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  “What’s the hurry?” His voice is deep and his breath rank with alcohol as she looks up to meet his slightly glazed stare.

  Three more guys encircle them, each with a definite lustful glint in their eyes. Roseline sighs and looks to Sadie. “I knew this would be a bad idea.”

  “Nah. It’s the best idea you’ve had all night,” a guy with a torn white T-shirt and a set of perfectly straight teeth that glow brilliantly under the backlight says.

  Roseline ignores him and focuses only on Sadie. She can hear the wild thumping of the men’s hearts mingling with several others on approach. Why didn’t she think to warn her friend about trying to keep her hormones in check? She isn’t even sure if Sadie could have managed to do that in the first place, but she should have at least mentioned it.

  A lot of good I am, she thinks sourly as she tugs Sadie close to her side.

  She swats at the guy behind her as he reaches for her arm. He snarls and sways slightly in place. Roseline knows one good push would send him sprawling off his feet, but she doesn’t want to draw any more attention to them than they have already managed to garner.

  Sadie’s eyes flash with anger as the guy behind her reaches for her again. This time his aim is high and lands dangerously close to the bottom of her halter. She lashes out and slams her boot into the guys shin, downing him instantly.

  Several more guys have crowded around. Roseline sighs. Looks like there’s not going to be an easy way of slipping out of this mess.

  “Whatever happens, don’t lose control,” she orders through gritted teeth as another hand lands on her arm. This one is beefy and disgustingly sticky, though she can’t tell if it is from spilled beer or profuse amounts of sweat. Neither seems like a pleasant option at this point.

  “I don’t think it’s us that we need to worry about,” Sadie mutters, her gaze focused beyond her.

  Roseline turns to look over her shoulder just as a cry rises over the music. It is shrill, startled, and cuts off quickly as the guy in the shredded T-shirt slams into a far wall. After a sickening crunch, he slumps to the ground, unmoving. A line has carved through the crowd as people peer at the fallen partier. Gabriel stands less than three feet behind her, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

  His nostrils are flared, his lips peeled back from his teeth. A low growl rumbles steadily in his chest. Nicolae stands at his side, his hand instinctively reaching for the knife that he normally keeps at his side but was left behind for the evening’s festivities.

  They entered Brasov unarmed. At least in the sense of no human being able to detect it. She made sure to tuck a small dagger into Sadie’s boot just before she did the same with her own. Gabriel has a similar knife tucked into a sheath attached to his calf. Knowing Nicolae, there is no doubt that William is the only one who came unarmed tonight.

  “Why’d you do that?” she hisses.

  Gabriel’s eyes widen and his cheeks darken as he splutters. “They were touching you.”

  “Of course they were,” she utters in barely constrained frustration. “We were handling it.”

  “Didn’t look like it to me,” he growls back. He crosses his arms over his chest and Roseline feels her stomach clench with desire. Gabriel has his own hormonal pull when he wants to and right now she is feeling irresistibly drawn to him. Maybe this whole protector thing isn’t so bad after all, she silently muses.

  “I appreciate your desire to defend my honor,” she says aloud, placing a hand on his chest to calm him, “but you know you can’t just toss people around without raising questions.”

  He blinks, as if suddenly realizing for the first time that there is a crowd around him. A crowd filled with nosy people with cell phone cameras poised for a photo op.

  The music has stopped completely. Large men in stretched black shirts are heading their way, but their progress is stunted by the unyielding crowd.

  Nicolae reaches Sadie’s side as the offending gang of drunkards seems to recover from their shock. “You’re gonna pay for that.” The guy who speaks as he shoves his way through the front of the crowd seems older than the others, his hair shaved and a wide bullring slotted through his nose. He has matching rings in both eyebrows as well.

  Roseline eyes him up. “What’s it to you?”

  His look is so different than the other guys. He seems to be of a rougher stock. “That guy your boyfriend just chucked across the room is my little brother.”

  “Well, that little pervert had his hands on my friend,” she replies curtly. “He deserves what he got.”

