“Choose your weapon,” Riddock ordered.
“Sir. At your command.” He was snickering as he strode away.
Immediately the wagers began.
“Hey, now!” Larkin gave Blair a quick pat on the shoulder, moved into the men. “I’ll have some of that.”
Niall strode back with two thick fencing poles. Blair studied the way he held them, the way he moved. Full swagger now.
“This will be quick,” he assured Blair.
“Yeah, it will. It’s a good choice of weapon,” she called out over the voices still calling out odds and wagers. “Wood kills a vampire, if you have the strength and the aim to get it through the heart. You look strong enough.” She eyed Niall up and down. “How’s your aim?”
He grinned, wide. “I’ve not yet had a woman complain of it.”
“Well, let’s see what you got, big guy.” She gripped the pole lengthwise, nodded. “Ready?”
“I’ll give you the first three hits, out of fairness.”
“Fine.”
She took him down in two, ramming the end of the pole in his gut, then sweeping down to crack it hard against his legs. Ignoring the laughter and whoops, she stood over him, the pole pressed to his heart.
“Now if you were a vampire, I’d put this right through you till it came out the other side. Then you’d be dust.” She stepped back. “I think you should hold your bets, guys. That was just practice.” She cocked her head at Niall. “Ready now?”
He got to his feet, and she saw the shock and embarrassment at being knocked down by a woman had lit a fire in him. He came in hard, the force of his pole against hers shooting up her arms. She leaped up and over when he aimed for her legs, then cracked her stick against his chest.
He fought well, she decided, and with a bullish strength—but he lacked creativity.
She used her pole like a vault, planting it in the ground, swinging up over her opponent. When she landed, she spun a kick into the small of his back, caught her pole. And tripped him with it.
This time she held it to his throat as he panted for breath.
“Three out of five?” she suggested.
He let out a roar, knocking at the pole. She let his forward motion carry her back, then pumped up with her feet to flip him over her. And flat onto his back again.
His eyes were still dazed as she pressed the pole to his throat again. The last fall had knocked the wind out of him, and stolen the color from his cheeks.
“I can do this all day, and you’ll end up on your ass every time.”
She got to her feet, and now planted her pole beside him to lean negligently against it. “You’re strong, but so am I. Plus, you’re heavy in the feet—and you weren’t thinking on them. Just because you’re bigger doesn’t mean you’ll win, and it sure as hell doesn’t mean you’ll live. I’d say you got close to a hundred pounds on me, but I knocked you flat three times.”
“The first didn’t count.” Niall sat up, rubbed his sore head. “But I’ll give you the two.”
When he grinned at her, Blair knew she’d won.
“Larkin, come take this pole,” Niall called out. “I’ll fight you for her, for this one’s a woman for certain.”
Blair held out a hand. “He’d beat you, too. I helped train him.”
“Then you’ll teach me. And them?” He jerked his chin toward Hoyt and Glenna. “Can they fight like you?”
“I’m the best, but they’re pretty damn good.”
She turned to the group of men, waited while money finished changing hands. Tynan, she noted, was one of the few besides Larkin that collected any.
“Anyone else need a demonstration?”