Predator Code (Tales from Wildhearth #1)

Chapter 06 - A Fear of Heights, Water & Dying

I'm so dead.

The thought rang in her skull like a bell. One foxkin against a pack of wolfkin enforcers out for blood did not seem like a particularly even match. Jett's sense of self preservation didn't care about the odds though, so she kept running.

The emergency exit had spilled her out the back of the warrenary, into a series of quiet back streets off the main avenue. She raced between the looming shadows of buildings, thinking desperately for a way to shake her pursuers before she could risk doubling back to the security of her workshop. The pound of hard paws on the ground behind only spurred her on, jinking through several twists and turns to keep the wolfkin guessing and stay out of the sights of their armbows.

She knew damn well that if they caught her on her own they'd kill her there and then, just as they'd killed Tyr. She needed witnesses. Whatever the wolfkin were up to, they weren't doing it in the open and that might just keep her alive.

It was time to avail herself of Wildhearth's nightlife.

Pelting hell for leather, Jett tried to recall the map of the area Tyr had printed out before coming here. If her memory served she could loop east, away from the warrenary to find one of Palharr's more lively night time streets. Wiping an arm across her eyes to smear away the tears, she sucked in a shuddering breath between clenched teeth and dove into a dark alley, twisting left and fixing her eyes on a glow that ebbed between the buildings in the distance.

Jett tumbled from the backstreets and out onto a well-lit residential spiral, mostly made up of foxkin style dens. She caught sight of one or two citizens going about their late night business, but a couple of random bystanders probably wouldn't be enough to deter her pursuers.

The growling of orders not far behind confirmed that suspicion. Wolfkin were expert trackers – simply running wouldn't be enough. She needed to confound her scent, lose herself in the blaze of sounds and smells in the leisure avenues.

Following the sound of music mingled with joyful whoops, barks and howls, she moved as fast as her limbs would carry her, abandoning the ease of the streets by scrambling up the rope ladder of the nearest den. She bounded up, passing the main landing until she had to abandon the ladder, instead digging her claws into the walls and hauling herself paw over paw to the rooftop.

From there Jett made a series of gut-wrenching jumps from building to building, making a straight line towards the alluring glow of light just a couple of hundred yards distant.

A crunch of impact made her whip round, looking back to see the female wolfkin leader had also gained the rooftops. The dark, sinuous form of her hunter made a leap, clearing the first gap with ease.

Jett turned and sprinted on, the fear coming back with a vengeance. The wolfkin had size and power, but she had agility on her side, bounding across a series of roofs before deliberately jumping short, snagging a rope net hanging down the side of another building and shimmying down as fast as she was able until her paws hit solid ground again.

Not far now. The noise swelled invitingly and she bolted towards it, the promise of safety calling to her. Her eyes widened in horror, however, when she heard an unmistakeable wolfkin snarl from just ahead of her.

A burly male prowled out of the shadows to bar her path having guessed her trajectory, teeth bared silently, claws outstretched ready to rip her to pieces if she got too close. Jett knew she couldn't stop, instead redoubling her efforts and sprinting straight at the wolfkin. Heart pounding, she waited until the last possible instant as he lunged for her and dropped into a roll, tucking her slim, nimble body into a tight circle and tumbling straight between his legs.