  The man’s cheeks darken with anger. He inserts himself in Sadie’s face, showing only the slightest hint of concern when Nicolae shoves between them. The guy might be taller than Nicolae, but even a complete stranger should be able to tell that Nicolae is dangerous.

  “Back off before someone else gets hurt,” he warns in a low voice, dark and definitely threatening.

  The man laughs and Roseline realizes his words are slightly slurred. The scent of alcohol seems to pour straight from his pores. “He’s drunk, Nicolae. Let it go.”

  “Let it go?” The man laughs. “Are you going to let the little girl tell you what to do?”

  Nicolae snarls and pushes into the guy. “Trust me, she’s not someone you want to mess with.”

  His laugh is mirrored by many in the crowd surrounding them. Roseline closes her eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of her nose to help herself calm down. I knew something like this would happen. A club? Why did I ever agree to this?

  The guy puffs up his chest and snakes his hand past Nicolae to latch onto Roseline’s arm. “I’d like to see her try.”

  His grip is firm against her forearm. Roseline shakes her head at Gabriel and Nicolae, waiting for them to step back as she closes the gap between herself and the nose ring punk. She can hear Sadie turn to Gabriel and say, “I’m going to enjoy this.”

  “What are you going to do now?” The man gloats. Spittle flies from his mouth and lands upon her cheek. Disgusted, Roseline wipes away the offending moisture and smiles.

  “Which body part do you care least about?”

  His eyes narrow and she notices his pupils are highly dilated. “Are you threatening me?”

  She sighs and grabs his hand. “Just remember I gave you a choice.”

  With lightning-fast reflexes, she whips his hand around behind his back, lifting it nearly high enough to touch the base of his neck. She hears a loud pop, followed instantly by his howl. Raising her foot, she slams her boot into the back of his leg, driving him to the ground. With a simple push, he sprawls to the dance floor. His shouts of pain can barely be heard over the hooting of the crowd, which goes nuts as she takes him down with ease. No doubt that video will make its debut on the internet tonight.

  Roseline looks up, idly noting the bouncer’s continued struggle to get through the wall of cheering patrons. They are making little headway. She glances toward Gabriel and sees his open pride. “That’s how you take down a guy in a club.”

  He nods as she steps over her victim. No part of what she did would look out of place in the human world, apart from the fact that she is much smaller than him. Perhaps people will wonder if she has some sort of martial arts training or took a self-defense class. PMS could also be a highly likely candidate.

  “Feel better?” he asks, grinning as he winds his arms around her waist.

  “Much.”

  Sadie looks around. “Where’s Will?”

  Nicolae turns, craning his neck to look toward the bar. “He was just behind me.”

  Roseline lifts up onto her toes, peering over the heads of the crowd surrounding them. “There he is!”

  A hand grips her arm with enough force to cause pain and she looks back to see Gabriel. His face has drained of color. “What’s wrong?”

  His eyes are focused beyond her and she turns to follow but sees nothing. “Did you see that?”

  “See what?” Sadie asks as she drags Nicolae along after her.

&
nbsp; “I saw something on the balcony.” There is a distinctive tremor in Gabriel’s voice that worries Roseline.

  She lifts her gaze one more time to peer into the shadows, but the balcony is completely empty. It’s not like him to overreact, at least not to this extreme. Flaring out her nostrils, Roseline takes a deep breath and freezes.

  There is a new scent on the air. Dank and animalistic. “There’s something in here.”

  “Something?” Sadie questions as she instinctively leans into Nicolae.

  Roseline nods, her gaze sweeping over the crowd. The humans are oblivious to the presence. The music has resumed and the crowd has begun to disband. Nose ring jerk has shuffled along the floor to collect his brother and is limping along the far wall toward the exit. That’s when she sees it.

  A hulking shadow emerges from the top of the stairwell. The animal is down on all four legs, each clothed in muscle and tawny fur. Long, jagged teeth appear as the beast’s face emerges from the darkness.

  Its scent is overpowering now. She can see every detail of its canine muzzle, right down to the moisture clinging to its nose.

