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“First match!” the familiar host shouts.

I glance over my shoulder to find the same shifter from the poison trial.

Great.

He gives me a delighted grin as he waves me toward the sand. “Come on, Miss Liliana. The king wants you to go first.”

Of course he does, I think.

I don’t look up at the viewing platform. It unnerves me every time the Undertaker monster sets his sights on me. It feels like he can see right through me, as if he knows all of my dark secrets and all of my weaknesses.

He’s unnatural.

But it’s another set of eyes on me that has me looking up.

Arwan’s bright blue gaze traps me, and I can’t read his expression. His jaw flexes. His mouth parts, revealing sharp canines.

And then his fingers twitch, sending pain jolting up my left arm.

Did he just do that?

Stop, I mouth at him.

I don’t need his magic.

This is something I have to do on my own.

Arwan’s nostrils flare before he crosses his arms and clamps his mouth shut.

The sensation through my left arm fades.

Multiple sets of cameras swivel and focus on me as sweat breaks out on my brow.

“Not now,” I mourn as I swipe away the moisture.

My heat is coming on faster today. I’m not sure if it’s because of what Ze’ev did or because Arwan is using our link to try to push his magic into me.

Either way, I need to focus.

Because Bianca makes a show of removing her clothes. I don’t take my eyes from her as she strips, and then her body contorts as a sickening snap of bones forces her to her twist at odd angles. Her sheer confidence makes me feel out of my league.

Here is a female shifter who has grown up in the pack. She knows exactly how beautiful she is and has no shame in showing off her body or how she can handle a shift.

She takes longer to shift than Godric, but there’s something intimidating about the way she swallows the pain of her own bones breaking, of her face extending and changing shape, until she’s a wolf as black as night, snarling at me on all fours.

A swallow works down my throat as I withdraw my pathetic dagger.

I feel painfully human as my body hums with a fever that’s been racking me for weeks. I’m not a shifter, just like Bianca pointed out. My physique isn’t built to withstand the demands of her kind.

And she just shifted right in front of me, demonstrating exactly how different we really are.

My arm trembles, and I can’t even make out what announcement the host shares with the live stream.

I don’t imagine this feed is going to the Elite City, unless there are black-market channels. I have the stray worry about Sofia’s family’s collectors or mine realizing where we are.

While my brother no doubt used my sale price to pay off our debts, it doesn’t take him long to rack up new ones.

They might even be placing bets on whether I live or die.