“Hi, Mr. Garrett sent me.”

Rick’s bald head jerked up. “Mr. Garrett?”

I took a business card from my back pocket and slid it across the counter. The man’s eyes followed it and as soon as he saw the name, he straightened up and gave me an ingratiating smile.

“Of course. Come with me.” He ducked out from behind the counter, hurried over to lock the door, and put up the closed sign. Then he motioned for us to follow him to a set of stairs leading to the basement. “You don’t look like Mr. Garrett’s usual customers.”

“Sara,” Jordan hissed in my ear. “What is going on?”

I tossed her a grin over my shoulder before I started down the stairs. “You’ll see.”

At the bottom, Rick crossed the basement and entered a combination to unlock a heavy door at the other end. He flipped a switch just inside the door and waved us in.

“Wha –?” Jordan’s mouth fell open and her eyes grew round. She whirled to face me. “Is... this for real?”

I couldn’t contain my laughter. “Enjoy.”

She flung herself at me, almost knocking me over. “You are the most amazing friend in the whole fucking world!”

“Uh, Jordan, you’re crushing my ribs,” I wheezed.

“Sorry.” She stepped back, and I could have sworn I saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes before she turned away. The happiness on her face was worth the extra diamond I’d given Garrett for access to the contents of this room. Jordan had been such a great friend to me at Westhorne, and then coming with me on this journey to God only knew where. She’d earned this.

I let my gaze roam over the large array of weapons covering every bit of wall space in the room. One whole wall held nothing but guns, from handguns to semi-automatic weapons and even a grenade launcher. Seriously? Who the heck needed a grenade launcher in Los Angeles?

I followed Jordan past the guns to the interesting stuff. Garrett had not been exaggerating when he’d told me about his supply of weapons. I saw swords of every shape and size, daggers, staffs, whips, axes, throwing knives and stars, and things I had no name for. There were half a dozen crossbows of different sizes, flamethrowers, and enough ammo to arm a platoon.

Rick followed us into the room, talking on his cell phone. He hung up and gave me a smile. “Mr. Garrett says you’re all paid up and to take what you agreed on.”

Jordan stared at us. “Seriously?”

I nodded. “Within reason. And no guns.”

She let out a squeal and headed straight for the swords, just as I knew she would. Jordan was a purist when it came to weapons. In her mind, nothing but a finely-crafted sword was good enough for a warrior. I watched her lift a beautiful katana from the wall and heft it in both hands, getting a feel for it. Her movements were practiced and smooth as she sliced the blade through the air.

“Perfect!”

“Don’t you think you should get something smaller? That thing will be kind of conspicuous if you carry it around.”

“Can’t I get two? Pretty please. I have to have this sword, Sara. It was made for me.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Fine. Go crazy.”

Leaving Jordan in a blissful haze, I went to pick out some weapons for myself. I avoided the swords because I’d be more likely to cut my own head off than someone else’s. I already had my silver dagger, but it never hurt to have an extra. I chose two smaller ones that I could tuck inside a boot or under my clothes. My power was my real weapon, but it wasn’t strong enough yet to kill a vampire. I could incapacitate them for a minute, but I still needed a blade to finish them off.

It had struck me as odd that I hadn’t sensed a single vampire since we got to LA, but I knew they were here somewhere. A city this size was bound to have a lot of them, and with my track record, I’d be meeting some sooner or later.

A small black crossbow caught my eye and I picked it up. It was light and tiny compared to the other crossbows on the wall, and it felt good in my hands. “How do you use this thing?”

Jordan came over and showed me the basic workings of the weapon. She inserted a small arrow, cocked it, and fired at a target hanging on the far wall. The arrow hit the target a few inches off center. She cocked the crossbow again and gave it back to me. “Give it a try.”

I lined up the small scope with the target and pulled the trigger. The arrow whistled through the air and embedded itself an inch from the bullseye.

“Not bad.” Jordan loaded another arrow into the crossbow. “Take another shot.”

My second arrow nicked the bullseye. My third one hit dead center. My fourth one bounced off the center one and skidded across the floor.

“Damn, you have crazy aim.” She took the bow and hefted it in one hand. “It’s small and light. If we had some silver-tipped arrows, this would be a great weapon for you.”

“It’s too big to conceal.”

She pointed at the sword she had been admiring. “So is that, but I’m getting it.”

Rick interrupted us. “I believe there are silver-tipped arrows in the ammo chest.”

Jordan grinned and nudged my shoulder with hers. “Every girl needs a few accessories to go with her new outfits.”

Forty minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of our new hotel where we’d left the boys earlier. Between the two of us we managed to lug the shopping bags and a large black duffle bag full of weapons to our room. Jordan dropped her bags on the floor and flopped down on her bed while I knocked on the door of the adjoining room to let the boys know we were back. Roland raised an eyebrow when he saw all the shopping bags, but he soon forgot them when I showed him and Peter the contents of the duffle bag.