  It is far too large to be a normal dog or wolf. It stands nearly chest height. Its paws are large enough to swipe a head off its victim’s shoulders with one swing. Its hackles are raised, poised to strike.

  “What do we do?” Sadie asks. Roseline can hear the confusion in her voice and sympathizes. She casts a glance out over all of the human faces surrounding them. If they attack the beast in attempt to save the mortals, they will have to reveal their otherworldly abilities, yet can they really stand by and watch as they are slaughtered?

  “Get William and get out of here!” she screams as the beast leaps onto the brothers, tearing at the throat of the nose ring guy. Blood sprays across the wall and an endless scream rises from the dance floor.

  Roseline whips around at the shudder in the floor. Five more monsters have leapt down from the balcony, cornering the humans.

  “Roseline?” Nicolae shouts.

  “We’ll worry about the repercussions later. Just save as many of the humans as you can.”

  She turns to look at Gabriel and finds him already staring at her. He reaches out a hand to her and squeezes hers. His grip is fierce, as if he is terrified of letting her go. “I love you.”

  “I know.” She smiles, releasing his hand. She turns and leaps toward the stairwell, her dagger already in hand.

  TEN

  Roseline hurtles over the railing and drives her dagger into the beast’s face, scoring bone as it grazes off its skull just over its right eye. A wide patch of raw flesh shines dark purple under the strobe lights. Its howl of pain reverberates through her chest as she narrowly misses its snapping jaws. Blood splatters across her face as she loops her arm around its neck and swings up onto its back in one fluid motion.

  The hound bucks wildly as she sinks down onto its haunches, snagging her fingers deep into its matted fur. Its hair is gnarled with leaves, twigs, and mud. The scent of death and smoke clings to it as she digs in her heels, forcing it to leap over the petrified human clinging to the remains of his brother, his nose ring the only remaining recognizable feature.

  She cries out as the hound crashes to the ground, having leaped an entire flight of stairs in one bound. Squeezing her legs to remain astride it, Roseline can feel its horrifying strength as it moves.

  “Get everyone out!” she screams, praying that one of her friends will hear her over the shrieks and pounding of feet as the humans make for the exits.

  The beast’s paws slip on the blood-slick floor. Mutilated bodies lie before her. Vacant eyes stare up at her, accusing her of not acting sooner, of bringing this death upon them.

  A shiver ripples along her spine as she stares across the room at Sadie and Nicolae fighting back to back. Their blades glint in the strobe lights, clashing loudly against the eerie silence that drips from the lifeless speakers.

  Roseline cranes her neck and sees the body of the DJ lying across his control panel. His head is missing, as is an arm and part of his torso.

  Looking to her left, she hears shouts and shattering of glass. The bartender and waitresses are holed up behind the bar, tossing bottles at a gray hound that approaches, its belly low to the ground.

  “Hiyah!” She slams her heels into the beast and it leaps forward, snarling and clawing at the floor. Its great black nails score the wood as it barrels toward the bar.

  At the last second, Roseline drives her dagger into the side of its neck and yanks on the handle, steering the monster straight into the gray hound.

  Just before they collide, Roseline leaps off its back and lands in a silent crouch. The beasts bray as they collide. The sound of bones snapping echoes in her ears, followed by grunts and howls as they begin nipping at each other.

  Roseline rises, her hands feeling void as she realizes she has lost her dagger.

  “What are you?” a terrified blond girl with glittery purple eye shadow asks as she peeks out over the top of the bar. She is wide-eyed and visibly shaken.

  Ignoring her question, Roseline leaps onto the counter and searches for her friends. Nicolae and Sadie have two of the beasts cornered nearest the stage. She can see bloody claw marks on Sadie’s arm and a gash across Nicolae’s forehead, but they are on their feet. Gabriel has another hound barred within a bathroom door, digging his feet in as he tries to reach for one of the golden barrier poles to shove through the door handle.

  The two hounds before her snap one final time at each other, then rise unsteadily. Clumps of hair scatter about their feet, giving them a mangy, wild look. Their eyes glint black as they turn, sniffing the air with their noses poised high. It will take only a moment before they realize where she is.

