Saved at Sunrise by C. C. Hunter Read Free Book Online

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,