Bren grabbed an old crock pot from a dirty table and flung it down the stairs. "Get up here!" The vessel smashed to bits on the floor below, followed by a chorus of fury.

Good. They know what kind of mood I'm in.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs. Three vampires popped into the room, bloody hands at the ready. Clotted gore dotted their chins. The leader, a man who looked to be in his twenties, with dark tousled hair and scruff on his chin, lunged forward. Bren swung the ...