Predator Code (Tales from Wildhearth #1)

Chapter 25 - Two's Crazy Company

They retrieved the cloner as they left the Conclave that day.

With Karno following close behind and shielding her body from view as they passed through the checkpoint, Jett feigned a stumble, reaching down and deftly unhooking the cloner from the underside of the scanner. It disappeared beneath her shawl before she straightened up, and then the pair were home free, striding off across the concourse to the tram carrier station, leaving the Conclave security none the wiser.

Now in the safety of Karno's back room, Jett threw herself into the task, siphoning through the dizzying number of individuals that had passed through that sensorclaw that day. There were several guards that passed in and out, but she needed one with the right credentials, one that would give her access to the inner sanctum in a technical capacity. Well into the dark hours, she began to wonder if they'd somehow misjudged the situation, her pool of possible candidates steadily shrinking.

But not long after darkfive, she found the perfect match—a female vulkin guard named Allzo—listed as a beta-rank technical officer assigned to Conclave central security. At last. The triumphant yelp was out before she could contain it, and she slumped back into the chair, rubbing her eyes with both paws.

Dozing on a battered couch tucked against the wall, Karno jerked awake, sitting upright and looking around wildly for a moment before he remembered where he was. He saw her and blinked, focusing bleary eyes on her.

"Good news?" he said around a yawn.

"We've got our match," she replied, swivelling in her seat and indicating the screen with a bob of her head. Karno shoved himself up off the couch and leaned in over the screen, deftly turning her chair back to face it as he went. He squinted—rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Then he looked down, a sly smile curving his mouth.

"Looks like a winner to me."

"Then let's get to work!"

"Woah, now." Karno gripped the arms of the chair and gently spun her to face him, holding it in place so she couldn't turn away. "You need to take a break."

"No, I—"

"Jett, look at me."

Reluctantly she forced herself to look up, meeting his eyes. Pale yellow, like a breeze of light. For a moment, she stared, acutely aware of their proximity, the wolfkin's face so close she could hear the soft rhythm of his breath. The grey-white patterns of his fur were suddenly mesmerising, and she felt her hackles prickle, her tail curling at the scent of his musk. It had a faintly burnt quality to it—not unpleasant—a consequence of a life spent around the heat burning computers of Wildhearth. It occurred to her that her own scent probably carried the same tell-tale signs up close.

Reality hit her with a jolt, and she snapped out of the daze, shaking her head. "I...Karno, this is too important to wait."

"You've been awake for Fire-only-knows how long," he said softly, straightening up when it became clear she wasn't going to spin the chair away. She felt a tremor go up her spine as his scent moved away with him. "So just hold on. Even if you get all our little disguises ready to go, we can't just stroll back in there tomorrow with different outfits and different IDs. Someone will notice."

"We can't waste time, Karno. I've got people waiting for me to get this info."

"We need to do this smart, or we're not going to do it all. You're exhausted, you're angry, and you're on edge. You're not thinking it through." His eyes took on a pleading edge. "You wanted my help? This is it. Get some rest."

His words cut through her desperation, and Jett saw sense. It was true—since arriving at his shop, she'd barely even dozed. Right now, she still felt awake, the adrenaline keeping her going, but the crash would come, and it would come hard. She still felt a twinge of guilty awkwardness that she couldn't quite explain, but she stuffed it down into the recesses of her mind rather than confront it.