Honestly, neither was Daisy. The crew Kieran had assembled was awesome, but a lot of the other magical people in this place were self-important snobs. She couldn’t stand their voices.

Daisy sighed and squinted up at the falling sun. She did need to get dressed and ready to go.

“Today was boring,” she said, and stretched for no reason.

It took her a moment to realize Mordecai had gone rigid. She followed his gaze down the beach, where two stocky characters glided along, their movements fluid and graceful despite the sand.

“Have you seen any shifters yet?” she murmured, keeping her voice down so their superior hearing wouldn’t pick up her words. They were too far away now, but moving quickly. They weren’t just out for a stroll.

“No, not in the teams we’ve battled.”

“But those are shifters, right?”

He didn’t answer for a moment before looking out at the ocean. “Yup. They must’ve heard about the shifter kid that got kicked out of his pack. Jack warned me when he was alive that shifters act funny about someone that was exiled. Some get aggressive toward outcasts, some view them as easy pickings and want to bully, others are curious why they were cast out, which often turns into a challenge… If they’re out here looking for me, they have an agenda.”

“But you were a kid. A sick kid, at that. Holding you responsible for being cast out by a shit alpha is crap.”

“The type of people that would pick on an outcast aren’t the type known for their thinking ability,” Mordecai said dryly.

A thrill arrested her. Such a good idea to sneak out.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, leaning back and taking on an unaffected pose.

“We are underage, alone, and it would be stupid to engage. We let them go by.”

A good idea to sneak out, a bad idea to bring him.

“But what if you can take them?” she asked. “Aren’t you curious what it’s like to take on an enemy shifter?”

“They aren’t our enemies.”

“I can make them our enemies in, like, two seconds flat. I got a way with words, Mordie, don’t you worry. You want a fight, I’ll get you that fight.”

He gave her a flat look. “We both know which of us wants to fight.” Looking at the ocean again, he added, “You’re reckless.”

“Tell me you aren’t curious. Tell me, I dare you. No, don’t even bother, you’d be lying. You want to know how you stack up against your own kind. It’s only natural.”

“And I suppose you wonder how you’d stack up against your own kind.”

“Give me a break— I’d rock any Chester’s world.”

His sigh was slight, but it spoke volumes. Oh yeah, he was curious. He hadn’t gotten much action yesterday. Neither of them had. The taste they’d been given hadn’t been enough to satisfy the craving their training had developed. It hadn’t been enough to really show where they stood.

“Can you smell them?” she whispered excitedly. A shifter could glean plenty of information from watching and smelling an opponent. Powerful shifters smelled powerful, and they held themselves a certain way. Daisy was still learning the nuances, and obviously smell would forever be a blind spot to her dulled senses, but she had a pretty good handle on how these things worked.

“Yes. I’m downwind.”

“Aaaand?” She watched his body language. Excitement bubbled through him, she could see it. Anticipation. “You’re more dominant, aren’t you?”

“I won’t know unless I fight.”

“Estimate, jackass.”

“I remember when I saw Will Green’s man in that strip mall a year or so ago. He scared the crap out of me. He was by far more dominant. Everything in me wanted to turn and run. It was Lexi that handled things.”

Daisy nearly sat forward, riveted. Mordie never really opened up about this stuff—he was too levelheaded and boring. She could see the drive in him right now. She could see the light bulb clicking on.

“These guys are stronger than that other guy, I’d bet my life on it. I doubt they are as corrupt or brutal, but they are more experienced. I can see their intensity in their movements. I can see how dominant they think they are.”

She lifted her eyebrows, not hiding the grin working up her face. She knew where this was going.

Everything in his posture stayed loose when he said, “I’m half their age, but I could take one and a half of them. Individually, I’m more dominant. I’d have to prove it, but…”

He didn’t finish because he was humble, but he didn’t have to.

Daisy’s grin turned into a full smile. “Damn right you’re more dominant. I don’t hang out with no chump.” She patted the dagger hugging her hip, something she always took with her now. This was Mordie’s chance. He needed to take on a shifter and win. He didn’t just need to prove his dominance to another shifter—he needed to prove it to himself. He’d never fought on his own, and he’d certainly never fought his own kind for dominance. Until he could spend more time with his kind, he wouldn’t, either. Unless she helped.

“I’ll play beta. I’ll distract one of them for a few moments while you get to work. Don’t worry, I’ll let you run the show. I’ll just help out.”