Always wear practical footwear. That was Anna's grandmother's first lesson when she taught her how to kill vampires. She knew that if she wore heels and met a bloodsucker, she would be dead in seconds. Her best friend, Jess, had wrestled her into a pair without knowing the consequences it would have for the two of them.

She had stopped watching her feet and was now focused on her purse. She double-checked to make sure that she had her rosary, garlic, and stake.

Jess shook her head when she looked at her friend. "What are you doing?"

"Just making sure I have my I.D.," Anna lied.

"You're making sure you have your Holy Weirdo Kit," Jess said. "How are you ever supposed to meet someone normal when you look like an oddball?"

Anna shrugged before closing her purse. She held onto the strap as her heels clicked against the sidewalk. The bright lights from the sign of the bar were flashing and thudding music was coming from inside. Anna looked around the street. No one had gone missing in the past few months, but the paranoia was deep in her brain. Her family raised her to be on high alert.

Anna followed Jess into the small line forming to gain entry. She tapped her fingers against the soft material of her purse, tempted to check her supplies again.

"This place is supposed to be amazing," Jess said. "Everyone's been talking about it in my American Lit seminar."

An uneasy feeling sat in the pit of Anna's stomach. She couldn't place her finger on it, but something did not feel right. The people were stumbling out of the club, and the faint smell of blood lingered in the air.

They got to the front of the line when Anna saw the man. Tall, broad-shouldered, with long hair that was pulled back into a bun. He loped down the sidewalk like a predator, nodded to the bouncer, and swept straight into the club. Anna held her breath when the man wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. The whites of his eyes appeared to be overtaken by his pupil.

"Finally," Jess said. "We're next."

She fixed the plunging neckline of her dress. It was bright blue to match the stripe she had dyed in her hair last week.

"Jess, we have to go," Anna said.

"Fat chance," Jess said. "I didn't wait in the cold for nothing."

Jess handed the bouncer her I.D. and flashed him a smile.

"Name?" the bouncer asked.

"Jessica Cartwright," she said.

Anna grabbed Jess's arm. Jess shrugged her off as she took back her driver's license.

"Jess, we really shouldn't," Anna said. "Let's go back to our place."

Jess scowled. "Lighten up, dude!"

Jess strode past the bouncer and into the club before Anna could stop her. Anna's heart was hammering in her chest and she bit down on her lip hard and tasted blood. She wanted to go in, but she was afraid it would be full of what she hated the most.

Vampires.

Anna knew she had to get Jess out of that club before she became a vampire snack. Even if she wouldn't leave, Anna would've preferred reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the twelfth time, but instead, her evening turned into bodyguarding Jess. Anna had killed many vampires; meanwhile, Jess, like most humans, thought they were a myth.

Anna rushed to pull her identification out of her purse, moving the stake out of the way and passed it to the bouncer.

"Anna Nightingale," she said before he could ask the standard bouncer question.

He raised a brow before handing the driver's license back. She shoved it back into her bag and moved as fast as the heels she borrowed would allow her to without rolling an ankle.

The club was full of hot sweaty bodies that were grinding to the music. It was dark and she struggled to identify the vamps. Unless a vampire had just fed, it was impossible to tell. Anna pulled out her rosary and wrapped it around her hand. No way would she be left defenseless.

Anna looked for a stripe of bright blue. Jess was always dying her hair every other week since they started university. It usually made her easy to spot in a crowd, but not tonight.

Someone bumped into Anna from behind. She spun and tightened her grip on the rosary. It was only a drunk undergrad. Given his preppy turned-up collar, probably a business major.

The boy had a bottle of beer in his hand. His eyes scanned Anna, and a smile grew on his lips. Anna looked down at herself only to be reminded of the skimpy dress Jess forced her to wear.

"Hey, Baby," the boy slurred. "Here alone?"

Anna rolled her eyes and walked away. The boy yanked her arm. She turned on her heels and in one swift motion grabbed the boy's wrist and turned it at a painful angle. He howled in agony, which no one heard because of the music, and fell to his knees. Still holding onto him, Anna bent down and leaned in closer.

"Never touch a woman without her consent," she said.

She let go of his wrist, and the boy could not keep his balance and fell backward. Anna smirked as she made her way into the crowd.

Spilled drinks on the dancefloor caused her heels to stick to the floor when she forced her way through the crowd. People were throwing their hands up to dance to the beat. Were they playing the same song over and over?

She weaved her way through the people, stopping and frantically searching for Jess, and made it to the other side of the club. She was by the bathrooms and could hear the mixture of the sound of girls crying and girls vomiting. The last thing she wanted to do was go in there; however, Jess always liked to go to the bathroom right away to fix her make-up.

