I wish I could say Mom's demand was met with reason, but vampires, it turned out, weren't the most accommodating creatures. In fact, they reacted en masse with shrieking defiance, blurring and rising themselves, wrapped in shadow, ready to start a battle.

From the look on Mom's face, she was okay with that. And while I was infinitely grateful for the backup, no way was I letting her jump into something that could blow up in our faces in more ways than one.

"How dare you ...