"Damn, this is a jackpot," Katie murmured, rummaging through the dark bottles labeled as various wines.

Uncorking one, a smirk curved at her lips when the pungent smell hit her senses, confirming her long-held suspicions.

These dark glass bottles contained a much more sinister substance,

Blood.

Her junior partner, Sam, quickly snapped images with a small digital camera, giddy and giggling. "We got them this time for sure."

"Stevem, we found it," Katie murmured into her walkie-talkie, " The Draven Group has been smuggling blood through their wine business, as we suspected. Send backup—"

Suddenly, the doors to the warehouse swung open, and the sound of boots squeaked against the warehouse's laminate floors as a flood of light came from the sun outside.

"Who's in here?" A gruff voice shouted into the dark warehouse.

Without waiting for an answer,  bullets began to ring off the walls and into the boxes around them. The large room erupted into chaos as a group of vampires stormed the warehouse.

"Fuck! " Sam murmured, hiding behind one of the cases as she put her camera back into her bag and reached for her gun. "What are these guys, idiots? They are gonna ruin all this blood—"

Katie was thinking the same thing, her muscles tightening with rage as she quickly silenced her walkie-talkie and reached for her gun.

Hundreds of people were dying in hospitals each day due to the shortage of available blood,  and these criminals were just blindly shooting into the boxes, as if they didn't contain a second chance at life for so many.

Like for Katie's brother. 

Or, could have been.

Katie shook her head, trying to keep that memory away. She needed to focus on getting out of here; they finally had some evidence, and backup should be on its way any minute.

They were finally going to bring these monsters down.

"Sam, you sneak out the back, I'll distract them, get the evidence back to the station—"

"I'm not leaving you, Katie," she hissed, her dark brown eyes calculating as she watched the men's boots stomp through the aisles of boxes, "not with these madmen shooting up the place."

"Well, if you don't go now, we might both be taken down by them," Katie muttered back, tying her red hair up into a tight ponytail as she shot her junior a glare. "As the senior investigator, that's an order. Go now."

Sam gritted her teeth as she returned Katie's frustrated look,  reluctantly turning from her to crawl to another crate. 

The bullets continued flying over their heads as the men spread out, continuing to shoot blindly around the wide warehouse as Sam slowly crept towards the back door.

Katie leaned her head back against the crate as she took a measured breath, watching Sam sneak between crates, waiting until she was far enough away to begin her distraction.

They both just needed to stay alive in time for backup.

They could do that...

Katie hoped.

Carefully maneuvering her feet below herself as she continued to hide behind the crate, Katie waited a breath before bolting to the opposite side of the warehouse, bullets flying after her as the men caught sight of her form fleeing.

A sharp pain ripped through her hip.

Fuck.

Katie tumbled to the ground, her teeth gritting against the pain as she eyed the growing crimson stain in her khaki trousers.

This was going to make things a bit harder.

Peeking from where she lay behind the box, she began firing back at the men, narrowly being missed by their bullets as they began to converge around her.

The police station was only about 10 minutes away...

But suddenly Katie's hope that she could hold them off that long began to fade.

She let out a groan as she maneuvered herself behind the crate to make another rush across the warehouse, when a large man with a bright red mustache and a cigar in his mouth stepped in her path.

"Gotcha," he grumbled, with a thick Russian accent and a crooked, cruel smile.

The clap of his gun filled Katie's senses as it aimed for her chest, and in the next instant, everything went dark. 

____________________

Katie blinked against the harsh fluorescent lights above her, a monotone buzz in her ears momentarily disturbed by a loud beeping.

Her mouth was dry, and her body ached all over, making her hold back a groan as her senses returned to her.

Her hand twitched, and she felt something warm in her palm.

Turning her head, she blinked at the sight of Liam at her bedside, his glasses carefully folded on the table beside a glass of water. 

He lay with his head on his arm, as his other hand clutched hers, his breath heavy in his sleep, his brows bunched together as if he were having a bad dream.

Katie gave a sad smile at the sight of her boyfriend's sleeping form, wondering how long he had been sitting beside her. His face looked gaunt, exhausted, as if he hadn't slept in a while. 

She slowly released her grip on his hand, trying not to disturb his sleep, and reached for the water beside her. 

The action sent a shooting pain up her chest, causing her to let out a small grunt as she fell back into her pillows, quickly pressing her eyelids shut as she grit her teeth against the pain.

"Katie?" 

Liam was sitting up, rubbing his eyes, as he blinked at her with wide green eyes. 

"Oh, thank god, Katie, you are awake-"

His voice broke as he reached for his glasses, quickly settling them on his nose as he reached for her hand once more. 

"Liam," she breathed, her voice coarse, " Can you pass me the water, please?"

Liam scrambled to grab it from the side table, batting her hands away as she tried to take it from him, helping her have a drink from it before delicately setting it back on the table.

"You and Sam are lucky to be alive. If you hadn't been found in time-" He pressed his fingers into his eyes, lifting his glasses from where they were perched on his nose, his brows furrowed in anxiety as he took a deep breath. "Katie, I thought I lost you."

A pang of guilt hit her chest at the sight of his exhausted, desperate expression. Of course, there were always risks when dealing with criminals, but this was the first time something like this had happened to her...

Well, at least since they had started dating. 

"I refuse to give those bloodsuckers more blood on their hands than they already have," Katie replied in a cracked voice, trying to make a joke to ease his worries. "They can't get rid of me that easily."

Liam's expression warmed, a small smile spreading across his face as he passed a hand through his curly blond hair. 

"Well, thank goodness for that."

"And...Sam?" Katie asked, her own worry tight in her chest. 

"They knocked her out after she escaped the warehouse, but she wasn't shot, so she just experienced a small concussion."

"Thank goodness..." Katie mumbled, leaning back into her pillow, relief flooding her system at the fact that her junior partner was safe. "And the evidence?"

"Stolen... and the warehouse emptied..."

Katie cursed under her breath.

"So. I almost died for nothing, then."

Liam's eyes watched her sadly for a moment as his jaw tightened, "I... I am afraid so."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Katie rolled her head to the other side of her bed, defeat settling heavier in her bones than the pain of her injuries. Her own ashy reflection looked back at her in the mirror beside her bed. 

But something caught her eye, and, blinking at her reflection, she slowly tilted her chin, exposing two deep red marks on her neck, just under her jawbone.

Her heart began to beat frantically in her chest, the heart monitor attached to her reflecting her sudden panic as the room erupted in screeching beeps.

"Katie?" Liam's brows were drawn as he hurried to the other side of her bed, his broad form blocking her view of the mirror, his hands flying to her face as he scanned her pale face with renewed worry. 

"Katie? What's the matter? What's going on?" He turned, his mouth opening to shout for the nurse, when Katie's worried whisper drew his attention back to her.

"Liam..." She murmured with wide eyes. "I've been marked..."