Page 97 of Never Tamed
The pit in my stomach deepens and in the darkness there, something very close to anxiety skitters its nails. My insides don’t belong to me anymore.
Preparation is key. We can’t fuck this up.
Why does it feel like the end of the world?
A map of the city’s sewer system is spread across Torin’s desk, weighted down by empty mugs and a leaf blower’s outdated instruction manual that we found amongst the shelves. Even with most of the Steel Claws contacts compromised, Torin’s money still talks, and he was able to get the map easily.
Between him and Noble’s connections within the security sector, we’re on the right track. Unfortunately, the bitter taste on the tip of my tongue stays, no matter how many times I try to swallow it down.
Torin stands behind the map, silent and coiled tight as a wire. Noble leans against the wall, casually flipping a hunting knife in the air and catching it by the handle every time. Mathis is opposite of Torin as his fingers trace the spidery veins of tunnels snaking beneath the city.
And Dax… He paces in short lines across the cabin like a caged animal, his heavy steps scuffing the old wood.
The five of us have this handled. I cross my arms over my chest to keep from shaking, the energy trapped inside with no place to go.
We know Andras is down there in the sewers, hiding like the rat he is, surrounded by his Blood Moons. It’s time to smoke him out.
For some reason, hope is slipping through my fingers, slippery, exhausting to keep.
“He won’t stay holed up forever,” Torin says. “He’ll be regrouping and building up for another strike. We need to cut him off before he gets the chance.”
“Easier said than done,” Noble mutters. “The tunnels are a maze. We flush him out one side, he’ll bolt to another.”
He flips the knife again and the blade gleams dully in the lanternlight. I know he’s a wolf and has sharper reflexes than a normal person, but I’d be lying if I said that him flinging the knife in the air and catching it wasn’t making my chest hurt.
I chew on the inside of my cheek. He’s not wrong. The sewers sprawl beneath the entire city, twisting with multiple exits. We only saw a small portion of them when we took the warehouse. What other surprises will Andras have waiting for us?
Dax stops his pacing and growls. “We use Red’s super sniffer to peg his location, and attack him first. Ambush the bastard for once. He won’t expect it.”
Mathis looks over his shoulder at his beta. “He won’t expect it because he knows we are weaker. He’s right, too. Going underground with guns blazing would be suicide. He knows those tunnels better than we do.”
Torin nods. “We have a better chance with Andras topside. We’ll have to drag him out somehow.”
Dax’s growl escalates in annoyance. He resumes his pacing with only a quick leer at me when our gazes snag.
“Some problems can’t be solved by just murdering them,” Noble adds in. “If that’s what you’re thinking.”
Dax’s gaze slides his way. “It’s always worked fine for me.”
I stand from the chair by the door with my foot tapping. The energy is there circling and nipping at me. Fed up with being an onlooker in his conversation, I walk over to the desk and slap my hand down where Mathis’s fingers had been.
“What if,” I propose, “we do both.”
Mathis glances at me. His jaw is clenched and decorated in a layer of dark stubble. “Both?”
I nod. “Yeah, what if we bring him out of the sewerandget the jump on him at the same time?”
“You make it sound so easy, baby,” Noble says with a chuckle. “How would we even do that?”
I pause and wrack my brain for the answer. It’s right there, the same as hope, close enough for me to touch but I lose the plot every time. Andras will stay trapped in his tunnels and lurking in the dark unless we make it too uncomfortable for him to be there.
We have to make the tunnels uninhabitable. All of them.
Or, we have to cause such a distraction he has no choice but to come running to investigate. And Andras himself, not just his little beta bitches.
How do we smoke Andras out? How do we…
The lightbulb moment finally lands and I gasp. Well, with actual smoke, of course.Duh. It was right there in front of me the whole time.
