Rise of the Gryphon (Belador #4)(79)

Green eyes blazed from a Samoan-shaped face.

If he thought that would intimidate her, he’d never seen a demonic Svart troll.

She’d won that fight.

Big money bet on Boomer drove the shouting louder for him to finish her off quickly. Even more demanded blood.

Evalle had caught announcements of Elite matches to this point. Two Alterants had died, five more had folded, pleading for relief.

Sounding bored and ready to get this moving, Boomer called over, “You first, Hollywood.”

He expected her to shift.

She shook her head, gaining a shrug in return.

Then Boomer hunched his arms forward, clenching his fists and bunching his muscles in a bodybuilding pose. But he started shifting, bones popping and muscles doubling in size. His head changed shape twice as it kept expanding with a jutting forehead, bulbous nose and thin slits for eyes. Half of his head was ear-to-ear mouth that had two rows of sharp teeth a barracuda would envy.

Power shook through her body, trying to force her to shift, and not just to battle form. Her Alterant beast fought to break free. Was she reacting to Boomer’s change?

She locked down the urge and stuck her hand out, calling her dagger up from her boot. The hilt hit her palm just as Boomer finished turning into a Samoan Hulk.

Words came out of his mouth garbled, but she understood “On yar neez, bitch. Beg.”

She angled her head and stared at a hairy groin where genitals protruded. “Do condoms come in teacup size?”

“Goonna enjo killin’ you.” Lifting the pole, he started spinning it around one finger as if the thing weighed nothing.

She prepared to leap or dive away, anticipating when he’d release the pole.

He ordered the pole, “Attack Alt’rant,” right before he let it fly straight up in the air, where it floated overhead.

How would the pole distinguish between the two of them?

Maybe it just picked the one who hadn’t spoken the order.

Watching Boomer and the pole divided her attention until the weapon zeroed in on her and flew straight for its target. She dodged back and forth, leaping and spinning to get away from the thing tracking her with the diligence of a heat-seeking missile.

Slashing a side-handed swat of kinetic energy at it, she knocked the pole off course, thinking she’d sent the pole to the ground.

Boomer yelled and barreled at her, forcing Evalle to jump in the same direction she’d knocked the pole, just as the pole bounced off the warded wall of the dome. It flew back, catching her ankle in passing and snapping a bone.

She crashed to the ground.

A broken bone in this match meant death.

Boomer veered off, going after his pole.

She called up her warrior form and struggled to her feet, shaking with pain. That’s when she saw Horace Keefer, and he wasn’t trying to hide his presence.

Something lifted her off her feet.

Boomer was using his kinetics on her. She shoved a blast of energy back at him, but it glanced off his much more powerful Alterant beast energy.

Then he gripped her with his kinetics and slammed her down to the ground. She hit on her side and felt a bone fracture in her left arm.

When she looked past Boomer, she saw Storm moving through the crowd, getting closer to the dome.

He knew what Kol had done to Imogenia.

Reality hit Evalle between the eyes. With Horace here, what did she have to lose at this point? Sen had probably sent him, which raised a ton of questions Evalle had no time to consider. Bottom line?

She was screwed no matter what she did.

Macha had given her autonomy. In Evalle’s thinking, shifting would be in the best interests of the Beladors if Macha wanted the Alterants kept out of Medb hands.

Evalle couldn’t do that unless she survived. Heading toward her, Boomer swung his pole back and forth with a major-league cut to his swing.

She launched a blast of kinetic energy at Boomer to buy herself a moment.

Her beast wanted out so badly that all she had to do was relinquish control. The Alterant change burst through her body, ripping her clothes. Her boots burst with the expansion of her feet and her dagger fell away, but she could call it to her when she needed it. Her head doubled in size and her face stretched, jaw aching as it grew wider for a double row of jagged teeth. Bones popped and muscles exploded into a massive body just as hideous as Boomer’s, though not quite as big. She sent healing energy first to her arm then her ankle and used kinetic strength to lurch to her feet.

Boomer bumped back from the kinetic wall and stopped, his green gaze assessing this new change.

Her arm improved immediately, but the complex bone structure of her ankle would take longer to mend. Hobbling to her left, she let Boomer think she still couldn’t move. When he spun up the pole and sent it at her again, instead of evading she stuck her hand out and caught it.

The thing struggled against her hold.

Sentient?

She started toward Boomer, gripping the pole with two hands. This thing definitely broke Alterant beast bones. Boomer made a move toward her and fell over his own feet.

She stole a quick glance to the stands and found that Storm had stopped at ground level.

She hated changing into a beast in front of him, but his eyes were filled with admiration and something wonderful she’d like to call love. Having just seen Boomer stumble, Storm lifted his shoulders and mouthed Lanna.

If that girl survived this event, Evalle would help Quinn deliver her to VIPER headquarters, because she was safe nowhere else.