M&L03 - SS (17 page)

“And why is that?” Liliana
asked, her eyes narrowed.

“Oh no,” Katerina laughed.
“That would spoil the surprise.”

Before Liliana could press
for more information Dragon, Rook and Lucien arrived freshly showered and ready
to greet their women. When the kissing and hugging went on long enough to make
Renee look uncomfortable I grabbed her hand and we followed Katerina out of the
stadium. After a quick debate, we decided to check out the vendors set up
around the stadium rather than fighting the crowds at The Outer Rim. Katerina
said she had some things to check on but promised she’d catch up to us
before the sword fights began.

~ Solomon ~

The focus of the annual
tournament has always been the fights and magical competitions but over the
centuries, vendors and even thrill rides have been added to the festivities.
These days it was more of a cross between a human carnival and a renaissance
fair.

The vendors were set up
around the stadium calling out offers to entice the crowds into buying anything
from food and clothing to weapons and body armor. Some of their stands were
elaborately done up with brightly colored banners and polished wooden surfaces
while others were simply a few pieces of unfinished wood thrown together to
form a display table, three walls and a roof to protect the merchandise from
the elements. I knew from experience that more often than not, the best deals
were found where the vendors spent less money drawing the eyes of their buyers
and more money on the quality of their products.

We strolled along scanning
the items for sale, stopping now and then to watch impromptu magic shows, arm
wrestling matches and other physical displays of strength and skill. This was
where the younger sorcerers could show off and wow the masses without the
pressure of being pitted against each other like me and the other veteran
sorcerers would be over the next few days. It was tempting to step in and
improve upon their spells like I had with Grayson’s forest but I held back and
let them have the spotlight.

When our stomachs began to
rumble we followed our noses to a small stand selling Chinese food and placed
our orders. There were plenty of exotic foods from various demon realms being
offered but Renee had never been very adventurous in her food choices. Once we
had our orders, we wandered over to the edge of the forest where the massive
roots of ancient trees came up out of the ground to make the perfect place to
relax and enjoy the festive atmosphere.

“So how many of the top fifty
did you get right?” Renee asked between bites of fried rice.

“Forty-three of the fifty. I
hadn’t thought any of the vampires would be able to go the distance with so
many of our people gunning for them, but apparently, some of them beat the odds
- and who would have guessed Noah would make it out as fast as he did. He’s
only been a nightshifter for what; two months at the most?” I shook my head.
“He must have been one tough bastard as a human.”

“So are you going to cash out
or roll your winnings over for the next round?”

“He’ll let it roll over of
course,” Doyle replied cheerfully, landing beside Renee with a plateful of
roasted meats from the nearby fire pits. “How else would he be able to make
bank when I win the final match?”

“Hey Doyle,” Renee greeted
him. “That was some match.”

“Yes it was,” a deep voice
agreed and we all looked up to see Kaleb standing in front of our group. Kaleb
was tall with dark brown skin and closely cropped curls. He was also the half
demon slaver who’d supplied Travali with most of the girls for his brothels.

“In recognition of your
performance today I’d like to invite you to participate in a match I’m putting
together for The Pit,” Kaleb invited Doyle.

Doyle shook his head, a look
of utter disgust curling his upper lip. “I have no interest in whatever you’re
cooking up Kaleb.”

Kaleb shrugged like Doyle’s
attitude hadn’t bothered him in the slightest. “That’s a shame considering you
were so interested in buying Kira’s freedom only six months ago.”

“Who the hell is Kira?” Doyle
asked narrowing his eyes on Kaleb.

“She’s the virgin I won in
The Pit six months ago.” Kaleb chuckled. “Well I guess she’s not a virgin
anymore.”

Six months ago, Kaleb won a
free-for-all match in The Pit and claimed his prize, a human female virgin, by
raping her while the audience cheered him on. When it came to the demon realms
that kind of brutality was not only accepted but encouraged so there’d been no
way for us to intervene. The girl’s fate had never sat well with any of us,
especially not with Serafina who asked Dragon to buy her freedom. When Doyle
conveyed Dragon’s request to Kaleb he refused to sell his prize but said he
would reconsider in six months if she weren’t pregnant by then. Half demons
always had trouble procreating so he wanted to make sure she wasn’t capable of
producing a
viable offspring
before he gave her up.

Doyle growled, his eyes the
ice blue of his wolf, and started to rise. Wanting to avoid a fight, I jumped
up and blocked his view of Kaleb. “What does Kira have to do with the match
you’re putting together in The Pit?”

Kaleb focused on me and
smiled. “After six months she’s still not pregnant with my child so rather than
simply putting her up for bids I’m hosting a free-for-all and offering her as
the prize.”

“Why not just sell her to
us?” I asked. “I’m sure Dragon would be willing to meet almost any price.”

Kaleb shook his head. “I’ve
had too many requests for her. It would be bad for business if I sold her to
your king without giving everyone else a shot at her. Besides, she needs to be
knocked down a peg or two, and having her new master claim her in The Pit would
be a good place to start with that.”

The furious growl that was
ripped from Doyle’s throat sent shivers skittering up my spine and drew the
attention of everyone in the area. I glanced over my shoulder to see him
standing directly behind me.

“Go ahead and set up your
match,” Doyle told Kaleb, his voice low and dangerous, “but keep in mind that
whoever you invite won’t be walking out of that arena alive. I’ll be there, and
I will make sure that being claimed in The Pit is a torture Kira will never
have to endure again.”

Kaleb met Doyle’s eyes over
my head and I could feel the tension building between them. Any second I was
going to be caught in the middle of a raging battle.

Danarius stepped out in front
of the crowd that had started gathering around us. “I think it’s time you moved
along Kaleb.” The command in his voice was unmistakable and I couldn’t have
been more relieved.

