Shadow Rising by Yasmine Galenorn

landed in front of Delilah. His blade swept around and she barely had time to duck.
    “He’s a
jian-tu
. Be careful!” I leaped, flipping head over heels to land by his side. Crimsy whirled around, and his eyes lit up.
    “Well met—another
jian-tu
, and a bloody girl at that. Come on, let’s do it, love.” He gestured to me with his dagger, and I circled him around, away from Delilah, who was already beset by another one of the gang. I knew better than to take my eyes off him. I remembered my training, and chances are, he did, too.
    “You’re going to find out just how bloody.” I launched myself into the air and flipped over his head, landing in back of him. As I hit the ground, I whirled to send one stiletto boot heel into his back, knocking him forward.
    Crimsy rolled into a front somersault, springing to his feet. He immediately tricked into a back flip with a twist, spinning as he hit midair so that he landed facing me. As he tossed his dagger from hand to hand, his gaze never left mine.
    I licked my fangs as the scent of blood filled the air and a scream rang out, cut short. I didn’t recognize the voice, so I assumed it was one of them rather than one of us and kept focused on my own fight. Crimsy didn’t flinch, either.
    “Seriously, you should have targeted a different group.” I gave him a cold grin and then was down, my right hand touching the ground as I spun like a break dancer, my foot gliding in front of me to slide behind his heels, catch hold of his legs, and bring him down.
    Crimsy landed flat, his hands reaching above his head to push himself up again, and within seconds he flipped back to his feet. He did a flat spin, scissoring the air with his legs, and managed to clip me in the nose. Startled, I tripped backward and rolled to my feet as he landed, coming for me, dagger aimed directly for my heart. The fun was over; he was intent on killing me now.
    I’d had enough play as well. I leaped on him, all finesse gone, and took him down, slamming him to the ground. The surprise that filled his eyes told me he had never tangled with a vampire before, and I had a momentary flicker of doubt.
    He was an elegant opponent, and I’d seldom met someone who could match me move for move in the air. But then reason took hold again, and I quickly yanked his head to the side, the bones shattering like a string of firecrackers. With one last breath, he was gone, and I jumped up, turning to survey the rest of the fight.
    Three men were down—all Crimsy’s men. Delilah looked like she’d taken a few cuts, as had Trillian. Camille was staring at one of the men, who lay there, a blackened mess. Spellwork. She’d managed to take him out with her lightning instead of having it backfire on her.
    The rest of the gang, seeing their leader dead, began to back up. I realized they still didn’t understand I was a vampire, so I opened my mouth to show them my fangs, hissing.
    “Run away, little boys, unless you want to be my dinner.” I grinned as they turned tail and vanished into the alleyway.
    “Everybody okay?” I glanced over them.
    “Yeah, I took a few cuts but there wasn’t any poison on the blades as far as I could tell.” Delilah shrugged, wiping a trickle of blood off her forehead. “They were an easy lot, compared to some we’ve tangled with.”
    “No poison,” Trillian said. “I recognized the crest on their tunics. They belong to the Asa Tone Asa gang, and they have an honor code that forbids the use of poisons and venoms. But we’d better be going. They’ll head back to headquarters and report what happened. And then, the big boys will come out to play. These were penny street thugs. Their masters won’t be so easy.”
    “Let’s get moving then—” I paused as the sound of horse hooves clattered down the street, a large carriage pulled by a quartet of Friesians. Not as grand as the noblas stedas, the gorgeous Earthside horse had been imported to Otherworld. Their black coats gleamed