Ava screamed. A long slice had opened up in her shirt and blood seeped from a wound on her stomach.

"Flesh wound," Clara murmured, her tone of voice warning me not to get involved yet.

"How do you know?"

"If it was something serious, Ava wouldn't be standing. She'd be lying on the ground, trying to hold her guts in."

Not a visual I wanted in my head. Especially not since I was sure Rachel's nails were long and sharp enough to actually eviscerate someone.

Unable to get the momentum she needed to stab Rachel, Ava backed away, putting distance between herself and the vampire. One hand was clasped to her stomach and blood seeped between her fingers, but a look at her face – sheer rage overshadowing the pain – assured me that it was, as Clara had said, a flesh wound. Ava wasn't beaten yet, not by a long shot.

The knife I'd given her was a steely flash through the air as she pounced on Rachel. Vampire and hunter locked together in a tangle of feet and fists, snarling and spitting like angry cats.

Frightened as I was for Ava, I felt a surge of pride watching her. Rachel hadn't expected her to be such a scrapper.

And then it all went wrong.

Ava got an arm around Rachel's neck, angling the knife towards her chest, but Rachel seized her other arm and neatly flipped Ava over her shoulder. Ava landed hard in the road and Rachel kicked her in the head before she could roll away. Bracing her palms on the ground, Ava tried to get to her feet. Rachel kicked her again, right in the wound on her stomach, and then a second time in the head. Ava slumped to the ground, groaning.

"Get up, get up, get up," I whispered.

Ava lay between me and Rachel – Rachel would see me coming if I tried to launch an attack. Stealth was the best chance of taking her out and I didn't have that. Not from this angle.

Next to me, Clara's eyes furiously moved as she mentally calculated the best opening for attack.

Heart in my mouth, I watched as Ava managed to climb to her feet. She swayed on the spot, putting a hand up to her head. Her eyes were unfocused, her movements clumsy. The knife slipped from her fingers and she staggered back, before crumpling to her knees.

Rachel stalked over to her, a tigress closing in for the kill.

Bad angle or not, I couldn't stand by any longer.

I charged, a roar of fury erupting from my lips. Rachel met my attack head-on. Her forearm blocked the punch I was swinging at her face, but not the one I aimed at her stomach. She grunted and I smashed another fist into her cheek. Blood from her broken nose poured over my knuckles.

The knife lay on the ground next to Ava and I dived for it. Rachel's foot seemed to come out of nowhere, hitting just below my ribs like a sledgehammer. Pain roared through my stomach, ballooning out into every part of me until I curled into a ball, squeezing my eyes shut.

Vaguely I heard Luke's roar and the thud of his feet as he ran at Rachel, but she was faster. She seized me by the throat, hauling me into a sitting position. Her other hand pressed against my neck, the sharp nails digging against my jugular vein.

Luke and Clara froze. I could only see them when I rolled my eyes to the side; pain from my stomach made my vision blurry with tears, and the raw terror on Luke's face swam in and out of focus.

"Don't hurt her," he said.

If I had breath enough to speak, I'd have yelled at him not to waste his words. Rachel didn't have a compassionate bone in her whole body. She was a monster at the core, a thing made up of shadows and malice and evil. Luke pleading for my life would only amuse her.

"Please," Luke said, inching closer. "If you want to hurt someone, hurt me."

Rachel sniggered. "Since I'm planning on slaughtering you both, that isn't really much of a bargain."

My fingers fumbled across the surface of the road, searching for the knife. The little flick-knife was still in my pocket, but Rachel was crouched over me, her foot pressed against my left hip. I couldn't get to the flick-knife unless she moved.

Rachel gazed down at me and her smile was like poisoned honey. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead, little Kiara. But why cut short my fun? I'm looking forward to seeing your face once your pathetic little family start to lose their heads." She laughed, her fingers flexing around my throat. "Speaking of faces" – she bent over and licked my cheek – "I think I might rearrange yours." Her claws left my throat and slithered up my chin to my mouth. "Let's start with your smile. It would look much better if it was" – a nail punctured the soft skin at the side of my mouth – "wider."

She raised her hand to slash open my face and suddenly Ava was standing over me, swiping at Rachel with the knife I hadn't been able to find. Rachel dropped me and leaped back. Ava should have closed the gap then, but she was swaying on her feet, her eyes still sliding in and out of focus.

Rachel lunged.

Ava tried to bring the knife up to defend herself but she just wasn't fast enough.

Rachel's sharpened nails slashed into Ava's throat.