The vampire winced as the tusk brushed his throat, just close enough to elicit a thin line of blood. “Mel—!” He strained away from it but then the weight was miraculously up and lifting away. He didn’t need to breathe but even a vampire could appreciate the freedom to do it. Daniel didn’t waste any time rolling out of the way and jumping to his feet.

The knife handle was still sticking out of the levitating beast. He reached up, pulled it out of the hide, and stabbed again, this time into the thickly veined neck. Hot blood streamed down his forearm and onto the ground, wetting the pavement like a slaughterhouse floor. “Sorry guy.”

Daniel stepped back and tried to shake the blood off his arm. He seriously contemplated licking it, but that would’ve been weird in mixed company and it didn’t smell like anything he wanted to ingest.