She looked at Imogenia's cloak still in her hands.
Crawling forward, she peeked out to make sure no one was standing nearby and scooped up a fist of gray-brown dirt. She sat back and dropped the wadded-up cloak on the ground between her bent knees. Sprinkling the dirt over the cloak, she gently called upon the earth, asking to dull the color of the cloak.
A color no eyes strayed to.
Finished, she lifted the material now the color of dirt and stood, wrapping the covering around her shoulders. Lucky for her that Imogenia was short, too.
Pulling the hood over her head, Lanna took a tentative step away from her hiding place. She should return to the place where Storm and Evalle had left her, but she did not want to be locked up again in his spell. Breaking out had hurt, and she might not escape next time.
Storm and Evalle did not understand that she could not sit in one place and risk being caught by Grendal.
He had eyes everywhere.
Dame Lynn's voice announced, "Elite matches will begin in ten minutes. Eligible Alterants are to be in their respective holding areas at the times designated."
Lanna listened for Evalle's battle as Dame Lynn called out matchups. Evalle's was one of the last fights, same battle dome as her first two matches. With Storm and Evalle free to move around the event until Evalle had to fight, Lanna had to own the scent on Imogenia's cloak or Storm would find her. Weaving slowly through the crowd, she kept her head down, searching for a place to watch Evalle's fight.
She did not want to face Kol, but she could not let Evalle die.
Dame Lynn announced, "Moonlight Warrior the Alterant versus Boomer the Alterant in ten minutes."
Spotting a vendor setup that faced where Evalle would battle, Lanna considered the table draped with a cloth and displaying silver jewelry. Not an ideal spot to hide, because the vendor might lift the drape to look under the table for inventory.
It would have to do. Lanna waited until enough customers surrounded the table to shield her slipping underneath at one end. She could not waste energy cloaking when she would need it later to leave undetected, or she would put Evalle and Storm in danger.
But what if Evalle needed her help again?
Lanna had not been seen helping Evalle.
She could do it again.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Evalle still ached from her last wounds, which should have healed all the way by now. She paced her holding room, pretending to be burning off anxiety when in truth she was trying to stretch out the tight muscle in her calf that complained with each step.
To avoid talking about her injury, she pointed out, "I haven't seen Tristan since we got here. Or Kizira."
"How bad is it?" Storm asked, totally disregarding her words.
"I'm talking about Tristan."
"No, you're avoiding telling me how bad your wound is." He leaned against the table, arms crossed.
Guess she hadn't hidden her lingering pain as well as she'd thought. "Not bad."
Storm merely lifted an eyebrow, claiming that to be a lie.
"Not as bad as it could be," she amended. "Maybe I'll end up with Bernie, if he survived." She could offer him relief if she could win the match against a shifted Alterant.
"He's still alive, but Imogenia hasn't fared so well."
"What happened?"
"She used majik to help Bernie and got caught. I heard bits and pieces on the way to meet you. Kol took the Alterant and disfigured Imogenia to make a statement, then booted her."
Poor Bernie. Kol would probably trade him to the Medb.
Storm scratched his chin, thinking. "Sandspur's venom must have interfered with your ability to heal completely."
As long as Storm knew what was going on, Evalle decided to try again. She stood very still and called up her beast power to heal herself. Her muscles rippled with an impending change to her beast. She stopped abruptly before that happened. "I'm trying to heal, but it's not working. My body wants to shift all the way. I can't control the power so I can stop at the point of healing like the other times."
"Maybe when you're this drained it won't work unless you do shift all the way." He held up a hand. "I'm not trying to convince you to shift, just thinking out loud."
The ominous tap at the door sounded right before the guard stuck his head inside. "One minute."
When the door closed, she looked at Storm, constantly wondering if any moment would be the last time she saw him.
He pushed off the table and walked to her, wrapping his arms around her. She hugged him back, drawing strength from just holding him. When she lifted her head, he kissed her so tenderly that she felt her eyes well up.
