Katelina remembered Verchiel's comment about blood on his sword, and paused to clean off her dagger. Then she followed Micah. They wound around the buildings to find a second pair of dead vampires. Bullet wounds matched the sounds Katelina had heard. It was something else that had taken out their hearts. Maybe Hikaru's staff.

A red and black blur blasted past. Katelina stumbled out of the way. A second blur materialized into Arlen. Micah raised his sword. Arlen knocked him to ...