Midnight Surrender: A Paranormal Romance Anthology by Alyssa Rose Ivy, Airicka Phoenix, Shannon Dermott, Charlotte Abel, Kelly D. Cooper, Laura A. H. Elliott, Amy M. Jones, Kris Kendall Page B

and his group. I need to see what’s up with that crazy brother of mine, but I’ll be right back.”
    He’d forgotten to stutter, but Heather just nodded her head and started walking back up the trail.
    Jonathan was about halfway to the parking lot when the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Two guys were pulling a very drunk girl off the trail into the bushes. Not cool. He had no idea who the guys were, but either they’d heard about the party and decided to crash it or they just stumbled on to it and decided to take advantage of the opportunity — and the intoxicated girl they were half-carrying-half-dragging between them.
    Jonathan didn’t know her name, but he’d seen her at school. She was only a freshman. What sort of perv takes advantage of a drunk kid?
    “ Where do you guys think you’re going with the jailbait?”
    “ None of your business, punk.”
    Since there were two of them and only one of him, Jonathan struck without warning or mercy. A gut-busting sidekick dropped the big guy on his right to his knees. Before he hit the ground, Jonathan threw a right cross to the jaw of his scrawny companion. It snapped the creep’s head back a good six inches. But it only made him mad. Never judge a book by its cover — or a potential rapist by his size.
    The guy danced around with his elbows tucked in and his fists in front of his face like a boxer. He obviously knew how to fight. Jonathan didn’t mess around. He knocked the guy out cold with a round-house kick to the side of his head.
    The perv was lucky Jonathan and Franklin had switched identities. If he’d been wearing his hiking boots instead of Franklin’s running shoes, the blow might have killed him.
    The girl he’d just rescued was too drunk to walk. Jonathan wanted to get to Franklin, but he couldn’t just leave her lying by the side of the trail. He picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder and carried her back to the bonfire. She thanked him by puking down the back of Franklin’s parka.
    When he got back to the party, Jonathan lowered the girl to the ground, yanked his arms out of Franklin’s ruined parka and turned it inside out. He used it to position the girls head so she wouldn’t drown in her own puke if she threw up again. He grabbed the first halfway sober girl he saw and enlisted her help.
    “ Hey, Carrie, do you know this chick?”
    “ She’s just a freshman. What’s she doing here?”
    “ Getting herself raped.”
    Carrie’s eyes widened and her mouth formed a little “O” before she frowned.
    “ A couple of guys were hauling her into the bushes. I roughed ‘em up pretty good, so I don’t think they’re going to be a problem, but can you keep an eye on her? Make sure she doesn’t wander off. I gotta go find my brother.”
    Jonathan suddenly felt light-headed as the last of the adrenaline from the fight left his body. He sagged onto the log next to Carrie and grinned when his car keys poked him in the butt. Franklin wasn’t going anywhere without him.
    “ Sure. But, you might want to find Jonathan before Richard finds you.”
    Jonathan had almost forgotten about the whole switched identity thing. “Why?”
    Carrie made a sour-lemon face then cocked an eyebrow. “Did you or did you not ask Naomi Huffman to have sex with you in the back of the Rover?”
    “ Oh.” A sudden headache tightened Jonathan’s scalp. He’d forgotten about that too. What a mess.
    “ I didn’t ask Naomi to have sex. I only implied it.”
    Carrie snickered and nudged his shoulder. “You’re actually pretty funny when you loosen up a little. Anyway… Naomi told everyone that Jonathan put you up to it—told you she was easy or something. She cried on Richard’s shoulder until he got so wound up he wants to kill both of you.”
    “ Shit. I really fu — messed it up this time.”
    Carrie’s eyebrows shot into her hairline.
    He’d already tarnished Franklin’s reputation when he put Naomi in her place. Dropping the F-bomb