the pulsing electricity I often felt in Breed clubs. But I had so much adrenaline going through me that I’d dismissed it.
Instead of a grand introduction, the iron gate lifted with a clang, clang, clang. I stepped back apprehensively and tossed my bag aside. Once the gate reached the top, two men came into view. Rafferty stood behind the nude man with a knife in one hand and a device in the other. The man I’d just seen in the cell had dirty feet, unkempt hair, and his hands were tied. After Rafferty cut the rope that bound the man’s hands, he kicked him inside the ring, and the gate slammed shut.
I approached the stranger as his eyes darted up at our audience. The spectators were high enough to be out of earshot.
“Hey, I’m here to help,” I said quietly.
He glared at me with dull blue eyes. “Help what? Kill me? I know what this is.”
“I’m not part of this.”
“Sure you’re not.”
Did they expect me to fight the Shifter in human form first? “Choose a weapon,” I whispered. “Stall for as long as you can. Trust me.”
I let my fingers graze over each weapon I passed. It tantalized the crowd, whose murmurs grew louder when I admired a shiny sickle. By the annoyed look on Rafferty’s face, who stood inside the closed gate, I guessed that everyone had expected us to get right to fighting.
I settled on a small club, deciding not to take any chances of hurting the man with a blade. When I approached the center of the ring, he was striding toward me with a pointy spear. I tried to get close to talk out a plan, but he aimed it at me.
“Feet don’t fail me now.” I flashed out of the way when he lunged, and that garnered weak applause.
The second time, I ducked and swung my club at his spear, almost knocking it from his grip. He stumbled backward and then used his right arm to anchor the wood against his body. The guy wasn’t an experienced fighter, but the desperate look in his eyes revealed how this situation could spiral out of control.
The second time he tried to gut me, I grabbed the end of his spear and we grappled for the weapon. My club hit the ground, and it took every muscle I had not to lose my grip.
The crowd hissed, and a few gave us a thumbs-down.
“Stop trying to kill me,” I ground out, inching closer. “Let’s come up with a plan.”
“You’re a liar. You’re all liars!”
The Shifter jerked the weapon back and then headbutted me. Seconds before he impaled me, I spun out of reach. My father used to make me watch the Matrix movies, and I remembered how much he enjoyed the fight scenes. Everything was in slow motion, and every movement defied gravity.
That was me. I let all my training and instinct take over as the Shifter repeatedly thrust his spear at me. I bent backward and spun out of reach. I flashed across the ring. But it hadn’t escaped my attention that the crowd was growing restless, eager to see blood spilled.
A bright flash flickered at the gate, one so blinding that I shielded my eyes. Rafferty held a strobe light up to the bars. It flickered at an erratic rhythm, and it dawned on me that this was one of those rare devices used to trigger a Shifter to transform.
I knocked the man to the ground as if to attack. “Shut your eyes!”
But it was too late. He’d looked. His engorged pupils stared blankly as his body trembled beneath me. I’d never felt anything like it before. Seconds before transformation, it was as if his skin wobbled like jelly. Ebony fur replaced his brown hair, and a mouthful of fangs snapped at me.
I recoiled and stumbled away from the large black wolf. With only seconds to spare, I genuflected and bowed my head to appear as submissive as possible. The wolf approached at alarming speed and skidded to a stop. I held my breath, my body rigid as he growled. I’d never put myself in a more vulnerable position.
What the hell am I doing? Getting myself killed, that’s what.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered, glimpsing the pink gums that surrounded all those sharp teeth. “I know you’re still in there. Tell your wolf I don’t mean him any harm. I want to get us both out of here, and I need you to help me.