Spencer looked at him, his eyes full of regret. “I’ve already hurt Lillie once. No matter how much I love her, I knew if we stayed together, it would only be a matter of time before I hurt her again. She got kidnapped because she was with me.”
Shit. Tanner suddenly had a vivid sensation of what it must be like for Zarina when he took responsibility for every bad thing that happened in the world. Was it as frustrating for her as it was for him right now? Probably.
Tanner was seriously considering using one of Zarina’s lines on Spencer and telling him Lillie was an adult who made her own decisions when the door opened. Ryan, Emilio, and Anton strode in, followed by three big Asian guys.
Even though he knew he had to stay calm, Tanner’s heart beat faster. They were almost certainly here to take someone upstairs to fight. This might be their chance to make their move. Tanner didn’t like the odds, though. Three hybrids chained to the floor against six trained men with weapons wasn’t the most ideal situation. If they uncuffed more than one of them, that might improve their chances.
Ryan had clearly learned his lesson last time, because he didn’t come anywhere near Tanner. He regarded Spencer for a moment before turning to Bryce. He gave the men with him a nod, then motioned to Josh and a few of the men along the far wall.
“Bring the woman, too,” Ryan said. “For whatever reason, people love seeing a woman in the cage. Hopefully sending the freak out there with them will give us a better fight than the last group gave us. The betting barely started before they all got thrashed.”
The three Asian men moved in to unchain the people Ryan had selected, while Emilio and Anton focused on Bryce.
“You don’t have to do this, Ryan,” Tanner said, his gums tingling as the hybrid inside tried to make an appearance. “It’s not too late to fix this.”
Ryan’s lip curled. “Damn, Tanner. Do you ever give it a rest? Stop trying to save my soul. The army burned it out a long time ago.”
“Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep through the night?” Tanner demanded. “That the army’s to blame for all this?”
Ryan chuckled and stepped closer but still well out of reach. Tanner gave Bryce a quick look, then glanced at Emilio, still unlocking the manacle, hoping the hybrid got what he was trying to tell him. Bryce nodded slightly in understanding.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Tanner,” Ryan said, dragging his attention back to him. “I sleep just fine at night.”
Bryce made his move the moment Emilio unchained him. One moment, he was sitting on the floor docilely; the next, he was sinking his fangs into the man’s shoulder.
Tanner lunged for Ryan at the same time, but his old friend quickly backpedaled, and Tanner’s outstretched claws missed the man’s neck by inches. Tanner slammed to the floor in frustration just as a gun went off. Cursing, he jerked his head up, trying to figure out where the gunshots had come from, only to see Bryce tumble to the floor, dragging Emilio down with him. The man immediately rolled away and jumped to his feet. His shoulder was bleeding badly, but otherwise, he was uninjured. He reached under his jacket and pulled out his weapon, quickly pointing it at Bryce, but the move was unnecessary. Bryce was already down, and judging from the two dark stains spreading over his shirtfront, he wasn’t getting up anytime soon. That son of a bitch Anton had shot him in the stomach.
“What the fuck did you do that for?” Ryan shouted. “He was going to earn us a million dollars in bets tonight. Mr. Nguyen is going to go ballistic.”
“The asshole was going to kill Emilio,” Anton said, his weapon still pointed at Bryce, curled up on the floor with his hands cradling his stomach. “He had his teeth buried in Emilio’s damn shoulder!”
Ryan didn’t seem to give a shit about that. He completely ignored Emilio as the man peeled back the collar of his shirt and checked the damage, muttering something about turning into one of those damn freaks. Instead, Ryan shoved a hand through his hair and cursed, his eyes darting back and forth between Bryce and Spencer, who was still sitting there staring at something only he could see.
“What the hell are we going to do now?” Ryan muttered. “The crowd up there is frothing at the mouth for the big fight we promised them.”
“Drag him up there,” Anton said, gesturing with the gun at Spencer.
Tanner tensed. Spencer was still out of it. If they tossed him into a fight right now, there was no telling what would happen.
Ryan frowned. “I don’t know. I think Mr. Nguyen has other plans for him.”
“I’ll do it,” Tanner said before Ryan could change his mind. Or suggest that his men drag Bryce up to the ring to fend for himself. A hybrid could take a lot of punishment, and Tanner hoped Bryce survived long enough for him to figure a way out of this, but the man was in too much pain to fight.
Ryan gave Tanner an appraising look. “Mr. Nguyen has something special planned for you, too, and as much as I’d love to see you get your ass whooped, I can’t have anyone damaging our star attraction before the main event.”
Tanner shifted just enough to make his eyes glow red, grinning as Ryan took a quick step back. “You seriously think anything you have waiting up in that cage is going to damage me?”
Ryan gazed at him for a moment longer, then turned to Anton. “Take off his chains. He’ll go up in place of the other one.”
Anton stepped forward but then hesitated.
Ryan laughed. “Emilio, stop whining about that boo-boo on your shoulder and point your weapon at the freak staring
