“Yep,” Samantha said as she drifted back into consciousness. “And all the crosses are in the truck.”

“We could try again,” Sergio said looking toward the door.

But they all knew that the thick wall of the dead waited for them. Impassable and dangerous.

“Or we can just wait for a miracle,” Sergio offered.

No other option seemed viable.

And so they waited.

Amaliya woke up long before dusk. She came into consciousness abruptly and felt disoriented by her surroundings. Her hand throbbed painfully and she looked toward where it was gripping the doorknob tightly. Slowly, she remembered. Then she heard the voice of her Grandmama whispering softly outside the door.

“...and we're trying to make sure you're safe, Amal, but they are all around the house and we can't get through. They hurt Samantha real bad and I think she's dying...”

Slowly, Amaliya pushed the heavy satin off her and looked around the closet. The sun was pushing through a few cracks in the door, but the narrow beams were high above her. The light illuminated the narrow closet enough that she could see Cian was unconscious. His wounds had not healed at all and she touched his face lightly. He did not stir.

“...I can feel his power and I'm afraid. I keep praying that God will see us through, but I don't know what to do. I tried to speak to the dead, but he fills them. This is much scarier than the movies...”

“Grandmama?” Her voice sounded raw and the dark need swelled inside of her. She needed to feed soon.

“Amal! Are you okay? We're here! We came to rescue you, but the dead are outside and they won't let us escape!”

Amaliya managed to get to her knees and dared to peek out of the keyhole. Her grandmother's eye came into view. She was staring right back at Amaliya.

“What time is it?”

“Six-thirty, baby.”

Two hours until sunset. Shit. Not much time.

“You okay, Amal?”

“Yeah. Okay as can be. Cian is still asleep. He's wounded pretty badly. How did you find us?” She was having trouble wrapping her mind around the reality that her grandmother was actually here.

“Sergio and I went to Austin to save you when you didn't answer your cellphone. We met with Samantha and her friend, Jeff. He's a vampire hunter.”

“Samantha knows a vampire hunter?” Amaliya blinked. “Okay. That's just weird.”

“And we went into the apartment and saw the map on the computer. So we came here. We saw some dead people guarding this place so we came in and found you. After we killed the dead people...again.”

Amaliya almost laughed, but she could hear the dread in her grandmother's voice. “Then what happened?”

“There is a cemetery behind the house. And it looks like they all got up and came to visit. We can't get out of the house or they attack us and drive us back inside. They hurt Samantha really bad. I think she's dying.”

Despite the animosity that lay between them, Amaliya felt a pang of anger and regret. Samantha was a firecracker and annoying as hell, but she loved Cian. If she was here, it was out of love for him and Amaliya could not fault her for that. As these thoughts flitted through her mind, she sighed, feeling guilty for her own involvement with Cian. She ran her fingers over the door slowly and leaned against it wearily.

“Is the sun coming in?”

“Yeah, it is. But the kitchen hallway is kinda dark. Do you want to come out?”

“Yeah. We need to plan before dark comes,” Amaliya hesitated as she considered the weight of her next words. It was hard for her to admit, but it was the truth. “I may be the only thing that can stop him since I have some of his power.”

“Okay. Let me get Sergio and Jeff and see if they can help me block out the sunlight so you can come out.”

Amaliya listened to her grandmother's light footsteps dart away from the closet. She leaned over and kissed Cian's forehead. He was very cold and she could feel death in him. He was significantly weakened and he would need to feed. But the only people he could feed off of were the people who had come to rescue them.

“Shit,” she whispered. As usual, her luck was bad, and now it had infected the others who were in her life.

But last night she had defeated the gruesome creatures that had come up against her and if she could just figure out how she did it, they would be home free.

It took some time, but Jeff and Sergio were able to block the windows and cracks in the walls with broken furniture, old curtains and even pulled down paneling off the walls in one room. Finally, they had blocked the sun enough to allow Amaliya to emerge from the closet. She slipped out holding what looked like a satin dress over her head and moved into the area they had prepared for her. She was greeted with hugs and kisses from her family, then they retreated from her as she slunk toward the darkened corner.

