“Coming right up.” The bartender smiled at Annia, then served up our drinks. I forced myself to sip my water slowly instead of gulping it down – being ladylike really wasn’t my thing. Why did I decide to do this again?
Oh, right. For the victims.
“Not really sure what I’m supposed to do now,” I muttered to Annia, feeling a little put out. “I’m going to have a tough time blending in around here enough to ask questions.” I should have thought this through a little better.
Annia grinned at me over her half empty glass. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, sweetheart,” she said, putting an arm around my shoulder and planting a kiss on my cheek. “You just sit next to me and look gorgeous, and I’ll do all the talking.”
I scratched the side of my head with my middle finger, and Annia nearly choked on her drink. We finished up at the bar, and then she led me over to one of the card tables. I eyed the heavy money pouch at her hip enviously as she withdrew a handful of coins to buy chips from the dealer – Annia had really been cashing in on the bounties lately.
As Annia suggested, I sat next to her and looked pretty while she played with the big boys, going through several rounds of Mad Jack at this table, and then moving on to another one to play Seven Card. I simply batted my eyelashes at the men, cooing and praising Annia every time she won a round – which was quite often, to my surprise. Annia might not’ve been a regular around here, but she was definitely no stranger to playing cards. Between her good looks and her natural gift of gab, she got the men to relax and chat with her despite the fact that she was taking their money.
“So,” Annia finally said to the man next to her after they closed out another round. “My brother gave me some betting tickets awhile back that I never ended up using, and I forgot what they were for. Think you might be able to help me out? I’m looking to find something new to spend my money on.”
“Sure.” The man took the tickets from Annia, but the smile from his face faded as he stared down at the tickets. “You said your brother gave these to you?”
“Yeah.” Annia arched a brow. “There a problem with that?”
“Well, no…” The man’s forehead furrowed, as if he wasn’t quite sure how to explain. “I mean, it’s just that this isn’t the type of betting ring you usually buy tickets as gifts for, at least not for a woman.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not the average woman,” Annia drawled, looping an arm around my shoulders and drawing me close. I smiled vapidly and pressed a hand to her chest, and the other man grinned.
“No, that you’re not,” he agreed. “I can tell you’re a woman who can handle herself, so I guess you’d enjoy this kind of thing.” He glanced around the room, then lowered his voice. “These betting tickets are for the Shifter Royale.”
“The Shifter Royale?” Annia echoed. “What’s that?”
“It’s an underground fight club where different types of shifters are pitted against each other,” the man murmured. “I’ve only been to a fight once myself, and I have to say it’s pretty brutal. Definitely not for the faint of heart.”
I stiffened at that, and Annia gave my shoulder a warning squeeze. “Well that sounds exciting. Where do I get seats?”
“Silon can help you out with that.” The man nodded toward the back corner of the room, and I stifled a groan, knowing he was referring to the table of smokers. Figures. “He’s the one who sells the admission tickets. There are bookies at the event itself to take your bets, of course.”
“Good to know.” Annia turned her head in my direction and gave me another squeeze. “Hey Nadia, I’m gonna go over there and talk to Silon. Why don’t you hang out at the bar for a second? I’ll be right back.”
“Sure thing sweetheart,” I purred as she kissed me on the cheek, relieved that Annia was giving me an out. Much as I would have liked to go with her, I would be useless standing next to her just hacking and coughing, and my shifter hearing would allow me to overhear the conversation anyway.
“Buy three tickets,” I murmured in her ear as I stood up, and then I went to sit at the bar again as she’d told me to. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Annia approached Silon, a stocky, bald guy with a bushy red beard and a cigar shoved between the corners of his lips. He didn’t look too friendly as Annia approached, and when one of the men at the table stood up to frisk Annia for recording devices or any other suspicious items, I was glad that she’d left her Enforcer bracelet at home. Once that was out of the way, Silon relaxed and sold her the tickets without further fuss. He told her that the show was for tomorrow night, then gave her an address. It was all pretty straightforward, almost ridiculously so.
“Well tomorrow night should be interesting,” Annia commented once we were outside the club.
“No kidding,” I spat as we rounded the block, heading for my bike. “Underground shifter fights? There’s no way in hell that’s legal.”
“I doubt the shifters are being hurt too badly,” Annia said, but her voice was heavy with disapproval. “I mean, whoever’s running this thing is clearly making money off the fights, so they’ll want to keep the shifters alive for repeat performances.”
“By Magorah,” I hissed, outrage sizzling in my gut. “I can’t believe there are humans using shifters for sport! It's slavery all over again, except this time it’s not the mages who are responsible.”