Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(61)

“No,” Shawn said, lowering his voice. “Let’s get to the park. There’s a spot in the back where hardly anyone hangs out. We’ll have more privacy to ask them some questions.”

They continued down the sidewalk, their footsteps echoing in the night. Shawn made it sound so simple—find a quiet spot and ask the guys a few questions.

Call her a pessimist, but she didn’t see it being that easy. Some feeling, a premonition of sorts, told Della this night wasn’t going to end without trouble.

That was okay, she told herself. She could handle three vampires. It was matters of the heart that were her downfall, and her thoughts went back to Chan.

*   *   *

They arrived at the park and continued down a path that led behind one of the ponds. Only the stars and the moon gave them light. Della listened to the distant footsteps blending with the night sounds, and even caught the shuffling sound of some unhappy wildlife going for cover.

After a few minutes, the footsteps following them changed course. Della got the feeling the three vamps thought they knew where they were going and wanted to take a different path to try to ambush them.

She cut her eyes to Chase, and he nodded at her as if he was aware of it as well. Della reached out and touched Shawn on his arm and sent a warning look. He nodded as if he understood exactly what she meant.

They arrived at the pond, the moon and stars reflected off the too-still water. They kept walking around to an area toward the back.

A few steps later, she caught the strong smell of skunk. Both Chase and Shawn groaned from the stench. Not that she minded. She was one of those weird people who actually liked the smell. She took a deep noseful. Mixed in the musky scent, she picked up another odor. Oh, hell, she smelled a rat. Three of them. No, a lot more than three.

She cut her gaze, already brightening from the sense of a threat, to Chase. He had a hand covering his nose, and didn’t seem to notice. Which was exactly what the rogue vamps had hoped. They’d obviously gotten skunked on purpose in hopes of going undetected. Not even a bad idea. “We’ve got company.”

She barely got the sentence out when eight vamps landed in a circle around them.

With the threat now visible, her fangs lowered.

“You don’t want to do this,” Shawn said.

“Looks like they do,” Chase seethed, his eyes now glowing and his own fangs clearly extended.

“Hey … that guy’s pretty smart,” said one smartass vamp pointing to Chase.

“Slow and easy,” Della whispered, warning Chase, hoping he understood that he should let Shawn, the agent Burnett put in charge, do his thing before attacking.

“But I like fast and hard,” said one of the dirty vamps, grinding his h*ps in a vulgar motion.

Chase growled.

“Calm down,” Della whispered.

“Hand over the backpack, Witchboy,” said the dark-haired vamp to Della’s right.

“I think we can work this out. I’ve got a plan,” Shawn said, sounding cool and collected. Della admired his calm approach. Not that she thought it was going to work, but she had to give him credit for trying.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” Shawn continued. “I’ll give it to you and tell you where another few pints are buried close by. All you guys have to do is answer a few questions.”

“You got more O?” asked the vamp who liked it fast and hard.

“That’s right. And all you need to do is answer a few questions.”

The dark-haired vamp, obviously the leader, and even more obviously a rogue, pulled a knife from a holder strapped to his calf. It was an impressive knife—four- or five-inch blade. Big enough to do some damage.

She remembered the knife she’d taken in the chest on her first mission, which was about that same size. Not that it could happen again. Being a Reborn, this guy didn’t stand a chance. Or at least, she hoped that to be true.

“Yeah,” the rogue said, “but you see, I don’t like questions. But I do like O blood. So why don’t you just tell me where the blood is, and that might convince me not to kill you. Or at least to kill you fast.”

The threat made the blood in Della’s veins fizz. The knife-wielding vamp smiled and it came off so evil, Della shivered. Not from fear, but from anticipation. Wiping that smile off his face was gonna be fun!

She glanced at Chase. “Okay, so maybe slow and easy wasn’t a good idea.”

“Not yet,” Shawn said, holding a hand toward them, then he spoke to the leader of the pack. “You don’t want to mess with us.” He raised his shirt and exposed his badge and a flash of his tight abdomen.

Yup, Della could see why Miranda had a thing for the guy.

Things went dead silent. Even the leaves didn’t move. No doubt, the rogue leader was weighing his options: cooperate, run like hell, or go forward with his threat.

“We ain’t scared of you,” said the mouthy, fast-and-hard vamp. “Are we, Marco?” he asked the leader.

Marco didn’t say anything at first. Apparently, he wasn’t quite as stupid as his friend.

“There’s just three of them,” said another of the vamps.

Marco, the caller of the shots, shifted his stance. His shoulders tensed in a defensive posture. Maybe she’d overestimated his intelligence.

His eyes glowed a bit brighter, telling her he wasn’t planning on backing down. She almost wanted to clap her hands.