“Hello?” she called into the phone. “Who is this?”
“Ronan.” His voice was so weak and ragged with pain that Myka came alert.
“You all right? What happened?”
“Nate happened. Has Jordan and Ella.”
“What?” Myka shrieked into the phone. “What do you mean, has them?”
“What the hell do you think I mean? Tell Spike.”
“How did he get them away from you? You’re a gigantic bear, for crap’s sake.”
“He shot me.” Even with the pain, Ronan’s voice took a tone of irony. “You don’t have to be a better fighter than a Kodiak bear if you have a gun.”
“Shit. Are you all right? Did you call nine-one-one?”
“I’ll be fine.” His voice faded. “Tell Spike.”
The phone went dead. Myka stared at it, then she swung around, ready to sprint back into the barn. She had to stop the fight.
She ran right into the tall form of a Shifter. The man was as big as Spike and as lithe, his hair sand-colored, his eyes cold and winter gray. “I see you got my message.”
Gavan. Had to be.
Myka went at him, fists balled. “You shithead! What did you do with Jordan? If you hurt him, I’ll have every cop in the state after you.”
“He’s not hurt. He’s insurance that Spike does what I want tonight. I don’t trust him not to try to screw me over. That’s Spike’s plan, isn’t it?”
Close, but Myka wasn’t about to tell him that. Spike wanted to win and lose bouts tonight to put Gavan’s place in the hierarchy in jeopardy, to force Gavan to have to fight for his dominance, not just count on Spike and manipulation to keep him there. Fergus had relied on manipulation too much, Spike had said, and ultimately, he’d had weakened himself. When Fergus at last had to fight in truth, he’d lost. Permanently. Spike wanted Gavan to learn the same lesson.
Gavan’s eyes narrowed, understanding Myka’s silence. He grabbed her by the shoulder.
She started screaming and punching at him. The groupies looked over, but they must have thought she was a groupie too, playing with her Shifter. They watched with mild interest and made no move to help her.
“Shut up,” Gavan said. “I’m not doing anything to you. We’ll go back inside and watch the fights.”
He kept his hand around her arm, his grip light, but Myka knew he could close on her with brute strength whenever he wanted.
She went with him back inside the barn, the sharp pricks of bonfires and bright lanterns hurting her eyes.
Spike’s fight was just finishing, Spike backing off and changing to human while the Lupine Shifter limped from the ring, helped by his friends. The crowd roared for Spike.
Spike snatched a towel from Ellison, wiping his face. He turned around and saw Myka with Gavan.
He stilled for one second, then he threw his towel to Ellison and came on. “Get the f**k away from her.”
Gavan looked him over, inhaled in that Shifter way of testing scent, and his eyes went Shifter. “You have the mate bond.”
“Damn straight I do. I want you away from her. Now.”
“Spike,” Myka panted, “he’s got Jordan and your grandma.”
Spike’s gaze went hard to Gavan, sweat and blood trickling down his face. “You touched my cub?”
“He’s perfectly safe. You win these fights, he goes home to his daddy.”
“Screw your fights. You touched my cub. You’re dead.”
Gavan raised his hands in a gesture of conciliation. “If I don’t make it back tonight, my men have their orders. You play nice, and everything will be all right.”
Spike couldn’t hear him. The world was filmed with red, his hated enemy standing in front of him, within gutting reach. The scent of Myka, like cool, fresh rain in the middle of a fetid swamp, was the only thing that kept him from giving in to the feral rage and killing Gavan on the spot.
“You don’t trust me,” Gavan said. “So I don’t trust you.”
“You’re an idiot.” Spike heard the words come out of his mouth, but no awareness of saying them. “You touched my cub. No Shifter will trust you now.”
“Not true. You help me like you promised, and I’ll be the one making the rules. Your cub will grow up in a more powerful position than you ever did. The son of my enforcer will get all kinds of benefits, and he’ll inherit your title.”
Gavan was so full of shit Spike was surprised he didn’t explode. But one thing was certain—Gavan had Jordan. Gavan was smart enough to hide him well, to use him as a hostage for Spike’s obedience.
And if Spike obeyed now, Gavan would do it again. And again, and again.
He saw Myka edging away, her hand on her cell phone. Gavan saw her too and towed her back. “Doesn’t matter if you start a major hunt for the kid. I wasn’t stupid enough to take him to my house. All you have to do is cooperate, Spike. Don’t sacrifice your son for your pride.”
Spike looked at Myka. She was furious, scared for Jordan, and worried for Spike.
And in the middle of Spike’s terror and rage, the mate bond. Gavan had sensed it, and Spike felt it filling every space in his heart, every corner of his body. The bond stretched like a tether between himself and Myka, making them one—the only clear point in the fog of his anger.
He held on to that clarity and turned back to Gavan. “I’ll do your damn fights,” he said. “You give me back my son.”
“That’s the deal.”
Gavan lied. He had to know that as soon as Jordan was safely home, Spike would be after Gavan. He’d never be safe. Gavan would have to hold on to Jordan until he broke Spike’s will, or Spike died.
And maybe that had been Gavan’s plan all along. To pit Spike against tougher and tougher opponents, to fight him until he was spent. The ultimate rule of the fight club was no fighting to the death, but accidents happened.
What better way to eliminate Spike than to have him go down doing the thing he was famous for doing?
Spike was a threat. He’d proved with his rage against Liam this morning—the story was probably all over South Texas by now—that Spike wasn’t blindly obedient to any leader. If he didn’t agree to work for Gavan undeniably, then Spike had to go down.
Myka met Spike’s gaze with a worried one of her own. She must know that thoughts were whirling in Spike’s head, plans on plans. He tried to send through their bond to be ready when he needed her, but the mate bond wasn’t the same thing as telepathy. Spike just had to hope she’d understand.