The wolves had somehow convinced King Midas to host the duel. Since he owned vast tracts of land all over town, he hadn’t had any problems finding a nice, secluded spot for a little bloodshed. He also owned the Dueling Grounds – where Achilles and the Minotaur ran the supernatural Fight Club of St. Louis – so had experience hosting organized fights.

Which really wasn’t much different from a duel.

But as I swept my gaze from left to right, I wondered if it was really distant enough. Because it looked like we were hosting a charity marathon.

Hundreds of people milled about the small valley tucked between wooded hills somewhere in the northern section of Midas’ farm – an expansive tract of woodlands and pasture.

I’d been walking around, getting a feel for the place, and wishing I had grabbed a coffee thermos. I’d spotted a bleary-eyed Tory a while ago and waved at her, hoping to get some details on her night. She had calmly walked up, slapped me hard in the face, and warned me never to lie to her again before storming away. From that encounter, I somehow surmised that she had learned of Alucard’s meeting last night and hadn’t been happy with me for keeping it from her.

She hadn’t even bothered to ask me about the Reds, but they were wandering around here somewhere. I had seen them when I first arrived, sitting in the grass with Yahn. I decided not to warn them about Tory’s temper, but maybe they already knew because they had avoided me.

I was still wandering around, growing impatient, when I saw Callie approach Tory. I realized I had slowed, smiling in anticipation of the oncoming slap. But much to my dismay, the two spoke for a few seconds before wandering off together, hugging like old friends. I scowled, rubbing my cheek as I swept the valley, focusing on the werewolves.

Gunnar and Ashley’s pack had broken down into what looked like highly disorganized pockets and huddles. But if you knew what to look for, it was actually kind of alarming. Each wolf – also called a claw – actually belonged to a predetermined group – or paw – of five wolves. Furthermore, each paw was partnered with three others, making a ghost.

Five claws made up a paw, and four paws made up a ghost – twenty wolves.

Ashley had taught it to them once it became apparent that the pack was getting too large to easily coordinate during times of war. Like with an army, discipline and order saved lives. These smaller, lightning-fast units were both incredibly nimble to maneuver, and easy to bunch together if necessary. It was much more efficient than a few hundred wolves running around chaotically.

There were at least twenty Ghosts – four hundred werewolves – loosely arranged around half of the make-shift ring where Gunnar and Zeus would fight. Some of these Ghosts were human while others were wolf, also seemingly at random.

I was pretty sure it was organized chaos. It was obvious that none had chosen to switch sides.

Light rain began to fall. I glared up at the clouds, realizing I had left my umbrella near my seat with Alucard and Roland. I was tired, feeling particularly useless, and obviously grumpy, thanks to Tory, so I used my magic to create a transparent dome that I let hover over my head. The water struck it and rolled off, leaving me perfectly dry. Whenever anyone nearby noticed, I shot them a very dark grin until they ran away with their tail tucked between their legs.

Literally or figuratively – since many of the attendees were in wolf form.

I glanced at Zeus’ pack of a hundred wolves. It seemed he had exaggerated last night, or hadn’t realized how big Gunnar’s pack actually was. In contrast with the St. Louis wolves, they sat in neat, orderly rows like they were gearing up for a Colonial musket battle. They all faced forward towards the ring. The three rows closest to the ring were wolves, the next few rows were kneeling humans, and the rest of the pack stood behind them.

And for the most part, they didn’t make a noise.

Like they had all been bred in some science lab or military school. Maybe they were just that scared of their boss. Othello had done some research on Zeus Fletcher, but she hadn’t come up with anything that useful. He seemed to be one of those ex-military, private types – living on a hill in the middle of the woods with trip-wires surrounding his cabin full of guns.

The non-wolf attendees were careful not to wade too deep into either pack, respecting the imaginary lines that marked each territory.

But Talon, being a raging dick, walked over to Zeus’ pack, picked a nearby spot in full view of them all, and pissed on a tree. Carl stood a few yards back, staring down the wolves the entire time. Talon shook twice before lowering his kilt, and then the crazy bastard pawed his boots in the dirt before walking away, like a cat cleaning his litterbox. Carl kept staring at the wolves as he held up his claw for Talon to high five him. Only then did they turn and walk away.

But that was the extent of our involvement in the matter. Because Gunnar had reminded me – personally upon my arrival – that this was strictly to be handled by him.

“This is wolf business,” he had said in a firm tone.

Tired of walking, I approached my seat to find Alucard and Roland using my umbrella, smirking at Talon’s act of defiance. They had been silent about their meeting last night, even though I had pestered them several times already. At least the cloud cover would protect Roland from the sun, although I knew he had a stash of some special sunscreen that could protect him for short periods.

It looked like we all had our dance cards and wouldn’t be sharing partners.

Talon, Carl and I were secretly going to Hell.

Gunnar and Ashley were about to fight a duel so they could hopefully go on their honeymoon.

Roland and Alucard were attending secret vampire meetings.

Yahn and the Reds were stealing kisses, avoiding the adults like the plague.

And Tory was working as a private investigator for the dragons.

I let out an angry sigh, but I wasn’t quite sure why. I didn’t want to stick my head into anyone else’s problems, but… I was used to it. Us working as a team. And now…

Talon and Carl strutted our way, sitting in the grass beside me, glaring at the wolves across the ring, who actually seemed to be snarling back. “I can’t wait to go to Hell,” Talon purred in a tone that even Roland and Alucard couldn’t have overheard.

“I hear it’s beautiful this time of year,” Carl agreed just as quietly, his tongue flicking out to catch rain drops.

Tory and Callie approached from behind us and both Roland and I jumped to our feet. Roland instantly wrapped an arm around Callie, leading her away to talk in private. I approached Tory, not sure if I wanted to apologize or demand answers about the dragons. I’d taken the slap like a man, so I deserved something for my trouble. I opened my mouth, but she held up a hand.

“I will not speak of it, Nate. Don’t meddle. Please.” She very discreetly flicked her eyes beyond my shoulder, back towards the trees to her right. I sighed, turning my back on her and muttering under my breath as if angry that she had just shut me down. Then I let my eyes sweep the area, as if taking in all the Freaks present for the fight, and annoyed that Tory wouldn’t talk to me. I was sure not to let my eyes linger on the area she had indicated, but even still, my heart skipped a beat.

Baron Skyfall leaned against a tree in a bowler hat, watching Tory for a moment before his eyes drifted to the wolves closest to him – those against Gunnar.

Tory murmured under her breath, as if talking to herself, but loud enough for me to hear. “Seems I have a tail… Ah, irony.”

“Is Baron actually his first name or is it a title?” I muttered. “The others only had one name.”

“First name.”

I grunted, debating sauntering over to ask him a few pointed questions, but thought better of it. Not my problem. I let out a growl and sat back down. Alucard waited five seconds before standing up to talk with Tory. I waited to hear the slap he deserved, but instead saw her hugging him tightly. My eyes narrowed and I picked up a twig beside me, snapping it in half violently.

Why was I the bad guy in this situation? The world was unfair. I didn’t see what the big deal was. Yahn liked the Reds – both of them – and believe it or not, they obviously felt the same. Why were they so adamant about keeping an eye on them? Sure, it wasn’t a traditional relationship, but they were dragons, and I’d heard all sorts of crazy stories about them.

A steady hush settled over the valley as the hulking Minotaur entered the ring. “Finally,” I breathed, sitting up straighter.

I needed to see someone else get slapped around.