“I don’t give a flying fuck about any accommodation. I want out!” The last man stepped closer to the security guard, who quickly whipped out a gun.
“Number Five, once you enter the games, there is only one way out. It had already been agreed with your sponsors when they paid the buy in.”
“Who the fuck is Number Five? Fuck you! Get out of my way!”
More security entered, a wall of authority with guns.
“Number Five, I must ask you to step back.”
“I said get out my fucking way!” the man screamed, claws piercing through his clenched fists as he jumped at the closest security. They all scrambled to subdue him, not one actually using their weapons.
Kace slipped out the door, quickly moving down the corridor while everyone remained distracted. He was sure he would be disciplined for moving out of the dedicated quarters, but then again there wasn’t a rule strictly forbidding him from exploring.
Riley had been uncomfortable agreeing for him to stay on site for the duration of the games, but Kace had assured him it was for the best. It would give him three full days inside the Pits, and he knew he wouldn’t get another opportunity to infiltrate the place that ruined his mind, body and soul.
The corridors were dark, and it wasn’t long until he found the arena, the thunder of the crowd pulling him towards the light. He knew nothing of the layout, Titus unable to find anything on the new structure.
The audience had tripled, screaming and cheering as they watched and bet on the hand-to-hand fight. The slap of flesh on flesh was so familiar it put his beast at ease, but from his vantage point he couldn’t make out who was on the sands. Not when his eyes were immediately drawn to Eva on the highest floor opposite, her hand pressed to the glass as she watched with such focus.
A frustrated growl from his beast, and Kace quickly snarled back, trying to suppress the fucker to the back of his mind.
‘Calm down.’Riley’s voice was crystal clear, calming the beast’s spike in temper to a subtler simmer.‘I can feel your beast pressing for release.’
‘It seems our curse isn’t affected by the magical block,’Kace shot back the same way. He moved away from the edge, dragging his eyes away from Eva to find both Xander and Riley on the floor below.‘Did you guys find out anything while I was on the sands?’
It was Xander who answered.‘You’re all numbered from one to fifteen. You’re Number Thirteen.’
Good thing Kace didn’t believe in bad luck.
‘You all came out from a different entrance to the Units,’Xander continued.‘There’s five scheduled fights for today with eight more planned tomorrow after your event.’
Even through the mental connection Kace could hear the concern in his voice.‘You’re not telling me something.’
Silence as he ascended the closest stairs, climbing the floors until he reached the correct floor. It brought him back out towards the arena, each exclusive room closed as Kace walked behind them in a circle, stopping once he counted the right one.
“What the fuck is going on?”he growled as he stepped inside, closing the door quickly behind him. The room was small, dark with only two high-backed leather chairs.
Riley quickly stood, mouth set in a grim line when he turned. “We didn’t expect them to call him out yet, he wasn’t on the schedule.”
Kace took a step forward, looking through the glass. “What are you…” He found Hunter on his knees, panting as the assistant dragged away his unconscious opponent. Rage immediately burned, and not even Riley could calm him down.
“We’ve already put an offer in to buy him, we’re just waiting on a response.”
“He fought great, you’ve taught him well,” Xander added. “We’ll get him out.”
Kace was rigid as blood rushed in his ears, his beast pressing against his mind. He was scratching to be released, to destroy everything in his path until his fur was slick with blood, and death was the only fragrance.
He would not allow Hunter to suffer as he did. To carry the deaths and guilt of those killed. Murdered.
Red at the edge of his vision, the handle breaking in his palm, the metal bending as if it were made from soft plastic while his brothers voices buzzed inside his head, louder, but no less incoherent.
‘That’s enough!’Riley’s voice finally broke through, his own beast pressing until Kace felt the heaviness of its dominance. They weren’t shifters, and didn’t have a typical hierarchy system like those that shared their bodies with animals. But they did have an alpha, Riley who was the first of them to be cursed with his beast. He was stronger, bigger and more in sync with the man.
Normally it would have made Kace hesitate, Riley’s words alone able to bring him back from the edge. But it seemed he was beyond reason.
Or maybe he was just as fucked up as his beast.
The door cracked when he pulled it open, his muscles rigid as he stepped out… only to come toe-to-toe with Eva. And just like that his black rage quietened.
