“Listen, I have no beef with you. If this is your territory, bro, I’ll just be gettin’ out of your hair, alright?” She tried her best street-gang lingo on him. If she could convince him she was just some low-level con and not scouting out vampires, maybe he’d let her go.

“What do you want?”

Like she was going to tell him. Hell, the guy was insistent.

“Zane!”

His head whipped back to the voice behind him. Several figures came toward them, all still cast in dark shadows. Great, more vampires. Her survival chances had just dwindled exponentially.

“What’s going on?” the same voice inquired. The man came into view. The first thing Nina saw was the large scar which reached from his chin all the way to his ear. Gruesome. She could tell that at some time in the past he’d been handsome, but the ugly scar had put an end to that.

“This man just attacked me!” Maybe she could create some confusion and appeal to someone’s sense of chivalry toward a woman, not that she got her hopes up. They would only get trampled.

“Nina?”

Now there was a voice she definitely recognized.

Amaury pushed into sight, a stunned look on his gorgeous face. Damn, the man was still as handsome as the night before. She hadn’t imagined it.

“You know her?” Scarface with the ponytail asked.

“Zane, let her go. Now!” Amaury ordered the vampire who was still keeping her imprisoned. Zane showed no intention of letting her go. On the contrary, it felt as if he tightened his grip on her.

“Don’t tell me she’s one of your floozies!” The female voice surprised her. Nina glanced in her direction. If there ever was a woman who could be called a femme fatale, it was this one. Black leather pants, a tight colorful top, boobs galore. And an absolutely flawless face framed by short black hair. Some girls had all the luck.

“Shut up, Yvette! Zane, let her go,” Amaury repeated his command.

“Who is she?” Zane was clearly not willing to give in.

“None of your fucking business.”

“It is when she’s spying on Scanguards.”

“Nina, you weren’t spying on Scanguards, were you?” Amaury’s conspiratorial look was subtle.

“Of course not. I was just waiting for you.” She hoped nobody could hear the shaking in her voice.

“You’re dating a human?” The vampire with the ponytail and scar gave Amaury a scolding look. “May I remind you of what we discussed two nights ago?”

“I know what we discussed, Gabriel. No need to remind me. I’ll take care of it.”

“Really?” Yvette interjected.

“Yes, really.” Amaury sounded pretty pissed off.

“You’d better. No exposure.” Gabriel made an indication to Zane to release her. Nina felt his reluctance to do so. The bastard had obviously hoped to do a little harm, and he was still blocking her.

“I think I’d rather do it myself,” Zane insisted. “I don’t think you can be trusted to wipe her memory. You’re too biased.”

Wipe her memory? How were they going to do that? By drilling into her skull?

Zane and Amaury shot daggers at each other. If looks could kill, well, luckily they couldn’t, or at least she didn’t think they could. But what did she know about what else vampires were capable of?

“Nina, step away from him and come over here.”

She suppressed the urge to give Zane the finger and was only too happy to comply with Amaury’s command. Better the vampire she knew….

She noticed the look Yvette gave her when she finally stood next to Amaury. Her next comment came as no surprise.

“Is she that good that you’re willing to betray your friends?” The woman let her gaze travel over Nina’s body, making her feel like she was undergoing an inspection she had no chance of passing.

“Stay out of this, Yvette,” he growled.

“That good in bed, huh?” Yvette tossed a cold smile at Nina. “Watch out—he’ll take what he wants and doesn’t give a damn about the consequences.”

Nina was at a loss of how to respond. She was glad she didn’t have to. Gabriel cut off the conversation.

“That’s enough. Amaury, you know what to do. If you don’t take care of this situation, I will. Or worse, Zane will. Do we understand each other?”

There was a slight hesitation from Amaury. She noticed how his hands balled into fists. “Loud and clear.”

He turned and grabbed her arm. “Let’s go.” The gruffness of his voice didn’t bode well for her immediate future.