Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 16

(Nic's POV) 

Days had passed with little intel on the rogue human, despite multiple attempts to use my ability to follow their scent. Much to my dismay, the city was clogged with smog with little wind to carry much of anything anyway, let alone a chance to waft a scent in my direction. It was as if we'd returned to the reminants of civilization as it was when we had originally arrived.

I reminded myself that we had to look at the bigger picture, we couldn't help everyone at once. But, still. Passing by the pale faces, uncovered and exposed, did little to assure me that we were doing enough.

 With each passing evening, it became more and more apparent that the hunting expedition was becoming more of a savage raid on the civilian's lives. We had been tasked with the order to hunt the human down and bring them in. Instead, I was standing by while Echo used her own tracking abilities to keep tabs on the local rif raf, storing notes on the dealings close by the train hubs. It wasn't the enhancers or suppressants, more so various goods stamped with different branding. 

Most notably, the boxes marked with the Artifice Emblem and where they would be heading. 

I hadn't pegged the trio as smugglers but the interest shown was more what one would equate to thieves than prospective buyers.

Each night that we came back empty-handed, each frustrating attempt, lead me to believe that the goal here was much more than a hunting a single human. Echo was frantic in the way she spat at Kestrel, excluding Helen from most of the inner workings and tasking her with the unpleasantries of keeping me in line. 

I was to well versed in bootlegging to believe that Echo wasn't showing clear interest in the cargo coming in and out of this barren town, keeping me as far away from their outer interests was high on the priority. It also proved to me that Helen had not totally turned against us, she was being excluded too.

In fact, the more I eavesdropped, the more I came to suspect that the person gathering these sick and dying humans were a much different group all together. A private sector perhaps, or someone acting alone. It was information they felt necessary to keep from Helen, I tried to hone in on just how badly it bothered her each time they sent her off to help me track. 

 Everything that triggered me into wanting to run convinced me that it was more relevant that I stay. With no proof other than broken sentences, going to someone like Lotta with this information in it's current state would do me little good. Helen was to out of the loop to convince to reveal any of the inner workings, much as it might be nothing beyond heroes acting as heroes. 

What did I know about 'good work' when it came to inner cities?

The more time I spent with these people, the more suspicious I was becoming. Perhaps it was just me who was paranoid.

The government worked with the heroes, an asset in the current tension of muddied boarders and rebel groups skulking in the dark. I would need more than a hunch and bad vibes, I had hardly enough evidence to convince myself.

I rub the back of my aching neck, an ache that had been with me for three days now. Three days on a less than stellar bed, three days being ripped apart from the inside while Echo proceeded to do everything in her power to trigger my wolf in the off moments of our hunting. I suppose I had bigger things to worry about than the minor details of what Kestrel and Echo did in their spare time.

Lost in the seductive nature of a secret society, it helped to distract myself from the feeling of being slowly liquified. 

Her brutal verbal assault and abrupt shoves were part of her coarse personality, for certain. But the intent was obvious to me after the first evening of disappointment in my lack of wolf. Any frustration she gained from our absence of success was directed souly towards me and my short comings as a fledgling lycan. She had been tasked with triggering me and she was determined to make good on that challenge.