Must Love Hellhounds

running this time. “We need to get inside the house.” It was the only defensible position. Her crossbow was already in her hands.
    “They’ll be ready for that.” Deacon’s back met hers as they stood facing in opposite directions.
    “Unless Tim’s barricaded himself inside.”
    Deacon said nothing, but she knew what he was doing. Listening. If Tim was alive and inside the house, he’d let them know. But it was Lucy they heard, a sudden set of sharp barks and then nothing. The vampire closest to Sara swore loud enough that the sound carried. “Damn devil dog ate half my leg.”
    It was such an ordinary thing to say, but she knew he was in no way ordinary. Not only did he carry centuries of experience in his eyes, he moved like a man who knew how to use every shift to his advantage. But there were no weapons in his hands. The archangels were nothing if not fair. Of course, their concept of fair meant two hunters—possibly three—against what looked like fifteen vamps.
    “Somebody upped the stakes,” she murmured under her breath.
    “I don’t recognize any of them, even the old one. Means they belong to someone other than Raphael.”
    She’d been thinking the same. “Good to know my own archangel isn’t trying to kill me.” She aimed the crossbow at the leader of the group. “Guess it’s time for target practice.”
    The vampire smiled, polished and smooth. “I want but a sip, milady.” A voice that held echoes of gallantry and cruelty. “They say the Guild Director tastes sweet indeed.”
    Since she doubted very much that Simon would’ve allowed anyone to munch on him, she took that with a grain of salt. “You so hard up for blood then?” She moved a little toward the house. Deacon moved with her.
    The vampires kept their distance . . . for now.
    “You wound me, petite guerrière .”
    Little warrior? Sara almost shot him on principle. “You want to be chipped?”
    “Lies, sweet lies.” He waved a finger. “You’re only allowed chip-embedded weapons on a hunt. If you use illegal copies on me, you can’t be Guild Director.”
    Damn. She hadn’t expected the bluff to work, but his response meant he was smart. Smart plus old was not a good combination in a vampiric opponent. “I really will shoot you if you get any closer—and if I put a bolt through your heart, it’ll leave you helpless.”
    The vampire spread his hands. “Alas, I have my orders. My master does not see how a human female could run a guild of warriors.”
    “There are female archangels.” She felt Deacon’s body tense, ready itself for battle.
    “Ah, but you’re not an archangel.” And then he moved .
    So did Sara and Deacon. It was as if they’d been doing this for years. Shooting the crossbow as she ran sideways, she skew ered the lead vamp in the shoulder—she’d been aiming for his head, damn it—and reloaded superfast using Deacon’s patented technology. Hunters loved his weapons for a reason. She’d shot five more bolts by the time they were blocked in again. But now they were within a three-second run of the house.
    Deacon had stayed back to back with her the entire time, accommodating her smaller stride with an ease that told her exactly how good he was at combat. From the sounds she’d heard, he was using some kind of a gun but not anything that shot bullets. The vamps were too close for her to risk a check, but she didn’t think he’d been injured anywhere.
    “Enough playing?” she asked the vampire who seemed to be the mouthpiece of the entire group.
    The handsome man had already removed the bolt and now tossed it at her feet. “That was rather unladylike.”
    “Well, you weren’t exactly gentlemanly in attacking me.” She could feel the edge of sunrise in the distance. Too bad the vamps wouldn’t crumble to dust at the first touch of the sun’s rays. Only in the movies were things so convenient. Some vampires did suffer from light sensitivity, but she bet every single one in this bunch was capable of walking around under noon-light itself.
    “Ah,” the vampire said. “That is so. But you have a knight to protect you.”
    “I don’t need a knight,” she said, knowing full well this was about more than physical strength alone. “I’m not a queen to hide behind my troops. I’m a general.”
    The vampire’s expression grew strangely quiet. “Then I will stop being a gentleman.”
    This time, she couldn’t reload fast enough. Dropping the crossbow, she started to fight