by Elle Thorne
The elevator ride was smooth and quick, the doors opened to a private box overlooking the coliseum setting below. Evie bypassed the plush seating, making her way methodically toward the glass pane window. She took her steps slowly, her feet felt incased in lead boots.
She held onto the polished wooden bar at waist level and leaned her forehead against the cool surface of the window.
Below her, dead center of the area, a cage surrounded an arena that resembled a large boxing ring. The cage’s bars were constructed of shiny obsidian-colored tubes. Lights—many lights—reminding Evie of a theater’s stage were poised above the cage, ready to spotlight every bite, ever slash, every injury.
And Mason’s going to be in there with God knows who and God knows how many.
A shudder of pure horror and fear made a wave over her body.
The guests were laughing, heads thrown back. Buzzes of their conversation made it through the glass, thanks to her supernatural shifter hearing, and Evie could pick up portions of dialogue.
“… my money’s on the lion.”
“… I’m betting on the bears.”
“… when was this put together?”
“… I just got the text today.”
These were portions of the exchanges below, enhanced by laughter, the clinking of toasting, the murmur of flirting.
How can they do that? Wait and relish with anticipation to witness the death of another?
In the glass’s reflection, the door opened. A large man with close-set, dark weasel eyes approached Todd, who’d remained by the door.
The man whispered something in Todd’s ear.
Todd’s eyes widened, his face paled. “When? Where is he? Who the hell dropped the ball.” He turned to one of his flunkies. “Watch her.” Todd looked at Evie. “I’ll be back. You stay.”
Like I’m a fucking dog.
He closed the door behind him, but not before Evie heard one word.
A name.
Mason.
Chapter Fourteen
Mason thought he recognized the voice. A touch of southern with a French flair. Could it be the head of the Arceneaux clan? Why was he here? “Lézare?”
“I thought that was you, Mason.”
Yes, it was Lézare’s accent, indeed. Relief coursed through Mason. Tension fled from muscles that were already overtaxed, sore, and in some areas, still suffering from the claws and sharp teeth of the bears that had attacked him.
From behind Lézare appeared a curvy blonde, followed by Lézare’s sister Alexa, and Reese, the wolf shifter. Or maybe it was Rory. He wasn’t quite sure right now.
Then after them followed the large lion shifter, Lézare’s head of security, and a curvy dark-skinned woman with glowing eyes.
The rear was brought up by Reese’s twin Rory—assuming the first wolf shifter was Reese—and a curvy redhead that Mason knew only too well, the baby of the family, Valencia.
The entire Arceneaux clan was here. Did they hate him as much as their sister Evie did?
As if that matters. Finding Evie is all that matters.
His lion roared in agreement.
“We need to find Evie.” The words burst from his mouth, uncontrolled.
Lézare frowned. “Where is she? What the hell happened to you?”
“She’s with my ex-roommate from college, Todd Scanlon.”
“Scanlon,” Rory hissed.
Mason frowned. “You know him?”
“Word has it, that’s the name of the one running this underground fighting ring.”
“That’s right,” Mason confirmed. “How’d you get in?”
“I know someone.” Lézare motioned for Theo to step forward. “We need to find Evie. Are your men in position?”
Theo nodded. “Do we really want to start a stampede of shifters trying to get out? What if we don’t her find in the melee?”
Lézare turned to Mason. “Why does he want my sister?”
“He’s had an obsession with her since she and I were together.”
“And what are you doing here?” Valencia stepped forward.
Mason studied the attractive curvaceous Arceneaux sister that reminded him of Evie and a wave of sadness coursed through him when he noticed the way the wolf shifter Rory put his arm around her. Clearly they were a couple—the way Mason had wanted to be a couple with Evie.
I need to get Evie to safety and then get the hell out of Louisiana.
It did him no good to be around the place they had memories in, no good to be around her family, and most definitely no good to be around her.
“There’s something you should know—something’s off with Todd.”
“What do you mean?” Alexa pulled away from her wolf shifter Reese and stepped next to her brother.
“His eyes. They have this twinkling thing going on. Tiny white pinpricks of light in his eyes. Like little showers of stars.”
The woman with the odd glowing eyes, bluish-silver pools against her dark skin, was standing next to Theo. She stepped forward. “He’s affected.”
Mason studied her. What was she?
“Step back, witch.” Lézare’s voice was a low growl.
Another growl, this one from Theo, overpowered Lézare’s. “She’s my mate. Don’t.”
Alexa put her hand on Lézare’s bicep. “Brother…” Her voice was soft.
Lézare nodded. “This can keep.”
“What do you mean, affected?” Mason veered the conversation back on course.
“He’s losing the battle with the curse. His beast is going to kill him, but not before Todd Scanlon kills others. It’s a long arduous process, painful and difficult for the one affected with this particular disorder.”
“So this is some sort of curse, Leandra?” Alexa’s voice was on the panicked side. “Is it contagious? Could this affect Evie?”
“No. It’s called Brahnson’s Touch. It’s not known to be contagious. She will not be affected. Not by this. But she could be killed if he goes into a rage.”
“What are we waiting for?” Valencia fumed.
