Sunrise(Pact Arcanum 2) Read Free Page B

eyes lit up. “Oh, I know. Someone at work mentioned a place that’s right on the brink of becoming popular. I meant to scout it, in case they want to book us for a gig.”
    Take looked at her skeptically. “You meant to scout it? You don’t actually know where it is?”
    She smirked, supremely confident as always. “I know roughly where it is, and we can just look around until we find it.”
    Rory’s expression failed to hide his annoyance. “Everything has to be an adventure with you, doesn’t it?”
    “You’re always the serious one, Rory. Come on. Life’s too short!” She grabbed her purse. “Try to keep up, boys.”
    The spring night was crisp and clear as they followed Ana down the streets of the Mission District. After a few turns, they found themselves in a deserted lane between buildings. Ana frowned, trying to get her bearings. Take and Rory watched with amusement, knowing she wouldn’t admit to being lost. She didn’t. Instead, she led them down another deserted alley back toward the street. Her path was suddenly blocked by two men stepping out of the shadows on either side of her.
    They were both young, seemingly in their late teens, and wore jeans and T-shirts under light leather jackets. The one on the left smiled and stubbed out his cigarette on the wall next to him. “A little off the beaten path, aren’t we?”
    Ana colored. Behind her, Rory and Take tensed, the haze of alcohol and good food evaporating.
    “Don’t mind us, boys,” Ana said with typical bravado. “We see where we need to go.” She pointed to the street ahead of them, the lights shining invitingly.
    The other man smiled, a decidedly wrong smile—as if his teeth were too long, too pointed to be real. “I don’t think so.”
    The three musicians backed away as the two men approached them, and then suddenly there was only one in front of them. He grabbed Ana’s left arm. The sleeve of her suit jacket dripped red where the points of his claws sank into her flesh.
    Rory blinked. Claws? Brushing off his confusion, he leapt forward as Ana screamed in rage and swung her handbag, slamming it against the man’s head. Rory was jerked to a halt by what felt like a band of iron encircling his shoulder. Turning, he found the hand of the other teenager clenched like a vice above his right arm. On the other side of him, Take struggled to free himself from the man’s other hand.
    Ana kicked her assailant between the legs. As he staggered backward, she used the distraction to reach into her pocket and pull out her key ring. Letting her keys slide between her fingers, she slammed her clenched fist forward and drove a protruding key into the man’s right eye, just as he straightened up again.
    The teenager holding Take and Rory snorted, and then began to laugh.
    The injured teen merely blinked as the tissue of his ruined eye visibly knitted together. Only the blood spilled down his face marked where Ana’s attack had landed. He growled, his irises gleaming bright red, and then he yanked Ana forward into his arms. “Little girl, you just made a serious mistake.” He smiled, revealing curved fangs where his canines should have been. “And it’s going to cost you.”
     
    * * *
     
    The humans walked into view, two men and a woman, all in their early twenties. They were obviously half drunk and lost, the woman scanning the walls of the alley for landmarks. One of the Nightwalkers stubbed out his cigarette on the wall behind him, then stepped into their way. “A little off the beaten track, aren’t we, folks?”
    Antonio watched the three of them awaken to their peril, and try to brazen it out. The woman pointed toward Antonio’s end of the alley. “Don’t mind us, boys. We see where we need to go.”
    The vampire that had spoken answered, and the other pushed away from the wall as well. “I don’t think so.”
    Damn! They were going to kill all three, right here, while he watched. He was lucky the vampires were so intent on