“Brother, how like you to sneak off and sample the sweets by yourself,” drawled a male voice from above. “And look at the trouble it has wrought you.”

Dread filled me as I looked up at the figure standing on the fire escape above our heads. I felt Eli’s grip on my throat loosen and his sigh of relief against my hair.

“Come now Joel, you know I always save some for you,” Eli’s voice rang with triumph and the hope I’d felt a minute before died. What chance did we have against a pair of vampires?

Joel laughed and leaned against the metal railing. “I think I deserve a little more than a nibble this time. Mmm… she looks like a tasty little bit.”

Eli caressed my cheek. “This one is mine.”

“No!” I shouted, twisting out of his hold. For a second I was free and my eyes immediately flew to Nikolas. I saw his body tense to spring.

Eli snatched me back against him just as Joel landed softy beside him. I found myself flanked by two snarling monsters and my newfound courage floundered.

Nikolas drew a long lethal sword and faced them with no trace of fear on his face. In that instant I knew that no matter what happened, he would not desert me. For whatever reason he had risked his own life for mine and live or die, we were in this together.

“You can’t take us both and save her,” taunted Eli. “She will die and your efforts will be for naught.”

The ghost of a smile passed over Nikolas’s face. “Then I will have to settle for killing only you.”

If Eli reacted to that statement, I did not see it. But I thought I detected a small quiver in his voice when he said, “Bold words for one outnumbered.”

Before Nikolas could reply a new voice cut through the tension in the alley. "Sara?” called Roland, followed by Peter shouting, “Sara, where are you?” My heart constricted and I had to bite my lip to keep me from calling out to them. I couldn’t drag them into this and watch them die beside me.

Eli’s head jerked a little and Joel’s eyes darted from Nikolas to the alley entrance.

Nikolas laughed harshly. “Do you smell that my friends? I believe the odds just changed.”

I shot him a horrified look. Was he planning to use Roland and Peter as decoys to draw the vampires away from us? I would rather die than watch my friends get hurt because of me.

“Come Brother, there are sweeter meals to be had,” Joel said, not taking his eyes off Nikolas.

“No.” Eli spat. “I want this one.”

Nikolas shifted and his sword gleamed wickedly. “Release her or die: your choice. And you’d better make your mind up very soon.”

“Sara, damn it where are you?” Roland sounded frantic. They were closer, almost at the mouth of the alley.

Eli’s hold tightened convulsively and I let out an involuntary cry.

One of my friends shouted, I couldn’t tell who it was. I heard a commotion in the street, followed by a growling noise that made my hair stand on end. Oh God what is that? I didn’t want to think about what horrors Roland and Peter could be facing now too.

I couldn’t see the street but I heard something big run into the alley. Eli let out a screech unlike anything I’d ever heard and lunged for the fire escape, pulling me with him like I weighed nothing. When he reached for the metal ladder, my gut twisted because I knew if he made it up the fire escape I was dead. Once he reached the roof he could easily jump to the next building and there was no way Nikolas would catch him. I’d rather die here in this alley than be tortured at the hands of a vampire.

Behind us, I heard snarls and the sounds of a battle as Nikolas engaged the other vampire. There was no time to wonder who was winning that fight because I was fighting for my own life. I scratched and kicked and struggled futilely to break free from the vise-like arm around my waist. Eli’s other hand snared the ladder and pulled it toward us.

He made it almost to the first landing before he shrieked in pain and jerked backward violently. Hanging from the ladder with one hand, he lashed out with his feet at whatever was coming at him from below. He could have thrown me at his attacker to save himself, but he held on, determined to keep me while I screamed and clawed like a wild cat. The ladder groaned as the thing below tried to pull the vampire to the ground. Eli kicked at it with a force that would have killed a human but it held on. Whatever it was, it was as strong as a vampire. The thought of something that powerful, terrified and thrilled me at the same time and I twisted my body to see what it was.

The creature had to be almost seven feet tall, even while slightly hunched over. It stood on two legs and it was covered in dark bristled hair with broad shoulders and clawed hands and feet. My eyes lifted to its face and I sucked in a sharp breath at the yellow eyes, short pointed ears and long snarling snout that revealed the biggest teeth I’d ever seen.

Werewolf! My mind struggled to come to grips with what my eyes were telling it. I was face to face with a real live werewolf. I knew vampires and werewolves were mortal enemies but what were the chances of me ending up in the middle of a battle between the two in an alley in downtown Portland?

The werewolf’s terrifying gaze met mine and I saw savage intelligence in his amber eyes as his powerful jaws clamped down on Eli’s calf. As the deadly fangs tore through his flesh and bone, Eli screamed in pain and his arm around me tightened until I gasped for air. With a bloodcurdling roar, he kicked at the werewolf with his other foot and the force of the blow sent the wolf staggering backwards. It was all Eli needed to pull us both up to the metal landing.