But he’s wrong, the were whispered. We fight. We survive.
Grigorii pushed a set of swinging doors open, which were marked with a water insignia. I flinched as the smell hit me. It was like the Nocturne City morgue, if the air conditioning went on the fritz and somebody had left all of the stiffs lying around for about three days. Flesh and blood, sweat and fear all mingled to create a miasma that made my monster scream.
The old swimming pool was the arena, the deep end cordoned off with more heavy mesh. There were two weres inside at the moment, scrabbling for purchase on the blood-smeared tiles.
“Instead, sadly, this is your fate,” said Grigorii. He passed me off to Mikel, who looked inordinately pleased to see me again. Grigorii leaned close to my ear as Mikel prodded me toward the shallow end of the pool. “Make me proud,” he whispered, and brushed his lips over my sweaty cheek. His touch was like ice.
Mikel shoved me down onto my knees. “Get in.”
There was a crowd at the deep end, cheering, and I heard a yelp and a snap. One of the weres fell, a gout of arterial blood pulsing from her neck. She twitched, fingers and feet racing in the few spare seconds it took her to bleed out.
I’d have to be careful that wasn’t me. Looking back at Mikel, I asked, “Who am I fighting?”
“The champ,” Mikel said. “For today, anyway. You watch yourself, pretty. She’s a bigger bitch than you.”
We’d see about that. I still had plenty of my own personal bitch coursing through me from killing the Russian, and the were was panting for another chance to run through me.
Mikel and another man jumped down into the ring and carried away the dead girl, while Peter pulled the winner through the crowd. Money changed hands, and Mikel raised his voice. He shouted in Ukrainian, introducing me. I took that as my cue to step obediently into the ring. The blood was still warm under my feet and I fought to keep myself under control as the were rippled over my skin, bending me into a crouch.
Not yet. Not yet. Just a little longer … I couldn’t phase without the moon, fully, but I could change enough to do plenty of damage. Enough to make this look real.
Mikel shouted something else, something that got a roar of approval from the crowd. The champ had arrived. She lowered herself into the ring and raised her arms, and the crowd just went crazier. Money floated from fist to fist like a flock of paper birds.
She turned, and I saw the red hair, matted with blood, and the tattoos. “Esperanza?” I blinked, feeling very small, human, and exhausted in a second. The wounds in my legs weren’t healing and I was so tired I was starting to see double.
“You,” she said, with a curl of her lip. “You said you’d come back for me.”
Mikel stepped away from us, and I heard the mesh roll back into place. That was Red’s cue—she sprang for me, going fully airborne. I ducked, half-slipping in the blood, and she went over my head, banging off the mesh. The crowd let out a gasp.
“Esperanza,” I said. “I need to say something to you.”
“Too late,” she responded, swiping at me with a fistful of claws sharp as switchblades. I moved and she caught my shirt, shredding it at the bottom.
“Listen, ” I hissed as she came in again, close, her hands low and sloppy. I caught her in a submission hold, bending her wrist back. I’m quick when I’m desperate. “You have to beat me.”
“No shit,” she said, snapping at me, wriggling against the hold. “I’ll beat you like I beat the three before you. That’s how you stay alive when you’re left behind. ”
“You can’t kill me,” I hissed desperately. “The maimed ones get out of here. They get taken somewhere outside the compound. If I can get away and get to a telephone…”
Esperanza let out a battle cry, a shriek that vibrated my head from chin to brow. She jerked, twisting, and I watched in horror as her wrist snapped and she wriggled free.
“Just for that,” she said, “I’ll kill you. Never mind any of the rest.”
“Esperanza,” I said, “I’m your best hope for getting out of here. Don’t be stupid.”
“I can take care of myself,” she said, before she lunged at me again.
This time, I wasn’t quick.
Esperanza’s full weight landed on me, and I slammed into the bloody wet tiles, stars going nova in front of my vision from the blow to the head. “They like it when I do the big finish,” she said. “I think I might even live long enough to become a favorite.”
“Esperanza,” I choked, because her claws were digging into my neck. A millimeter more and she’d have an artery open… “None of us is getting out of here. I tried. The only way you leave is dead or so fucked up you can’t fight or screw.”
“Why should I believe you?” she hissed, dipping her face close. The crowd, thinking they were getting a good old-fashioned throat-ripping, cheered.
“Because we’ve both survived this long,” I whispered. “And it would be a real waste for you to kill me before I have a chance to pay back the sons of bitches who did this to us.”
Esperanza hesitated, doubt flickering over her face. The animal retreated and the woman came out. I wished I could say the same, but trapped and with the stench of blood filling its nose, my were was on the scent, and it was taking everything I had to lay still under Esperanza instead of reaching up and clawing out her eyes.
“Hurry,” I gritted. “Much longer and I’m going to change.” My spine rippled, trying to ensure that when I got up, I’d be on all fours.
