"Pardon?" The vampire oozes down the side of the arroyo, his snakeskin cowboy boots never seeming to touch the ground.
"Nothing." I reach the bottom of the basin and look around. There are a few humans down here, frat boy types standing around a fire they made in a metal trash can, laughing and passing around a bottle of cheap liquor. Vampire hangarounds. Facing them, silent, are Trey and Jared. Grizz is a huge shadow lurking behind them.
"Who needs the fight club when we have this?" Nero spreads his arms at the scene.
I stop and wrinkle my nose at the barren landscape, like an alien planet. The fight club has tons of charm compared to this.
"Well, leech," Trey shouts as Nero and I tromp towards him. "What's it gonna be? You ready to fight?"
Nero disappears from my side and reappears a few feet away, closer to Trey. I control my reaction, forcing my heartbeat to slow. I hate it when leeches do that. Not all of them can, but Lucius and his children seem to be particularly powerful.
"I will not be fighting. You heard my master." Is it my imagination, or did Nero grimace when he said the word master? Maybe the Frangelico Empire is headed for a coup.
"What am I doing here then? Wasting my time?" Trey stretches his arms out in mockery of the vampire's previous gesture.
Don't bait the bloodsucker. It's not a quote from my wisdom calendar, but it should be. Never mock a vampire. Life advice by Dracula.
"No. I have someone for you to fight. Once you realize who, you may not be so eager."
"Like you can get a shifter to do your dirty work. Bring it on."
Nero clears his throat.
It takes me a moment to realize the fighter Nero refers to. When I do, my heart sinks.
Slowly, Grizz prowls around Trey and Jared and takes his place next to the vampire, facing them.
"No," I whisper.
"Sorry, boss." The grizzly rubs his scarred face, a tortured expression showing his conflict.
"Grizz?"
I can't see Trey's expression, but my heart cracks at the hopelessness in his voice.
"How long?" Jared snarls, stepping forward. Trey plants a hand on his friend's chest, holding him back from rushing the grizzly. "How long have you worked for the vampires?"
"Since before I met you." Grizz wraps his hands, not looking at anyone. Nero glances at him, smirking.
Trey shakes his head, and I feel sick by the hurt on his face. I know that look. He wore it the night Alpha Green threw them out for dealing pot and dishonoring the pack. The night I betrayed him.
"Trey." I hurry to his side, but he doesn't even look at me.
"Let's get this over with," Jared mutters and Grizz takes his place between the rocks. Jared rattles off a bunch of rules, including the out of bound areas, marked by larger stones.
Trey bows his head and flexes his fists. Grizz is a large, hulking mountain. I sense his regret, even though his scarred face just looks weary. What sort of hold do the vampires have on him, to get the loner grizzly under their control?
Jared finishes talking and backs out from in between the fighters. Nero and I stand opposite each other. The human hangarounds trickle over to the fight area, laughing and jeering until I growl at them.
Trey and Grizz ignore everyone but Jared, until he signals the fight to start. Then they focus on each other, so intent I expect electricity to crackle between them. Trey paces slowly around the edge of an imaginary circle. One of the humans throws a beer can. It hits the boundary rock with a crack like a shot. Neither Trey or Grizz blink.
Please, please, let this be over soon. I fight to relax my shoulders and unclench my fists. Trey glances at me and for a moment I think he's gonna stop this madness and throw the fight.
Then he snaps into action and rushes Grizz, who roars loud enough to shake the ground. Fists lash out, Trey twisting at the last second to land a useless blow on the grizzly's massive arm. I swallow my heart, only to have it leap into my throat again when Grizz chases Trey, lumbering like the bear he is with incredible speed. Punches land with horrible thunks. I close my eyes a moment, but the smell of blood and the watchers' excitement are worse than watching the hits. I cover my ears instead.
The fighters exchange blow after blow. It's nothing like the graceful dance I witnessed when Trey fought before. This is raw and brutal, two apex predators doing their best to maim each other. Shifters can heal, yes, but when you break a bone, it can take a while, and it still hurts. It hurts bad.
"Enough," someone screams. I'm across the invisible boundary and between the fighters before I realize it's me; I'm the one who screamed. I turn to Trey, pleading. "Enough."
"Sheridan, get out of the way, baby." He motions to me. His face is cut and swollen. With as much damage as he's taken, his body will heal much slower.
"I can't. I can't watch this anymore. I can't let you do this!"
"Sweetheart," Trey whispers. "Please."
A movement behind me makes me whirl in time to see four hundred pounds of angry grizzly charging at me.
At the last second, I pivot and duck under his claws, set my shoulder into his abs and roll him off my back. He crashes into the dirt. The rocks around us rumble.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
The cheering cuts off like someone flipped a switch. The humans stare at me like they can't believe what I've done.
"That's enough," I repeat. "It's over. Everyone... go home."
A hiss, like steam escaping, slices the air. I whirl to face the vampire, and fight not to duck my head or tuck my tail. His face has transformed somehow, a monstrous caricature of something once human. Is this how vampires really look? "This isn't over, wolf," Nero says, and disappears.
Grizz rises slowly.