Rise of the Gryphon (Belador #4)(43)

What about sitting down and shutting the f—

Evalle sucked in a breath at even thinking a curse like that. Trey was only asking what she’d ask any other time when she didn’t have to talk to Tzader about the ABC first. Her emotions were erupting willy-nilly, landing on the closest target for no particular reason. Please get me out of here soon.

Tzader turned to Sen, who stepped forward to answer. “I informed the Tribunal, who indicated they knew of the event and the host. According to them, the host is holding the games on his land, and he has diplomatic immunity as long as there’s no illegal activity.”

How about telling us who the host is? Evalle couldn’t ask, because she didn’t need to show any interest in the championship, not in front of Sen. Engaging him directly while she was wearing the Volonte armband would be asking for trouble, but you’d think someone else would want to know.

A female agent on the far left gained the floor. “You mean like tradin’ fairy dust?”

“Exactly.”

Evalle had to lock her knees around the edge of the bench to keep from jumping up and asking if Horace had found out that the buy-in was stolen Volonte bones, or that the Medb were offering Alterants immortality. She clutched the stone seating harder, feeling pieces crumble under her fingers.

Saying a word about the ABC right now would burst a dam on questions that would drown her the minute she tried to explain.

Trey sat back down, but his gaze traveled over to where she dug finger grooves into her seat. He leaned over. “I’ll explain to Tzader if you need to leave.”

Relaxing her fingers, she shook her head and squeezed out, “No. I’m good.”

Sen’s booming voice drew all attention back to the stage when he explained, “If anything illegal does occur during the event, we won’t find out until after it happens. By that time, the event will be over.”

The female agent pressed, “Don’t you want to send in a couple of agents just to monitor the event?”

Yes! Thank you, whoever you are.

“No. The Tribunal indicated the buy-in is too high to send in a covert team.”

Evalle’s head throbbed with the need to use telepathy and tell Tzader she had the buy-in.

Tzader asked Sen, “What’s the buy-in for these ultimate games?”

“Volonte bone.”

“Thought those were stolen.”

Evalle wanted to cheer Tzader, to tell him to keep going.

Shaking his head, Sen said, “It’s rumored that the bones were stolen after the archaeological discovery, but the humans haven’t reported a theft, so we can’t charge anyone with theft.”

That had to be good and bad news for Evalle, but she wouldn’t celebrate until this armband was off. Until then, she was channeling Storm’s soothing voice through her mind to hold on to her control.

“And,” Sen continued, “those bones are so rare the event host will be lucky if they see two or three.” He paused, his tone heavy with warning. “There is another way for someone to get inside the games without a buy-in. An Alterant can enter for free.”

Tzader’s eyes flicked at Evalle for only a second, but in that moment she could see that he understood the nature of what she’d wanted to discuss.

Evalle pretended that every set of eyes in the room hadn’t just locked on her. Stay calm. Don’t smile. Don’t frown.

Didn’t take long for someone to ask, “Why would they get in free?”

Sen’s voice warmed to the subject. “They’re the main attraction in this freak show. The marquee battles are a non-Alterant against an Alterant. The last Elite matches are five beast-against-beast battles, with the winners offered immortality by the Medb.”

Silence overpowered the room.

Emotions burst forth and raked across Evalle’s senses so quickly that she clenched against the onslaught. She shut down her empathic side, but not before shock, fear and anger sang through the energy around her.

She didn’t have to hear their thoughts to know many of them would be quick to believe that she’d enter the championship for a chance at immortality. Sen had to be loving this.

I hate you, you miserable piece of . . . She’d lifted her hand to toss a kinetic blast, but she caught Trey’s hard stare. She forced a smile at him, hoping she didn’t look like a rabid dog baring its teeth. “Hand cramp.”

Nodding, Trey turned back to face the stage.

She was going to snap if this didn’t end soon.

Sen had paused, anticipation building during the silence until his voice boomed through the room. “Make no mistake on this, people. No member of VIPER is allowed to enter these games as a fighter or observer. The coalition bylaws are clear about any agent fighting for personal gain. It will not be tolerated. To do so is to bring down the full force of our laws on your head. The last time a VIPER agent was caught in a Beast Club, the agent was terminated and his direct supervisor sent out of this country.”

Terminated, as in destroyed.

Heavy thumps pounded in Evalle’s chest, each beat echoing through her with the finality of a death knell. She crossed her arms again to keep her hands out of trouble and to hide the rage trembling through her. Sen expected her to go rogue.

Someone far down near the front asked, “What about Alterants? They don’t have a pantheon. What’s their status?”