Predator Code (Tales from Wildhearth #1)

Chapter 20 - It Isn't Paranoia if Someone's Out to Get You

The tram carrier ride back to the warrenary was quiet—a little too quiet for her liking. After the exertions of the day, the sheer emotional exhaustion had boomeranged back around and hit Jett like a ton of bricks, and she struggled to keep her eyes open as she lounged in a half-empty compartment. Through the window, she watched night begin its creeping march over the city, district lights glittering like a carpet of stars. In the distance, she could just make out the rising clump of structures of the Silk, their exteriors shining against the dark.

Jett tried to focus on her breathing, watching the lights twinkle. Things were coming together little by little, and her encounter with Rapid had, for a change, turned out to be a stroke of luck. The last piece of the puzzle, however, was still to be discovered, and that piece rested in the most dangerous place in the city.

She almost laughed at the craziness of the scheme currently hatching in her mind, but right now, crazy was really all she could rely on. Resting her forehead against the cool window glass, she let her mind wander. Tomorrow. She could get back to her plan tomorrow. First, a warm meal and a good night's sleep were desperately needed.

In the reflection of the glass, she could see a few of the other passengers and found herself examining them, her tired mind latching randomly onto any available stimulus. A scantily clad female felkin with a vibrant blaze of flame red headfur idly inspected her claws, boredom etched on her face. A couple of seats down from her sat a placid-looking deerkin, a young male from the look of him, his face twisted with concentration as he etched away at a bark-puzzle board on his lap. A plump beaverkin lay across a few seats further down, snoring gently. Jett wondered idly if he'd already missed his stop.

Suddenly the deerkin looked up. Through the reflection, it wasn't easy to tell, but he seemed to be looking straight at her. A tremor of unease filled her, and in a lazy motion, she turned around to lean her back against the window, eyes flickering to where the deerkin sat.

By the time she'd turned, his attention had returned to the puzzle board. Jett let her gaze linger on him for a moment. Did she imagine it? She was tired, but not that tired. He didn't look up again, however, and after a few awkward seconds, she shrugged off the sensation. Nerves—it had to be. Today had put her thoroughly on edge—more than usual.

The tram carrier rumbled its way through the twilight until it reached Carlikane District, and Jett gratefully dragged herself out into the streets once more, taking a deep breath of the cool night air to briefly stave off the weariness. Then she set off, pack hanging loosely on one shoulder as she walked towards the basin and the warrenary.

Further out from the centre, life remained in dribs and drabs, some of the quieter bars just beginning to fill up with patrons. Jett's eyes wandered as she moved through the streets, and she lazily turned in a circle, making a cursory sweep behind her to ensure no wolfkin had latched onto her tail.

She saw no wolfkin.

Something altogether stranger snagged her gaze. Her brows rose in surprise when she saw the deerkin from the tram carrier ambling along maybe thirty feet behind her, his head down, satchel clutched tight to his chest. Her hackles rose as a million thoughts and accusations rushed through her mind. Jett stopped, tracking the deerkin as he approached.

He wandered past her without a glance.

What the hell am I doing? she thought in exasperation as she watched him shuffle off into the night. Being careful was one thing, but she couldn't allow herself to turn into some gibbering wreck, jumping at every shadow. The only way she stood any chance of coming out of this in one piece would be if she kept her cool.

Rubbing her eyes with one paw, she put the deerkin out of her mind and continued on, trying to rein in her paranoia. Even with that non-incident, she still found herself accusing everyone with her eyes, her nerves fraying to their last the closer she drew to the warrenary.