"They're cockier than usual tonight," TJ Evans whispered to his partner as a gang of five young men ambled down the deserted streets of inner-city Houston, kicking soda cans and talking loud enough to wake even the undead. "As expected. They're looking for anyone who might have ignored the mandatory evacuation order."

Ryan nodded in the dark. "Probably getting hungry."

"Good, when they're hungry they don't always think straight."

It was the witching hour, the time of night you didn't want to be out on the streets with all the creepy and dangerous people littering the hours between midnight and four.

TJ and Ryan crouched behind the abandoned automobile they'd chosen as cover for their mission. As cops assigned to the Houston Special Task Force, they were responsible for keeping the streets clean of the worst kind of riffraff, and the guys headed their way qualified-young, aggressive and vampires. He recognized them from the sketches at the station.

"Ready, Ryan?" TJ asked.

Ryan nodded and fitted a wooden dart into his crossbow.

About the time he was set, a woman emerged from an evacuated apartment building, carrying a laundry basket piled with belongs.
The vampires whooped and made a beeline for their first unwilling victim of the evening. Halfway to her car, the woman spotted the men, her eyes growing round. She darted a look from her car standing against the curb and back to the doorway as if debating which she could make faster.

"She's mine." The short, stocky vampire wearing a black T-shirt and sporting dragon tattoos on each arm led the way.

The woman dropped the basket and dove for the car, fumbling to fit her key in the lock.

"It's show time." TJ pressed the stock of his recurve crossbow against his shoulder. "Let's go."

The two cops stepped from behind the rusted-out vehicle.
Ryan called out, "Halt or I'll shoot!"

TJ snorted and sighted his weapon on the man in the lead. "You're such a rookie."

But the shout brought the gang of men to a standstill, and they turned toward the two cops. Their leader laughed out loud. "You're kidding, right? You want us to stop?"

"Houston Police, step away from the woman," TJ said, his weapon at the ready.

"And who's going to stop us? You?" The guy with the tattoo dragons threw back his head and laughed, his long white incisor teeth reflecting the light from the nearby streetlamps.

"Can't say we didn't warn you." With his hand firmly wrapped around the grip, his sights targeting the first man's chest, TJ squeezed the trigger, sending the solid wooden dart straight into the man's heart.

The laughter died on the tattooed man's lips and his eyes widened. As he glanced down at the wooden dart embedded into his heart, his body jerked and then jerked again. Within seconds he shook so hard he fell to the earth, screaming, his flesh dissolving into dust until the wind lifted his remains and blew them away.

The other four men stared down at where their leader had been. By the time they looked back at the two cops, Ryan squeezed his trigger, another dart flying into the chest of the nearest man.
TJ had already reloaded and fired off his next round when the gang of three remaining vampires turned and attacked. He was able to fire his last round into the heart of one, dropping him in mid-lunge. Neither TJ nor Ryan had time to reload. They moved back, pulling wooden stakes from the knife sheaths on their belt.

The two vampires left standing leaped onto the hood of the abandoned vehicle and roared, flashing their teeth. The bigger vampire growled and dropped to the ground, stalking toward TJ.

You're in luck. I believe the only good cop is a dead cop."

"Is that so?" TJ said. He braced his legs for the attack, adrenaline pulsing through his veins giving him an almost orgasmic rush. God, he loved his job! "We may have a bit of a problem. I believe the only good vampire is a dead vampire."

The vampire leaped at TJ, knocking him to the ground. For a moment, TJ's hand loosened around the stake. If he didn't get it into the vamp's heart quickly, he didn't stand a chance. Vampires had superhuman strength and resilience. TJ's only advantage was his ability to think under pressure. His opponent clamped clawlike hands into his shoulders and leaned forward, his lips peeled back from long, wicked teeth.

"No!" TJ yelled, acting as though the vampire had him now. But when the teeth neared his neck, TJ raised his hand in a sudden upward thrust, driving the stake through the man's ribs into his heart. He collapsed on top of TJ, his body shuddering and twitching as he withered into a cloud of dust scattered by the wind.

TJ rolled to his feet, brushing the dust from his shirt.

The other vampire had Ryan pinned to the pavement.

"Need help, partner?" TJ asked, retrieving the stake from the ground.

"Nope," Ryan grunted, straining to keep the vampire's teeth from sinking into his neck. "Got this one under control."

TJ chuckled. "Looks to me like he has you." He raised the stake and plunged it through the vampire's back into his heart. "Come on, quit playing around. It's nearing daylight and the end of our shift."

Ryan remained pinned for several more seconds by the dying vampire. Then he stood and brushed the dust from his shirt. "You take all the fun out of the job."

"You'll get over it." TJ glanced around for the woman in time to see the taillights of her compact car disappearing around a corner. He stared down at the dirt on his uniform and sniffed. "God, I hate the smell of dusted vampires. What say you and me head for the station?"

Ryan stooped to gather his recurve crossbow. "You're on."