CHAPTER
ONE
The people of Soleil feared magic so much they’d banned it, but thrill-seekers and the desperate still found ways around the law. Scarlett Heroux couldn’t believe she was about to become one of them. She hesitated at the end of the dark alleyway, suddenly aware she was about to go into an illegal magical boxing match undisguised. Pulling a black silk scarf out of her purse, she tied it over her platinum-blonde hair, which was twisted at the back of her neck.
“I don’t want to be recognized,” she said when her boyfriend, Alastair Spencer, stopped to give her an impatient stare.
“We’ll miss the start.”
He’d been rushing her all night, even though she’d been telling him for days it would be tough to make it on time.
“Does this look all right?” she asked.
“You look like a movie star. Now come on.” He held out his hand, softening the demand with a charming smile. His perfectly symmetrical face was so beautiful it was almost enough to make Scarlett forget she was mad at him.
Almost.
“I wish you hadn’t insisted on leaving the charity ball for this.” She took his hand, allowing herself to be pulled along. “Ishouldn’t have left. I’ve worked so hard to convince my dad to make the homeless shelter his charity of the year. It’s important to me, and it should be important to you.”
“Itisimportant, but they’d already served dessert. The press got their picture of the prime minister and his daughter. It was practically over.” His bright blue eyes begged her to agree, but this time it wasn’t working. “Besides,” he added, hitting her again with his flawless smile, “you go to a dozen charity dinners a year, but this is your first black-market boxing match. We never do anything this cool.”
She fumed as she thought of all the times she’d planned dates and gone along to events he’d wanted to attend. Either oblivious or willfully ignorant to Scarlett’s irritation, Alastair led her to a large steel door and knocked several times. A tank of a man stepped out to greet them. Alastair showed him their tickets, and they were admitted to a narrow hallway.
Curiosity overtook her anger as they emerged into a cavernous, damp-smelling space. The floors and the walls were made of concrete, and in the center of the room was a large, well-lit boxing ring. But it was the people who interested her the most. Who was so into watching a fight with magic that they’d risk getting arrested to be here? There were about a hundred bodies packed around the ring, so a fair few, to be sure. Several men puffed on cigarettes, and tendrils of smoke streamed through the air.
Scarlett wrinkled her nose at the stench. She tried to hang back near the door, but Alastair tugged at her hand impatiently.
“Can’t we move closer to the front? I want to get a good look at these men.” He craned his neck to see into the ring, where both fighters were limbering up. “If that’s even what they are.”
“No, we can’t,” hissed Scarlett. “My dad will kill me if we cause a scandal before the border vote.”
The full weight of the risk they were taking had finally sunk in.Scarlett’s father was Lord Jules Heroux, the Prime Minister of Soleil and Head of the Cerulean Party, and his dream of opening Soleil to trade with the magical world was just within reach. But the vote was expected to pass by the thinnest of margins.Whyhadn’t Scarlett flat-out refused to come here?
Oh, right, because she was a people-pleaser who hated to fight with her boyfriend. And right now she loathed herself for it.
Alastair linked his arm through hers and walked forward, forcing Scarlett to stumble across the sawdust-covered floor. “We’ve been through this. No one’s going to tattle on you for being here. Rufus comes all the time and never gets caught, and his dad is a lord. And look over there—I know I’ve seen that old man in the fedora at one of my father’s parties. Besides, you’ve got your hair up and under that scarf. No one will recognize you.”
The old man turned toward them then, his gaze lingering. Scarlett turned away and pulled Alastair a few feet in the opposite direction. He took advantage and edged her directly up to the side of the ring, where two men stood ready to begin. One was lean but tough-looking; the other was packing an obscene amount of muscle and had a bent nose that looked like it had been broken and not set properly. They both seemed like they’d be hard to overpower.
To Scarlett’s surprise, a woman stepped into the ring, positioning herself between the two fighters. Her presence heightened the energy in the room as the fighters greeted her like they knew her well. She was both attractive and fierce, with more muscle on her frame than Scarlett had ever seen on another woman. Her brown hair hung over her left shoulder in a practical braid, and she wore black trousers, sturdy black combat boots, and a white T-shirt tucked into her pants. Everything about her said she took no shit.
“Right, ladies and gents,” said the woman in a faint accentScarlett couldn’t place. “I’m Cass, your master of ceremonies. Tonight we’ve got Brixton the Beast, the most fearsome dire wolf this side of Mont Noir.” She gestured toward the leaner of the fighters and paused for a smattering of cheers from the crowd, which Brixton ignored. “And Mace the Menace, our favorite hydra you don’t want to surprise ya!” She introduced the monolithic boxer with a twist of her hand, and he waved as the crowd applauded. “This is going to be a good one. Finish placing your bets—we’re about to begin!” Flashing the crowd a devious grin, she added, “Reminder, if I catch anyone recording this fight, I’ll break your kneecaps before I kick you out.”
Scarlett couldn’t look away from the badass woman totally dominating the underground boxing ring. Goddess, she wanted to be like her. Cass was so confident as she owned the room, and she’d clearly chosen this life for herself. She locked gazes with Cass, who smiled wider and raised her eyebrows as if she recognized Scarlett.
Before Scarlett could react, Cass turned back to the fighters. “Standard rules apply tonight, boys. Win a round by getting three hits in. First two rounds, magic. Round three, no magic. Win three rounds or knock the other fighter out, you win the fight. If you kill your opponent, you’re banned for life.”
A few boos came from the audience.
“Bloodlust,” she said with amusement. “But you know how it goes—someone dies, then the law gets involved, then I have to start giving up names. We don’t want that. Right, my lord?” She leaned over the rope and waved to a man whose face Scarlett couldn’t see, but she saw him nodding in response. Cass looked to the boxers. “And I know you fuckers won’t break the golden rule, because you want your money.”
Mace chuckled as he bounced on the balls of his feet. Brixton just stared at the ground.
“I find it disturbing she needs to clarify murder is off thetable,” said Scarlett, but Alastair ignored her. His piercing gaze was fixed on the ring.
The bell rang, and Scarlett’s jaw dropped as both fighters began to shift. In a blink, Brixton’s body had twisted and expanded until a seven-foot-long dire wolf was standing before them. Across from him, Mace’s skin took on a serpentine texture and shone green in the dim light as his arms and his legs thickened and grew. In no time, he had the body of a four-legged dragon. Scarlett thought her brain would explode as his head began to split in two, and then those heads split, until there were six snake heads with slitted eyes weaving through the air around his body. He towered above the wolf.
In that moment, she felt a glimmer of understanding. This was why people came here. They came because magic was fuckingincredible.
