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The sound of an anxious crowd, and of blood, bowels, and excre the vile arena One of the demons removed her shackles while the other stripped off her blindfold, and then she was shoved through the gate into the blinding light of the pit

The first thing she saas Nate, barefoot, bare-chested, wearing only jeans His hands were fisted around an ax handle as he faced Fade, who held a wicked curved blade and a wooden stake Every drop of color drained from Nate’s face when he saw her

"Hey, sis"

She wheeled around "Vic," she gasped "Whatwhat are you doing?"

Vic pegged her with those blackto rid the world of your weakness"

"But Vaughn--"

"I told Vaughn I’d leave you alone on your turf This isand reshaping so unbelievably loud in the noisy club

Lena backed away, knowing full well that when the ten-second process was over, she’d be facing a 250-pound hyena that was far more powerful than its full-animal counterpart

"This wasn’t part of the deal!" Nate snarled

Fade’s laughter rang out, echoing endlessly "You die, she lives That was the deal," Fade said "But if she dies before you do" He shrugged "Well, that can’t be helped, can it?"

A low-pitched, jagged growl brought her attention back to Vic, as now all animal All monster Drool dripped from his open mouth, which exposed sharp teeth meant to rip flesh from victims while he ate the the area for a weapon Unfortunately, there was nothing, and though both her father and Wraith had spent ti her self-defense, she knew daer hand-to-hand skills weren’t going to help her against the beast in front of her

Nate moved so fast she didn’t see hi the ax Vic yelped as the blade grazed hi down in a vicious arc

Nate whirled, narrowly avoiding being beheaded, but his oing at the deed, catching her forearony acco, she punched him in the head, but she was no match for the brother who had beaten her in every battle since they were cubs He shook her like a rag doll, and her world became a blur

A warm spray splattered her face--her own blood, she realized, as Vic sent her flying into the wall Pain shattered her ribs, spine, and arh she could hear the battle between Nate and Fade clearly, she could barely see through the veil of red dripping into her eyes In a split second, though, her vision filled with fur and teeth She twisted, barely avoiding having her face ripped off, and at the sa the hyena in the throat

Vic gagged and fell back, but ain, she knew she was dead Hot, fetid breath scoured her face and claws tore into her shoulders In a frenzy fueled by fear and adrenaline, she kicked, hit, lifted her knee to nail the beast in the gut

Once again, blood sprayed her Arterial blood, and a lot of it Vic had killed her He’d finallydropped to the ground? She blinked, scra backward in the sand like a crab Vic’s body, split open through his rib cage, lay sprawled against the wall, twitching as it shifted back into hu of Lena to not feel bad about it, but right now she didn’t care Ax blade dripping with streaks of shiny cri her life had already cost hi all the way to his thigh bone

"Nate!" Hauling herself to her feet, she staggered toward hi in her ears Fade leaped into the air, his spin-kick landing hard on Nate’s jaw Before Nate could recover, the de him like a Frisbee across the arena Nate’s body hit the far ith a thump

He didn’t move

"No!" Horror and pain squeezed Lena’s heart, and as Fade sauntered toward Nate, stake poised to strike a death blow, her legs gave out Confusion and helplessness collided, spinning her e would coet her li, stretched, felt like it was co Massive gray paws hit the ground, the wrong color for a hyena, but screw it, she didn’t care Power ripped through herpower and strength and clarity Without hesitation, she tore across the arena, a sense of elation, of freedoh her veins with every leap and bound

She hit Fade in the back and closed her jaws around his head Even as she crunched down on his skull, she heard a commotion, a ripple in the crowd

She scented them before she saw them--Eidolon and his brothers His sister Con And several others from the hospital and Eidolon’s extended fais