Breaking the kiss, he laid his palm on her face. "I won't lose you. Do whatever it takes to win, because if you can't walk out of there under your own power, I'll destroy this place and everyone in it . . . except Lanna."
No pressure there. "You heard what happened to Imogenia."
"I don't care."
Her heart warmed at his declaration. If not for the fear that there was enough supernatural power in this place to blow a chunk out of the planet, she'd feel cheered at the idea of someone taking vengeance on her behalf.
He kissed her forehead and released her. "And if Tristan doesn't come willingly . . ."
"I'll leave without him." But Tristan had been captured trying to save her. Why wouldn't he leave if he had a chance to escape?
The guard opened the door again. Evalle gave Storm one last kiss, then left, not turning around again for fear of being unable to walk away from him.
Don't let it end this way between us. Not when she'd found a man who understood her better than she understood herself.
His words tumbled through her mind. I won't lose you.
She should have told him how much he meant to her.
Why hadn't she? Because I'm a fool.
Next thing she knew, the silver bars of Gate Two were vanishing as Dame Lynn announced, "The final Elite battle match pits Moonlight Warrior entering from Gate One against Boomer entering from Gate Two."
Evalle stepped forward, hands loose at her sides.
Sweeping a look over to find Storm, her gaze snagged on a face that disappeared in the crowd when she blinked. She would have sworn it was Horace Keefer this time. Was he actually here?
Or was Sandspur's venom playing with her mind?
Locating Storm next, she looked back to where she thought she'd seen Horace, but he was gone.
Storm had told her about the Langau being caught, but until she received the all clear from Tzader, she couldn't use telepathy to reach anyone. Otherwise, she'd call out to Horace and ask where he was at the moment.
She had to be mistaken.
Shouting erupted on all sides of her dome, snapping Evalle back around as the bars disappeared and her opponent entered from Gate Two.
She stepped in to find the ground hard-packed again.
At six and a half feet tall, Boomer had a cocky stride and carried a five-foot-long, two-inch-thick metal pole. His shoulders looked as wide as her sofa, and all he wore was a pair of red shorts. That's all. No doubt that he would shift, but right now he was just showing off his bodybuilder physique.
Green eyes blazed from a Samoan-shaped face.
If he thought that would intimidate her, he'd never seen a demonic Svart troll.
She'd won that fight.
Big money bet on Boomer drove the shouting louder for him to finish her off quickly. Even more demanded blood.
Evalle had caught announcements of Elite matches to this point. Two Alterants had died, five more had folded, pleading for relief.
Sounding bored and ready to get this moving, Boomer called over, "You first, Hollywood."
He expected her to shift.
She shook her head, gaining a shrug in return.
Then Boomer hunched his arms forward, clenching his fists and bunching his muscles in a bodybuilding pose. But he started shifting, bones popping and muscles doubling in size. His head
changed shape twice as it kept expanding with a jutting forehead, bulbous nose and thin slits for eyes. Half of his head was ear-to-ear mouth that had two rows of sharp teeth a barracuda would envy.
Power shook through her body, trying to force her to shift, and not just to battle form. Her Alterant beast fought to break free. Was she reacting to Boomer's change?
She locked down the urge and stuck her hand out, calling her dagger up from her boot. The hilt hit her palm just as Boomer finished turning into a Samoan Hulk.
Words came out of his mouth garbled, but she understood "On yar neez, bitch. Beg."
She angled her head and stared at a hairy groin where genitals protruded. "Do condoms come in teacup size?"
"Goonna enjo killin' you." Lifting the pole, he started spinning it around one finger as if the thing weighed nothing.
She prepared to leap or dive away, anticipating when he'd release the pole.
He ordered the pole, "Attack Alt'rant," right before he let it fly straight up in the air, where it floated overhead.
How would the pole distinguish between the two of them?
Maybe it just picked the one who hadn't spoken the order.