Kaleb’s spine stiffened and
his hands clenched at his sides, but in the end, he obeyed Danarius. Kaleb
wasn’t a vampire but he was here under their banner so to speak which made
Danarius his Master as well.

Once Kaleb was gone, Danarius
turned to Doyle. “I wish you luck in your endeavor to rescue the damsel in
distress. If anyone deserves to have a better life it’s Kira.”

“If you think she deserves a
better life why don’t you set her free yourself?” Doyle snarled.

Danarius shook his head.
“Change must come slowly or the peasants will revolt.”

Doyle cocked his head to the
side and studied the vampire. Eventually he nodded and then Danarius
disappeared back into the crowd.

“What’s going on with you and
Kaleb,” I asked Doyle when it was just us again.

He ran a frustrated hand
through his hair and sat back down on the tree roots. “I don’t know, but just
the thought of him makes my wolf go fucking nuts and it’s been like that since
that night in The Pit. Of course that was only one night after the curse ended
so the wolf was pretty snarly in general, but now I’m sure his anger was
focused solely on Kaleb. I’ve never liked Kaleb. He preys on young girls,
promising them anything and everything until he can sink his claws into them,
then he turns them over to the highest bidder. Really though, he’s not any
worse than most of the other vampires and demons out there. So why does my wolf
want to rip him to shreds every time I see him?”

“I’d say it has to do with
his part in what happened with Rachel, but you’re saying it started before we
knew about any of that.”

“Exactly,” Doyle confirmed,
“but the shit that went down with Rachel made it worse. I had to avoid him
today while we were in the maze. The wolf was too close to the surface, if I’d
come up against Kaleb I don’t think I could have stopped myself before he was
dead.”

“It seems like your wolf is
trying to tell you something if you ask me,” Renee said.

“She’s probably right Doyle,”
I agreed. “Maybe you should let your wolf have control for a while and see
where he leads you. It worked for me when I let the fox out. Without him I
never would have found Renee’s house in my dreams.”

“Yeah maybe I’ll try that. I
think I’ll go for a run in the woods to clear my head.” Doyle stood and left
without another word.

“So that’s how you found me?”
Renee asked.

“Yes. I dreamed of that town
just outside the portal from Supernova for months but I had no idea why I was
there. When I finally mentioned the dreams to Dragon he said I should let the
fox be my guide.” I shrugged my shoulder. “I took his advice and the fox led me
right to your house. It took a while longer to make it inside the house, but
without the fox I never would have understood why I was dreaming of the same
unfamiliar European town night after night.”

“Huh, and if it hadn’t been
for my fox, I wouldn’t have been waiting in that house night after night,”
Renee said, setting her white carton and chop sticks aside.

I reached over and pulled her
onto my lap. She looked around to see if anyone was watching us but I couldn’t
care less what anyone thought as I turned her so that her legs were wrapped
around my waist. Once she was situated, I tucked her hair behind her ear then I
brushed my lips gently over hers.

She sighed letting her
eyelids flutter shut and I whispered, “That’s the magic of the mating bond. The
foxes weren’t about to let anything keep us apart, not even Sergio and his evil
spell.”

“Do you really think we
should be doing this right here?” she asked tipping her head to the side as I
trailed my lips up her neck.

“Absolutely.” I circled my
tongue around the outer shell of her ear making a shiver race up her spine.

Her hands smoothed down my
neck, my shoulders, and then skimmed over my arms. Her touch was light as she
leaned in and melted against my chest. “There are people everywhere Solomon and
you know they’re just dying for more gossip.”

“I don’t really give a damn
about any of them, but don’t worry; I’ll keep it to a PG-13 rating.”

I threaded my fingers through
her hair and angled her head just right for my lips to slant over hers. For
long moments I was content with the feel of her velvety lips caressing mine, so
soft and sweet, so tender, so loving. I slid one arm around her back, holding
her close as I licked her lips, asking her to open for me. Her lips parted with
a sigh and I circled her tongue with slow, swirling sweeps of my own. Her arms
came up around my neck and her fingers played with the ends of my hair.
Everything about the moment was perfect, just the way I’d always dreamed it
could be.

“You know, they’re actually
taking bets over there about how far the two of you are going to go,” Katerina
informed us, taking a seat on a nearby root.

I laughed, breaking the kiss
but not letting Renee move from my lap. “It seems fitting I suppose with all
the things I’ve bet on over the years. If it wasn’t me they were betting on I’m
sure I’d be right there with them.”

Katerina smirked. “Then you
won’t mind knowing that I bet you’d both keep all of your clothes on.”

“You didn’t,” Renee
sputtered, twisting on my lap to face the other woman.

“Of course she did,” I told
Renee. “Katerina knows a safe bet when she sees one.”

“That I do.” Katerina smiled.

“Do you know when they’ll do
the drawing for tonight’s dance club transformation?” I asked Katerina.

“Kasper will have all of you
join him in the arena after the sword fights to draw names for the
transformations and the mazes.”

“How long before the sword
fights begin?”

She checked her watch. “Maybe
another two hours or so. There were a lot of people signed up for the marksmanship
competition this year.”

With plenty of time to kill,
Renee and I went shopping. I needed magical supplies and this was the best
place to get them. After a while, we ran into Grayson and I advised him to buy
as much silver as he could afford. I used silver to create most of my spells
because it absorbs magic, thereby making it easier to create self-replenishing
spells. Silver was dangerous for supernaturals in large amounts because it
could absorb too much of our inherent magic and leave us completely drained,
but the rings I made were small enough that I never had to worry about anyone
being hurt by them.

When it was time for the
sword fights to begin Renee and I made our way back into the arena. The top
twenty participants from last year’s tournament were exempt from the
preliminary round so we could sit back and relax while w
e
checked out the competition.