Exile Empire, Exile The Second

Chapter 25 - Sorin

"I know this city and I'm telling you, there ain't any way underground. There's nothing there but the SkyTrain tunnels," Missy said for the tenth time, her irritation rising and making my wolf whine inside of me.

Don't like her voice, he said, momentarily wishing he could cover his ears.

I agreed, but I sensed Kairos beneath the streets and the desperation to get to her had driven me to the point where I'd start smashing the sidewalk and claw a hole in it just to get down.

"And I'm telling you I know she's down there," I replied, my voice deepening to a near-growl as my wolf's frustration spilled over into mine. "I feel her. Right here."

We were in the middle of a street in the middle of the night. Two blocks off Hastings Street, one up from Main. Main and Hastings was the notorious beating heart of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, the spot where every kind of human and non-human with nowhere else to go converged into a mass of bodies, stolen goods, illicit drugs, and anything else you could think of to purchase.

If they could sell their souls, they'd be on full display even this late at night. I'd read about it on the ferry and had seen it in person over the last couple days.

A light drizzle had begun to fall twenty minutes ago, and the street shone with it, reflecting back lights and enhancing sounds while dulling scents.

"You're probably just smelling some other tasty little cunt," Missy said, shaking her hair, droplets of water spraying out and she looked annoyed. "I wanted to be wet tonight, but not rained on. I needed a good deep dicking, and I stupidly followed you out here, wolf. What a waste of time."

"She's down there," I growled, feeling wolf bristle at the disdainful way she spat out his name. I lifted my nose and inhaled, nearly choking on the foul smells of the city itself. I wasn't comfortable here, in any city, when I'd let wolf have his way. I smelled too much of the filth of humanity, and the decay of garbage and the destruction of the natural world.

But here I could pick out the single scent I needed, Kairos. I got a whiff of it on the breeze and turned to follow it. I walked across the empty street and through the reflection of flashing green traffic lights in the wet pavement.

I paused in front of a storm drain and said, "There. She's there."

I pointed at the hole and behind me, Missy laughed.

"Okay, so what now? Is she going to hold a red balloon above the spot and tell us they're all floating down there? This isn't a Stephen King movie, wolf. There's no way she could be down there unless she was dead," Missy replied.

"She's not dead!" I roared, stepping towards her before I'd gained control of myself. Just the mere thought of losing Kairos was enough to unleash wolf and let go of any social niceties that kept me from destroying the wood witch with my bare hands. I feared her saying the words would be like casting a spell, bringing that event to an eventual reality.

"Okay, okay," Missy said, putting her hands up. "I mean she's probably not, she's a pretty tough girl and they need her alive to destroy the Empire node. They'd have to take her back to the island."

I'd already texted Eva and given her the head's up that Kairos was missing. She assured me she'd let the aunts know so that they could prepare for the onslaught of any demons seeking to break into the well source again.

But other than that, I was helpless until I found Kairos and stood by her side. Until we were able to root out any demons before they got to the island.

I let wolf keep hold of my olfactory sense and we followed another alluring waft of her scent onto the sidewalk and down a side alley. It was nothing more than a narrow space between two ancient buildings. Well, ancient by Vancouver means, so probably constructed some time in the late eighteen hundreds when the port city had been a bustling gateway to the gold fields north of here.