Blood on Sand

SHARPEN YOUR CLAWS

Wojtek sharpened his claws on the white stone pillar of his box in the arena and looked across the pit. There was a wolverine in the audience. He'd seen him earlier and had kept his eyes on him. His skin was crawling and not because of the sound his claws were causing. Wolverines were uncommon, and he found it a bit strange that one had come to watch the show on the very same night they had a wolverine fighting.

And there was something up with Tedor. He and his men were gloating. He didn't need to understand their mooing and bellowing to figure out that they were laughing at him. What he couldn't figure out was why. His tail swished back and forth. When Satul came too close, he bared his teeth. Was he being set up? He had the feeling he was, but how could he be? And would they be this open about it if they were trying to cause problems? Nah, he was probably imagining things.

He hadn't made any mistakes in setting up the fights. They had a good schedule this evening, and all the combatants were present and subdued according to regulation. There hadn't been any problems. None of their slaves had tried to run; no one had tried to kill themselves. That was the beauty of reptilians, they didn't kill themselves and they didn't fold—no matter how much pain they were in, they fought until one of them was dead. Well, everyone but Zoe did.

Tonight's fights consisted of a good mix of lizardians, a few lower shifters like foxes and cats—and of course his opponent's wolverine. Tedor had either got very lucky or very unlucky in managing to trade himself to that one. If he'd got unlucky, Wojtek hoped it wouldn't spill over on his business. Wolverines didn't live in packs but it made Wojtek uneasy to know that there was one in the audience.

He grimaced. Maybe it was stupid to let the fight run. It could turn out to be more of a problem than he could afford. He could practically taste the blood in the air, hot and gushing. His lizardmen wouldn't stand a chance against the wolverine even if they let them fight him in pairs, but it would be a good fighting night anyway. He loved Fridays, the pulsating excitement, the growls, the snarls, and the yelps. Swords and spears clashing, the smell of all the different animals present, and then how the air would be overtaken by the scent of blood as the first combatants got hurt. Taunts would fly all over the stadium, and there would be some brawls in the audience; there always were. He got his cut on all the bets whether his fighters won or not, and with a wolverine, there would be a lot of bets. He just had to crush the feeling of something being wrong.

Deep growls vibrated in the air around him. More and more of his wolves joined in, almost drowning out the sound of approaching hoofs. Tedor knew better than to walk, unannounced, into their area of the stands with his entourage, especially in changed form. If Wojtek hadn't been busy showing off his pearly whites, he'd have taken some time to be proud of the way his pack formed a circle around him, their jaws snapping, tails straight out from their bodies, and their eyes never leaving the minotaurs that were intruding.

What the fuck did Tedor want?

His broad raspy tongue came out to lick at his bared upper teeth, and Wojtek almost shuddered. Tedor sure looked nasty. When Zoe flicked his tongue it was much more refined, a delicate movement almost—how would it feel to have that split tongue dancing over his skin? Tedor's broad slab of a tongue was just crude.

With a nod, Tedor indicated that he wanted to talk and pointed at the imperial box where they usually met if they needed to exchange words. He held up two fingers meaning that they'd each bring two guards. Wojtek wanted to frown; they usually only brought their Betas, or whatever you called your second in command when you were cattle.

He nodded, turned to Satul, and sent a thought asking, "Do we bring Koray?" as the hoof tramps from the departing herd echoed down the arcade.

"Yes," came the response in his head. Satul's ears laid back flat on his head, telling Wojtek all he needed to know about what his Beta thought of the meeting.