Page 1 of Butterfly Assassin
PROLOGUE
In London, 2010, the rising numbers of shifters had reached an all-time high. Rival packs throughout the city swelled their ranks with both willing and forced bitings, causing widespread panic amongst the population. In a move to combat growing crime in the city and to alleviate public concerns, the government introduced Karel’s Law.
Karel’s Law
All existing shifters will be required to submit to DNA registering. Failure to do so will be considered a criminal act and render the perpetrator liable to prosecution. Furthermore, any and all new bitings must first be proposed and submitted to the Department of Shifter Relations for consideration, with a signed agreement from both the hosting pack and the human proposer. Failure to do this will result in the change being classed as non-consensual. Verbal agreement will no longer be considered binding. All acts of non-consensual change will be subject to prosecution under the Right to Choose Act (1995).
Right to Choose Act
If a human is bitten without consent, regardless of whether the change takes and holds, the punishment of the accused shifter will be decided at the discretion of the injured party—up to and including the death penalty. If the injured party is unable to make the decision themselves, it will be decided by the courts.
With a new surge in shifters being snatched off the street and forced to bite, any shifter unable to produce the correct signed papers of proposal and/or DNA registration card and pack membership—corroborated by the alpha—will immediately be arrested and placed in Krillick Hall pending further investigation. The police reserve the right to carry out random identity checks.
In 2014, underground boxing matches reached an all-time high. With both shifters and humans taking part in unlicensed fights, serious injuries became a regular occurrence. Following a boxing-related death in Aug 2014, the Illegal Fighting Act was introduced.
Illegal Fighting Act
All shifters are prohibited from taking part in boxing matches unless fully licenced and organised by a recognised body. Bare-knuckle fights are also prohibited for both humans and shifters. The punishment for anyone found guilty of either taking part in or organising an illegal fight will be anything up to fifteen years in prison—for shifters, this would mean Krillick Hall.
CHAPTER ONE
March 2017
Aaron finished wrapping his hands and cracked his neck from side to side.
Ten minutes to showtime.
Showtime?What a fucking joke.
This was an illegal fight. No licence, no safety protocols in place.
Luckily he didn’t need them.
His ring was the dirty underground car park of an abandoned office building in the City of London, and the crowd a mix of bloodthirsty spectators and high-stake gamblers.
Their loud, sometimes drunken chatter filtered in through the double doors separating his makeshift dressing room—a two-cubicle bathroom with a row of three lockers—from the large open-plan car park.
The place was packed tonight, he could tell from the volume of voices. Three fights down and they were hungry for blood, whipped up into a frenzy by what they’d already witnessed.
Resting his hands on the edge of the sink, Aaron let his head hang down. White tape covered his knuckles—the only protection allowed. He didn’t need it. His shifter DNA would take care of any injuries sustained, but it helped cover up the evidence if he healed too soon. Occasionally his concentration slipped, and he couldn’t afford to be discovered while surrounded by so many of Smith’s men.
Shifters weren’t allowed to take part in Smith’s fights—house rules. Betting was fine, welcomed even. Shifters tended to have more money than the majority of humans who came to watch. But the unfair advantage shifters held in the ring prohibited them from taking part in the fights themselves.
Which was fair enough.
Aaron figured under the circumstances, it was okay to bend the rules a little. Smith wasn’t exactly a law-abiding citizen, and anyway, Aaron was already breaking the law by taking part. As long as he stopped himself from healing and held back on his speed and strength, he figured it was a fair fight. The fighters who faced him were fortunate. He always knew when they’d had too much, could smell it on them, hear it in their breathing, and one well-placed punch would knock them out, ending the fight.
Others weren’t so lucky. There were no trainers here to throw in the towel.
And he wasn’t the only shifter who did this.
Aaron had run into another the second time he’d fought. They’d acknowledged each other with a slight nod but nothing more. They hadn’t had to fight each other yet, and Aaron hoped it stayed that way.
The shifters who came to watch the fights kept their secrets—like an unwritten rule—but if Smith ever managed to get a shifter on his payroll, they’d both be screwed.
A sharp rap on the door sounded, followed by a gruff “Two minutes.”
With a sigh and one last look at his reflection, Aaron turned and opened the doors.
