by T. F. Walsh
Next to me, shadows smeared Axel’s expression, and he remained silent. Only our footfalls echoed. Being targeted by the PPD was horrendous enough, but to discover vulsines actually existed was rubbing salt in my wounds. Too many emotions tangled inside me, each fighting for dominance, each swallowing me.
I glanced behind at the townhouses lining the streets, trees limbs swaying. No officers chasing us… yet.
“I know someone who’ll help.” Axel’s words rang in my ears. “But we must leave the city.”
The cogs in my brain weren’t keeping up, so I went into work mode. “There’s a side gate nearby.” Focus on one task at a time. Still, my breathing raced, and it had zero to do with exhaustion.
We zigzagged through the residential sector, following the natural curves of the streets. Two rats scurried along the curb and disappeared into a drain. A child’s toy in the shape of a tank lay on a driveway as if this were any ordinary weekday. Except, if we were dealing with an outbreak of vulsine, life would never be the same again for anyone.
Several blocks away, we reached the village, a street abundant with storefronts. We stole across the sidewalk, and I glimpsed Axel and myself in a coffee store window. In the reflection, he appeared enormous, his T-shirt pulled across taut muscles. In comparison, my image came only to his shoulders and seemed tiny as if the ground would swallow me any second.
The village lay silent and remained cloaked in darkness. We passed the soup store where I picked up dinner several times a week. My stomach tightened at the thought of never again tasting their creamy mushroom goodness with crusty bread.
Sirens reached my ears. We ducked in between two buildings, and I pressed my back against the brick wall. My knees weakened, and I slid down to my butt, shuddering. “I can’t leave the city.” My words poured out. “I worked too damn hard to lose my job and home.”
Axel crouched next to me, pushing blonde strands behind my ear. His rich chocolate hair tousled in the breeze, as if styled that way. Thick lashes encased the palest blue eyes, and so close, I noted the purple flecks. Those had to come from his binding partner. I liked them. The magic connecting a fae and human also included sharing each other’s attributes and features. My irises were green, edged with brown; it was a trait I suspected came from the human linked to me. Axel studied me. Add his angular jaw and stubble, and I couldn’t deny he was handsome.
“It’ll be all right,” he said as his hand fell to my arm. His smile calmed me as did his touch, reminding me I wasn’t alone in this mess.
A militia sedan raced past the alley. Two more. Were they going to my house? On the bright side, they’d find the vulsine. If we returned, it meant risking Axel’s life and mine. I wasn’t ready to part ways with him, not until I understood why he was so important. Besides, if I went back to PPD now, I’d be fired and arrested.
“This sucks, but we need to go,” he said.
“Who’s this contact of yours?” I asked, figuring I had no other leads to follow.
“Some guy I know who might know about vulsines. He’s a history buff.”
A distant street lamp cast a golden hue across Axel’s shoulders. He rose and offered me his hand. The moment he drew me onto the sidewalk, a patrol vehicle passed.
Tires screeched as the car skidded to a halt.
Adrenaline kicked in, but Axel pulled me down another alley, blacker than the last.
“Maybe they’ll think we’re homeless bums,” he said.
“No such thing. Everyone is given a roof over their head, and food in our area. Living on the street is illegal.” My chest burned with desperation to find a quiet place to sit, collect my thoughts, determine the next move.
I took the lead. The purr of an engine escalated into a screech. I spun for a lane too narrow for the vehicle to pursue us. My boots hit hard ground, but Axel kept up.
“Where to from here?” He halted in the faint shadow of a warehouse, breathing fast and deep.
“Side gates are around the corner. We’re almost there.” I’d spent many hours guarding the place, training staff, or a dozen other tasks assigned by my boss. Picturing his reaction tonight made me nauseous. He had turned red in the face, swore like a lunatic, and declared me a traitor. That stung deeply.
I peered out from the alley. About forty feet away lay our exit out of the city. Metal doors shut. A militia car was ahead with someone sitting behind the wheel. But the guard tower was empty. No one should ever abandon their post, yet the main entrance had been unmanned earlier as well.
