Page 39 of Nexus
The flashlight was too feeble to pierce very far into the darkness. My footsteps echoed around us as we hunched over to walk along the slightly sloped drainpipe. The vampire was almost noiseless as he followed me. We soon came to a convergence of pipes and my guide pointed straight ahead. I kept going, remaining alert and unhappy about being in such cramped quarters.
I knew we were getting close to the sewers when the stench of human waste wafted to my nostrils. It had to be a thousand times worse for Ruen. Turning my head, I could just make out his disgusted expression in the gloom. “You should have plugged your nostrils with Vaseline,” I joked.
“That would have made it rather difficult to track our quarry,” he pointed out snidely.
“You have no sense of humor at all, do you?” I complained, then turned away to continue our journey.
Chapter Thirty
THE PIPE LED US TO a concrete network of passageways. The storm drains were soon replaced by sewerage tunnels. Words couldn’t describe the overwhelming stench when we reached the first infamous pile of crap I’d heard of, but hadn’t previously witnessed.
“I’m guessing we’re close to Sector G,” I said, trying not to gag when I tasted the turds as I spoke.
Ruen pointed at a sign that had been painted on the wall up ahead. I shone my flashlight on it to see Sector G in huge yellow letters. Without speaking, the leech shifted his finger to point to the left fork. I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to open his mouth until we’d finished our task and were back on the surface again.
I grew suspicious about the increasingly large mounds of crap we encountered as we traversed deeper into Sector G. “Is it just me, or do these piles look like they were placed here on purpose?” I whispered. Sound carried in the tunnels and shifters had uncanny hearing.
Ruen examined the next mound as we skirted around it. He nodded, confirming my hunch. They were all strategically placed near the openings to the tunnels our quarry had taken. It felt like they’d been constructed to deter supernatural law keepers like me from hunting the bad guys who fled here to escape justice.
The mounds of excrement grew larger the closer we came to our foe’s lair. Finally, our way was almost barred completely by a wall of excrement. Standing three feet high, it stretched for several feet, creating an effective blockage.
“That’s disgusting,” I said, pinching my nose shut so I didn’t have to smell it. “I’m not wading through that.”
Ruen pointed dead ahead, insisting our target had come this way. Most shifters were nimble. Wererats were even more agile than most. They could easily leap over the wall and land on the other side without stepping in the muck. I didn’t share their ability. It would be impossible for me to jump that far without bashing my head on the ceiling.
“Nope. No way,” I denied. “We’ll have to find another way around.”
Throwing his hands up in silent exasperation, the vamp grabbed hold of me before I could start backtracking. I had enough time to suck in an alarmed breath, then he lifted me off my feet and I was sent flying through the air. The top of my head scraped the concrete ceiling and I ducked before I could be scalped. It was lucky my breath had caught in my throat, so I couldn’t voice the scream that tried to escape from me.
I landed on my stomach a couple of yards away from the wall of turds. Ruen neatly landed beside me even before I managed to clamber to my feet. “Thanks for the assist,” I said sarcastically. His response was to bow and flourish a non-existent cape.
With only one direction to take, I scowled at his smug grin, then marched along the tunnel. My shirt and pants were soaked with noisome fluid and clumps of crap. I shook it to dislodge the clumps, but the smell wasn’t going anywhere.
A few openings to other culverts branched off here and there. The trail led dead ahead, so I didn’t bother to shine my flashlight into any of them. I picked up on the presence of shifters. They were all wererats and they were congregated a short distance away. My senses told me they were fairly low in power. “Pimples,” I murmured. They were only slightly more dangerous than the lesser demons I’d eradicated a few months ago, but there were a lot more of them.
Slowing down to muffle my approach, I paused at the next intersection. Ruen pointed to the right, but I already knew our target was nearby. I could sense over a dozen rodents. From their squeaking noises and scampering feet, they were in their animal forms.
I looked at my sidekick, who’d come to the same conclusion that I had. It was going to be impossible for him to identify our quarry if the rat wasn’t in his human form. Their scents changed completely once they shifted. I grimaced, knowing my job had just become far more complicated.
Mud and worse substances squelched beneath my sneakers, giving my presence away as I stepped around the corner into the new tunnel. Squeaks of warning came from a wererat who was guarding the entrance to their lair. In seconds, fifteen rodents moved into a group in the center of a large open area. They’d blocked off the other tunnels to form a nest. From the looks of it, they lived in their animal forms when they were here. Piles of refuse, food scraps and a collection of bones were heaped in one corner. Clothes they would wear in their human forms were over to the left.
Ruen hung back and I turned to gesture at him to follow me. He shook his head, but I made a menacing face and held my fist up threateningly. With a morose expression, he reluctantly trailed after me. I needed him to verify who the culprit was, if I could get the target to stand out from the others.
We walked to the entrance of the lair, then came to a stop when the rats squealed in warning. “I’m just here for the shifter who killed the human,” I said, knowing they could understand me. About the size of large dogs, one alone wouldn’t be very dangerous. A pack this size could tear a normal bounty hunter apart. Luckily for me, I wasn’t normal. I was tough, fast and was wearing enough weapons to take them all down, if I had to.
The pack exchanged looks and squeaked at each other, talking in their animal language. It became obvious I needed to give them more details.
“I’m looking for the wererat who killed a human convenience store owner yesterday afternoon,” I said. I knew they were aware of who I was talking about, because they shifted into an even tighter group to hide the culprit. “I work for Lord Gilden and he’s paying me to put the rogue shifter down. I’m not leaving until I have my man. If you rat him out, I’ll leave the rest of you alone. No pun intended.”
This time, their squeaking was different. I was pretty sure they were laughing at me.
“Maybe you don’t know who I am,” I said menacingly and pulled my mini crossbow over my shoulder to show it to them. My guns would draw too much attention if I fired them. I’d only use them as a last resort. “I’m Saige Sterling, the premier bounty hunter in Nexus.” More rodent laughter sounded, which pissed me off. I hadn’t reached that level yet, but I was working my way up to it. “Fine. We’ll do this the hard way then. I’m going to assume you’ve all killed innocent humans and need to be eradicated. Drake will probably give me a bonus if I wipe out your entire pack for harboring criminals.”
One of the rats stepped forward and bared her teeth at me. I shot her in the leg and she squealed in agony. “The next bolt goes through the eye of any idiot who threatens me,” I warned them as I quickly reloaded my weapon. I slipped my flashlight into my waistband, since I was going to need both hands free. Although the light was now shining upwards, it cast enough of a glow for me to see.
Now their squeaks sounded worried, as if they were starting to believe I might actually be as dangerous as I knew I looked. I pointed my crossbow at the wounded rat for emphasis and she flinched away. In silent agreement, the pack parted. A lone rodent stood on his own as they moved to the far edges of their lair.
“Wise decision,” I said smugly, then pointed my weapon at the target. “Shift into your human form,” I ordered him. He hissed at me and held up a paw to flip me the bird. In retaliation, I shot him in the offending paw. “I’ll keep shooting until you do what I say,” I said and aimed at his other paw.
