across her face, and I felt guilty for just the slightest of moments before I remembered who these lunatics were.
I twirled the club and threw a coldhearted gaze at my audience. “Sorry to crash your party, but this is a sting operation. You’re all under arrest. I want everyone to sit down with your hands on your head.”
Someone threw their glass at my face and flashed off. Another ripped off her mask and rushed me. I swung the club and struck her arm. Blood sprayed the onlookers to my left. The club fell from my grip and into the ring as two people shoved me toward the ledge.
So much for an orderly arrest.
I spotted Christian in the ring. “I could use some help up here!”
“Working on it!” He charged the gate and bounced off like a quarter against a mattress.
Teetering over the edge of the balcony, I turned my head and chomped someone’s arm. When they let go, I elbowed the other person who had ahold of my hair. One look at my fangs and they recoiled. I kicked the person in the stomach, and her mask fell off. Pandemonium ensued as the crowd turned into a mob and surged toward me. I braced for my imminent death, but they ran on by.
“What the hell?” I turned to watch the mayhem.
One of them hurtled over the wall. On the opposite side, others were leaping into the pit.
“Everyone down!” Shepherd’s strident voice made me flinch as he fired his gun into the air.
Dust and pebbles showered over Gem, and she shook her head. “Watch where you aim that thing.”
Gem curled her fingers rhythmically as a sphere of light rolled in her palm. Her energy ball was throwing the crowd in a panic.
I joined them. “Glad you made it. What’s the plan?”
Shepherd frowned at the unconscious woman on the ground. “Where’s the boss lady? Viktor wants her in custody before we do anything else.”
Striding up to us, Christian tucked a lollipop inside his cheek and rested his arm on Shepherd’s shoulder. “Couldn’t help but overhear your dilemma. Why don’t we throw everyone in the pit before they get it in their wee minds to flee or fight?”
“You busted the gate,” I pointed out.
He pulled out the red lollipop and kissed the end of it. “Blue let me in. The gate’s closed. Anyone up for a tossing game? Whoever gets the most in the ring takes a cut of everyone’s pay.”
Shepherd glowered. “Nobody’s got time for that. Did you see the redhead or the little man?”
I glanced behind me at the masked crowd. Gem was keeping them at bay with her electric ball, static ripping through the air like needles. “Pablo was down here earlier, and he didn’t use the slide. There has to be an elevator somewhere.”
Gem’s power ball suddenly fizzled out. “Oopsie.”
A bystander made a wild lunge at Gem, who didn’t see it coming. The person thrust their palm into her face and made a run for it. Shepherd fired his gun, and they fell like a stone. The mask came off, revealing a man who looked twenty.
When the bystanders saw we weren’t killing them, they stopped cowering. With the lollipop stick poking out of his mouth, Christian grabbed a woman by the throat and flung her into the ring.
I flashed down the stairwell. Claude was guarding a tunnel entrance, his eyes feral and all four fangs extended. A woman lay at his feet. She was lucky she had only two puncture marks in her neck instead of four, but I couldn’t imagine Claude intentionally killing a woman with his venom, even in primal mode. These people didn’t know that though, so I couldn’t think of a better person to guard the exit than a Mage’s mortal enemy.
I took off in search of Audrey. As I passed the gate to the ring, I noticed a woman reaching for the long lever so she could free those inside.
“Oh no you don’t.” I yanked her away by her black robe.
The woman scowled at me and drew closer. Suddenly I felt an uncontrollable attraction to her—those lovely green eyes, those full lips, that deliciously sexy vein in her slender neck. My Vampire side sounded the alarm bells.
“Charmer,” I hissed before biting her neck.
She struggled but eventually weakened in my grip. Her blood revolted me, the vile flavor like bug spray or old chemicals. Everyone had their own unique flavor, but mostly I just tasted their sins.
Instead of pulling her light, which was usually how