“What now?” Axel pressed up against my back and ignited a fire within. What was wrong with me? I needed to stay focused on the crap hole I’d fallen into, not imagine how Axel’s lips tasted, how strong his arms would feel around me.
I shook my head and inched closer to the corner where more officers could arrive at any moment, meaning less chance of us escaping.
“How do we sneak out?” Axel’s musky perspiration smell should have annoyed me. Instead, I bathed in his presence, loving his masculine scent.
“Most militia personnel have access to open and close the gates through their comm.” I lifted my wrist, the white untanned skin a contrast against my darker arm. “Oh yeah. I forgot.”
“I know another way out,” he said, “but it’s across the city.”
“Stay here.” I glanced over at Axel, deciding I’d confront the PPD officer. “This is our best chance.” Maybe getting out of the city for a while might help… visit Axel’s contact and discover how widespread the vulsines were in the Outlands.
“I’m not going anywhere.” His breath washed over me, minty and sweet.
I stepped out onto the open road with no vehicles or residential buildings nearby. Just storage warehouses at my back.
The coolness of the air did nothing to stop the sweat still dripping down my back. I squared my shoulders and quickened toward the sedan parked near the guard tower. I could do this.
My pulse was on fire, blood pumping so fast my head spun. I stayed in the shadows to conceal myself from the security cameras posted on the towers. I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone recognized me. A few feet away, the driver’s door swung open.
The officer climbing out was thin, dressed in uniform, with curly, flowing hair. Wait?
“Santasha?”
My friend charged at me. A grimace captured her expression. Her iron fingers gripped my arm, pulling me near the dark corner nearer to the tower where the cameras wouldn’t see us.
“Suspected you’d turn up since this is the closest gate to your place. The guilty always try to escape the city.”
“Anyone else here?” I scanned the empty area, ignoring her jab.
“What the fuck have you done?” Her voice sputtered over my face, and her accusing words made me stiffen. “They’ve got a priority search on you, even above the damn protests. And the order came from Eduard. Who did you piss off?”
My throat dried. “It’s more complicated than—”
“And you lied.”
It killed me that I hadn’t told her the truth back in the PPD office. But I couldn’t stop and explain everything. I’d also kept my deception ability from her. I was the worst friend in the world. But any fae or human with strong abilities was rare. If discovered, they were held in a lab for prodding to understand how they could aid the council. Not in the work for us kind of way but for the purpose of harnessing magical power. Most of us in PPD had heard too many horror stories. I vowed to never put Santasha in a position where she had to lie for me. Yet here I was doing just that.
She kept staring at me, waiting for a response.
“Eduard isn’t who he says he is,” I said. “Trust me on this. Did you get my phone message earlier?”
She nodded. “Made no sense. Shit is flying in every direction at the precinct, and you’re at the center of it. Someone called you a resistance fighter. They said you’d infiltrated the office this whole time, leaking information to human gangs.”
Ice filled my v
eins. “What the fuck! You’ve known me most of my life.”
She sighed and glanced toward the warehouse. “Where is he? Hand him in, and maybe you can avoid a long prison sentence.”
“Listen, we’ve been wrong about the leads of who was killing humans. It’s something else—”
“What are you talking about? By the way, your collarbone is bleeding.” Santasha retrieved a tissue from her pocket and pressed it against the cut.
I pushed her hand away. “Listen to me. There are vulsines in Moscow.”
She broke into a sharp laughter, all for show to mock me. “Yeah, right.”
“There’s a dead one back in my townhouse.”
Santasha cocked her head, her stare never leaving me. For those few seconds, I could have sworn she believed me… until she licked her lips. Her signature response when she mistrusted anyone. “Wait a sec.” She tapped her comm and turned away from me as she spoke to the dispatcher.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, trying not to lean closer and listen to their response when she lifted the device to her ear. She nodded, lowered her arm, and turned toward me.
