Vampire Fight Club

One second Nate was standing near the door, and the next he was chest to chest with her, pinning her against the wall. It didn’t escape her notice that they spent a lot of time in this position.

“Your colleagues,” he ground out. “At Underworld General? It’s time to stop with the games, little shifter, and tell me who the fuck you are and why you’re really here.”

“Bite me.”

That was so the wrong thing to say to a vampire who was teetering on the edge. He struck like a viper, sinking his fangs deep in her throat, and despite the dire situation, despite her anger and hurt and confusion at how he’d treated her and his involvement in the fight club, she gasped with pleasure. The initial sting turned into a lovely burn that spread through her body in the form of liquid heat. Vampires could make feeding horrifically painful or orgasmically wonderful, and clearly, Nate had gone with the latter.

But she couldn’t allow this. She hated him. Really. Weakly, she flattened her palms against his chest and shoved, but she didn’t need to. His head snapped up and he stepped back all by himself, surprise glittering in his eyes.

“You’re no tiger,” he snarled. “Damn you, has everything about you been a lie?”

She slapped her hand over the punctures in her throat. “Me? You’re the one who has a hidden door in his office. You’re the one who’s been hiding a club where people fight to the death.”

His nostrils flared, and his gaze zeroed in on her neck. Before she could protest, he peeled away her palm and licked the fang punctures, sealing the wound.

“Gods,” he murmured against her skin. “You taste like dark chocolate, and honey, and . . . canine.” He tore away from her, leaving her swaying unsteadily and relying on the wall behind her to hold her up. He faced away from her, his hands running through his hair over and over, as if doing so was as important to his existence as blood. “Why? Why are you here?”

“Because you murdered my brother.”

He wheeled around. “Who was your brother?”

“Given the number of people who probably pass through your arena, I doubt you’ll remember him,” she said bitterly.

“Who?”

“His name was Vaughn.” She raised her chin, meeting his gaze so he could see her pain. “He was a hyena shifter who died last week.”

“Hyena . . .” Nate’s brow furrowed. “Blond. Mismatched green and blue eyes.”

“So you do know who he was.”

Nate’s tongue flicked over one of the fangs he’d sunk into her flesh. “You’re not a hyena any more than you’re a tiger.”

“I am,” she ground out. “And you killed my brother.”

He snorted. “Your brother killed himself.”

With a pained cry, she launched herself at Nate. He caught her easily, well before she landed a single blow. “You son of a bitch,” she screamed. “You evil, heartless son of a bitch!”

From the nearby cages, she heard catcalls and cheers, as well as a few curses. Nate tugged her against him, his arms wrapping tightly around her, caging her so she couldn’t strike out.

“Shh.” His soft voice didn’t penetrate her anger. “Hey. Listen to me. Your brother came to us. He made a deal for a fight.”

“No. No! He wouldn’t—”

“He said he was dying.”

Dying? She stilled completely, freezing solid against Nate’s big body. “I don’t . . . I don’t understand. Why did he say that?”

“I don’t know.” He relaxed his hold, but still cradled her against his chest. “All I know is that he wanted to fight one of our champions, a hyena named Vic. And Vaughn made a provision that if he died in battle, Vic would leave Vaughn’s sister alone. I guess that’s you.”

“Oh, gods,” she whispered. “Vic. He’s here?”

“Yeah. Nasty bastard. Why would Vaughn want Vic to leave you alone?”

“Because,” she said, on a shaky inhale, “ever since my father died, Vic and my other brother, Van, have tried to kill me every few months.”

Curses fell from Nate’s mouth. “So Vaughn was here to guarantee your safety.”

His hand cupped the back of her head with surprising tenderness, and his voice softened, which was something she couldn’t afford to do. If Nate was telling the truth, he hadn’t killed Vaughn, exactly, but he was still a scumbag who ran a vile operation.

And yet, she didn’t pull away. She told herself she needed the support because her legs had gone all noodle. She told herself she was cold, and while he wasn’t overly warm, he wasn’t as icy as the air that smelled like raw sewage. She told herself all kinds of lies, because right now, she couldn’t handle the truth, the mind-boggling realization that hate was not the only thing she felt for Nate Sabine.

“Poor Vaughn,” she murmured. “He should have come to me. He didn’t need to sacrifice himself for me.”

“He loved you.” Nate paused. “Is there a reason he wouldn’t shift?”

“What do you mean?”

He made long, soothing passes over her braid. “He didn’t shift when he was fighting Vic. It put him at a huge disadvantage. I thought it was strange, because even if his intention was to lose, he clearly hated Vic and wanted to hurt him. Vaughn could have done a lot more hurting in animal form.”

A knot twisted her insides. He said he was dying. Those were Nate’s words. Her brother was dying. He didn’t shift. Oh . . . oh, gods. He didn’t shift because he couldn’t. He’d been dying for the same reason she was.

“Lena?” His hand stopped stroking her hair. “Lena, what’s wrong?”

“I know why he didn’t shift.” She swallowed. “He couldn’t. A shifter who has never turned into his animal dies shortly after they turn twenty-four. It’s why I didn’t leave when you fired me. There was no point.”

“What do you mean, there was no point?” He pulled back to look her in the eye. “Wait . . . in the arena, you didn’t shift. You can’t, can you?”

“No,” she said quietly. “And because of that, I’m dying too.”

Chapter 10

A sick, bitter sadness shattered the anger Nate had felt over Lena’s revelation of deception. He’d rescued her from the Neethul brothers because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. Now, thanks to a fucked-up genetic glitch, he was going to lose her anyway.

“Can’t someone at Underworld General do something?” His voice was humiliatingly hoarse.

“We’ve tried.” Lena heaved a sigh and plopped down on the straw-coated floor. “There’s nothing left to do.”

“Why would you and Vaughn be unable to shift when your other brother can?” Nate went down on his heels in front of her.

“Both of my other brothers can. I’ve seen them. I never saw Vaughn do it, but I guess now I know why.” She rubbed her arms as though cold. “I think it might be because we were born different. When shifters give birth in animal form, the babies are born that way too. But Vaughn and I weren’t. My father had to protect us from our brothers for years. Even our mother wanted to kill us.”

He stripped off the T-shirt he’d worn straight in from the jungle and wrapped it around her shoulders like a shawl, and was surprised when she didn’t argue. “What a way to come into the world.”

Shivering, she tugged the ends of the shirt tight. “What about you? How did you come into the world?”

“The supernatural one?” At her nod, he made himself comfortable on the ground. “It was two hundred years ago. I was twenty-seven, stumbling home after a night out with the boys in Paris. It was dark, foggy. Right out of a