I sighed and did a track on Bane. Nothing came back. That was odd, but it did remind me of how Gallien Cross and the rest of his crew had bypassed the scanning mechanism before. But Pecker had put in a fix for that so we could track them anyway.
“I’m not picking him up,” I explained while chewing my lip.
“Then the enhancements Pecker has done must no longer—”
“...Be valid,” I interrupted. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
We reached the San Fransisco Carousel and I started to get the feeling we were being watched. Again, I couldn’t sense the presence of people or anything, but everyone gets that Spidey sense now and then, right? Of course it could have just been due to the fact that we were standing on a very barren Fisherman’s Wharf in the middle of the night.
That’s when I heard footsteps.
Chapter 7
I spun around and saw a group of werewolves slowly heading our way.
“Don’t look now, Reap,” I whispered, “but we have company.”
He didn’t look.
I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, this time I didn’t mean it that way.” I pointed. “We have bad guys coming.”
“Ah.” He turned around and then held up a finger. “This is strange.”
“You’re telling me.”
“No, I mean that I’m not picking them up in my scans, and I can clearly see them. Normally I can detect individual signatures, but I’m getting nothing from these wolves.”
“Runes,” I said, though I didn’t see any. “They have to be around here somewhere.”
Between my Death Nails and Reaper’s new stun thingy, we should have been able to handle this set of wolves. My worry was that there may be even more of them waiting for us behind buildings and such.
Bottom line, Reaper not having his tracking junk kind of sucked.
“Try your new stun on them, Reap.”
He tapped on his tattoo, but it didn’t do anything. He tried again. Nothing.
“It’s not working.”
“Try a fireball.”
He did. “It seems that they have stopped my ability to fire weapons, Piper.”
We started backing away toward the bay end. I had no desire to jump into the water, but that’d be better than getting shredded by wolves.
“Do you think you can hook up your portal and send us to the entrance?”
“No idea,” he said, pulling up his sleeve. “But I’ll try. I just need to enter the coordinates here and press this button.”
I grabbed his arm so as not to be left behind.
Nothing happened.
“Now would be good,” I noted as the wolves closed in.
“I pressed it,” Reaper replied. “It didn’t do anything.”
“Well, press it again, Reap!”
“I have, Piper,” he said through gritted teeth. “It’s not working.”
The wolves suddenly stopped and looked up at the moon as the clouds parted.
It was full.
It was beautiful.
It made them howl.
“Run,” I said, pointing at a gap to the left of the wolves. “Run like hell.”
I went first, zipping past those dogs like the wind. Reaper was right behind me. I could tell because his glasses clattered onto the ground and his eyes were acting like a flashlight.
We got about halfway to the entrance when another set of wolves stepped out to greet us.
“Shit,” I yelped, skittering to a stop. “We’re going to need backup.”
“Seriously,” gasped Reaper. “You want backup?”
“No, I don’t want backup, Reap. We need backup.”
I gulped while holding my gun at the ready. If we were going to be attacked, these wolves were going to know that they fought us. Reaper and I would heal anyway. The wolves wouldn’t. That meant we’d end up on top, no matter what.
Still, there would be a lot of pain on both sides. I didn’t mind them feeling that pain, of course, but I wasn’t so much a fan of feeling any myself.
I tried to call back to base but got nothing. My connector was dead.
“Is your connector working?” I asked my partner.
His eyes dimmed for a moment and then he shook his head at me.
“What the fuck?” I said as the wolves closed in. “There must be runes around here.” I scanned the area, trying to spot them. That’s when I caught sight of one near a shop. “I see one, but I don’t know what it does.”
“If I were a betting man,” said Reaper, “and do note that I’m not, I would say that its purpose is to either interfere with our connectors or our portals.”
“Or both,” I added.
“Yes, that is another option.”
“But if our tats are dead, why was I able to pull up intel on…” I stopped and hit my tattoo again. Nothing this time. “Shit, they waited until we were in close before activating the runes.”
Reaper pulled on the brim of his hat. “So it seems.”
“Suggestions?” I asked, not really expecting anything from him.
He mused for a moment, finally saying, “Surrender?”
Normally I was the type to tell a person to screw off for even thinking of surrender, but this didn’t look good for us.
Still…surrender?
I just couldn’t do it, but it did give me an idea.
“All right,” I called out, holding up my badge. “My name is Officer Piper Shaw and this is my partner, Officer Reaper Payne. By order of the Netherworld Retrievers, we hereby place each of you under arrest, and we shall transport you to the Netherworld and present you before the Tribunal for sentencing.”
“That wasn’t an exact quote of the rights, Piper,” Reaper pointed out.
“It doesn’t have to be, Reap,” I said out of the corner of my mouth. “As long as you get all of the important bits in, it’s fine.”
“Hmmm.”
That’s when something genuinely surprising happened.
The wolves stopped creeping toward us and slowly put their hands up. It took everything I had not to say, “No fucking way.”
“That is rather strange,” Reaper muttered. “I wouldn’t have expected them to actually surrender.”
“Me either.”