  “Is there another way out?” She glances over her shoulder down at the six humans hiding behind her.

  She nearly allows herself to snicker when she notices two of the bouncers are hiding with them. So much for using their muscles when it really counts, she muses as she stares at them expectantly.

  “Is there an exit?” she shouts again.

  The blonde raises a trembling finger toward a door at the end of the bar. It is a swinging sort with no lock. Roseline grits her teeth and becomes distinctly aware of the fact that she is being stalked. “When I tell you to run, you head straight for that door. Don’t look back, no matter what you hear.”

  “You’re not coming with us?” The waitress’ voice croaks. Her eyes are glazed with terror, her lips suffering from a constant tremor.

  “No.” Roseline glances toward the hounds and realizes she’s rapidly running out of time.

  “I need a weapon.” She glances beyond the girl to search the wall of glass shelves. Most are completely empty. Shards of glass shimmer at their feet from where fumbling hands dropped some of their ammunition.

  “A knife. Give me a knife!” She warily watches the tawny hound as it zeroes in on her. Its tail wags slowly behind it, like a dog eager to play, only this dog seems more intent on killing than playing fetch.

  “We don’t have any,” the bartender shouts. Behind her, Roseline can hear a clattering as they frantically search behind the bar.

  “Just give me something!”

  She turns when something hard is placed in her hand. Her eyebrow hikes. “Are you kidding? You expect me to kill that thing with a freakin’ drink tray?”

  The blonde offers her a weak shrug and ducks back down. Just to Roseline’s left, she spies a flash of black and turns to see William dashing along the outside wall. She grabs the front of one of the bouncers’ shirts nearest her and yanks him up, pointing toward William. “You want to live? Get my friend out of here and I will see to it that you do.”

  Roseline waits for him to offer her a panicked nod and then leaps down off the counter to face off with not one massive monster, but two. “This is going to hurt,” she mutters to herself as she slowly leaves the safety of the bar to draw away her adversary’s attention. Gripping the tray, Roselin
e wracks her brain for a game plan.

  The gray wolf approaches faster than the tawny one. The former has obviously learned not to underestimate her. With a braying loud enough to vibrate the walls, it leaps at her.

  “Now!” Roseline ducks and flings the tray, catching the gray wolf straight in the muzzle. Blood splatters from the sides of its mouth; the corners of its lips split wide. Teeth knock loose from its gums and clatter to the floor as it spits the tray aside.

  She doesn’t turn to see if the humans have run like she commanded. Her sole attention focuses on the tawny hound as it prepares to leap.

  A shrill howl echoes up through the rafters. Roseline blinks, shocked to find Gabriel slowly rising from behind the tawny hound. His hands are slick with dark blood, his neck and face splattered with gore.

  The beast before him shudders as it falls on its side. A thick black sludge escapes from the gaping wound Gabriel just cut along its hide. The gray wolf hesitates, red saliva dripping from its mouth, as it stares at its fallen companion.

  She sees the moment of indecision and cries out as it turns tail and runs. “Don’t let it escape!”

  Gabriel is already on the move. He digs into the side of the tawny wolf and retrieves his blade. It is covered in the black ichor that trails down his fingers and drips onto the floor. Steam rises from the goop.

  Roseline doesn’t have time to ask if it burns as the gray hound bolts toward the door behind the bar. William!

  With hardly a thought, she leaps into the air and easily clears the bar top, slamming through the swinging door with enough force to tear it from its hinges. The door bangs as it hits the ground behind her.

  The kitchen beyond is decked out in tile and stainless steel appliances, spotless and unused. She follows the crimson paw prints, darting past a walk-in cooler and around a toppled set of serving carts. Apparently, Pandemic has a full service kitchen. Probably when all of the lights are on and the dance floor is clear, it turns into a rather nice facility that offers catering.

  She can hear Gabriel racing after her, still several steps behind. “Grab a weapon,” she calls back over her shoulder and hears him skid to a stop. Metal drawers clatter and slam shut again as Gabriel searches.