Vampires Don't Sparkle: Deathless Book 3 by Chris Fox

like this. San Francisco was an impressive city. A city of the dead, unfortunately. Figures moved in the distance, most shambling between buildings. Enough to clog even the wide streets.
    Isis turned her attention back to her immediate surroundings. She scanned the dock, where a jumble of men were unloading metal boxes from a battered-looking boat. They ignored her, which made her smile. To them she was a girl just out of adolescence. Liz was smarter than that though. The Ka-Ken obviously sensed something, whirling to face Isis.  
    “Hello, Ka-Ken,” Isis said, giving a warm smile. She opened her arms, taking a step forward to embrace Liz. “Your struggles have been difficult, and there are more to come. But I am proud of all you have accomplished.”
    Liz all but engulfed Isis in a hug. “I can’t believe you’re here. Thank God.”
    “Would that we had time to reminisce, but the situation is dire. We must depart this place within the hour,” Isis said, stifling a sigh. In a way, every Ka-Ken was her daughter, and she longed to comfort Liz. Yet doing so would be no favor. Liz needed to learn to stand on her own.
    “Leave?” Liz replied, taking a step back. She brushed a lock of hair from her face, staring in confusion. “We can’t leave. These people just weathered an attack by deathless. We drove them off and killed most of them, but a few escaped. They’ll be back, sooner or later.”
    Isis folded her arms, turning toward the setting sun. She was silent for a long moment, considering. “The crisis we face is more important than any single settlement, yet I’d not abandon even a single bastion. Yukon, to me.”
    The dog had been sniffing about several refugees, tail wagging as he made new friends. One of them was a girl about twelve, on the cusp of adolescence. She had long, dark hair, and a dirty face. Well, dirty until Yukon began licking it furiously.
    At her command he reluctantly abandoned his new friend, trotting over to Isis. She lay a hand on the side of his face, smiling grimly down at him. “This place is in great danger. The not-deads come in ever greater numbers, and without protection these people are doomed.”
    No. Yukon’s thought was loud and angry. We will protect them. We will slay the not-deads.
    “I must leave to face a graver threat, my friend. Will you stay and protect these people?” she asked. Isis was conscious of Liz’s tense form next to her. The Ka-Ken couldn’t hear Yukon’s responses, of course.
    Yes, but I am not strong. I cannot do it alone.
    “Nor will you need to, my friend. I want you to reform the Great Pack. Find other dogs, find coyotes, and foxes. Gather them to you. There is strength in numbers, and in time they will awaken as you have,” she explained, her smile growing warmer. “Will you do this?”
    I will do this thing. Yukon said, mind firm with resolve.
    “Isis,” Liz began, more timidly than Isis would have liked, “will a pack of dogs be enough to protect these people?”
    “No,” Isis said, extending a hand. The Primary Access Key flowed into it, a pool of gold that gradually elongated into a familiar staff with a winged scarab at one end. She turned to face the refugees, the sapphire in the scarab’s thorax flaring blue as it sent out a spiderweb of wispy blue tendrils. “We need champions as well.”
    “What are you doing?” Liz asked, her gaze following the tendrils.
    One found the girl Yukon had been licking, and it flared brightly, leaving a glowing blue mark on the girl’s forehead. Four others found their mark within the crowd, but that was all. So few.
    “Those with the mark have the greatest chance of returning from the dead,” Isis said, gravely. She faced Liz. “It is not certain, but their helixes bear the greatest likelihood of bonding with the virus.”
    “You’re going to kill them,” Liz said, clearly aghast. “Isis, she’s a child. You can’t.”
    “I’m not going to kill them,” Isis said, gaze catching the