Anna took a few steps toward the bathroom when a pair of arms snaked around her waist. She turned, clenching her fists, expecting it to be the drunk boy from earlier, but luckily she saw a streak of blue before unleashing any violence. Relief washed over Anna, and she put her hand on her chest trying to calm her pounding heartbeat. Jess already smelled like tequila, and her lipstick was smeared.

"There you are!" Jess shouted. "Guess what I found?"

"A gallon of tequila?" Anna asked.

Jess threw back her head and laughed.

"No, I found us some hot guys," she said. "Four of them!"

"What are we supposed to do with four guys?" Anna asked.

"Two for you; two for me."

Jess took Anna's hand and pulled her over toward the bar. It was crowded, but she could see four men gathered at the end. Anna's chest tightened when she saw the man with the dark eyes from earlier. She dug her heel into the floor to stop Jess from dragging her around like a doll. Jess turned, brows furrowed.

"I'm not feeling well," Anna said. "We need to go home."

"Anna, I know you're uncomfortable around guys," Jess said. "Just relax and have fun."

Back at the bar, the man with the dark eyes stared at her and Jess. The corner of his lip twitched into a smirk.

"These guys are hot," Jess said. "Imagine having two of them at the same time?"

But they are vampires, Anna thought. She could not tell Jess that. She would never believe Anna.

Anna had been tempted over the years to tell Jess the truth about her siblings and cousins. Jess believed that Anna and her family spent summers at the cottage where they relaxed and played board games when in reality, they were there to train. Jess, like everyone else, thought Anna's parents died in a car accident. Jess always called Anna bizarre for traveling with her Holy Weirdo Kit.

"We can find other guys," Anna said.

"Why?" Jess asked. "We already have these, and they are cuties."

Jess turned and headed toward the men at the bar. Anna gasped and followed. She had to keep Jess safe.

Jess went right up to a man that was sitting on a stool at the bar. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and she leaned against him. Behind him was a tall lanky man with a mop of curly blond hair. He was bouncing along to the beat of the music, tapping his hands against his thighs, and staring at the dancefloor. She looked to the other two men to see the man with dark eyes and another man. The second man was the tallest of the bunch. His arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes locked on Anna's. They were all vampires. A four against one battle would be a struggle.

"Hello, there," said the man with the dark eyes.

"I was just leaving with my friend," Anna said, pointing behind her to Jess.

The man chuckled before sipping his beer. Anna looked back to see Jess busy making out with her makeout partner.

"I don't think you're going anywhere," the man with dark eyes purred. He held his hand out toward Anna. "I'm Drew."

Anna reached out and shook. His skin was cold, and it further confirmed her suspicions. Drew cocked his head to the side to motion toward the tall one.

"That's Rhys," Drew said. "Your friend said your name is Anna?"

Anna bit down on her lip. She hoped Jess didn't tell them her last name. If they knew she was part of the Nightingale family they would kill her for sure.

"It is," Anna said. She looked back over at Jess to see was still locking lips with a presumed vampire. "This really isn't my scene. Jess and I should get going."

Drew straightened. He was almost as tall as Rhys.

"Let's go somewhere quieter," Drew said.

Anna shook her head. Her grip on the rosary was so tight that the beads would probably leave impressions on her palm. Drew looked down at the rosary and laughed.

"Catholic?" he asked.

"Cautious," Anna said.

Drew smiled as he walked past Anna and over to Jess and the man. Drew leaned down and said something into the man's ear. He nodded before pulling on the blond's shirt to gain his attention. Rhys did not take his eyes off of her. His stare was intense, analyzing her as if she was someone he knew.

Does he know who I am? Anna thought. Has he seen me kill one of their kind?

Anna jumped when Drew touched her back. Rhys scowled as he watched Drew lean in close to Anna. She could smell his cologne, but it was mixed with the smell of blood. She wondered how he got none of it on his white shirt.

"Follow us," Drew said.

"No," Anna said. "We're going back."

"You're going to leave your friend alone with four guys?"

Anna swallowed past the lump forming in her throat when she thought about the four of them feasting off of Jess. She looked behind her again to see that Jess and the two men were gone. She pushed past Drew and hurried through the club. She could see flashes of Jess's blue hair in the lights.

She called out Jess's name as she followed, but Jess did not seem to hear. She was hanging off the man she was making out with. How many shots did they feed Jess?

Anna stepped out into the chilly autumn night air. She looked over her shoulder to see Drew and Rhys close behind as she chased Jess. The man edged her friend into the dark alley behind the club as Anna's worst nightmare turned into a reality.