Chapter One
"What the..." Dr. Lauren Marsh sprang back from the French doors just as something small and furry crashed into a mullioned pane and shattered glass across the floor of her kitchen. Her toddler, Avery, who'd been wobbling hand over fist from one wrought iron counter stool to another, lunged toward the brown object, which was now quivering on the Spanish tile floor.
Lauren scooped up Avery and called for her husband. "John!" She looked through the arched doorway to the living room, where she'd left him only moments before, engrossed in the morning's Orlando Sentinel.
"What is it?" The six-foot-two Vampire Vigilante was at his wife's side quicker than the human eye could detect movement. He followed her expression to the object on the floor. "Bloody Hell!"
While Lauren held their squirming toddler, John knelt in front of the bat and nudged the animal gently with a finger. "Do we know you?" He leaned in closer, tucking a forelock of wavy black hair behind his ear.
The bat vibrated on the floor. "Looks like he's trying to morph," John said. The little mammal was bleeding from its mouth, which was ringed in a chalky powder.
"Has he been snorting cocaine?" Lauren asked as she turned her daughter's face away from the bat.
"Cocaine would be easier to deal with than what I think it is." Still crouched in front of the animal, John looked up at Lauren. "Get Avery out of here. When the bat morphs, he may spew some nasty stuff."
"I'll take her upstairs to Doreen, but I'm coming right back."
"I can handle this, Lauren." John's stern look mirrored his protective nature.
"I've heard that before, like the time you tried to take out six thugs in Venice."
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