Page 58 of Mated to the Human: Volume One

Merrick chuckled. “Only because you’ve been sneaking her pieces of banana when you think I’m not looking.”

Leander didn’t dignify that with a response.

* * *

The gym where Cane was fighting was a large free-standing brick building fifteen minutes from downtown. The Viking who owned it—Sigurd—had been in Solston for almost as long as Leander had. They weren’t exactly friends, more friendly acquaintances. Leander had never been here before, even when it was strictly a boxing gym back in the 40s.

The car service driver pulled the SUV to a stop in front of the entrance. Leander thanked him as he and Merri climbed out of the back seat. Seeing that they would be in the company of the other mated pairs and many other paranormals—including some of the hellhounds—Leander had given Ammon the night off.

A wash of old, powerful magic flowed over Leander’s skin as they stepped into the gym. By all outward appearances, it was a completely modern structure, but its foundations had been laid with magicks born half a world away and far, far older than the country they currently resided in. Beyond being a warlock in the Saint coven, Leander didn’t know what Sigurd was. One brush of his magic and ordinary went falling right off the list.

Looking around, Leander spotted members of the Saint coven as well as at least three wolf shifters and several other vampires. His crowd scanning stopped when he realized that in each corner of the building, a solitary man stood with their back to the wall. He only recognized one of the men—Rook, one of Derek’s hounds. The other three looked calm, vigilant, and if he focused, he could feel the subtle undercurrent of their power from where he stood just inside the door.

“Merrick!” Hollis’s voice called from the metal bleachers surrounding an elevated octagon fight cage in the middle of the gym.

Merri waved at his friend, grabbing Leander’s hand and tugging him along. They climbed the bleachers and sat in the empty spots in front of Hollis and Derek, and Leander let himself relax and left the sentinels in the corners of the building to do their duty.

“Hey!” Hollis said with a big smile. “Glad you guys could make it.”

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Leander said, nodding at Derek in greeting.

“You’re just in time.” Derek pointed to the cage.

“Go, Cane!” A group of women to the right of them shouted. Leander knew most of them and chuckled. Looking toward the cage, he saw Cane’s gaze sweep over the crowd. Merri waved back at him when Cane waved in their direction.

Before he knew it, the fight was on. Cane and the other man—Parker, he thought the announcer said—circled each other. He found himself on his feet and cheering along with the rest of this section when Cane got a takedown, plummeting himself and his opponent to the ground.

Beside him, Merri shouted and clapped or hid his face against Leander’s shoulder depending on what was happening within the cage. It was incredibly endearing. His lover was a gentle soul, Leander knew, but he still wanted to support his friend in this violent sport Cane enjoyed.

At the end of the match, Cane stood victorious. The fight had been a good one. Cane and Parker embraced with a laugh after the final whistle blew, knowing they’d given their all and showing that respect and camaraderie were achievable even if you’d just been throwing punches at each other.

Sigurd raised Cane’s hand, declaring him the winner just before all the lights went out.

In the sudden dark, Merri tensed beside him. A few worried voices carried through the room, but every paranormal—especially those like himself who could see as well in the dark as they did in the light—looked to the windows and doors. If the city was experiencing a power outage, it was interesting timing, but the likelihood that something else was happening couldn’t be ignored.

Leander wrapped his arm firmly around Merri’s waist. In the next instant, three of the corners in the room were illuminated with raw magical power. Mage power. Lenette said she’d requested aid from the seer’s guild, aka the mage’s keepers. Bright green, vivid orange, and hypnotic blue light spilled from them, pulling their magic to them like shields.

“What’s happening?” Merri whispered against his shoulder.

“I don’t know.” He pulled Merri closer, eyes scanning over the high windows at the top of the building before he looked over at Derek. “Scent anything?”

“No,” Derek said, keeping Hollis as close as Leander was holding Merri.

Next to them, one of the women shifted, wings sprouting from her back. A gargoyle. Nice.

“I’ll guard them,” the gargoyle said, meeting Leander’s gaze.

He looked at the group with her, immediately recognizing Calliope, Jake’s sister and the co-leader of the Saint coven. Calliope gave him a nod. “We all will if you and Derek want to find out what’s going on.”

Merri was already backing out of his arms. “Go, I’ll be fine.”

Leander pressed a kiss to Merri’s forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Derek and Hollis shared a similar exchange then he and Leander were making their way off the bleachers and toward the doors.

A deep, booming voice shouted, “Get down!” In the next second, the back half of the building exploded.

9

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