Blood

Vampires don't really exist, of course, but... When Falcon plays hockey on the high school boys' team, the opposing fans chant, "Get the Girl! Get the Girl!" She doesn't know why it got to her so badly in her last game, but when two players went for her she took them out...and after tasting their blood, she took out the rest of their team too. Able to anticipate others' moves with ease, Falcon is a natural athlete, or is she something more? Soon strange things are happening and she is on the run with her best friend since first grade, Hedges. But why does the scent of blood make her canines elongate into retractible fangs, and who exactly are those teams of men who seem to be hunting her?

There are myths about vampires, of course, but the truth is far simpler: A human subspecies with heightened reflexes and specialized canines who were capable of taking down large prey during the ice age, but are no longer valued by ordinary humans. The Valukar still live among us, but they stay carefully out of sight. Or at least they're supposed to...