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hand on Leo's leg.
The flybike landed softly in a parking lot beside a row of similar vehicles. The
tavern took up the entire ground floor of a fifty-story glass building. The tinted
windows gave no glimpse of the patrons inside. Leo removed his helmet and
squinted in the bright sunlight. No advertising signs.
"Here . . . put these on. Don't let anyone see your eyes," Ashrin said and
handed Leo a small black package.
Leo turned the parcel over in his hand."Put this where?"
"Sorry," said Ashrin and touched the center of the package.
The black, shiny paper unfurled into a strip of mirrored plastic. Leo picked it
up carefully and stared at it. Ashrin grinned boyishly, took the black strip from his
hand and pressed it over Leo's eyes. Leo touched his face; the sunglasses molded to
his skin. "Neat."
"I know you have shades in your world." Ashrin chuckled. "I love it when you
look confused."
Leo lifted his chin. "So how do I look?"
"Like a Pride," replied Ashrin and turned away, sauntering off toward the
tavern entrance.
Strange, crazy, heavy metal music blasted through the open door. Inside,
booths lined the walls, packed with Pride males. In the center, noisy card games
were in progress around six round tables. Opposite the card tables, a busy bar ran
the length of the room.
Leo followed Ashrin to the bar and they squeezed between a pair kissing and
a male cleaning his fingernails with a dagger. The barman, a young, blond male
with the most exquisite elfin features, walked toward them wearing nothing but a
smile.
"Ashrin, where have you been?" The barman said, leaning across the
polished, wooden bar to cup Ashrin's face and plant a kiss on his lips.
Leo narrowed his eyes."He's been with me."
"I've missed you, Lut," Ashrin replied, running his tongue over his teeth."It's
true; the king insisted I babysit this cub."
"He looks of age to me," Lut replied, reaching to touch Leo's face.
Stepping backward to avoid him, Leo bumped into the male with the knife.
He turned and smiled at him."Sorry."
To his horror, the man held up a bloodied finger and then inclined his head
to Ashrin. "He drew first blood. I get to challenge your sweet cub and here I was
thinking the day was a total loss."
Ashrin's eyes turned deep amber, his fangs dropped and a growl rumbled in
his chest. Leo glanced from one to the other, not knowing what to do next. The
room fell unnervingly quiet, all eyes turned toward them.
"I don't think so; he is an Outlander. You're out of order," Ashrin replied,
moving in front of Leo.
"Ah huh, unbroken as well, I bet. Is he your candidate for the party
tomorrow night? I hope so; I would love to grind his ass."
"No, he's my guest. What are your terms?" Ashrin said, pressing a hand on
Leo's arm in an obvious gesture to silence him.
"Silver. One and two. Losers fee, five hundred credits."
Are you insane? "You want me to fight him? What about his magyck?" Leo
murmured.
"Can you take him without magyck?" replied Ashrin in a whisper.
Leo rolled his shoulders."Oh yeah."
"Done," said Ashrin, turning to glare at the man."Give me a moment to
explain the terms to my friend."
The man raised a fist to the crowd of onlookers. A cheer went up and side
bets exchanged hands in a flurry of excitement. Abandoning the card games, the
men swiftly moved tables and chairs to form a ring. Leo inclined his head toward
Ashrin to listen to the terms.
"You will both wear silver to prevent the use of magyck. One and two
means, he will fight you first. If you win, then two of his friends will fight you. The
loser pays the winner five hundred credits."
"Credits?"
"You have money, we have credits. Take him out and if you need help with
the other two, I'll jump us out of here and worry about my reputation later," replied
Ashrin with a grimace.
Leo cracked his knuckles and removed his jacket."I won't need your help."
"Oh, one other thing. Pride males are about ten times stronger than Nomags,"
said Ashrin, taking his jacket and folding it over his arm.
"Don't you think you should have told me that snippet of information before I
accepted the challenge?"
Ashrin shrugged and watched the crowd at the bar surge forward and push
Leo into the makeshift ring. Lut whooped like a siren then sauntered into the center,
holding two pairs of silver cuffs high above his head. He approached both men and
secured the cuffs around their wrists.
"Let the fight begin," Lut announced and stepped into the crowd.
Leo's opponent threw Ashrin a smirk and licked his bottom lip slowly. Ashrin
dropped Leo's jacket on the bar and turned to look around for a weapon. He [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]