“I don’t think I should touch him.”

Aric’s voice sounded strangely distant. Instead of saying more he left our room with the fate of the world, literally, in his hands.

—
Just like I promised Aric, I started applying for nursing jobs. Based on my experience, and a glowing recommendation from my former manager, I had a job in the Emergency Department of my old hospital within days.

I called Misha and told him I wouldn’t be working for him anymore. He simply chuckled and said, “We’ll see.”

My brief time away from the hospital didn’t require a formal reorientation, but the only shifts available were nights. I didn’t like being away from Aric. But he probably disliked stepping down from his Leader role even more. So I sucked it up, and started my first shift the following week.

My preceptor from the garden of evil, Helen, handed me a tube of lubrication jelly and a pair of gloves. “What’s this?” I asked.

Helen smiled and reached for her extra-large coffee. “Mr. Kelly was just brought in from the local nursing home with a heavily impacted colon. He needs you to relieve his discomfort. Get to work. He’s in room seven.”

Without another word, she strolled down the hall of clear glass partitions. She didn’t glance back, but I had no doubt her smile remained. I clenched my jaw and tried hard to keep my fangs from protruding. With a heavy heart, and a big tube of lube, I headed in the direction of room seven.

The speaker system crackled above me. I waited to hear a code announced along with the affected department only to hear the chorus of “You Are Not Alone” begin to play. I thought someone was messing with the system and continued on, expecting the music to suddenly cut off. Instead several voices trailed in. You’re not alone, they whispered at once, their echo seeming to come from every direction.

My steps slowed.

You’re not alone, they said again, repeating the lyrics that continued to pour from the speaker system.

I pushed forward, trying to dismiss the voices as stress from starting a new job, the music playing over the intercom, and the remaining tension between me and Aric. While I really didn’t believe my absurd logic, it was better than the alternatives—I was crazy or the ED was haunted. Neither appealed to me so I pushed aside the curtain to room seven and stepped in.

Mr. Kelly lay unmoving.

Very unlike the three vampires spread around his body, draining him of his blood.

Here’s the thing. Too many rotten experiences throughout my life had left me edgy and defensive. I was always on guard—always. But hearing voices in your head and being told you’re about to manually remove a few pounds of literal crap from some old man’s rectum would have distracted even the most vigilant warrior.

The vamps whipped around, baring their blood-smeared fangs. I dropped my gloves and lube and backed away.

“Shah,” they hissed.

“I don’t have him,” I growled back.

As if on cue Shah appeared in my hands, practically calling me a liar. My eyes widened before I was deafened by the sound of shattering glass and bending metal when the first vampire tackled me through the doorway.

The vampire was huge, well over six feet tall and probably close to three hundred pounds. In supernatural terms, it was the equivalent of being charged by a rhino. The force alone would have killed a human. But I wasn’t human.

Still, the tile floor cracked beneath me along with every bone in my back.

The impact robbed my lungs of air. I couldn’t breathe, and struggled to shove him off me. He rammed a gun into my temple. With the first breath I managed, the smell of cursed gold bullets overwhelmed my sensitive nose. If I’d known he was going to kill me, I could have saved him a few bucks by telling him normal bullets worked just fine on me. “Aw, hell,” he said. “This bitch ain’t so—”

I changed and bit through his wrist.

All bad guys liked to talk. It wasn’t something they did in movies or in the superhero comics. It was a God-given fact. He was probably going to say “tough” or “bad” or something just as wrong. I didn’t let him. Experience taught me it’s always best to kill the bad guys before they’re done talking.

I wasn’t sure how impacted Mr. Kelly was, or if I was just grossed out by the flavor of blood, but the vampire tasted like shit. I spat out his gun-wielding hand and swatted Shah away with my paws while the other two vamps rushed me.

I roared. People screamed. A lot. A “Code Silver” was announced over the speaker system, alerting security that an out-of-control person with a weapon was in the ED. I guessed it was someone’s way of trying to help. To me it just meant more people I had to keep from being eaten. The other two vamps cocked their weapons. I changed back to human and swept up Shah, using the one-handed vamp as a shield.

It seemed none of the vamps were the best of friends. They took aim and fired at their buddy in their attempt to kill me. I was grateful for the gold bullets just then. They worked really well on vampires. His body ricocheted against me before he exploded into ash. The large cloud gave me cover so I could scramble behind the nurses’ station. I tucked Shah in a drawer and kept going, emerging on the opposite side as a tigress just as security arrived.

Apparently, our hospital used off-duty cops to patrol the halls during the night shift. I was certain that’s what they were, especially when they reached for their guns and pointed them at me. My claws scratched against the tile in my haste to haul ass away from them. Although I called them about half a dozen names in my mind, part of me couldn’t blame them for shooting. If I were them, I definitely would have shot the tiger first before dealing with the two guys holding guns.

I sped ahead and had just rounded the corner when a bullet took off the tip of my tail. A horrible burning pain ran the length of my body, to the tip of my cold wet nose. Security beat feet behind me, continuing to fire. I wasn’t going to make it if I didn’t act, so I dove and shifted through the cinder block wall directly in front of me.

It was something I’d never done. And with good reason. Normally, shifting through solid surfaces underground refreshed my body upon surfacing. Through walls…not so much. Perhaps it was because the wall wasn’t solid. Regardless, when I emerged on the other side my insides felt scrambled and grossly misplaced.

My human shape crashed against the cold linoleum floor, and I was temporarily blinded by the fluorescent lights. I pushed onto my side only to vomit uncontrollably.