Rafe watched as she started her warm-up routine, stretching on the corner of the space Adri had taped out on the wooden floor. There was no cage this time, just a thin red line the fighters were expected to contain their violence to. The fact that Indigo wasn’t in debt explained why she hadn’t been on Rafe’s radar. He only kept track of those closest to Adri, and Adri focussed on the ones who needed his support to get their lives back under their own control.
“Who do you think will win?”
“Jay, no question. This is just a chance to test out her range and strength, so Viviana knows where to schedule her in the future.”
“And a chance to reassure the punters that last week was an anomaly,” Rafe pointed out.
Adri tilted his chin up in agreement, all his focus on the two fighters. With his mate distracted, Rafe indulged himself in drinking in the beautiful sight he made. Not just his peak-condition muscles bulging against his tight clothing, but the sexy way he took responsibility for those he worked with.
As he watched, a sudden flare of bright light lit Adri’s face like a bonfire, throwing it into sharp relief. The agonising scream that followed just about pierced Rafe’s eardrums. Spinning as one, the two of them turned toward the chaos as the sweet scent of burning flesh, cut through with an unusual tang of sulfur, blossomed in the air.
In the corner of the fighting ring where Indigo had been stretching, there was now a column of white-hot flame. Her screams cut off before they could take more than three racing steps toward her. Not because of the fire extinguisher someone nearby had managed to send shooting in her direction, but because whatever had caused her to immolate was consuming her body so quickly, there was already nothing left to make the sound.
Rafe sent a wave of healing power ahead of him as he sprinted closer, pouring it into her body like he had an endless supply as he dropped to his knees and skidded across the polished floor toward her still flaming body. A wall of solid muscle tackled him from the side before he could reach her, and he found himself pinned to the ground by his jaguar.
“It’s too late, Rafe. Don’t drain your power again when we don’t know what else they’ll throw at us.”
Rafe was about to snap at his mate that he had to at leasttry, but the tear that fell from Adri’s lashes onto his cheek drove home the truth of what his mate was saying. The truth he could feel from the power he’d bathed her burning corpse in. She was already gone.
Swearing under his breath, he reeled in what he could of his wasted magic. Adri was off him a moment later, sensing the change in his focus. As his mate took charge of the venue, co-opting fighters and guards to secure the space while punters raced toward the exits, Rafe shrugged off his jacket and used it to smother the last of the flames.
From nearby, he could hear the familiar voice of Silas—Marco’s second—on the phone to the MC, presumably Blaze, asking for a fire witch to get there as soon as possible so they could figure out what the fuck had happened. Rafe already knew this hadn’t been elemental witch magic, though. Their powers might work differently, but it was similar enough that he could sense its presence, especially in a shifter body. This was something else entirely.
“What are you thinking, Doc?” Silas asked when he was off the phone.
“Bring what’s left of her back to my clinic, and I’ll see what I can figure out.”
Silas jerked his head in assent before heading to the exit, presumably to meet whoever from the MC the rumbling engines outside belonged to. Adri stepped into his field of vision a moment later.
“I’m taking Jay home. I need to be there for him and the others,” he said.
Rafe frowned, instinct screaming at him to keep his mate close. To protect him. Viviana or Silas would order Adri to stay with him if he asked.
“You’re not safe there. None of you are.”
“Here’s your chance to show me you’re not trying to control me. I’m not a delicate kitten you can keep locked away, Rafe.”
It took everything he had to watch Adri walk away.
CHAPTER 8: ADRI
Adri wasn’t surprisedto find several of the fighters with no debt had packed up and left by the time they returned to the living quarters above the gym. Word travelled fast in their networks, and two gruesome, unexplained deaths like they’d seen in the last week were too much risk even for people in their line of work. Of more concern was that a couple of the indebted fighters had also run off. Marco might be fairer than the previous owners had been, but he had no tolerance for disloyalty.
“Go and bring them back before Viviana has to officially notice. I’m fine,” Jay said, as Adri hovered in the doorway to the dorms that were on the floor between the gym and the small apartments the older fighters like Adri and Jay could afford to occupy.
As he was making his way back out onto the street to track down the errant fighters, voices raised in argument drifted down the stairs to the mezzanine where Viviana’s office sat. It wasn’t like her to forget to close it. Drifting closer, he used his natural stealth to slip silently up the stairs until he could hear what was going on.
“Can you explain how a human with a cell phone got into your fight tonight, then?” a waspish voice asked.
Fuck. That wasn’t good.
“You can tell the Council we have it under control. They’ve been dealt with, Leah,” Viviana replied.
“The pack was already on notice. My supervisor isn’t going to be happy.”
“Do they need to know?”
“Call Marco and get him here. He needs to explain himself.”