The wolves began to giggle a moment later. That quickly moved into an all-out laugh. There was even knee-slapping going on.
“Apparently, it didn’t work, Piper,” Reaper stated.
“You sure?” I asked while rolling my eyes. Then I aimed my gun at the closest wolf’s chest and released a Death Nail. It bounced off, which caused them to laugh even harder. I lowered my gun and aimed at the beast’s shin. I fired again. Again, nothing.
“Shit,” I groaned. “Okay, I’m going to fight and you’re going to run.”
“What?”
“Shut up and do as I say,” I commanded. “Like it or not, I’m still the senior partner here. Now, you get your ass to the entrance, cut left and get to the other side of the aquarium. I’m going to hold them up. As soon as you get your portal back, get it ready so we can use it.”
“Back to the Netherworld?”
“No,” I replied, “send us to the top of the parking garage across the street.”
“Why?”
“Just do it, all right?”
I bolted at the wolves with nefarious intentions. They were still laughing, so they didn’t expect me to hit them so quickly. They also clearly learned a difficult lesson about shields: they didn’t work at close range.
The first one dropped in agony after I pushed the gun into his side and fired a Death Nail. My chosen form of projectile was dastardly indeed, dividing itself over and over into various metals and earthen elements as it ricocheted through the body of the poor bastard. It was not a fun way to go.
A clawed hand swept over my head as I ducked, spinning to swipe the feet out from under my new attacker. She hit the ground with a thud and I fired a Nail into her stomach.
That was two dow
n.
The wolf next to me tried to grab Reaper as he sped by, but a Nail into the creature’s calf stopped his chances. He grabbed his leg, screaming in agony. Death Nails didn’t kill if they hit a limb. They just hurt like hell. His cries of pain ended a moment later when I shot him in the back.
Then I felt a crushing blow against my shoulder, knocking my gun out of my hand and throwing me forward.
I hit the ground, snapping up my gun as I continued my roll. When I came back up and spun, the wolf was already diving at me. Worse, his jaw was wide open and he was aiming for my neck.
The back of his head exploded as I shoved my hand into his mouth and pulled the trigger.
His razor-sharp teeth still gave me some pretty nasty cuts, but I’d heal.
Good thing for me, these wolves weren’t completely stupid. I knew this because they’d stopped and kept their distance. Considering I’d just ended the lives of a few of them without too much trouble, I could understand their trepidation.
“Which of you fuckers is next?” I barked, something they would respect. You never showed weakness to a wolf. “Your pals here were a snap to kill, so I’m assuming you won’t be much tougher.” Then I had an idea. “Plus, you can see that my gun does work against shields, so if I were you stupid pricks, I’d head back to my den and chew on a bone or something.”
They growled.
Okay, so maybe taunting wasn’t the best idea.
I took off, hitting the entrance, cutting left, and turning on the jets. I fired over my shoulder repeatedly. Their shields would stop the shots, no doubt, but I hoped I’d cast enough doubt in their minds to make them wary.
“I’m here, Reap,” I yelled as I turned the corner.
“Ready,” he called back.
I grabbed his arm just as he pressed the lines on his tattoo.
The world faded to black.
Chapter 8
The top of the parking structure across the street allowed us to see down on the wolves as they ran to the other side of the aquarium. It was a good thing Reaper had been ready because they’d have caught up to me within a few seconds otherwise.
“Is your tracking stuff all working again?” I asked as I watched the shapes in the distance. I couldn’t make out any details from here, but I could at least see their bodies moving around. “I’m guessing it is since you were able to use the portal, but just verify everything, if you would.”
Reaper’s eyes dimmed and I pulled him away from the ledge, hoping none of the wolves looked up to catch the Reaper Spotlight Exhibit.
“Yes, I can track those who are away from the pier,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a fresh pair of sunglasses. “The pier itself is completely blank to me.”
I pressed on my tattoo and found that I was also able to pull up information again. Still nothing on Lucien Bane, so he’d obviously become untraceable. How were we supposed to find a guy in a city this size without tracking ability?
Informants, that’s how.
I peered back over the edge and saw that the wolves were splitting up. A bunch poured out of the pier and went down past the aquarium, but three of them were heading up the street in our direction.
“Don’t look now…” I started and then stopped myself before there was another wording mishap with Reaper. “Scratch that.” I pointed. “We need to follow them and get some information.”
He nodded.
“I don’t want to get too close just yet, though,” I continued. “Can you track them?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
We waited for the three dudes to pass us and head up the street before we moved down from our perch on the parking garage. Reaper kept a roving scan going to make sure that there were no other wolves in the area. Our mutual fear was that the three heading the opposite way to the others were just being used as bait.
“Clear?” I asked before stepping out on the road.
“Clear.”
Regardless of his readings, I had my gun at the ready. There was no telling what kind of tricks these guys had up their sleeves, especially after they’d somehow managed to nullify our tattoos on the Wharf.
We followed them down to Mason Street, where they took a left. Reaper held me back until he felt confident they were far enough down the road before we continued.
“They stopped,” he announced after a moment.
“You think they’ve spotted us?” I asked and then said, “Or maybe smelled us?”
