Saved at Sunrise

could read a lie in a
     person’s heartbeat, they’d come up with a form of the truth that hopefully wouldn’t
     read as a lie. She, Della Tsang, had been turned vampire and was sent to a special
     boarding school. She wasn’t big on the school’s rules, so she and her friend Steve
     the shape-shifter had run off. But due to the known difficulties of obtaining blood
     for her, they had decided to join a gang.
    The bathroom door squeaked open, and Steve walked out. He was … he was half naked,
     and bam, she was back to thinking about his cute butt. And … her gaze lowered. He
     had socks on.
    For some odd reason, she recalled that someone had told her that Steve was already
     eighteen. He looked eighteen, probably a year older than Della. Muscles rippled over
     his chest and arms. She knew he worked out, but most of what he had appeared natural.
    Her breath caught in her throat for a second. She’d seen him swimming and without
     a shirt, but something about seeing all that bare skin and him being freshly showered
     brought back the flutters. Brought back the memory of his kiss and of how his warm
     hands had felt in the curve of her waist.
    He met her gaze and smiled as if somehow reading her mind. Moving to the chair, he
     slipped on a dark green T-shirt. Thank goodness .
    “You ready to go over everything?” he asked.
    “Need to brush my teeth .” Need to find my self-control and I’m pretty sure it’s in the toilet. She popped up and ran to the bathroom. When she came back three minutes later, she’d
     taken her frustration out on her teeth. There wasn’t a speck of plaque on her pearly
     whites. And while she didn’t find her self-control in the potty, she’d given herself
     a good talking-to about not acting like some hormone-crazed teen.
    Sure she was a teen, and probably hormone crazed, but she didn’t need to act like
     it.
    Steve had the open file in his lap when she moved to the living room. She sat down
     on the opposite side of the sofa and he started going over the info.
    She didn’t tell him she already knew it because he might need to hear it. Five minutes
     later, he closed the file. “Okay, the thing to remember is if they insist I leave,
     I’ll shift and hang around. I won’t leave you.”
    Della cut her eyes to him. “Heartwarming, but if they insist you leave, I’ll be fine.
     I can take care of myself. Besides, they know you’re a shifter, Steve. Don’t do anything
     that will ruin this.”
    “I won’t do anything to ruin it. But I’m not leaving you.” His tone came out determined,
     protective. “I’ll be careful. They won’t realize it’s me.”
    “Yes they will. What about them knowing you’re a shifter don’t you get?”
    He stared at her a long second before speaking. “So they’re smarter than you, huh?”
    She tightened her eyes at him. “What’s that mean?”
    “You didn’t know I was there last night. You saw me twice.”
    She studied him, feeling puzzled. “I don’t…”
    “I was your neighbor’s dog and then I was the kitten. If a shifter is careful what
     they become, we blend into the environment and are never suspected. Why do you think
     we’re one of the most powerful of the supernaturals?”
    First, they really weren’t one of the most powerful supernaturals, vampires were,
     not that this was a competition. Then all of a sudden her chest tightened and her
     face heated remembering her short interaction with the neighbor’s dog. Hadn’t she
     said something about him not smelling her crotch?
    “Don’t do that to me anymore.” She stood up, went to the door, and glanced back over
     her shoulder. “It’s time to go.”
    *   *   *
    Della and Steve landed in the designated spot of the state park five minutes later.
     A clearing, secluded from any road or human life, and surrounded by trees. A place
     where anything could happen and there’d be no witnesses. Della scanned the area, seeing
     only tall pines mixed with a few oaks and tons of thorny underbrush.
    She didn’t like it.
    From just looking, one would think the area was abandoned. Only a few stars lit up
     the night sky. But one good nose of air told her the truth. They were here.
    Hidden.
    Waiting.
    But for what?
    To attack?
    And while her nose couldn’t count, she sensed there were more than three of them.
    Did the gang somehow know Della and Steve were assisting the FRU? Or was this just
     the way the gang welcomed all potential new members?
    A sense of