Jeff had to admit she looked nothing like he had expected. He supposed Samantha's bias against her had painted her into a darker figure than she really was. The face framed by the long black hair was more unique than pretty and her tattoos and piercings didn't look shocking to him. Just rather Austin. She was wearing dark jeans and boots and a t-shirt that probably belonged to Cian. Sitting down cross-legged, she looked around the room they had barricaded and the four people gathered in the room.

Jeff sat next to Samantha, who had fallen asleep again. Her breath was ragged and she was burning up. Innocente had Samantha's hand between her gnarled ones. Sergio drew close to his cousin and reached out to touch her pale hand.

Amaliya took Sergio's hand gratefully. “We need to plan.”

“Cian looks out of commission for awhile yet,” Jeff said, looking toward the closet.

“He's badly wounded. Roberto turned on us and stabbed him several times with a silver dagger. He's not healing,” Amaliya said softly. Her striking blue-gray eyes were glittering in the murkiness of the room. Her voice was distinctly East Texas.

“What happened last night? Tell us,” Sergio urged.

And Amaliya did. She told them all about her battle with the undead monsters The Summoner sent against her and Roberto's betrayal. She told them about their escape in the morning and how she had briefly seized control of the dead from The Summoner.

“Can you do that now?” Jeff asked excitedly.

“I don't even know how I did it,” Amaliya sighed. “I really have no freaking clue.”

“But you can try, right?” Sergio looked at her desperately. “We have to get out of here before nightfall.”

“He'll use your family against you,” Jeff added.

Innocente looked up fearfully. “I don't like this vampiro at all.”

“None of us do.” Amaliya said in a soft voice.

“Try, Amal. Try to send them away,” Sergio urged her.

Jeff could see the fear in the vampire's face, but she nodded. Closing her eyes and lowering her head, she fell into silence. Jeff held his breath as he felt the tendrils of her power snaking out of her body. Samantha shivered in her unconscious state and Innocente ran her hands over her own arms as she obviously felt chilled. Sergio drew his hand back and looked very unnerved as cold, feathery touches of her power flowed around them.

“I'll go see if it's working,” Sergio said in a hushed tone, and hurried out of the room.

Jeff's hand swept over Samantha's hair as she slowly stirred. “Is he here?” Her eyes were full of fear and she gripped his arm tightly.

“No, no. Amaliya is trying to send them away.”

Samantha's gaze flicked toward the vampire in the darkened corner. “How is Cian?”

“Wounded, but alive,” Jeff answered, and smiled at her.

Samantha's eyes welled with tears and her clammy little hand held on to him tighter. “We have to get out of here.”

“We're trying.”

Sergio ducked back into the room and shook his head. “They're not moving.”

Amaliya opened up her eyes slowly. A sensation like a frozen silk scarf being yanked over his flesh sent chills down Jeff's back as she withdrew her power.

“Fuck.”

“You tried, Amal,” her grandmother said in a consoling voice.

“I'm weak,” Amaliya said. “I need to feed soon to be strong enough to face him.”

Jeff knew he wasn't the only one who froze. He swallowed hard and looked toward Sergio and Innocente. They were looking at each other with uneasy expressions. Jeff rubbed his hand lightly over Samantha's trembling fingers.

“Feed her,” Samantha whispered through her dry lips.

“Huh?” Sergio exclaimed with a double take.

“She's our only hope. To get out. She needs to be strong enough to face him if Cian...if Cian can't.” Samantha was looking worse and Innocente gently rubbed the girl's wrist.

“I can feed just enough to make myself strong. I have that control. Cian taught me,” Amaliya said after an very tense moment of utter quiet.

“I'm game if you'll give Samantha some of your blood,” Jeff said after careful consideration. He knew vampire blood could suspend Samantha's life.