Page 43 of Waifs And Strays
The fleeing assassin was closer now but the gap between this roof and the next one was vast.
I miaowed. Thane jerked and stared down, his brow furrowing as he gazed at me. His features appeared different as I looked at him through cat eyes. I hadn’t told himhowI’d witnessed Quack’s attempt at poisoning Alexander MacTire or that I possessed this special ability but now he understood.
‘Interesting,’ he murmured as he recovered from his surprise. ‘Can you make that jump?’
Unable to smile, I blinked instead.Watch me.Then I took off, sailing easily across the gap and leaving Thane behind me. I put him out of my mind: I had to reach that killer. Feline endurance was not limitless and if I was going to catch up, I had to do it soon.
I gathered more speed and strength and powered ahead. The rooftops here were trickier to traverse, many of them dotted with cemented shards of broken glass designed to deter would-be thieves, skulking vampires or parkour runners. Such elaborate forms of discouragement would slow my quarry but they caused me few problems.
I danced through the jagged glass, jumped to the next rooftop and scaled the angled tiles. With each building, I was moving upwards – and the next rooftop was four storeys high.
I heard a loud oomph as the assassin only just cleared the distance and scrambled for purchase. Then he turned, revealing his face: not a werewolf but quite possibly a druid judging fromthe blue tattoo on his left cheekbone. Was this the same druid ‘friend’ who’d given Quack the poison? I’d find out soon enough.
He smiled as he registered how far behind Thane was but he didn’t notice me. In that instant I knew I had him, even though he turned and quickly disappeared from my view.
I bunched my muscles and jumped again, this time landing on a narrow windowsill below where I wanted to be. I took a breath, warier of this next leap – one wrong paw and I’d tumble to the street below. I’d survive the fall but Quack’s killer would get away and I was determined that wouldn’t happen.
I eyed the side of the building. With just the right amount of power and well-placed steps, I’d do it. I gulped in air then launched myself upwards, bouncing twice against the stone on my way up. Two seconds later, my four paws were safely on the solid roof.
The assassin was only ten feet away. I padded forward, taking care not to make any sudden movements. He checked over his shoulder, yet again glancing towards Thane who was still trapped on the rooftop far behind us. He could have dropped to the ground to track the man from the ground but Thane was smart; he was doing everything he could to lull the shooter into a false sense of security and give me the space and time I needed.
The assassin chuckled and muttered, ‘Stupid wolf wanker.’ He turned left and I realised he was planning to switch direction to make it even harder for Thane to follow him. If he crossed the next gap, he’d be out of sight and could head anywhere he wanted. Thane had never gotten close enough to get a decent whiff of the man’s scent so he’d lose him for good in minutes. But I was here and I was ready.
I braced myself and started to hawk up the hairball. It wasn’t a quiet process and I knew I’d alert my target; I just hadto hope that he wasn’t switched on enough to work out what was happening until it was too late.
I spat out the hairball and felt the familiar twist and crack as I reverted to human form. As I sprang up, I glimpsed the assassin’s gaping mouth and shocked eyes. I slid out the sharp blade that had been strapped against my skin and had therefore made the transformation with me, and I smiled slowly.
The man reached inside his jacket, doubtless for the gun with which he’d killed Quack. I ran at him, grabbed hold of his wrist and wrenched it hard. He gave a high-pitched moan and dropped his weapon. I kicked it away and smiled again. Sometimes all you needed was to appear confident that you were stronger, faster and better and your target would cave. I was banking on that happening now.
His expression twisted and the blue tattoo scrunched up. The way his muscles bunched and his body leaned forward broadcast his plans almost as if he’d shouted them on a loudspeaker: he was going to make another run for it.
I moved to block his path and he stared at me empty-eyed before twisting and jumping off the roof. He didn’t try and land on the next rooftop. He plummeted straight to the ground.
I blinked. I hadn’t been expectingthat. I darted to the edge of the roof and peered after him. He was lying on his back, his leg at an angle that suggested it had been broken in at least two different places.
He looked up at me and reached into his jacket again. I expected him to aim another gun at me, but he pulled out a little glass vial. He raised it in my direction as if toasting me and I realised what he was intending to do. I shouted, my voice bouncing uselessly down to him, as he used his teeth to extricate the cork stopper and gulped down the vial’s contents.
He blinked up at me and smiled beatifically. ‘Ishall be rewarded in the next life,’ he said. ‘My sacrifice will not be forgotten.’
Whatever he’d taken, it was fast acting; he’d barely finished speaking when his body started to convulse. Thane, who had realised that the assassin was on the ground, was by his side in seconds but he was too late.
Whatever secrets the assassin had, and whatever his dealings had been with Quack, he was taking them to his grave.
I tookmy time returning to the ground. By the time I reached Thane and the dead assassin, he had already rummaged through the man’s pockets. ‘Nothing. No ID. No wallet. No written orders.’
I wasn’t surprised; anyone who was prepared to kill themselves rather than get caught wasn’t going to make the rookie error of leaving tell-tale information on their corpse. I hunkered down by the man’s ankles, before pulling off his right shoe and sock.
‘What are you doing?’ Thane demanded.
‘Checking.’ I peered at a large and somewhat hairy big toe. ‘EEL assassins are marked discreetly so they can be identified if they’re killed during the course of a job. Everyone, without exception, has a temporary magicked tattoo on a hidden part of their body.’
‘Their toe?’
I flipped the body over, lifted up the man’s shirt and yanked down his trousers. ‘Sometimes the buttocks or small of the back. This guy is clean – he’s not EEL.’
I gave him a little dignity and returned his clothes to where they’d been then stared at his hands. His fingertips were stained with something red: it wasn’t blood but paint,perhaps. I frowned, then I spotted the gold watch around his wrist. I gave it a closer look then undid the clasp and slid it off. The dead assassin wasn’t as clever as he thought he’d been.
‘So we know who he isn’t,’ Thane said. ‘But we’re no closer to knowing who he is. In fact, all we’ve succeeded in doing is causing the deaths of two people. We haven’t gained any new information at all.’
