Page 115 of In Prey We Trust

And there it is… my father’s gambit all along. They will force both Fitz and me to fight, which should net him a small fortune.

“Wait a tick,” Rufus says, interrupting my thought process. “Did she just say current and former?”

“That son of a bitch!” My eyes widen as Dolly’s eyes turn crimson and her hand squeezes mine hard enough to crack bones. “He sent you here to win him money, but that motherfucker and my cunt mother made you bring me, hoping to take me out. They knew the rules and that I’d be forced to fight, too.”

“This is a joke, right?” Ren says as he looks around. “No one can actually force any of you to fight. Since they did not inform us before we came in, we’ll turn around and go back the way we came. No harm, no foul.”

“You won’t get past the elevator. It’s the rules and trust me, they have ways of enforcing them. She’s right, Laveaux. The tigers and the rabbit have no choice.” Zhenga sighs regretfully and crooks her finger at us. “Follow me to the locker room. The rest of you should find a seat and stay together. I have a feeling it’s going to get rowdy.”

Centuries

Delores

As much as I’d like to say I can’t believe this shit is going on, it’s not surprising at all. That cagey old fuck who fathered my tigers got together with my bitchy mother to arrange a test—or an execution—on the sly. I’ve only been competing in this stupid sport for a couple months and I didn’t even want to do it. We thought it would keep people from screwing with me, which it has not. Now I’m required to fight in an underground club where it might as well be to the death because our sadist families tricked us into showing. Fucking Iago—the dude, not the bird—has nothing on the people who contributed to our DNA.

Calm down, Dolly. You can survive this.

I lean my head on the locker room door, closing my eyes. Fitz and Felix are being corralled by Zhenga and Chess, so I can get dressed and focus. Their angry, nervous energy was making my bunny nuts and I can’t operate solely on rage in this fight. It might work in the college rings, but it won’t work here. These people do this for big money and notoriety—they aren’t bound by any of the rules the league puts on competitors. Nothing is off the table; I’m on my own and I have to do this without a ref who gives a shit.

“What the hell am I going to do if they put me with some giant dickweasel? They don’t even keep women and men separate. I am so dead,” I groan softly as I kick off my heels. Zhenga lent me some of her shit and it should fit okay. I only need enough to cover myself until I shift and then someone will robe me after. “Good thing she’s not tiny, or I’d be getting boob strangled while I get neck strangled.”

“That’s not very positive thinking,” the voice behind me is amused, and I turn to see Rufus watching me dress.

“Fitz will murder you if he finds you in here. They’re being kept out for a reason,” I say as I hop from one foot to the other while putting on the shorts. “Plus, I’m half-naked.”

“Pffft, as if I fucking care about that. You’re lovely, Dollybear, but you don’t put the tension in my spring.” He pushes off the doorframe and walks over, sitting on the bench opposite me as I wrap my hands. “I am, however, an expert at doing this level of shit with people who are out for blood, not trophies. And I’m not nearly as big as my opponents were, so I have insight to offer.”

I blink. “You’re coming in to coach me?”

“No, I’m here to tell you how to play dirty, so you win. They have trained you to play fair and use legal moves, babe. That’s not what these guys will do.”

Shit. He’s right. Z and the guys know how to fight dirty, but they sure as fuck haven’t been teaching me that for the Games.

“Okay. We don’t have long.” I pull my hair into a tight bun and look at my friend seriously. “Talk to me about being a cheating bastard.”

His grin is feral as I sit down. “Gladly.”

By the time Rufus is finished, I think I’m as ready as I can be. Squaring my shoulders, I head out the door of the locker room with my bunny lurking under my skin and my head held high. I’ve got Lucille’s ‘off-the-chain’ look on my face—the one she’s always wearing when I know it’s going to hurt. It took me a few minutes of making faces in the mirror until I got it just right. The combination of a smirk and a feral grin isn’t my usual look, but even Rufus approved.

I doubt it will work, but here the fuck we go.

The guys rush over as we exit, and I hold my hand up to stop them. Without a word, I want them to understand that if they fawn over me, it will make me look weak. They have to follow as if they have every confidence in the world that I can do this. Fitz and Felix catch it first, of course, and turn to the others with hushed whispers. I’ve let the smallest bit of my shifter powers out, so I can smell the blood and sweat in the room more distinctly. It should be intimidating, but it isn’t. Even the ring isn’t scary as I walk towards it.

The unknown is terrifying and when Zhenga clears me to wait for my round, the slight tinge of fear I get from her almost breaks me. She’s worried, and it means it should scare me shitless. But I can’t be, especially outwardly. I crack my neck as I look around, feigning boredom as I scope out the current match and the people waiting. As I suspected, I don’t see another girl, so they’re definitely going to pair me with someone who should be in a goddamn prison.

Fucking Lucille and that assclown Raj—they’re moving up the list. I’m over this bullshit.

“Princess,” Felix says as he moves closer to me. He and Fitz won’t go until later because of their standing, but he’s down here watching. “Do what you have to, no matter what.”

I nod, leaning back as he nips my ear, then I feel him pull away. Chess sidles up next and one by one, my guys give me their encouragement until the last one appears. Fitz rumbles a dark growl against my ear and I shiver. He’s already amped up beyond belief and as long as I don’t die, he’ll enjoy the hell out of watching me fight.

“Baby Girl, show them you’re the Queen of that fucking school and our ambush. If you don’t, they’ll come for us all, especially my father. You know what you need to do in there. That’s why I sent the badger.”

“You sent Rufus?” I breathe in surprise.

He shrugs and licks the shell of my ear. “I’m an excellent judge of character. He’s as dirty as them come and I knew he’d say what needed to be said.”

“Which is?”

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