Vash let go of the idea of handling the girl before he got his strength back. Firmly planting his ass against the ripped leather seats of his motorcycle, he nodded to himself. “Fair enough,” he whispered.
Reaching into his vest, Vash pulled out the trigger to the incoming blast. An impulse led him to press the pad of his thumb against the button until he felt the smooth click of plastic snap.
At once, the west entrance of the dome started to crumble. A crack threaded through the glass above, threatening to drop.
“We have thirty seconds!” Lucas shouted.
Finding a sudden kick of energy inside him, Vash hammered his heel against the pedal.
“Fine. Take her. We’ll meet in Dagon.”
Vash was pissed. He didn’t even get to catch her scent.
Chapter Four
“I told you the maps were off. Drove fifteen miles and not one sight of another pack,” Vash said.
Killian grinned. “Guess you were right, huh?”
“This is one case where I wish I hadn’t been,” Vash commented. “The detonation was sizable. It’ll be easier to be tracked.”
“Then, we ditch the bikes here,” Lucas said.
Vash couldn’t believe his ears. The city was a place of liberal debauchery and fun, but people were known to take the train cars and never return. “Are you suggesting we ride public transport?”
“If we’re lucky, we can walk. It won’t be difficult to find a driver once we’re in the pipes,” Killian said.
“I’ve got desensitizers, I’ve got scent kits, pre-loaded with three hundred different scents. Cost you twenty big ones or one thousand chips. That’s the deal of the century, man.”
When Wren opened her eyes, she didn’t know what she was looking at. A man lunged forward with a wobbling cart of droppers. A separate cart held machinery and individual instruments she never wanted to learn the details of.
The street vendor dropped his winning facial expressions and panted, dripping saliva onto his chin. “Omega… omega!”
Wren shuddered back and clutched the man holding her, blinking rapidly as Vash barreled through the carts, effectively shattering a year’s worth of sales. The man collapsed to the ground.
“Don’t you fucking touch her, beta,” Vash weakly rumbled.
The hungry street vendor scurried back like Wren had done earlier, like a rat. “I did nothing!”
They continued to walk until they reached an alleyway lit by thin candles, all melting onto the cobblestone walls, yet they continued to burn. In the distance, large neon signs flashed like splintered memories. Wren had never seen such a place.
She felt pulled in like a moth to a light bulb. Hungry to see more, she flinched against Killian’s body until he dropped her to the ground. She cried out, clutching the bruised hip.
Killian took her hand and dragged her until she caught on her feet again. His eyes were cold and distant. “You’re right. We’re not safe here,” he muttered.
Clutching his gut, Vash lunged forward. A wicked grin seized his jaw. “Maybe it doesn’t matter. I will rot if we don’t get back soon.”
Indeed, his face had started to numb, but the blood had stopped running from his navel, a curious side effect from the parasite his brother fed him. His affliction might kill him sooner than was told to him.
“Hey, I said that I’d carry you,” Lucas said.
An electronic speaker near an alley storefront blared, “Omegas for sale! Knot-rings: Awake the inner alpha in you!”
“If you would have let me test her with my kits in the facility, you would have saved me considerable time,” Vash barked.
“What is this place?” Wren chirped.