title: 23 Hours: A Vengeful Vampire Tale
author:  David Wellington 
description: When vampire hunter Laura Caxton is locked up in a maximum-security prison, the cop-turned-con finds herself surrounded by murderers and death-row inmates with nothing to lose ...and time to kill. Laura's always been able to protect herself, but soon she learns that an even greater danger lurks in the prison. Justinia Malvern, the world's oldest vampire, has taken up residence and her power grows as she feeds her way through the inmate population. She knows how to pull Caxton's strings, and issues an ultimatum that Laura can't refuse. Now Laura has just 23 hours to fight her way through a gauntlet of vampires, cons and killers ...23 hours to make one last, desperate attempt at protecting the world from Justinia's evil.
zlib_text: **_HOME FOR THE_** __**_HOLIDAYS_**
  
    
  
  _by Jeaniene Frost_
  
    
  
  **_One_**
  
    
  
  **I** glanced at my watch. Ten minutes to midnight. The vampire would be back
  soon, and despite hours of careful preparation, I wasn’t ready for him.
  
  A ghost’s head popped through the wall, the rest of his body concealed by the
  wood barrier. He took one look around the room and a frown appeared on his
  filmy visage.
  
  “You’re not going to make it.”
  
  I yanked the wire through the hole I’d drilled into the ceiling’s rafter,
  careful not to shift my weight too far or I’d fall off the ladder I was
  balanced on. Fabian was right, but I wasn’t ready to concede defeat.
  
  “When he pulls up, stall him.”
  
  “How am I supposed to do that?” he asked.
  
  Good question. Unlike humans, vampires could see ghosts, but tended to ignore
  them as a general rule. While this vampire showed more respect to the
  corporeal-impaired, he still wouldn’t stop to have a lengthy chat with one
  before entering his home.
  
  “Can’t you improvise? You k