by Shen Hart
As it was Nik's idea, and he was the calmest and most reliable out of them, so he was given the duty of watching the house for the man. Kit had mapped out the hunter's territory and given some ideas as to where he was going to strike next. We had three options for the next kill. It always had to be three, didn't it? I grumbled to myself about the Sisters refusing to make things easy. I wondered if perhaps they'd chosen a place each just to screw with us. My thoughts returned to the matter at hand. Nik went off into the night to watch the house while the rest of us discussed our next move.
The sirens were ready to be used as bait again. They were going to be good girls. They knew the consequences if they weren't. I didn't particularly like the idea of going back down that road, though, as much as it was tempting. If the information was correct, then he would strike the following night. That gave Nik time to check if it was him. If it was, then we could have one person follow him. The others would split up over the three options for his strike. It wasn't the best plan in the world, and I hated not having everyone paired off, but it was what it was. Our number meant that we couldn’t pair everyone up.
Ryan was a little quiet and subdued about the entire thing, he was eager to prove himself, but the idea of being around the sirens again knocked his confidence and removed his bravado.
I said to him, "Ryan, you go with Nik and track the guy, if it's his house. If it's not, then you can cover the point on Syme Avenue by the park. That means Dan can double up with Alex at Darwen Road by the industrial estate, and I'll cover the alley just off Corwin Road."
Ryan smiled and bowed his head a little. His demeanour brightened, and we carried on with our plans. I'd hoped that the blow to his confidence hadn't knocked him quite as much, but it seemed that his ego was taking a while to heal.
We retired to bed in high spirits, not that any of us slept much given we were eagerly awaiting Nik's return. Alex had seemed tenser than I would have expected. He kept tossing and turning, his hands brushed over my hair and my hip. I did my best to ignore it and assumed that he was just fretting over the coming evening.
** **
Nik managed to be reasonably quiet when he came into the apartment, but with four shifters on high alert in residence, he didn't get very far. We all emerged from our bedrooms and looked at him expectantly.
He smiled and simply said, "It looks like that's his home."
I grinned. That was one step, at least. I had to hope that the rest of the information Kit had given us would hold up, too. I breathed a deep sigh of relief and returned to bed to relax and curl up in my tail. If there's one thing jaguars and cats have in common, it's their love of naps and sleep. I told myself that I needed to be well rested for the night ahead. I had to be alert. I ran out of excuses just as I drifted off to sleep.
** **
It was dark outside when we left. The moon was smiling on us as the clouds carefully scudded around her, refusing to remove the precious light. Ryan and Nik had headed off a little earlier to settle down and watch the house. We had all turned our phones to silent as we didn’t want the risk of a loud ringtone at an inopportune moment. Our bonds were growing, but even at their strongest they wouldn't be more than the basic emotions, not actual words and messages. I felt excited and exhilarated to be back in this position. Logically, I knew that I'd likely spend the night huddled up, cold, bored, and frustrated, but it didn't matter. It was the thrill of the potential, the possibility of the hunt.
We ran back over everything one last time. Alex took the lead. I was a little too excited and bouncy to be the calm, checking-details alpha. "He will strike before the sun rises. If we hear no word from Nik or Ryan by sunrise, we return back here and plan our next attempt. Nik or Ryan will text us when he leaves his house. They will then text again when he starts heading towards one of us. When one of us sees him, text the others. If or when you receive that text, move on the location of that person immediately. Move as quickly as possible."
He looked between us; I nodded. "Yes, yes, we know. I'm going now."
He sighed in exasperation and I ignored him as I strode off into the darkness.
We knew what we were doing. I saw no reason in hanging around, dragging it out. I wanted to get going. The desire to hunt was almost overwhelming. I desperately wanted to feel the thrill of tracking him down, of hearing his heart pounding in his chest as his breaths became more ragged. I wanted to see the whites of his eyes as the fear rolled off him, while his mind reeled and searched for a last ditch attempt. I slowed my pace a little and regained control of myself. I needed absolute control. I focused on my breathing and each step. Complete control. I mentally scolded myself. How was I being so foolish? I was an experienced assassin, and yet I was allowing the jaguar to run over me.
When I had reached my final destination, I climbed up onto the wall at the edge of the alleyway and perched on top of it, entirely out of sight in the shadows. I pressed my energies down tight around me so that I felt like any other human. The jaguar snarled but went back into its box with the promise of blood before long. I breathed deep and closed my eyes. Memories of previous hunts and assassinations crept into my mind. I had always loved the thrill of them. Slinking through the shadows to take the life of a person before they even realised what was happening. The little gasp of surprise and the last heartbeat always made me smile. A sense of accomplishment filled me as their life left their body; I had succeeded, I’d taken the hunt to its ultimate conclusion and won. Of course there had been times where I dragged it out, but that was a different time in my life. One I wasn’t ready to confront or deal with at that point.
