I risked a glance over my shoulder. Two men surrounded Christian, one of them holding an impalement stake.
Three onlookers descended upon them like hyenas.
I slammed my fists against the parked car. “Fight me!”
“Satisfying my ego isn’t worth the risk.”
“Then why lure us here? So other people can do your dirty work for you?”
“Bingo. I just make the money, honey.”
When I moved to the right, he inched left. “A real man fights his own battles.”
Cristo laughed haughtily. “Real men are only real until they’re dead. You’re just a blip on the radar. Nice knowing you, blue eye.” Cristo fled, flashing down the street in the opposite direction from the van.
Oh, no you don’t!
When I caught up with him, I grabbed the back of his shirt and swiped my dagger. It pierced his shoulder, but Cristo didn’t stay still long enough for the blade to sink in. He pivoted, ducked, and tried to escape as I kept a firm grip of the fabric. I finally just dropped the blade and punched him in the face. He flew back several feet, reminding me that Christian’s blood had given me temporary strength.
Invigorated with Vampire blood, I lunged, but he raised his feet and slammed them against my chest. The wind whooshed from my lungs as I fell to my side and coughed up blood.
In the blink of an eye, Cristo scrambled up and flashed off. Still coughing, I staggered to my feet, pants wet from the snow, and harnessed my energy. The instinct to go after him was powerful, but something held me back.
I looked over my shoulder at Christian fighting off a number of men. I couldn’t leave my partner behind. Without a second thought, I flashed down the street just as a Chitah came up behind him with an impalement stake. I blasted the attacker with energy, and when he flew onto the concrete, he hit his head on the curb and fell unconscious. Christian and I stood with our backs together as the men circled us. I hefted a trash can and hurled it at a beetle-browed man in a blue coat.
I sharpened my light, throwing myself at one of them and blasting him in the chest. He convulsed, overpowered by the energy. When he involuntarily shifted into a mountain lion, I blasted him once more, taking no chances.
I couldn’t keep this up. The flashing had depleted my Mage energy as it was, and I didn’t have enough in reserve to fight all the men coming out of the woodwork. Not to mention it wouldn’t even work on Vampires. Still filled with residual Vampire power from Christian, I fought my next assailant hand to hand. I grabbed his beard and gave it a hard yank before kneeing him in the groin. His Mage energy rippled against my skin, so I drove my stunner into his chest to the hilt.
More gunshots blazed overhead, and I slipped on ice as I rushed to the other side of the van. When someone tried to grab me, I quickly slid beneath the vehicle on my stomach. Toward the front, a man fell, blood spraying the white snow. Claude’s familiar sneakers strode by. When a second set came up behind him, a struggle ensued.
I did a belly crawl until I reached the front of the van and stood up. To my horror, more men were advancing in our direction. The Vampire perched on the intersection pole overhead watched with a look of amusement.
This was how people in the Bricks entertained themselves.
While I’d taken down a number of men in controlled environments, nothing had prepared me for what was essentially a street battle.
“We’re outnumbered!” I shouted.
“Damn right you are,” a man growled from behind me as he snaked his arm around my midsection.
I lifted my knee and pulled out the small dagger hidden in the heel of my boot. He swung me around, and my head slammed against the front of the van. Without looking, I reached up and swiped my blade several times until he made a gurgling sound.
I stumbled forward, my breath heavy and the cold air burning my lungs and throat. Claude was nowhere in sight, and Christian was fighting five men at once. His eyes were so bottomless that you could almost see the pit of hell in them.
I gripped my tiny blade and wanted to laugh. Was this how my life would end? In the middle of a snowy street, surrounded by bored men who didn’t even know who they were fighting or why?
When a horn blared in the distance, everyone turned.
At the end of the street, a black sedan faced us. I breathed a sigh of relief as Viktor emerged from the passenger side. He ran toward us and gracefully shifted into his grey wolf, his clothes falling away as he lunged at a man and tore at his arms.
Next came Niko, and he was armed to the teeth with a katana in each hand. His long hair rippled behind him like a shadow in flight as he charged toward us, slicing his blade through a man on his left without breaking stride.
I winced when a bullet struck my hand. Hearing someone coming up behind me, I kicked my leg back and knocked him in the chest.
My thoughts crystallized. Though the man was taller and fifty pounds heavier, we fought like equals. I punched him in the throat, jaw, and probably the nipple—anywhere my fist would land. He took a swing, but I dodged his fist and flashed behind him. Sensing his Mage energy, I realized the only way to take him down was by physical force. I pounced on his back and locked my arm around his neck, squeezing the breath out of him and cutting off circulation to his head.
“Die, you squirmy little bastard!” I growled.
