One of fighters, a lumbering hulk with a scar slashed across his face, darts forward and slams his fist in his opponent's face. The second fighter staggers back in a shower of red spray, pawing the air.
I wince, sickened.
"First blood," someone calls in a bored voice. A few people turn to watch the fighters lumber around each other. A few feints, and they dive in, smashing at each other with brutal blows.
"Sloppy." A silver-haired man standing between us and the bars shakes his head. He turns away from the cage fight, and I do a double take, because he's a young guy to have grey hair, thick as it is.
"Parker," Declan appears at our side again. "I have some people for ya to meet. Sam and Layne."
Sam offers his hand, keeping his arm around me as they shake.
Parker narrows his eyes at me. "She doesn't belong here."
Sam tightens his hold on me. "She's my responsibility."
"They want to speak to Nash," Declan says.
"About what?"
"Data-X," Sam says. Suddenly, we're the center of a few hostile stares. Those around us edge away, nervous mutters spreading through the crowd.
Parker throws back his grey head and laughs, a raucous sound with a slightly hysterical edge. He sounds like a hyena. "Not gonna happen."
"It's important." Sam shifts. I put my hand on his chest, not that I can physically stop him from leaping on Parker. My touch seems to calm Sam.
"There's no reason to be a dick about it," I say to Parker, who blinks at me with new respect.
Parker shrugs. "Nash talks to no one. I set up his fights, and he barely speaks to me."
A roar sounds behind us, and we turn. I gasp. Instead of the first fighter, a huge silverback gorilla with a scar slashed across its face is in the ring, hanging on the metal fence. The crowd shouts approval as the animal leaps on the remaining fighter still in human form.
"Rookie," Declan scoffs.
"Mmm," Parker agrees. "Letting your animal out is an instant disqualification," he explains to me and Sam. My mouth hangs open as the gorilla chases the fighter around the ring.
Gorilla's fists beat human flesh, and I wince, half turning away.
"You all right?" Sam asks, tucking me into his side and brushing my hair back.
"I'll be fine."
"Never seen a shifter fight before?" Parker asks. His eyes glitter silver.
I swallow. "No."
"You're in for a treat," Declan rubs his hands together. "Nash is the best."
"He is," Parker says. "Excuse me." He heads to the cage, signaling two beefy guys holding cattle prods to follow him. They enter the cage, the two enforcers crowding the gorilla while Parker lifts the bloody man's arm, proclaiming him the winner.
"He's the winner?" I ask in disbelief as Parker helps the fighter limp off the stage. "He could've died!"
Declan shrugs. "That's the part of the entertainment."
The enforcers get the gorilla out of the cage, and the spotlights cut off. Neon lights sweep the crowd, accompanied by a primal drum beat.
"Almost time," Laurie tells us. "They just have to get the blood off the floor."
A trio of curvy, barely clad women in leopard print bikinis step into the cage, holding buckets. We all step back as they toss the soapy contents around, and start mock wrestling in the suds. Meanwhile, a few nondescript workers in jumpsuits enter with mops and actually clean the floor.
"Classy," I roll my eyes.
Laurie and Declan are transfixed. Sam takes it all in with the same stone face he always wears.
"We'll leave as soon as I can talk to Nash," Sam assures me.
"I'm all right." I frown as someone jostles me. "Just getting a little claustrophobic."
"I won't let anything happen to you," Sam promises.
We find seats in the stands, squeezing next to more big guys making bets. As the minutes pass and the place fills up, I'm practically in Sam's lap.
The cage is empty when the lights come back up.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Parker's voice booms around the place. Immediately, people quiet. "The fight you've been waiting for. Tonight's contender is a visitor from the north. The Bruiser."
A giant pushes into the cage and raises his massive arms to accept the cheers and boos.
"Bear shifter," Laurie tells us.
"He'll be facing the reigning alpha of this ring, here to defend his pride: The King of the Beasts."
The place erupts. The air vibrates as if the whole building is shaking. I cringe against Sam as the men on the benches around us howl, stamping their feet. The chain-link fence shakes as people beat at it, and a few fans start climbing it. Enforcers snap cattle prods at them until they fall back into the crowd.
The spotlight whizzes to the fighter's entrance.
"That's him." Laurie points, but at first I miss Nash's entrance. Sam and I push up, standing on our bleachers to see.
Nash is wearing military fatigues, powerful bare chest, tattooed and scarred. Square jaw, short cropped light hair, he could be an All-American soldier but for the yellow light in his eyes.
"He was military, special forces," Sam explains, as the crowds part to let Nash through, chanting his name. Someone tries to put a crown and purple cape on him, but he waves them off, ignoring everything as he walks towards the fighting ring.
"No one fights like Nash," Declan breaths. "No one."
"He was a hero before he ended up at Data-X," Laurie says. "Now his lion is crazy."
Nash isn't as emaciated as he was in the last video I saw of him, but the memory of pain is clear in his fixed gaze. Whatever Data-X did to him, his body and soul will forever bear the scars.
I clutch at Sam, my heart suddenly aching.
"Layne?" Sam's voice finds my ear.
I press my cheek against his, gripping his shirt. "I'm going to help you take them down," I say in his ear, and pull back so he sees the serious look on my face. He studies me, but doesn't ask who 'they' are. He doesn't have to. "I want them to pay."