Her thoughts flickered to her best friend, Brayden Maddox. He lived in Clair de Lune, a country where magic was legal. Did he see things like this all the time? They didn’t usually talk about magic, but she was dying to know what he’d think of this.
“Fucking hell,” said Alastair as the hydra reared its heads in the air. The creature was easily fourteen feet tall when it stretched to its full height. Several members of the crowd took a few steps backward.
The wolf snapped its jaws, and the hydra leaped back with more speed than Scarlett thought possible for a creature of this size, especially considering it was seeing the room through six sets of eyes. Its heads strained high toward the ceiling, letting out the most earsplitting of screeches. While the dire wolf and most of the audience were looking up, several heads dropped to the ground and crashed into the wolf with a loud thump. It fell hard, stunned from the impact. The hydra gripped the wolf’s skull and bashed it against the floor as the six heads attacked its body. After a couple of hits to the wolf’s skull, the bell rang. Thehydra leaped back to Mace’s original corner of the ring.
“Round one to Mace,” said Cass.
More than half the room yelled with approval. There were a couple of boos.
“If you hadn’t made us late, I could have put money on the Menace,” grumbled Alastair. “He’s the favorite to win, and he was close to achieving a KO there before that bell.”
Scarlett prickled but held back from reminding Alastair she’d encouraged him to come here alone. She’d let him have it after the match. For now, she wanted to watch the amazing shifters in front of them.
In spite of the blows to the head, the wolf was up off the floor after a few long seconds. It shook its head, bared its teeth, and growled at the hydra. When the bell sounded, the wolf lunged. This time its jaws closed around the hydra’s scaly front-left ankle, and the crowd groaned as its teeth sank into the snakelike skin. Black blood spurted from the wound, and all the hydra’s heads screeched as the dire wolf pulled it to the ground.
Scarlett’s stomach turned, and she grimaced. She glanced toward Cass, hoping she’d ring the bell before the wolf ripped off the hydra’s leg—but rather than watching the fight, Cass was staring at the only entry to the room. She looked straight at Scarlett, then back at the door. Scarlett followed her gaze.
Flashlights flickered against the walls.
Scarlett tugged at Alastair’s hand. “Look!”
He kept his attention on the fight.
The hydra’s screams assaulted Scarlett’s eardrums as the bell failed to sound.
“We need to leave.” She shook Alastair’s arm.
He turned to her just as two police officers burst into the room, rushing toward the ring. More streamed in behind them.
“EVERYONE, GET ON THE FLOOR.”
“Shit,” Alastair muttered. He wrapped his arm aroundScarlett’s shoulders, but aside from that, he was frozen.
Cass and the two fighters climbed out of the ring as all the lights in the room, including the officer’s flashlights, flickered and went out. The pitch-black room filled with screams.
Scarlett gripped Alastair’s arm as panic rose in her chest. “There has to be another way out.”
But if there was, she couldn’t see it. Bodies slammed into her as people scattered around, a few choosing to lie on the grimy floor.
Why did I let this happen? Ihaveto get out of here, or I’ll go down in history as the dumbass who ruined everything for my dad.
Alastair’s voice shook. “Maybe the police can be bribed…”
A hand clutched Scarlett’s upper arm. “Scarlett Heroux?”
She tried to yank her arm away from the sudden touch. “Who are you?” She couldn’t see a foot in front of her face.
“Follow me if you don’t want to get arrested.”
Then it clicked. The lightly accented voice belonged to Cass. Shocked as she was, Scarlett made a split-second decision.
“Lead the way.”
“Take my hand.” Fingers slid into Scarlett’s free hand, and she stumbled but stayed on her feet as she was led through the pitch-black room, pulling Alastair behind her. All around were sounds of frantic people desperate to escape the dark, but somehow Cass avoided them all.
Then Scarlett walked into Cass’s back as she came to an abrupt halt. Alastair stumbled into her, and she held his hand tighter to steady them both.
“There’s a trapdoor right here,” said Cass. “Feel for the ladder on the side closest to you. Scarlett, you go first. Mace and Brixton have gone ahead, so don’t freak out if you hear them.” She placed Scarlett’s hand on the first rung of the ladder.
