Gambling on Her Dragon (Charmed in Vegas Book 2) by Anna Lowe, Michelle Fox

two figures closed in on each other: a lion and a grizzly, growling up a storm.
    “Here, pussy, pussy,” the bear goaded his foe. Kaya heard the words coded into his roar.
    The crowd cheered and Karen bent close to her ear. “The humans only see the animal side of the fighting shifters. They’re supposed to stay in one form or another, but they sometimes slip.”
    The lion snarled. “Son of a bi—” he started with words and ended in a roar.
    No one blinked an eye, and a glance up at the witches in the control booth showed one winking at another.
    “I thought animal fights were illegal,” Kaya said.
    Karen just rolled her eyes. “This is the side of Vegas the law doesn’t touch. Anything goes.”
    That, Kaya had to agree with. The last few days in Vegas had proven that again and again.
    “What other spells can the witches cast?” she asked.
    Karen pooh-poohed the notion aside. “Not much, believe me. Third-rate witches.”
    Igor leaned in to agree. “Good witches are so hard to find.”
    “My heart bleeds for you,” Karen shot back.
    He grinned. “That, too, can be arranged.”
    Kaya elbowed her sister in the ribs and pulled her away. Far away.
    A mighty roar cut off whatever smart-aleck response Karen had ready, and the crowd jumped to its feet. Kaya, too, in spite of herself, watching the lion and grizzly fly at each other in a blur of fur and fangs.
    The grizzly howled in pain as the lion scraped four parallel lines into his back and jumped clear.
    “God, do they fight to the death?”
    “Nah,” Karen replied all too casually. “Not in this round.”
    Kaya dug her fingers into the seam of her seat cushion. Jesus. What round was Trey in?
    She looked away as the lion closed in on the staggering grizzly.
    The crowd cheered. The grizzly moaned. The lion screamed in triumph. Kaya figured death would be swift, but a shrill whistle blew and a gang of handlers moved in to separate the fighters. Part of the crowd jeered while the rest clapped and consulted their programs.
    “Who’s next?” A woman in a sparkly dress asked the bald man at her side.
    Kaya’s heart thumped, but as much as she strained her ears, she couldn’t catch the response.
    A pair of heavy wooden doors banged open on one side of the arena, and a team of animal handlers hustled the lion out as the crowd booed, wanting more action. Another crew tended to the injured grizzly, and as they trundled him out, she caught sight of a dozen grim faces peering out from the catacombs. The next fighters, ready for their round?
    “God, where do they get them all?”
    Igor chuckled. “Some volunteer. Others…let’s just say, they are convinced.”
    She pictured the two thugs slipping Trey a drugged drink, and her blood boiled. To think she’d rescued him from the pits only to have him end up there anyway. Voluntarily, to save her sister and herself.
    God, the irony.
    A spark escaped her lips, and she nearly jumped back in surprise. Igor had turned away, so she tried it again. Collecting all the threads of her anger on a single breath, she puffed.
    A six-inch flame burst out of her mouth. One she barely smothered before Igor turned back, wrinkling his nose. “Is someone smoking in here?”
    “Are you nuts?” Karen whispered, grabbing her elbow.
    Kaya considered the possibility through the next three fights, right up to the point when the announcer called out, “Ladies and gentlemen, Scarlet Palace is proud to present the greatest fighter of them all.”
    Eager faces peered into the arena as a spotlight darted from archway to archway, teasing them in a guessing game. Which gate might the next fighter emerge from?
    “Undefeated in a hundred and thirty fights…”
    Kaya stared. Undefeated in
how
 many fights?
    “Unintimidated, unbeaten, unassailable!”
    The crowd hooted in glee.
    “The one, the only…”
    The whole place hushed for an instant, then went wild when the announcer finally boomed out the name. “Kyrill!”
    Kaya watched as a