Page 37 of Nexus
“Why didn’t you call me so you could pick me up from home?”
“We require information in order to locate our quarry. I was going to call you once I’d obtained it.”
Our heads swung towards Lenny, who attempted to look coy. “This job wouldn’t be in relation to a certain wererat who beheaded a human convenience store owner this afternoon, would it?”
“It would,” Ruen confirmed. “Rumor has it he’s gone underground. You wouldn’t happen to know where his lair is, would you?”
“I might know something,” the bartender said slyly.
“Ruen, give Lenny some incentive to talk,” I ordered.
“Why do I have to bribe him?” the vampire whined. “You’re the bounty hunter. I’m just your ‘assistant’.” He held both hands up to do an air quote.
“If Drake hadn’t forbidden you from killing anyone, you could be my partner instead of just my errand boy,” I told him. He could gather intel, drive me around and do other helpful tasks, but he couldn’t lift a finger to kill the bad guys.
“I have no wish to be your partner in any sense of the word,” Ruen said, upper lip lifting again.
I rolled my eyes and reached for my wallet. “Fine! I’ll bribe him, then,” I said and handed over a hundred bucks.
Lenny grinned widely enough to show me his black gums. “I might have heard that there’s a rogue wererat hiding out in the sewers,” he said.
Nexus had an extensive sewer system and catacombs had apparently been created by the monsters over the past two hundred years. The rat could be hiding anywhere down there.
“Can you be a bit more specific?” I requested. He glanced at my wallet and waited for me to slip him another fifty bucks.
Lenny tucked the money away before speaking. “He was seen near an entrance that leads to Sector G.”
I grimaced at that news. Sector G was the last place any sane person would want to go, which made it the perfect hideout. Sewage was backed up so badly in that area that it had formed small mountains. I’d heard several rumors now that demons had moved in and were responsible for killing the werewolf bounty hunters Ruen and I had replaced. “Thanks, Lenny. You’re the best.”
“No, doll face, you’re the best,” he said with another wink.
“That’s why Lord Gilden hired me,” I boasted. “Let’s roll,” I said and blew the zombie a kiss. “I’m going to have to go home and get changed,” I said as Ruen led the way to the door.
“You stored a change of clothes in my trunk,” he reminded me.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” I’d put some ratty old clothes in his trunk a couple of months ago, just in case I ever needed them. It seemed I was finally going to be able to use the outfit.
Ruen’s car was parked in the shadows a short walk down the street. He opened the trunk and reached for the clothes that were tucked into the back. “I’m sure these will be far more appropriate than what you’re currently wearing,” he said with a faint sneer.
Giving him a sour look, I examined the outfit. It was a faded pair of old black jeans and a gray t-shirt with holes in it. “I must be psychic,” I joked. “This is the perfect outfit for slogging around in a sewer. I wish I’d added sneakers, though.”
He reached into the car again and pulled out a raggedy pair of my old sneakers. “You mean like these?” he said sardonically.
“Okay, now I really am psychic,” I said, a bit spooked that I’d predicted I’d need the ratty old clothing one day. Maybe I had more in common with the ancestor who’d written the journal I had yet to read than I’d realized.
“You’ve obviously forgotten it was my suggestion for you to store spare clothing in my trunk,” Ruen said grumpily.
“Was it?” I asked with a frown, casting my mind back and coming up blank.
Shaking his head at my faulty memory, my assistant primly turned his back while I took my boots and stockings off. I tugged the jeans on, then removed my skirt. I swapped my boots and sexy top for the grungy sneakers and t-shirt, then placed my good clothes in the trunk.
“Are you decent?” the leech asked.
“Not even close,” I joked. “But I’m clothed now, so you can turn around.”
Cautiously peering over his shoulder to make sure I wasn’t going to flash him, Ruen joined me at his trunk. “It will be dangerous hunting in Sector G. You need to be properly prepared,” he said.
“How am I going to figure out which wererat is the murderer?”
