Saved at Sunrise (5 page)

Friggin’ great.

They were surrounded.

Chapter Four

“What a warm welcome,” Della said, refusing to acknowledge her fear.

“She’s sassy,” said someone behind her.

“We can beat that out of her,” said the vamp walking toward her as he eyed her up
and down.

“I wouldn’t try,” Della said.

“I second that,” Steve added, his voice deep and filled with warning.

The rogue tightened his gaze to check their patterns. “So you brought your pet with
you, huh?”

Della heard Steve inhale and she reached over and touched his arm. Surely, he knew
to let her deal with this.

“He’s not my pet,” she growled, offended for him more than she realized.

“Ah, I see,” the lead rogue said, a filthy twinkle in his eyes. “So you’re giving
it up to this joker?”

“We’ve swapped bodily fluids if that’s what you’re asking,” she countered, confident,
and suddenly grateful they’d exchanged spit last night during that hot kiss.

The vamp grinned. “I like your spunk. Maybe you and I can swap some bodily fluid sometime.”

Steve tensed beside her. “I wouldn’t count on it,” he said.

“And I’ll second that,” Della said.

The vamp frowned as if disappointed he couldn’t intimidate them. “You do realize first
you will have to prove yourself worthy. If you are accepted, then your shifter here
will have to prove himself, and even then he will only be considered an extra. Extras …
don’t last very long.”

The rogue’s insinuation struck a punch to Della’s nerves, but she focused on what
was important. The whole “prove yourself worthy” comment.

Was it going to be this easy? Was he just going to tell her right now what she had
to do and they could leave? A tiny part of her hoped it wouldn’t be so simple. She
already disliked this guy and wouldn’t mind teaching him a lesson.

“Exactly how do we prove ourselves?”

“Do you know how to fight?”

Hell, yes.
“I can hold my own,” Della said.

His gaze shifted to Steve. “Looks like shifter-boy likes to fight,” he said, obviously
referring to Steve’s black eye.

“I can hold my own, too,” Steve said.

“How strong of a shifter are you?” The rogue studied him as if assessing him.

“Strong enough,” Steve answered.

The rogue laughed. “Then why did you stay human to fight? You’re obviously not as
strong as you’d like to believe.”

“Don’t let a little bruise fool you,” Steve said, tilting back on his heels.

Della heard the confidence in Steve’s voice, and while she’d assessed his ability
to transform quickly, she honestly didn’t know his strength. Yet somehow she sensed
that like her, he was holding his cards close to his chest. Not cowering down to them,
but not letting them know exactly what they were up against if they picked a fight.

The rogue laughed as if he didn’t believe Steve. “Well, follow us. We have a little
game going and we’ll see how well you two do.”

“What kind of game?” Della asked and cut her eyes around, taking in all the rogues
circling them.

“A little hand-to-hand combat. If you do okay, we’ll see about your pet. You game?”

“Now?” Della asked, remembering in detail how Burnett told them not to be lured anywhere.
Already the vamps had proven they weren’t good to their word because they’d stated
only three of the gang members would meet them for a nonconfrontational interview.

“Now,” the rogue said, pulling a knife from a side holster and wiping the blade on
his dirty jeans. The guys to her left and right pulled out their knives as well.

Della heard a low growl, and although she didn’t know shape-shifters growled, she
knew it came from Steve.

She also knew that refusing the rogue’s invitation wasn’t an option. It was go, or
have some hand-to-blade combat right now.

“Let’s go, then,” Della said, hoping whatever came next would provide a better escape.

Steve glanced at her and in his gaze she read his mind.
I don’t like this.

Well, neither did she, but she didn’t see any other choice. She’d done a quick head
count and there were twelve of them. She could probably take on five or six, but she
couldn’t take on twelve. Not with knives.

*   *   *

They were led to an old abandoned warehouse. Steve transformed into a black crow and
moved slower. The rogues muttered curses that they had to slow down.

Della couldn’t help but wonder if his choice of form hadn’t been on purpose. Did shifting
into a faster bird require more energy? And was he preserving it? Or was his ability
to shift into certain kinds of animals a sign of power, and he was downplaying his
abilities to the rogues? It occurred to Della that if she was going to work for the
FRU, she needed to educate herself on all species.