When I opened my eyes again, I finally felt focused and prepared for the night. I relaxed all of my muscles and slowed my heart rate and breathing as much as possible. There was no point in wasting precious energy on tension. I could need it in a fight. The tall trees helped to block me from view on the road, not that anyone looked up that high. The rough, gritty bricks weren't comfortable for long, but I fought against the urge to fidget. I had to be still. Movement would attract attention, and that wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
I was out of practise with the relaxed, calm, and patient state that I needed. My muscles kept tightening, and I could feel every little indentation of the bricks digging into my skin after a while. It didn’t matter how much I fought against myself, I couldn’t get comfortable. The trees began to irk me after a little while. Their broad leaves rustled in the soft breeze and made me wonder if perhaps I’d missed the essential movement that I was so eagerly anticipating. Occasionally a stray piece of garbage would flutter down the road. One piece caught in the little storm drain that sat directly opposite me in the road. It crinkled and struggled against the concrete corner of the curb for a good while. I desperately wanted to free it. Not for any sentimental reason, just an excuse to move.
The roof opposite me had an odd number of tiles. That began to bother me as the moon passed its peak. I’d counted them four times, just to be absolutely sure that there was in fact an odd number. They didn’t quite sit straight in some places either, which meant that the moonbeams spilled down over their seams in crooked streams rather than nice, smooth, straight lines. The moon did look pretty as it made the glass of the windows shimmer like the surface of a pond. It twisted and moved, which held my attention for a little bit. The minutes and hours dragged by, leaving me casting around looking for amusement in anything.
I wondered how the boys were getting on; it was their first proper task, after all. They seemed excited by it. I wondered if they were still excited, or if they were as bored and tense as I was. I made a mental note to go on a proper hunt when we returned to our woodland. Through it all, they had been good, and I felt like it was time to release that energy and enjoy that freedom with them. A branch creaked and leaves rustled. I froze and focused entirely on the tree to my left without daring to move a muscle. My breath halted in my chest as I strained to hear the next movement. A pigeon cooed softly to itself and settled dow
n onto the branch once more. I cursed to myself and remembered just how good squab tasted. The delicate yet surprisingly red meat… I had no doubt that Nik would be able to make a good meal with a number of pigeon breasts.
My mind wandered again, this time to the various wonderful dishes that Nik could have made with squab. It quickly moved over to all human foods before I began considering the delicacies from other species. Ark had found it hilarious when I’d eaten the piece of elf cake that made me feel like I was hovering. It was a peculiar sensation, as though I was floating a few inches above the floor. Ark had had tears streaming down his cheeks as he laughed at me and the confusion I experienced, before the glee. It only lasted a couple of hours and he refused to give me the recipe or let me try it again.
I focused again. It was becoming harder to keep my mind focused on the task at hand. My thoughts returned back to the previous assassinations the Sisters had had me do. How I enjoyed moving with and in the shadows, the element of surprise, and the fear they felt. Some of them had begged, and part of me hoped that this killer would be one of them. I wanted to hear the desperation in his voice as he clutched onto the last shred of hope, only for me to extinguish it. My phone vibrated, dragging me away from my happy little fantasies. I moved slowly and carefully to pull it out. I covered the screen as best as I could to try and stop the bright glow from drawing attention, not that I'd seen more than one human wandering by the entire time I'd been sitting there. Nik - the man was on the move and they were hot on his heels.
I prayed that they were good trackers and realised we hadn't tested them at all on such things. They could have been clumsy oafs. I closed my eyes and reminded myself to have faith. They would do their best, and they hadn't shown any signs of being worthless yet.
27
It wasn't particularly easy to track time when there were none of the traditional markers to use. The moon moved across the sky, of course, but that didn't help ease my mind. I wanted to check the time on my phone, but I didn't dare make that movement or risk the light from the display shining like that. A small group of drunken elves had passed by. Their voices tore through the quiet night and disturbed the peaceful sleep of the pigeons. They shouted in elven tongue. And people wondered why the number of humans that knew about our existence was on the rise. Of course the fact that so many shifters, fae, hellhounds, etc., shifted claws, fangs, and tails during bar-fights didn’t help. I rolled my eyes as I watched them stumble by. I followed them closely and inspected their faces as they passed. It wouldn't be entirely impossible for the man to join their group to try and hide.
He wasn't present, and they passed by far too slowly for my tastes. They stumbled and wobbled down the road before stopping to lean against the tree, where they whispered quiet praises and thanks to it. I dug my fingers down into the bricks and cursed them under my breath. I didn't have the patience for such things. They eventually moved on, but they could be heard for a good while afterwards with their shouts, laughter, and loud singing.
I sighed softly and settled myself down for a longer wait. I looked up and down the alley, trying to see if there were any signs of new presences, either the siren or the man. Neither. I was beginning to doubt Kit. He could have set us up; he could have been given false information. I looked up at the night sky. The moon was two thirds of the way along its nightly path. The stars were humming a sorrowful tune that night. I found myself lost in their melancholic melody for a little while, but a vibration snapped me from my reverie. Nik again. The man was heading towards Dan's location. I cursed. That was the farthest from my position. I knew the others could handle it, but I didn't want to miss my chance at fun.
