Saved at Sunrise

danger brushed over her skin. As exciting as it was, fear crowded her chest.
     She remembered the pictures of those who had died at the hands of suspected vampire
     gangs. A mother and a child. An elderly woman. If this was the gang advocating murder
     for initiation, who had taken innocent lives, they needed to be stopped and the risk
     was worth it. Sure, Burnett didn’t believe this was the gang, but he had to have doubts
     or he wouldn’t have sent them on this mission.
    “They’re here,” Steve whispered.
    “I know,” Della said.
    A stirring of underbrush sounded to their right and then one to the left. And then
     behind them. Della spotted another vamp coming out from the trees right at them.
    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