It would have been helpful to know exactly what Steve was up to.

When they landed, she also noted Steve took several minutes to change. A hell of a
lot slower than before. That’s when she knew for sure he was downplaying his power
to the rogues.

One of the vamps stepped close and said something about wringing the crow’s neck.
Della moved between him and Steve.

With Steve now in human form, they walked inside a dark building. Della could smell
old blood and vampire sweat. While she couldn’t see for shit, she could also smell
the bloodthirsty crowd. No longer just twelve rogues to deal with, but more than fifty.
Her chest clutched with fear and the realization that maybe she should have taken
her chances back at the park.

The lights suddenly flashed on and the crowd hiding in the shadows appeared. In the
middle of the room was a boxing ring. Steve looked at her, concern tightening his
gaze.

The crowd cheered and Della looked back up. A girl was pushed into the ring. She looked
scared, but also determined. Della tightened her brows and saw she was half werewolf,
half vampire. Were being her dominant species. She was obviously an extra. And from
her stance, Della also assessed she was a willing victim.

“And here I thought I was just going to get to kill a human or two,” Della said, praying
her voice didn’t shake.

“Oh, we do that, too. But we change it up to keep it interesting.”

Bingo,
Della thought. They could leave now. Unfortunately, she didn’t see that happening.

The girl turned and looked at Della with something akin to hatred. Della knew this
was the girl she was supposed to fight.

The smell of dried blood in the air warned Della just how far this fight was supposed
to go.

She looked at the leader of the rogues who had met them. “It’s hard to fight someone
I have nothing against.”

“When she takes her first punch, you’ll have something against her. She’s not nearly
as weak as she looks. Sort of like you, I’ll bet.” He pulled out his knife again.
“Go fight her, Miss Sass, and let’s see how good you really are.”

Della swallowed a knot of fear, but she forced herself to ask. “Where does this end?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, but his smirk told her he knew exactly what she meant.

“I knock her out, it’s over, right?” She was hoping.

His eyes brightened with plain ol’ evilness. “What fun would that be?” He brought
the knife up and stared at the blade. “It ends when one of you stops breathing and
becomes a willing blood donor, that’s when it’s over. So the question is, will we
be drinking your blood at sunrise or hers?”

“Hmm,” Della said, and worked at keeping the horror from showing on her face. She
glanced at Steve. He cut his eyes up to the ceiling. She didn’t know what the hell
the message was, but she hoped it meant he had a plan. Because, God help her, she
couldn’t think of one right now. And she was either about to kill someone, or be killed.

Chapter Five

Della got into the ring thinking there would be a bell, thinking she’d come up with
a way out of this crap, but nope—on both counts. Before she had a chance to catch
her breath, the girl attacked.

Della still didn’t have a clue what to do. But when she took a fist to the cheek and
it hurt like hell, she decided letting this girl beat the crap out of her wasn’t a
good plan, either.

Della ducked the girl’s second punch. The crowd booed.

The were came at her again and Della grabbed the girl by the arm and unceremoniously
tossed her across the ring. She landed hard, but was back on her feet in seconds.
As the girl danced around throwing punches like some boxing queen, Della briefly found
Steve in the crowd. He glared right at her and then cut his eyes upward again.

The second of lost focus cost Della dearly, for the girl struck again, this time kicking
Della right in the ribs. Air whooshed out of her lungs as pain caused her to stumble
back. That’s when her gaze caught the slight opening in the ceiling, where an air
vent had once been.

Okay, now she knew Steve’s plan, but didn’t he realize that these other vamps could
fly, too?

Another foot came at Della’s face. She grabbed the leg by the ankle and slung the
girl outside the ring. Yelps and cries for blood echoed from the crowd. The girl landed
in a group of vamps, but she must have been made of rubber, because she bounced back
up and charged again.

She leapt into the ring. Her eyes glowed the notable orange color of a pissed-off
were. She kicked up her foot, Della went to block it. A bad mistake, because she didn’t
see what the B with an itch had in her hands until it was too late.