“Let’s take care of him,” Lézare said
“It’s not that simple.” This came from the witch; the one Alexa had called Leandra.
The group looked at Leandra expectantly.
“He’s far more powerful than an individual shifter, even more powerful than several, depending on how far he’s deteriorated.”
“Let’s find Evie.” Mason was tired of pissing around and wasting time with talk.
“Let’s.” Lézare agreed.
The door opened behind them.
Chapter Fifteen
Evie had to help Mason. She started for the door.
The shifters guarding her moved into position blocking her way.
“Move. Let me go.”
“Mr. Scanlon said you stay.”
“Don’t hurt her,” the flunky in back said to the one in front. “Mr. Scanlon will be pissed.”
Right now, she was getting pissed. Her tigress was even more so. A burning in her tendons told her she was going to lose the battle and her tigress would win, shifting into her feline.
Moments later, after creaking and bones crunching, Evie shifted with more than enough discomfort, taking on her tigress’s form.
The smell of the shifters’ aggression was thick in the air. It fueled her tigress’s fury.
“We can’t attack her. We can’t hurt her.”
“I’ll be damned if I’ll let her kill me,” one said.
They shifted, almost soundlessly, signifying to Evie that they were adept with shifting and did it often.
One was a large bull with lethal horns, the other a huge bear dripping saliva from dangerous canines.
Fuck.
They stared at her. She decided to take the matter in hand, moving quickly and quietly, she charged. She leapt high and landed on the bull’s hind quarters. Gripping his hide with her claws she tried to get purchase on his neck. The best chance she had was to sever his spine.
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The bull’s bray was angry and demanding. Out of the corner of her eye, Evie caught the bear’s movement. The ursine roared and raised his mighty paw.
Drool was suspended from his mouth, his lips flaccid, but his teeth deadly and long. The bear glared menacingly,
Evie’s tiger roared. The sound reverberating in her head and in the small room. Roars and growls, combined with the bull’s braying filled the area. Her attention was focused on the bear that was going to try to kill her while the bull she was on bucked. Furniture went flying. Wood cracked. Glasses and plates on tables set for an opulent meal flew in all directions. The floor was a slippery mess.
The bull lost his footing in the slickness and slipped to his front knees, bucking, and propelling Evie through the room. Her head struck the thick glass pane window and bounced off, landing on her paws, her vision blurry.
She shook her tigress head to clear it and faced her two enemies. The bear released a huff and closed in with a speed she didn’t expect. Rearing backward on hind legs, his swatting claws missed her by inches. She slammed a paw into the bear’s neck, then drew her razor sharp talons through the thick fur and skin.
The bear pulled back, blood gushing from his throat.
Frozen, Evie stared. She hadn’t expected to take him out so quickly.
A roar was ripped from the bull’s throat, sounding less like a bull and more like something far more dangerous. Adrenaline rushed through Evie’s body.
The door flew open. Ellie recognized the man, one of Todd’s, in his human form. And he was holding a pistol. She saw the Tranq.
Well, fuck.
Her tigress howled in fury and frustration at what they knew would happen next.
Goddammit, there has to be an antidote to this shit.
If she got out of this alive, she was going to talk to Lézare and the shifter clan heads. Surely there was a way to avoid the effects of the Tranq.
The dart stung the muscles in Evie’s front leg, burying deep into the muscle.
“You two are worthless,” the shooter said to the other two shifters. “She’s one little female. For fuck’s sake, this is ridiculous.”
That was the last thing Evie heard before her vision turned into a tunnel that began to close rapidly, drawing to a pinpoint of light, then fading into nothing but a soundless blackness.
Chapter Sixteen
Mason studied his former roommate. He still found it hard to believe that Todd had gotten so much bulkier than he was in college.
“Isn’t this a cozy little gathering.” A sneer planted itself on Todd’s features. He stepped into the room, reached out and flipped the lights on.
The room was bathed in the light from the naked lightbulbs that hung high above their heads in the warehouse room that wasn’t opulent or occupied like the room that would hold the shifter fight.
“Where’s Evie, you bastard.” Mason ground the words out. His lion pressed hard for a shift, ready to pounce on the bear and rip him into shreds.
A dozen shifters followed Todd into the room, standing behind him in a semi-circle.
With them, there was a groggy Evie, held up roughly by three of Todd’s henchmen. Her eyes were glazed over, her expression slack. Her vibrant attitude and expression were subdued.
“Let her go. What the fuck did you do to her?” Mason rushed toward Evie.
Todd stepped between them. Three of his shifters joined him, making a barrier. Todd’s eyes glittered with the sparkling stars Mason had seen before.
Evie shook her head, then tried to wrestle her arms from the shifters holding her.
They let go.
She started to slip to the floor, crumpling in place.
“Get her.” Mason darted around Todd and grabbed Evie just before she hit the concrete.
Motherfuckers. Rage surged throughout Mason’s body.
He held her up while Todd and his shifters moved toward the center of the room. Twenty more shifters showed up and blocked their exit.
Mason studied the opposition.
We’re fucked.
Todd nodded toward one of his men. “Give her the antidote.”
