Page 75 of The Last True Hero
Adam's senses screamed at him. It had to be a trap. He hadn't felt anyone following them, but with secrets available for the right price here, it stood to reason that others would have mentioned them passing. "We were trying to find a decent beer in this place, but that seems like chasing a myth after tasting all of this rat-piss."
"Decent beerisa myth," one of the reivers at Rykker's side laughed.
Rykker shot him a look, and the big fellow shut his mouth abruptly.
"And it looks like we've got a couple of hours to kill before tonight kicks off," Rykker said, pasting that oily smile on his mouth, "so I thought why not?"
"What's happening tonight?" Jake asked.
"Don't you know?" Rykker's smile held smug touches. He sucked back a lungful of smoke. "Thought you were Vex's favorite new pets."
"Sorry." Adam refused to back away as the other man stepped closer. "But I ain't nobody's pet."
Rage smoldered in Rykker's eyes. There was a second where Adam thought it was going to spill into violence. The other man barely held himself back. "Vex wants me to show you the warg cages."
An instant chill ran down his spine. "Why?"
"She said you had a good eye last night. Picked every winner for her, so she wants you to have a look at tonight's crop of dogs. The war games run for three nights, so this is night two." Rykker clapped a hand on his shoulder. "And the general might arrive tonight, he might not. But if he does, then Vex wants to impress him."
The general.That had to be the buyer that the auctioneers thought would be arriving soon. "Thought he wasn't due until tomorrow?"
"He radioed through. He wants his bedchambers set up, and one of the new girls sent over. He likes the war games. They're not allowed to do that shit in the Confederacy."
"Guess I can take a look," Adam said slowly. "Though my cousin here is due back at our rooms." He glanced at Jake, trying to get the message through. "Make sure Mia gets something to eat. She'll be pissed if I'm late. I promised her a warm shower, and a back rub."
"Sounds like she's got her hand onyourchain," Rykker said nastily.
Adam ignored him. He was far too aware of the other warg watching every movement he made. It growled at him as he shifted, and Rykker looked down in surprise, then aimed a boot at the warg. "Shut up, War Dog."
"Why you got a warg on a leash?" Adam asked.
Rykker crushed his cigarette in the dirt. "Hunts for me. That way I can't get ambushed out on the trail, and nobody escapes when we hit a village."
"Dangerous act," Jake muttered.
Rykker rubbed the warg's head. "Bastard knows not to screw me over. Don't you, War Dog?"
The warg sat very still. Adam thought he could see burn marks down its back, and that made the bottled rage within him rise up until it nearly choked him. This was wrong too. Wargs were monsters, but you didn't torture them. A clean bullet through the skull to put one out of its misery was the kind of mercy he preferred to deliver.
"Let's do this." He couldn't exactly avoid it, unless he wanted Vex breathing down his neck, demanding to know why. Maybe it was one of her little games? She could be punishing Rykker, or trying to fuck with him, who knew?
The thought crossed his mind that maybe Vex hadn't requested this at all. The warg cages and the arena were the only place he hadn't really explored, but he knew not many people lingered there.
The perfect place for an ambush.
"Get the girls," Adam said out of the corner of his mouth, as Rykker walked away, presuming he'd follow. "I'll go see what he wants, but we might have to make some quick plans."
"We don't split up," Jake hissed back. "That's the rule."
Adam looked him in the eye. Urgency rode through his veins. "Just get Mia and the others. This is happening now. Because if this general arrives, then he might be entertaining your wife tonight."
Not to mention the enforcers that would no doubt be at his side.
* * *
Adam strodealong the narrow hallway between the warg cages, the creatures snapping and snarling at the bars as they passed. Some of them were ragged men, others already changed into the beast form, as if they'd given up any semblance of staying human. Those were the kind who'd never change back. The moon might provoke a shift, but once a warg gave up, they'd stay there.
Two of Rykker's reivers followed Adam, with Rykker, War Dog, and the other man, who'd answered to Gnat, in front of him. He was deadly aware of the men behind him, every sense on high alert.
