"Guess he's fighting two tonight."
"Is that allowed?"
"First rule of the Shifter Fight Club," Declan grimaces and shakes his head.
"What is it?" I lean down and whisper to Laurie. "What's the rule?"
"There are n-n-no rules."
Grizz
I FACE the silverback who instigated the fight that led to my black out.
"You gonna fight for yourself tonight? Not get a bunch of pussies to do your dirty work?"
The gorilla's lips peel back, showing flat, yellowed teeth. "You're gonna bleed, Grizzly."
"All right. No monkey business."
The gorilla roars at me, but the crowd laughs. They don't like me, but they like my attitude.
"Go Grizz." Amid the jeers, a single voice cheers me on. "You can do it."
Jordy. I'd pick her out of any crowd. There may as well be no one else here but us.
I tug off my leather jacket and wrap it to hide the flask. I hand it carefully to Parker. "Guard that."
He nods. He knows I carry a flask, but has no idea what it contains. No one does.
I face the gorilla, shaking out my shoulders. I don't need the juice to fight this banana brain. I can take him.
"Ready?" A wolf calls from the sidelines. I nod at him and he blows a whistle.
A foot comes out of nowhere. I barely have time to duck. The gorilla lands and whirls. I block another kick with raised forearms, staggering back under the heavyweight. The crowd whoops, loving that I got caught off guard.
I lower my arms, meeting the gorilla's crazy eyes. The fucker is barefoot, wearing loose black gee pants. I should've picked it out immediately.
I shrug and roll the kinks outta my shoulders. MMA? Why the fuck not? I'm down for some karate.
Making a fist, I press it into my palm, bowing without lowering my head or dropping my gaze. The gorilla rolls his lips back again in a snarl-smile. He launches into another leap, coming at me feet first. I dodge, grab his ankle and swing him into the cage wall.
The crowd's cheering cuts off as if someone hit a switch.
The monkey picks himself up, shakes his limbs out, and comes at me again. On all fours, like an animal. He hits my middle and we fall to the floor together. I punch his head repeatedly until he rolls away. I sit up without using my arms and rise. When he comes at me again, I duck and grab his arm at the same time, rolling him off my back into the cage wall. He bounces and rebounds-right as I kick out. Foot, meet face.
The crowd's on its feet, hooting and howling. They sound more animal than human. Fine by me. I'm the biggest predator here. My bear surges forward. I drop to all fours, fighting the instinct to change. My mouth opens and I roar. A few shifters cover their ears. Others drop their gaze. That's right, fuckers. Grizz is in the house.
The monkey sits up, dazed. Beyond him, outside the cage, Parker is shouting something. What is it?
"Behind you-"
The gorilla smiles. I whirl around as a big, bad bear enters the cage, shrugging out of his leather jacket, smirking at me with the biggest canines I've ever seen.
All around the cage, the wolves begin to howl.
Jordy
"WHAT IS IT? WHAT'S HAPPENING?" I tug on Declan's leg. When the fighting started, it was so fast, so glorious and brutal, I couldn't watch without my eyes watering. I got down from my stool to give Laurie a turn. But now, hearing the crowd screaming for blood, and the grim expressions on the two Stooges' faces, I know something's wrong.
"Grizz." I turn back to the cage. My bear is there, prowling around the perimeter, turning his head back and forth from one opponent to another.
Two on one?
"Feck," Declan mutters.
"Grizz," I breathe in horror. I've seen him fight more than one opponent before, but everything about this is worse. The stakes are higher. The shifters around the cage laugh and shout.
I gotta get closer.
Cupping my hands around my mouth, I shout this to Declan and his eyes widen. "Kit, no-"
I'm already racing towards the cage, weaving in and out of the groups waiting at the bar. The shifters don't part for me and for once I'm glad I'm small. I fight through the crowd, squeezing between bodies and slipping away before anyone can grab me.
I end up near one of the bleachers. If I'm lucky, no one will notice me.
Grizz waves to the second fighter, and he orders a timeout.
Calmly, my big bear walks to the side of the cage and hooks his fingers in the links.
"Parker," he growls. "Juice."
Parker fumbles the leather jacket and holds up a flask. He lifts it to the cage, pushing the neck through the links. Grizz takes a pull, pressing his face to the cage wall. His throat works for a long second before he pulls back and nods to Parker to put the flask away. A red drop clings to Grizz's lips before he dashes a hand over his mouth and turns back to meet his two opponents.
"Let's do this," he says to everyone and no one.
"Round two," the big wolf shouts and blows on a whistle. "Fight!"
Grizz
I PACE the perimeter of the fight cage, keeping both my opponents in my peripheral vision. I gotta work to keep from giving either of them my back.
Two against one? Not great odds, but I've had worse.
The vampire blood sizzles in my veins. Frangelico didn't skimp on this dose. This is heart blood-the most potent. The hangover's gonna be a bitch, but it'll give me enough energy to last a few hours.
Time to get this fight started.
I move first, tackling the gorilla. He leaps onto the cage wall, practically levitating. I tear him down and give him a taste of my fist.
Behind me, the crazy bear paces. Good, he's not feral enough to be comfortable fighting these uneven odds. He'll wait his turn, which gives me time to teach this monkey a lesson.