Page 29 of Dragon's Guard (Dragon Shifter's Mates 1)

It was a clear circle, like glass but with a brighter sparkle, twice the width of my palm. A faint pattern of lines and dots was etched into its surface. I squinted at it, trying to make sense of them, but they didn’t form letters or even definiteshapes.

Follow the crystal, my mother’s voice had said. I guessed this was the crystal. How the hell was I supposed tofollowit?

I swiveled, turning it in my hands as if that might trigger some kind of pull, and a tapping sounded farther down the tunnel. My body froze. The guys whipped around to peer in the samedirection.

Several figures approached us, materializing out of the shadows. They stopped at the edge of Aaron’s light. Nine men and women, all slim with deep-set eyes. Their skin ranged from pale to darker brown, but all of them had a slightly sallow look to them, as if they’d been too long out of thesun.

Oh. Understanding prickled over me at the same time as their papery acidic smell reached my nose. I’d never met one of their kind before, but I knew exactly what I was looking at all thesame.

It wasn’t vampires who’d threatened my family before, but it sure as hell wasnow.

Chapter 13

Ren

One of thevampires opened his narrow mouth, tasting the air with a snake-like swipe of his tongue. Thin fangs glinted behind his lips. I repressed ashudder.

“Shifters,” he said, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “You’re far from home, aren’t you? This is our territory. There are penalties for infringing on it, as you should wellknow.”

Smarmy bastards, weren’t they? I stepped back, closer to the wall, but my hackles had risen. If they were threatening my alphas, they were going to have to contend with me aswell.

“We didn’t think there was any harm in taking a little stroll,” Marco tossed out. “Checking out the sights, enjoying a change inscenery.”

A couple of the vampires glanced around as if seriously wondering whether shifters thought subway tunnels were scenic. The one who’d spoken to ussneered.

“We don’t have time forgames.”

Marco shrugged. “Funny, I’d have thought being immortal meant you had all the time in theworld.”

“What are you doing here?” the vampire demanded. “You wouldn’t have come this far into our domain withoutreason.”

“That might be true.” West said, folding his arms over his chest. It was nice to see his glower directed at people who deserved it for once—if you could call vampires “people.” “But you can forget it if you think we’re going to stand around and chat with you. Back off, and we’llgo.”

The vampires did the exact opposite of backing off. They slunk closer, more fangs gleaming in the crowd now. Nate edged closer to me, his muscles tensed, looking ready to jump in front of me if needbe.

“Answer my questions, or we’ll simply destroy you,” the vampire said. “Then your purpose won’t matter one way oranother.”

Aaron stepped forward, his hands raised. “We apologize for this intrusion into your territory,” he said. “And I apologize for my friends’ rudeness. We had an urgent matter that didn’t leave us time to parlay with your leaders. I swear by the moon and earth we came with no ill intentions, and we would leave just aspeacefully.”

“It’s too late for that,” a woman near the back of the vampire pack hissed. “You came uninvited. You must pay the consequences forthat.”

“Holy shit,” Kylie said to me out of the corner of her mouth. “This is a little freakier than I was preparedfor.”

Me too. I grabbed her hand, tugging her closer to me. I wasn’t lettingherget hurt, especially when she’d only come down here to help me. We should have just gotten the instructions from her and gone down on our own. But I’d selfishly wanted the chance to talk to her—the one person from my old life Icouldstill talkto.

“Please,” Aaron was saying. “There’s no need for this to come to violence. We’ve finished our business here. It was a shifter matter, nothing to do with your kind. Ifyou—”

“Enough talk,” the first vampire snapped. His cold gaze settled on me. “Something about this one smells strange. Not like any beast I recognize.” His eyes narrowed. “Whatareyou?”

He snapped his fingers, and the vampire beside him darted toward me as if to haul me over. Nate pushed between us with a growl. He shoved the vampire back toward the group, so hard the young man fell on hisass.

“Don’t you dare touchher.”

The lead vampire grimaced. “This is our domain. We take what we want. If you refuse to obey, you will notremain.”

Just like that, the vampires sprang at us in a single flickering motion. A yelp broke from my throat. I yanked Kylie back as the four alphas threw themselves forward to meet the vampire’scharge.

They shifted as they ran. Nate’s form bulged through his clothing, looming into the grizzly bear I’d met in Marco’s sitting room yesterday. Only he was no teddy bear now. He lunged forward, smacking one vampire’s head against the wall with a sickening thud, swiping his massive paw at another that tried to dodge pasthim.

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