“Your house was empty. No vulsine or anyone else.”
My heart still beat but sounded hollow against my breastbone. “What? Someone must have taken the body.”
I sidestepped around my friend, but she grabbed my arm, wrenching me closer. “Are you hearing yourself? I’m worried about you,” she said, her words barely a whisper. “Let me help you.”
“Which PPD agent visited my place?” I asked.
“Does it matter? No body was found.”
“What about my neighbor? Check on her. If she’s dead, you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
“Come with me.” Her voice softened.
I shook my head and backed away. “I have to find out who killed Mrs. Ivanova. Something terrible is happening in Moscow, and I may have the key to understand what’s going on. But if the council gets hold of Axel, Eduard will kill him.” I stared into the street where shadows gathered. Axel had better have kept his word and stayed put.
“You can’t leave the city.” Santasha’s voice deepened, and it killed me to go against her. She was my closest friend; we shared everything. At that moment, I never felt so lost, so alone.
Sirens howled in the distance but headed our way.
I stood shaking. “As a friend, open the door, let me leave. Tell PPD you heard voices outside and investigated. Please.”
My gaze bounced over Santasha’s shoulder as Axel stepped out into the open. I rocked on the spot. Clearly, the guy didn’t handle instruction well. He ran over to us.
Santasha spun, her hand reaching for her Taser.
I seized her wrist. “Don’t.” I leaned closer to her. She’d kept me company after my sister passed, made sure I stopped moping after my ex and I broke up, and she reminded me I still had friends who loved me. “Remember our promise from years ago. We agreed when one of us was in trouble, we’d help each other out.” She and I had believed in each other even when no one else did.
Santasha twisted to face me, her lips pursed. “We were talking about ghosts, not breaking the law.”
“And I believed you when you said you saw your brother’s spirit in the house.”
The conflicting emotions in Santasha’s eyes were a knife to my heart. I hated putting her in this position, but my options were running out. If I was right about the vulsines killing humans, this could be the start of mass extinction for both races.
Sirens wailed even closer, and my muscles twitched with the urgency to bolt.
Axel shifted to my side, his gaze locked on Santasha’s hand resting on her Taser. He focused on me. “Let’s go.”
“Santasha, please.”
She fidgeted with the collar of her jacket as she always did when nerves got her. “Fuck. Can’t believe I’m contemplating this. You owe me for the rest of your life.”
I choked up and threw my arms around her neck. “No, I owe you my life. Thank you. After we leave, keep low and trust no one. Vulsines are back. For real. I think they even have Eduard. Trust no one, and watch yourself. I’ll be in touch.” I broke away.
Santasha swiped her comm, and within seconds the side door clicked open. Axel rushed into the Outlands, vanishing as he passed through the doorway.
When I fell into step after him, Santasha seized my elbow. “I hope you’re right. Be careful.” Her eyes glistened with the pain of losing someone. She was also alone in this world.
“I’ll be back. I give you my word.”
“Okay, go.” She pushed me toward the exit as the roar of a car engine approached. I bolted.
In the distance, Axel’s dark form bounced deeper into Outlands’ embrace. No way would I let him escape, not after what had happened. Tonight we were getting to the bottom of what was going on, even if that meant cuffing him to me again. And I wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Chapter 9
My heart drummed in my chest, calling for the next victim: me. Whatever was happening in Moscow was worse than what I’d initially suspected. All our lives were at risk. And while the answer might be in the Outlands and with Axel, I still wasn’t any closer to understanding why any of it was taking place.
I glanced over my shoulder as the city gates opened. Two patrol cars emerged into the Outlands, coming for us, yet all I could think about was Santasha. Please let her be okay.
Axel was directly in front of me, boots pounding the ground, heading straight for the woods. I raced alongside to catch him.
Axel watched the cars and mumbled something under his breath. In a sudden move, he grabbed my hand and steered me away from the forest. I stumbled after him sideways.
