Kate Daniels 03 - Magic Strikes

me.”
    “You’re the man who likes to play games and hates losing. And I’m the idiot who keeps forgetting that. Turn around, so I can get out, please.” And he almost had me, too.
    He sprawled against the tub wall in a leisurely fashion, showing absolutely no indication of moving.
    “Fine.” Let’s get this over with. I crouched on the bench and rose quickly. The water came to my midthigh.
    A rough noise emanated from him. It sounded almost like a groan.
    I climbed out of the tub, grabbed my towel, wrapped it around myself, and left. No more tubs for me. Not for a long, long time.

CHAPTER 29

    I AWOKE EARLY. TOO EARLY—THE CLOCK ON THE wall said three thirty. I lay with my eyes open for a few minutes and finally rose, swiped Slayer, and snuck out of the bedroom to the outer door. Derek perched on a chair by the doorway. He looked at me with yellow eyes.
    “Where are the Guards?” I murmured.
    He shrugged. “Must be a shift change. They sat by the door for the last six hours and then got up and left.”
    “How long have they been gone?”
    “Three minutes.”
    Could be a shift change. I doubted the Reapers would try anything funny.
    The curse of the Wolf Diamond guaranteed they would try to win it. Mart’s goal was the gem, since he had to have it to attack the Pack. The rakshasas didn’t seem to like even odds. They preferred to have an advantage, and without the Wolf Diamond, the shapeshifters would wipe the floor with them.
    I felt reasonably confident about tomorrow’s fights. True, Mart’s speed was ungodly and their magic was nothing to spit at, but our team was well-balanced and the shapeshifters fought like an oiled machine. Even when the Reapers entered the Pit as a team, they broke the fights into individual duels.
    “I’ll be back,” I said.
    “Where are you going?”
    I told him the truth. “I want to see the Pit.”
    He nodded.
    I snuck through the hallway and headed to the Pit. I just wanted to run my hand through the sand and settle my memories, then I would be able to sleep. The fastest way to the sand lay through the gym. I just had to cross it and I’d come out next to the Gold Gate.
    I ducked inside and jogged barefoot across the floor. Another moment and I was out of the gates into the Pit. The covers hiding enormous skylights in the roof had been removed in preparation for the championship fight. Moonlight sifted on the sand.
    By the Pit, bathed in the gauze shroud of moonrays, Hugh d’Ambray, flanked by Nick and the young fighter, handed a wrapped item to Mart and Cesare.
    Ice rolled down my spine. I stopped. The item was long and looked like a sword wrapped in canvas. So that was where the Guards went. He bought them off to make the exchange.
    Hugh was no fool. He had seen the fights and he realized we had a decent chance of winning tomorrow. He had decided to even the odds. That would be no ordinary sword.
    Cesare’s upper lip wrinkled in a grimace. Mart flashed his teeth at me and the two Reapers melted into the darkness. Hugh d’Ambray looked at me and I looked back at him.
    “It’s not surprising that Roland would ally with the rakshasas. They’re an ancient race, dependent on magic. They respect his power,” I said. “It’s not surprising he would use them to weaken the Pack. They’re vicious and sly but not too bright. If they win, they’ll make a much weaker enemy than the shapeshifters. If they lose, the Pack will be bloodied anyway. However, having Hugh d’Ambray pay off the Guards and slink about in the night like a thief to provide the rakshasas with a weapon just before the final fight, that I find surprising. That feels almost like cheating. How very unsavory.”
    He strode to me with a short nod. “Walk with me.”
    I had to find out what he gave them. Our survival depended on it. I walked next to him. Nick and the other fighter fell behind a few steps. We began making a circle around the fence.
    “I like the way you move. Where have we met before?”
    “Just out of curiosity, what did you give them?”
    “A sword,” he said.
    Duh. “It would have to be something very valuable. They view weapons as toys. They melted all of your precious electrum so they could pour it onto the face of one shapeshifter.”
    The corners of Hugh’s mouth twitched. He caught the expression and froze it before it could bloom into a grimace, but I saw it. Score one for me.
    “So this sword must be very special. Something they probably shouldn’t be trusted