The knife came right at Della’s heart. Her only defense was to block it with her arm.
The blade sliced into her forearm and it felt like a burn, hot, yet cold at the same
time. The smell of blood filled her nose.

Her own blood.

She heard the hungry cries from the audience.

The girl took a step back, but only to charge again. The knife was aimed right at
Della’s chest. A roar, not from the crowd, but from some exotic feline animal, rang
in Della’s ears.

Fury, hot red rage, filled Della’s heart at the same time the knife sank into her
chest, right below her collarbone. Amazingly, she felt more anger than pain. Grabbing
the girl by the shoulders, she slung her. It looked like slow motion. Felt like slow
motion, as the knife sliced its way out of Della’s chest. Breath held in pain, she
watched as the girl flew away, the knife, still in her hands, dripping blood from
the tip of the blade.

Then Della saw the supersized lion, AKA Steve, charging toward the ring mauling anyone
who dared get in his way. Go Steve! She pointed up and then with everything she had,
she leapt straight into the air, barely fitting through the tight little exit. And
right behind her, hauling ass, was a Peregrine falcon.

She continued upward knowing the vamps, at least the ones who could fit through the
tight opening, would be behind them. She ignored the burning sensation in her shoulder.
Suddenly aware she didn’t hear the flap of a bird’s wings, she glanced back. Steve
had returned to the roof, transformed into a dragon, and was in the process of breathing
fire into the hole in the old building. Damn, but the guy made a nice-looking dragon.

Obviously, the building had some sort of insulation that wasn’t fire resistant, because
smoke started billowing out of the roof almost immediately.

In seconds, sparkles started popping off around the dragon and Steve was back to being
a Peregrine. They flew off hard and fast. She kept looking back, praying the rogues
weren’t there. Thankfully, only the darkness chased them.

Suddenly, Steve started down.

“No,” she screamed at him. “We need to keep going. They’ll come after us!”

He didn’t listen, but continued down and landed in a dark alley much like the one
they’d been in last night. Six-foot-high wooden fences lined the pathway, as if too
keep riffraff out. The overflowing garbage cans that smelled like spoiled fruit seemed
to hold up the fences, some of which looked rotted. By the time she landed, Steve
was already human.

“Shit,” he said, grabbing her arm. The sweet smell of her own blood chased away the
smell of garbage and filled Della’s senses.

“You know,” she said, flinching at the pain both in her arm and her upper chest, “you
did good.”

“You are not going to die!” he seethed.

“Who said anything about dying?” She found it hard to focus on him and she blinked
a couple of times.

“You just complimented me,” he said in a low growl. “That tells me how seriously hurt
you are.”

She grinned and she couldn’t hold the gesture in place. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

“No, you’re not that bad. Just stubborn…” he met her gaze, “and perfect,” he said,
but his voice sounded distant. “I need to get you to a hospital.”

“No,” she said, feeling her knees weaken. “I need blood and I’ll heal. She didn’t
hit any major organs, or I’d be dead. Just get me blood, Steve. That’s all I need.
Vampires heal really quickly.”

He frowned and pulled his phone out. “Don’t you dare call Burnett!” she seethed, but
her knees folded and she dropped to the ground. “Please,” she begged, feeling tears
fill her eyes. “I want to impress him. I can’t let him down.” She batted at her tears
and saw Steve looking down at her with compassion.

Relief fluttered inside her when she saw him put his phone back into his pocket. “Thank
you,” she said. “Thank you,” she repeated, but she’d no more gotten that last word
out when she smelled the dirty scent that hinted at rotten meat. They had company.
Not the rogue vamps.

Weres.

Oh, shit! She really didn’t want to die today.

She stood up, her whole body trembled. She prayed she looked a lot more menacing than
she felt. There were three of them, big mean-looking dudes. Hair so dirty she couldn’t
distinguish the color, and clothes that looked just as unclean.

They’d obviously smelled her blood and came looking for a bite to eat.

“Leave,” Steve growled at them. “Or I’ll kill you.” Sparkles started popping off around
him. A loud roar filled the dark alley. The lion had returned, only this time it was
even larger, the size of a small van.