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‘Sure, like ripping off someone’s cock,’ he mumbled, his eyes flashing.
I leaned forward. ‘I’m new to the Other but I’m learning. If you raped someone then, sure, I’d order your cock to be ripped off. Better yet, I’d do it myself. This is a powerful realm full of powerful beings, and we need to deter bad behaviour. Justice needs to be served and the Connection doesn’t seem that bothered about dishing it out. Even the officer investigating Mark’s death was happy to palm it off on me. So yeah, a hands-on approach is needed and I won’t hesitate to get my hands dirty. But that should be the last course of action, not the first.’
Archie slumped back into the chair. ‘That’s something my father would have said. He didn’t believe in being animalistic just because we have animals riding around in our skulls.’
Esme snorted. She didn’t appreciate his disparaging tone.
‘I admired Lord Samuel,’ I said. ‘I didn’t get to know him very well, and I regret that, but I respected him. When he ordered me to kill him to stop the pack going to Jimmy Rain, I did it because he asked me to, and because I’d just watched Jimmy Rain sadistically cut into him. I knew we couldn’t have a man like that in charge here. He made Mark look like an angel.’
Archie shifted uncomfortably. ‘Intellectually I know you’re right, but it’s taking a while for my emotions to agree. If I’d been in your position, I would have done the same thing. My father would have expected it of any of us, and he was a hard man to refuse.’
‘I know. And you’d just mended things between you.’
‘How did you—? Jinx. Jinx told you.’
I nodded. Jess and I had discussed Archie a time or two. ‘She likes you,’ I offered.
He grinned, a flash of teenage exuberance. ‘Yeah, she digs me.’
I tried to hide my smile. ‘She’s mated to the King of Dragons. Maybe don’t antagonise him by suggesting Jinx has the hots for you.’
His grin faded. ‘Jinx is good people. She doesn’t trust many people and you’re on her list, so I’m going to make a real effort to be a good pack mate from here on in. It’s what my father would have wanted. How can I help you?’
It was a shift in attitude quick enough to make my head spin. ‘Tell me about Mark. What was he into?’
Archie snorted. ‘He was shagging Seren, but she was only the latest one. He stepped out on Cassie when they were married. He went through a phase of Boosting.’ He hesitated.
‘Tell me.’
‘He’d take Boost then go along to black tourneys.’
I raised an eyebrow questioningly.
‘You ever seenFight Club?’
Of course I had; it was a great movie. ‘“The first rule of fight club…”’
‘“Is never to talk about fight club”,’ he finished with a smirk. ‘Right. So you’ve seen it. Black tourneys are like fight clubs for werewolves and other creatures. There’s two ways to fight, in skin or fur. Mark preferred fur.’
That made me feel a little sick. I couldn’t imagine trotting out Esme like she was nothing more than a puppet gladiator and pitching her against other wolves for fun or sport. That wasn’t how the pack was supposed to be; the pack was supposed to be family, our refuge. The idea of attacking each other nauseated me.
Archie continued. ‘Sometimes the fights are against other werewolves, sometimes against other creatures.’
‘That’s disgusting,’ I spat out before I could censor myself.
Archie nodded. ‘Yeah, it’s sick. And the worst of it is, it’s all for the Others’ entertainment. Anyone – vampyrs, ogres, wizards – with a bit of cash to flash can come along and watch the animals bait each other. The only rule of a black tourney is that the only blood spilled is the competitors’. There is some serious security in place to make sure that any other vendettas are left at the door. Rumour has it the venues are runed up. If anyone tries to start something, they’ll be cursed so hard they’ll wish the Connection had caught them.’
‘You said “competitors”. Is it always a wolf that fights someone or something else?’
‘No. Anyone that wants to can, but werewolf on werewolf is the most common, especially amongst the younger wolves still trying to prove themselves. I saw an ogre versus troll match once – that was grim. It took over an hour because they could both take some real heavy damage before they tapped out.’
I was relieved to hear tapping out was an option. ‘So it’s not to the death?’
His expression was grim. ‘It’s not supposed to be, but all too often it goes too far.’
‘And Mark was into this shit?’
‘He loved it. He travelled to London most weekends to watch or take part.’