“What are you doing?” I ripped my hand free and stopped, gasping for air. “We need to hide.”
“No,” he growled. “They’ll catch us before we make it. There’s another way.”
The vehicles raced in our direction, their beams pointing toward the woods, the night concealing us for now. Maybe he had a point. It would be the first place they searched, but remaining easy targets in the open made zero sense.
Except, he was running again. Stopping to argue with him to change directions would get us captured quicker. “This better work.”
He lifted his chin, full of smugness. If we weren’t escaping for our lives, I’d have whacked him on the ass.
“You do have trust issues,” he reminded me.
“It’s my job to distrust criminals.”
When he cut me a glare, his lips thinned, whispering, “Focus on keeping up.”
Every inch of me burned with the urge to trip him… knock down his cockiness a few notches.
A cloud of dust rose in the wake of the vehicles; they were thirty yards away, still heading for the woods. Dammit. I hurried, figuring the more distance between them and us meant less chance of being spotted.
Axel ran really fast for a human. It might be one of his inherited attributes from the binding.
My boots pounded the dry soil.
When Axel came to a stop, he stomped the dust with his feet. Sidestepping a few places, he did it again.
“What the hell are you doing?” My gaze settled on the headlights angled away from us, targeting the forest. I paced on the spot, needing a backup plan. Surely, facing the officers in the car wasn’t my only option.
I dashed to Axel’s side as he lifted a previously concealed hatch door from within the ground.
“Shit!” I couldn’t believe my eyes.
He grabbed my arm and drew me closer.
I peered inside at the three-foot-wide hole of blackness. Never heard any rumors of underground tunnels in the Outlands.
“Get in. Now!” he barked.
Questions jammed in my mind, but Axel’s hands nudged me to the edge. Behind us, the PPD weren’t far away, and they just had to turn their spotlight in our direction. I threw myself into the yawning hole, feet first. Panic strangled me and I couldn’t breathe for a moment.
An oppressive darkness cradled me as I fell, but I flailed my arms outward, and a scream pressed the back of my throat.
I landed on solid terra firma, and my knees kissed the dirt. I scrambled out of the way, figuring Axel was right behind me. And with a resonating thud of the lid shutting, it was followed by a slap and heavy grunts.
Next thing I knew, Axel held a small flashlight and pointed it in my face. “You okay?”
I squinted, adrenaline rampant in my veins. “Where are we?” Around us in the dim light, I saw dug out passages that smelled of mold.
“Quickest route to travel in the Outlands.” He grabbed my elbow and pulled me forward. How had the PPD not known this existed?
Axel pulled me onto a path to our right. “Only one rule while in the underground. Don’t talk to anyone. Everyone keeps to their own business. In and out as quick as possible because we’re vulnerable.” The beam from his flashlight scanned down my body and back. “With your uniform, you’re a beacon to get us killed.”
My mind still buzzed. Too often, I’d lost sight of suspects I tracked in the Outlands. Other times, they popped up as if appearing out of thin air. Now it made perfect sense.
I took off my jacket and stuck my fingers through the gaping hole in the sleeve. Blood coated the fabric. I tied the sleeves around my waist and dragged a hand across the cut on my bicep, my palm stained with red. More blood bubbled across the three-inch lesion.
Axel reached for a handkerchief from his back pocket and unfolded it, his gaze locked on my injury. “Before you ask, it was a gift from my mom.” He tied the fabric right around my arm, covering most of the wound but withdrew his hand back as a drop of blood sat on the knuckle of his index finger. He stared at it for a long moment.
“You all right?” I asked. Had the talk of his mom brought back sentimental feelings? “Thanks for helping. I’ll make sure to return it to you.”
He shrugged, wiped the hand on his jeans, and shone his light over my black tank top and to my pants—standard work attire, but it could pass for black trousers anyone might wear. Besides, the jacket around my waist concealed my knives. I untied my ponytail and let the blonde strands drape naturally over my shoulders to conceal the fae markings.