She responded in kind, shouting my name out as we embraced each other. For everything we'd been through at The Shade and despite the fact that she was now an immortal vampire, the two of us were still teenagers, unafraid to express our delight upon seeing a long-lost friend.
"Sam told me you were coming today," she said enthusiastically as she squeezed me tight.
"Ow… Ashley…" I complained. "You're a vampire now. You're stronger than you were before."
"Oops…" She pulled away from me and grimaced. "Sorry. I still forget sometimes. I was planning to hang out here at the port to wait for you, but Felix had to choose the port as the place to hold his negotiations with Derek." She wrinkled her nose. "Where is he anyway?"
"He bolted the moment he saw me. We arrived just in time to see him do that." I pointed at Felix's heartless body on the ground.
Ashley eyed the corpse. "I think we need to get someone to get this mess fixed up."
