The door shuddered, slid down, and crashed to the floor with a thud. I smiled at the horrified ladies. "Dropped my engagement ring down there. You know how it is. A girl will do
anything for a diamond."
They fled.
I pulled the trash can out and dug through it. Paper towel, paper towel, used tampon . . . Ugh.
Who put used tampons into the paper towel wastebasket? There it was.
I unrolled the crumpled note. "By the Red Roof Inn, same time, tonight."
Pieces began to line up in my head. A breathtakingly beautiful girl, seemingly the property of a team of lethal, possibly not human, gladiators. A young male werewolf with an overdeveloped protective instinct. Derek was in love - nothing less would cause him to break Curran's laws - and he was planning to rescue her. He was also in the fast lane to getting his balls chopped off.
Okay, so what possible time could it be and where was the Red Roof Inn? The Red Roof Inn was about the only hotel franchise actively remaining in business. Any shack's roof could be painted red, instantly identifying it as a place to purchase a room for the night. Problem was, I hadn't the foggiest idea where there might be a Red Roof Inn in this area of Atlanta.
The Reapers struck me as a paranoid sort, the kind who would leave and arrive together. If I were them, I would depart shortly after their last fight of the day was over. They also kept Livie on a short leash. Her absence wouldn't go unnoticed for long. Derek was an idiot, but a bright idiot. He would realize this. He would meet her someplace close to their exit route.
Best-case scenario, they would talk and she would go back. Worst-case scenario, he had some sort of getaway vehicle ready for their joint escape. Which would end in disaster.
I kicked the wastebasket back under the counter, leaned the door to cover up the hole, straightened my dress, and emerged from the bathroom.
Saiman sat alone. He raised one eyebrow at my appearance. A gesture copied from me -
Saiman was annoyed. But not enough not to rise at my approach.
"Another minute and I would have had to request a rescue party from the management," he said.
"You are the management."
"No, I'm an owner."
Touche. "What's your beef with the Reapers?"
"I think you misunderstood the nature of our agreement." He offered me his elbow. "I bartered for your evaluation of a team. You're the one under obligation to disclose the information, and be assured I'm overcome with the desire to hear your report. I'm positively aquiver."
"Aquiver?"
"Indeed. Shall we walk to our seats?"
I sighed and let myself be led from the deck. I was very tired of being kept out of the loop.
Chapter 9
WE WALKED DOWN TO THE FIRST FLOOR, TO ANOTHER luxurious hallway pierced with arches. Saiman picked one of the arches seemingly at random and held the heavy rust curtain aside. Beyond the curtain lay a small balcony. Circular and encased by a solid steel railing that came midway to my hip, the balcony offered four chairs upholstered in soft rust fabric and positioned movie-theater close.
I stepped past the curtain to the railing. A huge hall greeted me, too large to be called a room.
Oblong and vast, it stretched for at least a hundred and fifty yards. Its walls were honeycombed with arched balconies arranged in three rows. Each balcony held six to eight people and offered its own exit door, which, if our particular door was any indication, opened to the wide corridor. The management was trying to minimize the chances of a stampede if things went sour.
The walls plunged lower than the ground level. Sunken underground, the bottom floor had no balconies or seats. Bare concrete sloped gently to the center, where an oval arena of sand lay.
A heavy-duty chain link fence defined it, anchored by numerous steel posts. The Pit. Our balcony protruded from the wall much farther than the rest, and if I took a running start, I could have jumped to the fence.
The sand inside the fence drew my gaze. I looked away. "Special seats?"
"The best in the house. Despite our proximity to the Pit, we're quite safe." Saiman pointed above us. A metal portcullis waited above us, obscured by a velvet curtain. "I can drop it with a pull of the lever. And then of course, there are additional precautions." He pointed