Yeah, as if I trust them. “Get the fuck away from her.” Mason’s growl came from deep within his chest—part of it his lion, the other part his own.
Chapter Seventeen
A stabbing sensation in her thigh pierced the cloud that Evie was encompassed in. Evie glanced down. A syringe was buried in her flesh, the shifter holding it was pushing the plunger down.
“She’ll be back to normal in seconds.”
I need a stash of that stuff.
She tried to form words. “Wh—where—what—I nnnneeddd—” Her own words sounded like mumblings of a drunk person. “Nd thut ssshhtuff.”
The spot where he’d injected her felt like it was on fire and the fire traveled throughout her like lava in her veins.
“Goddammit. Motherfucker. Son of a bitch,” Evie yelled.
She startled herself because her words were clear—and very loud—and her head wasn’t in the fog anymore.
She was leaning against Mason, and for a brief second, everything they’d been through, all the pain, all the betrayal, it wasn’t there. It had slipped from her. All she could process was that Mason was here.
To save me.
Across from her were an assortment of her family and friends. All her siblings—their mates, perhaps? When did that happen?
Confusion and relief course through her.
“You had me worried,” Lézare’s eyes were dark with amber flares, showcasing his concern.
“This isn’t a family reunion,” Todd snapped, his voice petty.
Evie whirled in his direction, wrenching herself free of Mason’s hold.
She slapped Todd across the face, her tigress’s claws extended, slashing him once more.
“You’ll pay after your mine,” he grunted, his hand rising to the flesh wound.
“I think not.” Mason stepped between them, then was joined by Lézare.
“I’ll make you a deal,” Todd offered. “The two of us in a cage. Winner gets Evie.”
“Agreed.” Mason’s fury glowed gold in the background of his eyes.
“I’m not a prize to be fought over then doled out.”
“You can’t.” Leandra’s eyes glowed as she addressed. “He’s affected. He’ll kill you.”
“Are you sure, witch?” Lézare’s jaw muscles worked.
Theo growled at Lézare’s tone.
“We’ll discuss this, later,” Lézare told his head of security.
Theo nodded, not giving an inch.
“I’m very sure.” Leandra pointed to Todd’s face. “Look at his eyes. He’s affected. No shifter can kill him.”
“One on one,” Todd said again. “Will no one face me?”
Evie stared at the starburst pattern in Todd’s eyes.
“He’ll kill you,” Leandra told Mason.
Valencia stepped forward. “Put him in a cage with me. I’ll handle it.” Her eyes had a dark wash to them, crimson turning to black.
Evie couldn’t take her gaze off her sister.
What the hell is up with Valencia’s eyes?
“You can’t.” Evie grabbed Valencia’s arm.
Todd laughed, the sound more like shards of glass cracking. “Look at the Martinez and the Arceneaux, willing to let a woman fight their battles. I have an event to host.” He turned to Mason. “You weren’t the only attraction.” Todd looked at Lézare. “I’ll let you make a decision. My help will know where to find me.” He closed the door behind him as he exited. His small army of shifters stayed behind, against the door, blocking the exit.
Valencia planted her hands on her hips. “Trust me.”
Leandra stepped forward, her fingertips cool on Evie’s forearm. “Your sister knows what she’s doing. She can handle him.”
“Come this way. Away from their ears.” Alexa indicated Todd Scanlon’s shifters who were studying them with interested gazes.
Alexa pulled all of them away from the door, toward a far corner of the large room, behind a curtain.
Once they were in place, Evie had questions. “But you said no shifter could defeat Todd. So how can you consider my sister as an option for this?” Evie began. She felt Mason’s gaze on her.
“No.” Rory put his arm around Valencia. “I can’t allow this.”
Valencia turned to face him. Their mating bond was obvious.
It made Evie wonder. What the hell have I missed while I was in my self-imposed isolation?
“Let me put an end to this cretin’s miserable existence,” Valencia said to her mate. “You know what I can do.”
Rory shook his head slowly. “I know, but…”
Valencia’s eyes turned darker, pure black, irises and pupils merging into a solid color. “I need to.”
Leandra stepped closer to Rory, put her hand on his arm. “Her bloodlust hasn’t been easy to control, even with my help. She has needs that you and I don’t understand. She’s not the first shifter with those. I’ve read the records.”
“Records?” Evie was puzzled.
What records? What is this bloodlust thing? What the hell is going on?
Rory frowned, remaining silent. His gaze on Leandra was fierce and full of anger. Then he turned that same heated stare toward Lézare. “You’re endorsing this? You’re willing to put her life on the line?”
“No fucking way.” A growl escaped with Lézare’s words. His tiger’s fury flashed amber in his eyes.
Valencia turned on Lézare, quicker than he could respond her claws were on his throat. “Brother.” Her voice had an otherworldly tinge to it. “There are things I need to tell you. Things I haven’t. That I should have.”
Next to her Rory nodded.
Valencia swiveled to face Rory. “And things I should tell you.”
Nearby, Leandra nodded sagely, as if none of this was a surprise to her. “It is what must be done. Rory will do this, as your mate.”
“Of course, I’ll do anything for her.” Rory’s tone was baffled. “You know that, don’t you?” He drew Valencia close.
