As I exited the cafe and took a step onto the sidewalk, I heard what sounded like a brief struggle in a nearby alley, followed by the sharp, unmistakable scent of fresh human blood. The smell stopped me in my tracks and made my thirst burn like acid in the back of my throat, but one thought brushed all my rising bloodlust aside. Isabel. It might be Isabel.

                I ran down to the edge of the alleyway, the scent growing stronger as I got closer, and I could hear the whispers of several men in the dark that quickly hushed at my approach. I stood on the sidewalk and listened, sensing at least four individual heartbeats, one of them pounding wildly. And there was one in the group that was s...

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