Watching Boomer and the pole divided her attention until the weapon zeroed in on her and flew straight for its target. She dodged back and forth, leaping and spinning to get away from the thing tracking her with the diligence of a heat-seeking missile.
Slashing a side-handed swat of kinetic energy at it, she knocked the pole off course, thinking she'd sent the pole to the ground.
Boomer yelled and barreled at her, forcing Evalle to jump in the same direction she'd knocked the pole, just as the pole bounced off the warded wall of the dome. It flew back, catching her ankle in passing and snapping a bone.
She crashed to the ground.
A broken bone in this match meant death.
Boomer veered off, going after his pole.
She called up her warrior form and struggled to her feet, shaking with pain. That's when she saw Horace Keefer, and he wasn't trying to hide his presence.
Something lifted her off her feet.
Boomer was using his kinetics on her. She shoved a blast of energy back at him, but it glanced off his much more powerful Alterant beast energy.
Then he gripped her with his kinetics and slammed her down to the ground. She hit on her side and felt a bone fracture in her left arm.
When she looked past Boomer, she saw Storm moving through the crowd, getting closer to the dome.
He knew what Kol had done to Imogenia.
Reality hit Evalle between the eyes. With Horace here, what did she have to lose at this point? Sen had probably sent him, which raised a ton of questions Evalle had no time to consider. Bottom line?
She was screwed no matter what she did.
Macha had given her autonomy. In Evalle's thinking, shifting would be in the best interests of the Beladors if Macha wanted the Alterants kept out of Medb hands.
Evalle couldn't do that unless she survived. Heading toward her, Boomer swung his pole back and forth with a major-league cut to his swing.
She launched a blast of kinetic energy at Boomer to buy herself a moment.
Her beast wanted out so badly that all she had to do was relinquish control. The Alterant change burst through her body, ripping her clothes. Her boots burst with the expansion of her feet and her dagger fell away, but she could call it to her when she needed it. Her head doubled in size and her face stretched, jaw aching as it grew wider for a double row of jagged teeth. Bones popped and muscles exploded into a massive body just as hideous as Boomer's, though not quite as big. She sent healing energy first to her arm then her ankle and used kinetic strength to lurch to her feet.
Boomer bumped back from the kinetic wall and stopped, his green gaze assessing this new change.
Her arm improved immediately, but the complex bone structure of her ankle would take longer to mend. Hobbling to her left, she let Boomer think she still couldn't move. When he spun up the pole and sent it at her again, instead of evading she stuck her hand out and caught it.
The thing struggled against her hold.
Sentient?
She started toward Boomer, gripping the pole with two hands. This thing definitely broke Alterant beast bones. Boomer made a move toward her and fell over his own feet.
She stole a quick glance to the stands and found that Storm had stopped at ground level.
She hated changing into a beast in front of him, but his eyes were filled with admiration and something wonderful she'd like to call love. Having just seen Boomer stumble, Storm lifted his shoulders and mouthed Lanna.
If that girl survived this event, Evalle would help Quinn deliver her to VIPER headquarters, because she was safe nowhere else.
Boomer lunged up and attacked before Evalle reached him. Fists the size of small boulders swung at her face and chest. She ducked, but he caught her in the ribs, cracking several. Gasping for air, she whipped the pole across his leg.
Bone gave way and he went down on a knee.
She hit his shoulder, crushing more bones, then whipped an uppercut that shattered his jaw.
Jumping back and forth as she attacked, Evalle landed off to one side after her last hit. Adrenaline had overshadowed her mending ankle, which chose now to give way, but she managed to stay upright, if leaning a bit. She'd rather not kill Boomer, since she needed to recruit as many Alterants as she could.
If she could convince them the Medb offer for immortality was a trick.
Winning this battle without killing him would go a long way toward talking him into leaving with her.
Boomer twisted his neck and shoulders, bones cracking and popping back into place.
