He shifted into a cockroach again and entered the room under the door. The first two rooms were empty and dark. The third room was occupied.
Several people were inside. Mallor sat on a couch facing a wall of windows. The windows look out onto the arena. A woman sat at the man’s feet, naked, and had a metal collar around her neck. The man held the end of the chain with one hand and petted her like a dog with the other.
“The others will arrive soon,” the man whispered to the woman.
The woman shook and cried. Whoever was arriving scared the woman. That much was obvious.
The man just smiled and continued to pet her hair.
Abi had to move or get stepped on when a man with a gun on his belt entered the room. “Your special guest hasn’t entered the building.”
Was he talking about them?
“See that he’s invited up as soon as he arrives.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring Toby to me. I want someone willing when my guest arrives. We must make a good impression.”
“Right, sir. I’ll bring him up straight away.” The guard left, and Abi left with him.
Abi continued along the wall until he got to a set of stairs. He shifted into a rat and headed down.
A woman screamed. “Rat! Oh my god, Stan!”
Abi ran down the stairs as fast as his small body would go. He shifted into a fly and took to the air, heading for the main door, which was open. He turned into a bird and landed in a tree close to their car in the parking lot.
He cawed and waited for Nash to open the back door. It was the longest five seconds of his life, but the back door finally opened. Abi shifted into a fly again and flew inside.
He shifted into his human form as soon as Nash closed the door, settling into the seat beside Nash. Was he graceful? No. Did he make Nash smile when he ended up backwards on the seat and had trouble righting himself? Yes. Abi considered that a win.
He straightened his clothes as he tried to catch his breath.
Nash assessed him with his gaze. “Are you okay?”
“Never better.” Flying was tiring. He felt as though he’d run seven miles instead of just flying across a parking lot. “I may need to exercise more, apparently.”
“Did you give Sylvain the intel?”
“Yep.” Abi grinned. “I killed a guard.”
Nash swore.
“Don’t worry. I made sure the species was local. I just hope the big man in the skybox doesn’t end the event thinking there’s a cottonmouth in the building.” Abi shrugged. “Not that they saw me. But they’ll find out the cause of death when they do an autopsy. By then, shit will have hit the fan, and we’ll be long gone.”
“You saw Mallor?”
Abi nodded. “He’s in the first skybox on the west side of the building. He has a woman with him. A slave.”
“Can you do the job?”
“You mean not kill Mallor because he’s keeping a woman chained to him and petting her like a dog.”
“Yes.” Nash growled the word. The description upset him, but Nash needed to know what they were facing.
“We won’t see her. Mallor is putting on a milder show. Getting someone willing just for us. But he’s still a bastard, so I may need your help.” Mallor was a slimy piece of shit. Abi would rather rid the world of him. Playing nicely would be difficult.
Nash nodded once. “I’ll take care of you.”
