Page 22 of Pike

“Oh, good. Good.”

Lavinia was too frightened to move, anyway. Let alone breathe. Her mind froze right along with her and she was unable to concentrate on anything but Pike. She shuddered against him.

“We can talk this out amicably,” she said from the space between Pike’s arm and torso. “There’s no need to teach anyone a lesson. I’m sorry for…for whatever it was I said that made you go mental. I can make it up to you in any way that doesn’t involve me personally getting naked or staying down here with you.”

Why was trouble always finding her? It was as if she had a giant glowing beacon over her head. Or a target painted on her back. Hadn’t there been enough misfortune in her life to last for…well, a lifetime? She still had plenty of years ahead of her. If they were all going to be as rough—grueling, even—as the last decade, then maybe she could hand her immortality back to whatever gave her the power in the first place.

“Pike, do something,” she hissed.

“What would you like me to do, love?” He made a show of nonchalance. Still, Lavinia felt the tension in his body. “Not like there’s anywhere to run. They’re blocking the exits.”

Herb sent a screeching command out to the other three. “He’s really mad. Why did you bring me here?” She asked the question with a moan. “Is this part of your plan?” Pike must have done something to set the shifters off. Beyond his natural animosity with other males.

“Because I thought you needed to learn.”

“Learn what? How to get the smell of crap out of my clothes? Or how to navigate the sewers in the dark once they make me one of them?”

“Let’s try Learning to Deflect a Shifter 101.”

“I never went to college.”

Herb and his cronies crowded closer. Lavinia wanted to crawl into a hole, preferably one with a two-person-sized Jacuzzi and enough towels to wrap entirely around her body. Twice.

“Grab the necklace,” Pike hissed from the corner of his mouth.

“Grab the— Are you crazy?”

“Too late for any surprise moves, Radclyffe. Cover me, Martin.” Herb stepped forward another foot, and at the same time one of his rats leaped out from behind him with surprising grace. They charged.

Dammit, they were fast. Too fast for her. Lavinia pivoted, scooping her hand down into the muck where the necklace had dropped. It was too much luck to ask for, finding it on the first try. With Pike taking the brunt of the attack, she dropped down to her knees. Grunting. Gagging.

She watched the fight out of the corner of her eye. Pike used the rat’s momentum to throw him headfirst into the storm drain behind them. The wall caved in and chunks of cement dropped into the water. The rat shuddered, slumped, while the others circled.

Her fingers fished through the murky depths of the sewer and Lavinia tried not to think of the diseases she could catch from the exposure. A tetanus shot was definitely overdue. It didn’t pay to take immortality for granted. She didn’t feel like testing the boundaries.

Pike held up his hands and gestured for the rest of them to come on. When Herb hesitated, her dark knight used the momentary hesitation to race them toward the opposite wall. He threw his leg up and smacked the closest one across the temple. The female rat went down with a hiss before slumping against the wall. A second rat reached for his ankle and Pike kicked free. An agonized screech blasted through the chamber.

Lavinia fought the urge to cover her ears. Hurry it up! She knew Pike wouldn’t be able to hold them off forever. Not that he wasn’t doing a fabulous job of it now. Nevertheless, wherever there was one rat—or four in this case—there were more. An entire pack waiting for the word.

She continued to fish when Pike fell back, nearly landing on top of her. Her one-hundred-and-five-pound-soaking-wet frame wasn’t enough to hold him. Together they went down hard.

“Tell me you’ve made a little headway.”

His grunted response was cut short when one of the shifters hauled him up, yanking his arms painfully behind his back.

Something inside of her ignited at the sight. She roared and stood up, muck and mire dripping off her clothes.

“Lavinia!” The urgency in Pike’s voice had her momentary fury abating. “Find the goddamn necklace.”

The female shifter rebounded quickly, unexpectedly, and swung for Pike’s face. He managed to twist in time to avoid it, dropping to his knees and using his elbow to slam against the rat holding him. The force of the blow had the man spinning backward, though he came back repeatedly.

Lavinia dodged out of the way to avoid a knee to the nose. What the hell was taking so long? The water was stagnant, so the necklace couldn’t have gone far.

There was a horrible ringing in her ears. Just when her stomach felt like a bowl of overcooked pasta and she wondered if they were ever getting out of there, her fingers tangled in the silver chain.

“Yes!” She swung to her feet a second time and held the necklace aloft, triumphant. “Okay, now what do you want me to do with it?”

Herb blindsided her at full force. Her back slammed against the wall, eyes locked onto the fierce gaze of the head shifter.

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