He regenerated faster than anything else she'd ever seen. Talk about a smug look on a beast face. He stood up and held his hand out, trying to lift her with kinetics again.
She pushed a hand up, using her energy to hold herself down, then swung the pole with her free hand. Time to gamble. She forced her jaws to work and gave the pole an order loud enough to be heard. "Break Al-ter-ant." Swinging across, shoulder high, she smacked Boomer's neck.
A loud crack sounded from his spine.
Boomer's head lolled to the side. He fell backward, arms and legs limp when he hit the ground. At the same time, the kinetic power pushing at her subsided. She walked over, using the pole to prod at his body.
Broken neck. Crap. Not as if she'd had a choice.
She turned to claim her victory, but hesitated when she heard a grunt of pain.
Before she could turn around, the pole was snatched from her hands and a hit of power shoved her sixty feet across the domed area. She smashed against the warded boundary.
Electricity sizzled across her skin.
Boomer had to be a nickname for Boomerang, as in he bounced back. That would be his strength, but arrogance was his weakness. Killing him might be impossible at the rate he healed, but cutting the head off anything usually worked, and she'd just changed her mind about his usefulness.
Growling, she powered up her kinetics and shoved off the warded boundary, spinning around as Boomer came at her. She called up her dagger that flew to her hand. She pointed it at his groin, then pulled back to throw.
Boomer skidded to a stop, dropped the pole and covered his genitals with one hand, then shoved a kinetic hit at her with the other. A one-handed blast was easier to dodge.
In the same second, she launched herself up in the air and forward, then whispered to the blade, "Stay put," as she drove the blade into Boomer's throat with deadly accuracy on her way past him.
The blade buried to the hilt, sticking out both sides.
She hit hard on her bad ankle.
He grasped the handle, gurgling and staggering as he fought to pull it out. Blood gushed from around the wound and out of the corner of his mouth. He wheezed for air. His face swelled and turned as red as a thumb smashed with a hammer. When he stumbled around toward her, hands reaching for her throat
, Evalle dragged herself backward.
Boomer went to his knees, then fell on his side, making gurgling noises. His eyes closed.
He shifted into his human form.
She snatched her dagger out and straightened up to shouts, jeers and cheers.
Because she'd won or because she stood with her back to them, buck naked?
A guard walked out with two robes. He handed one to her, then dropped the other robe on Boomer and left.
She pulled on the thick burgundy robe and turned around to find Storm with his arms crossed, waiting as they'd agreed. He would give her time to talk to the other Alterants. She'd told him she'd touch the emerald on her chest if anything odd happened and she needed to let him know she was fine.
For a man who had shown limitless patience with her, she could tell just by looking at him that he practically vibrated with the need to come inside the dome.
She touched the emerald.
His eyes moved, following her action, then the stone warmed against her skin, sending a soothing balm through her. He smiled and winked.
Had he really pushed his majik through this stone?
Dame Lynn declared, "Moonlight Warrior wins her Elite round and the option to negotiate with the Medb. A deal has been struck for the loser Boomer. All fighting will cease in Battle Theater One."
Searching the stands, Evalle's gaze landed on Tristan and Kizira. And Petrina, Tristan's sister, was there.
Evalle met Tristan's gaze.
He nodded slightly and Kizira scowled, her gaze locked on Boomer.
Evalle poked the big Alterant with the tip of her boot, pushing him onto his back.
Boomer's eyes opened. He coughed and rolled to his knees, clutching his neck that was already healing. Hate glared at her.
Definitely not a recruit, but neither had she wanted him traded to the Medb. "The fight is over."
More glare. Not so mouthy after losing.
She called upon her beast power and forced her ankle to finish healing. She could feel it mending more quickly now that she'd burned the rest of the venom from her body.
Or because Storm had sent her a dose of healing through the emerald.
Dame Lynn announced, "All surviving Alterants not already claimed by the Medb are directed to Battle Theater One to wait as the Medb representative completes negotiations for trades."