“They’re no longer in wolf form,” he answered, “so I don’t think they’ve smelled us.”
I gave him a look. “Wait, you can tell what form they’re in?”
“It’s a slightly different energy signature,” he explained with a nod. “No, that’s not exactly right. I guess it’s just more vibrant when they’re in wolf form. Honestly, I’ve never really thought about it before.”
Either way, it was yet another item in the ever-growing useful things that Reaper Payne brought to the table. He wasn’t much of a fighter and he loathed guns, but his tracking skills and his ability to do special stuff with that tattoo Pecker drew on him was making him not so awful to have around…especially since he discovered the wonders of wearing sunglasses.
We stuck to the right side of the street, staying near the buildings as we closed in on the perps.
There were people milling around over here, unlike at the Wharf. This made sense seeing that Keller and his wizard, Azura, weren’t able to put runes all over the city. They’d specifically stuck them where they knew Reaper and I would show up. I doubt they knew it was going to be specifically us who were assigned to San Fransisco, but you get my point.
“They’re at The Wharf Inn,” Reaper announced as we approached the place. “Far end, top floor.”
“All in the same room?”
“Yes.”
I sniffed. “Kinky.”
“Why would you think that?” he asked seriously.
I studied him for a moment. Twenty years he’d lived among supers and normals and he couldn’t spot a joke? To be fair, maybe the three wolves were kinky, but my quip was intended to be humorous.
“I was making a joke, Reap.”
He stood up and his eyes glowed enough that I could see them through his shades.
“Ah!” He then chuckled in a way that sounded very creepy. It was like a clown who had snapped and decided it was time to start chasing people around while wielding knives. “That was indeed jovial. Agnes has been trying to help me with jocularity as of late, but I still find that some of the innuendo-based humor escapes me.”
“Right,” I replied, scrunching up my face at the thought of a comedic turtle. “Okay, well, let’s…uh…go have a chat with them.”
He continued his giggling as he motioned me to lead the way.
Chapter 9
The guy at the front desk of The Wharf Inn wasn’t exactly helpful when we showed him our badges. Not everyone knew about supers, obviously, especially in the smaller hotels and motels, but most people recognized that a badge meant business.
Not this guy.
“Those are the lamest fake badges I’ve ever seen,” he sneered. “And what’s a ‘Paranormal Police Department’ anyway? You two definitely don’t look like a pair of normal anything. Maybe you should work for the ‘Pair-a-Freaks Police Department’ instead?”
“I don’t think he is aware of the realities of supernaturals, Piper,” Reaper said through his connector.
“Are you sure?” I snarked in response. “Show him your eyes, Reap.”
Reaper took off his shades and stared at the clerk. The guy didn’t seem impressed.
“You think giving me a firm look scares me?” He laughed. “You must be new in town. There are so many oddballs around here that a couple of threatening eyes aren’t going to bother me.”
“Oh, shit. He’s a normal. He can’t see your eyes, right?”
“Ah,” Reaper replied, nodding. “I should have remembered that myself. Kin
d of got caught up in the moment, I suppose.”
Since there was nobody else in the area, I pulled out my gun and pressed it against his forehead.
“Will the thought of having your brains decorating the wall behind you bring up any feelings of concern, per chance?” I growled.
“Yep,” he whispered while putting his hands up. “That’d do it.”
I lowered the gun and put it back in its holster. Then I cracked my neck from side to side while taking a deep breath.
“Now,” I said finally, “we’re cops. We don’t want to hurt you, but we are on the tail of a few perps who just entered the far room on the top floor.” I was pointing in the direction where the wolves had gone. “Seeing that we don’t want to disturb your guests, we’re here to quietly ask you for a key to that room. If you’re unwilling to help, we’ll just break the door down and cause a big scene. Now, which would you prefer?”
“I think I should call the real cops,” the guy said, looking unsure.
“Actually,” I said while pointing at his phone, “I think you should. And make sure to tell them that there are a couple of Retrievers from the Netherworld Paranormal Police Department standing here.”
“You want me to tell them that?”
I nodded seriously.
He picked up the phone and put in a call. The cops would tell him we were legit, no doubt. Unfortunately, it would mean the dude would then be in-the-know. That meant he’d have to have training and…
I glanced over at Reaper.
“Hey, Reap,” I said as a smile crept upon my face, “you said you can erase memories, right?”
His head tilted to the side. “Why?”
“Just thinking that this guy is about to know more about us than he ever should. He’ll have to get sensitivity training and we’ll need to file a report and all that. Orrrrrr, you could maybe do a little memory reset on him and save us all a lot of trouble.”
“That would lack ethical reasoning, Piper,” he admonished. “That particular gift is only to be used in extreme circumstances.”
Why did I have to get saddled with a reaper who was a goody-goody? ‘Don’t kill everyone,’ he says. ‘Treat people with respect,’ he says. ‘I don’t think it’d be ethical to use my memory scrambler on the clerk,’ he says.
Bane's Edge: A Piper & Payne Supernatural Novel, #2 (Netherworld Paranormal Police Department) Page 3