He didn't move for a moment, just leaned against the wall, his eyes sharp and alert. Vamps were predictable creatures most of the time, but occasionally one would get a kick in their gallop and try to make a play for someone in the queue, a decision which ended with them having a little chat in a side alley with Tiny or one of his colleagues. There was a running book on how high they could get vamp blood and snot on the brickwork.

However vamps weren't normally pack animals and they didn't hunt together. This little group seemed to have missed that particular memo. Tiny's eyes narrowed as two of the group sauntered across the road and engaged a trio of young women in conversation. Human women, of course; they wouldn't bother with any of the paranormals in the line.

The third was slower to approach, piling on the vampire "glamour" as he did. The vampires moved in a slick routine, separating the women, who were easy marks. They herded the last girl toward an alley, the arm of her new "friend" wrapped around her shoulders. The tall demon sighed. Vampire charm was hypnotic and she was getting it full force, her head back against the vamp's shoulder as he gazed deep into her eyes.

"Great, just what I need tonight. A fucking synchronized vampire feeding squad." Pushing off from the wall, he rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck as he readied himself for action. There was going to be blood and snot on the walls again. Perhaps with three vamps to play with he'd beat Knuckles' record...

His lips compressed as yet another vamp moved to follow the others into the alley. What was this, an all you can eat until the meal drops dead buffet? He turned, angling his walk to intercept the new player as his heavy boots crunched over the road. Then he got a good look at the newcomer and his step faltered.

She was gorgeous. She was a vampire, but she was gorgeous.

Tiny's eyes widened in surprise as his brain tried to reconcile the two words in one sentence, even as his body reacted. She was average height... the perfect height to wrap into his arms, slide his hand into her hair and tilt her lips up...

Tiny snapped out of his reverie, his eyes narrowing as he clamped down on the reaction of his body to a fine piece of female ass and forced himself to study her.

She didn't seem the "type" to be a vampire was the first thing to hit him after the immediate "I want" reaction. Vampires, especially the ones who hovered around Moonlight & Magic, played up to the stereotype: pale skin, dark hair, dark clothing... Goths with attitude, or Lestat knock-offs.

This one could have been the poster-girl for the wholesome, all-American, girl next door type. Not blonde, but in the light cast by the street lights, he could see her hair wasn't the midnight black most vamps preferred, either. Instead, it contained a waterfall of autumn colors.

She had a tan, as well -- not at all the norm for a vamp. When even a small dose of direct UV turned you into crispy critter, tanning was a high risk option. Fake tan, unless his instincts were fooling him.

Were they? Was she something other than a vampire?

For the first time in a couple of hundred years Tiny found himself holding back. He'd always been a player, watching his back and ready for action of any sort -- although in the demon courts the more pleasurable kind always came with a price -- but this was the first time he'd doubted his instincts.

Face set, he watched the vamp chick head into the alleyway after the couple and tried to ignore the seductive sway of her hips. He noticed anyway; his body had completely different ideas about the matter, his c*ck already at half mast in his pants. Damn vampires, messing with a guy's head. He glared at a couple of humans who cut in front of him, then walked into the alley.

Whatever Tiny had expected from tonight, it wasn't for the problem to be solved before it became a problem. As he entered the alley, he expected to find the vampires fang-deep in the girl's throat -- or other appendage of choice. He expected to have to deal with them in short order whilst trying not to get the human killed. His hand was already reaching for one of the stakes along his ribcage when the woman's cool voice drifted on the night air to him.

"Okay, honey-bun, we can do this the easy way or the hard way... No, now that was just unpleasant, wasn't it? No need for language like that at all, especially in front of a lady... Oh really? How about we don't and say we did..."

Tiny had barely a second to react as the human was thrust into his arms with a "Here, hold this," before all hell broke loose.