I leapt off the wall and moved off at an easy lope in the direction of Dan's alley. I ran the map of the city through my head, trying to think of the quickest route. With a glance around me to confirm that there was no one around, I breathed deep and embraced the pain that erupted from deep within. I took great pleasure in the agony that tore through me as the raven took over and my body broke, shattered, twisted, and reformed into the raven form. I didn't waste any time with the usual slower grace. The speed caused the higher amounts of pain, but I relished that. I opened my eyes, giving myself a second for my eyesight to adjust before I took off.
Flying again felt far better than I had hoped. It was a risk, but I saw no reason not to take it. I'd been careful enough, and we needed to catch that man. I knew my reasons were far from good or pure. I wasn't going to try and fool myself. Instead, I focused on the feeling of freedom, the warm air rushing over my feathers, my wings beating with ease that carried me to my destination. I realised that I had been too side-tracked with own thoughts and I'd headed off track. I wheeled around to see Nik and Ryan moving quickly towards Dan's location. They both moved with the practised ease and grace of predators, yet even from above I could see the tension about them. Their energies spiked and flowed around them. I cawed in frustration at them being so sloppy.
They looked up towards me, and I came down to land on rough tarmac in front of them, double-checking no one was around before I embraced the agony once more.
I brushed myself off and glared at them. "Why haven't you hidden your energies?"
I hissed at them. They both looked down and away. "We lost him."
Nik had spoken. Ryan clearly didn't dare. I looked between them. How!? I took a deep breath and calmed myself. It was my fault, not theirs. I had sent them off to fulfil the task that I should have done myself. They did their best.
I turned and marched off towards Dan's location. "When did you lose him?"
Nik said quietly, "About half an hour ago."
I groaned. "And you didn't tell me?"
There was a painful silence as we approached Dan. "We wanted to try and find him, to redeem ourselves."
I nodded and allowed the air to escape through my gritted teeth. They did their best.
Dan had his hands thrust into his pockets. His eyes were far darker than usual, and he was muttering under his breath.
I ground my teeth and looked at him. "Where's Alex?"
He glanced over his shoulder and Alex appeared from the shadows. "What happened, boys?"
His voice was calm, but the touch of ice below the surface gave away his irritation.
Nik took a deep breath and began, "Everything was going well. We stayed back far enough that he couldn't be sure we were anywhere around. We kept an eye on him but moved around. He went about his routine exactly as the information told us he would. He bought his pack of cigarettes, he had a short conversation with the woman, and he continued on his route. Everything was good. Then, the next thing we knew, he was gone."
Ryan took over, "We had stopped for a minute because his pace had changed, so we dropped back a bit to give him more space. We looked at a magazine stall, flicked through a couple of newspapers and acted as though we were out for an evening stroll. We kept an eye on him the corner of our eye, but he vanished."
Nik carried on. "We were careful. We scouted out his potential routes, we checked the surrounding area; there was no trace of him. We had our eye off him for no more than five seconds!"
I knew very well how much could be accomplished in five seconds. I held back my curses. It was my fault. I should have trained them. I should have done it myself.
Nik continued, "We were thorough, we went down every possible option. He was already en route to Dan's location, so we covered all the different angles and ways by which he could come at this location, and he wasn't seen."
I looked at Dan.
He shrugged. "I didn't see any sign of him. A siren did show up, but she only hung around for a few minutes."
I closed my eyes and squeezed the bridge of my nose. It wasn't a tragedy. No one had been hurt. Alex's voice rumbled from the darkness, "It was a mistake, one you won't make again."
They both bowed their heads low and didn't say a word. We weren’t ready to give up. We were so close. I looked up to Alex, but refused to ask his permission. I was
taking control. “Spread out. Track this bastard down. If he’s still in the city, I want him found. Nik and Ryan, go and cover the old part of the city; Dan get over to the industrial end; Alex and I will cover the modern areas. Don’t waste time. Don’t fuck up. Go.”
Nik and Ryan turned and took off at an easy jog, heading north towards the old part of the city. Dan lingered for a second, but he turned and headed down the alley towards the industrial end. Alex watched me for a second, an odd smile on his face, before he strode off into the darkness. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before embracing the pain and shifting back into my raven form. I wasn’t going to waste time trying to get there on foot when I had a better option. I scoured the ground below, looking for anything that could help me find that bastard. It was more of a pain than I liked to admit ducking between the buildings. After twisting around the third one, I gave up and flew above them. The boys would cover that area soon enough. I needed to focus on my own zone.
I wasn’t as careful as perhaps I should have been, but I was focused entirely on the task at hand. At finding him. I landed at the base of a large willow tree and hopped inside where I shifted back to my human form under the cover of the willow’s hanging limbs. I brushed myself off quickly and calmed myself. My breathing had become shallow. My heart was racing. I needed to be in control. I didn’t have time to be overwhelmed or jittery like a cub. I hoped the cubs were going to be ok, that they were up to the demands we were placing on them. It was too late, then. They’d have to be. I took another deep breath and focused. I slowly extended my energies out along the ground and used the slender tendrils to feel out something different or odd. I was hoping for something as clear cut and simple as a patch entirely without energies. Nothing.