Page 12 of Captured

She didn’t want to think of what would happen if she didn’t. She could always find another or make one from her blanket as she’d done in the past, but she’d really liked that coat.

Handing it over with a frown marring her face, she accepted the bundle of food. Without the coat she had no where to stash it, but Herelia must have realized her issue, producing a small, rough sack just large enough to hold Flea’s prizes.

“It’s good to know you’re free again Flea. Come see me when you have something worth trading.”

With their transaction complete, Herelia didn’t linger, moving out of the alley in the direction she’d been going when they crossed paths. Flea was left staring after her, clutching the food as she watched Herelia moving her coat through bony fingers.

Herelia’s content hum faded away as she turned a corner and Flea finally shook herself into action. She still needed water before returning to her safe haven and exhaustion was already dragging at her limbs. Pushing herself to make her escape and get to her den had taken more out of her than the few hours of sleep she’d had replaced.

Taking a direct route to the water recycler since she had the food she needed, it wasn’t long before Flea was drinking her fill from the tap. Once she was sure she could drink no more she filled her bottle and tied it back to her belt, turning in the direction of her temporary home. With light and food, there was no longer a reason to linger on Sixth once she’d gotten a little more rest, and the comfort of knowing she’d be another step further from the Collection Center and its soldiers brought a renewed burst of energy.

She’d just climbed through the window of her building when something in the distance caught her eye. Focusing on where she thought she’d seen movement, she held her breath and waited, searching in vain as nothing revealed itself. Shaking her head for imagining flying creatures, Flea turned away from the window and made her way to her den to eat and rest. She wanted to get down to Ninth as quickly as possible, but she knew the route would take her most of a day to complete with the path she’d have to take, and she needed to be prepared to keep going until she had another safe place to hole up for a while.

Chapter Eight

Gra’ar

Gra’ar grew more concerned the longer he flew. Omegas were small and tended to have less stamina, yet Flea’s path continued on long past the point when he’d expected her to have stopped. With access to water, he didn’t understand why she’d moved on instead of resting near the recycler, and already his search was taking longer than he’d expected.

Landing at another intersection, he tested the air for her scent. He’d had to double back more than once to pick it up when she’d made an unexpected turn, and it seemed she’d done it again.

It took a while for him to catch the trail again, having to move to the rooftops to search for it before he was sure. There was also the overwhelming stench of alphas in the area, making him bristle over the thought that she’d been captured by someone else before he got to her.

Growing tired of wasting the time backtracking, he decided to continue on foot where he could trace her scent easier. The advantage of moving faster in the air was being lost each time she turned away from the path he’d thought she would follow, but he still had the perk of being able to see better in the dim light than she could.

The already cool air chilled further as he moved along quiet streets. He picked up rare sounds of others moving through the gloom, but none were close enough for him to see. It was tempting to race toward them to see if it was his quarry, but he was experienced enough to know that following the sure trail was the better option in an area he wasn’t familiar with.

Her scent grew thicker the further he moved through the underground city. He already knew he was closing in on her when he reached a point where she’d seemed to linger for a while.

Across the open space between his side and the other stood another seemingly non-descript building. Lower windows boarded closed, nothing made it stand out from the others in the surrounding blocks except one thing.

The scent of omega.

From what he’d been able to learn of her, Flea wasn’t the careless sort, so it seemed strange that she hadn’t tried to mask her scent in some way. He was willing to admit he had a better sense of smell than many, but it still seemed like she was overlooking a crucial element of her safety. Either that or she was relying too heavily on her scent naturally fading away. There wasn’t enough airflow to disburse it quickly, though, and the oversight riled his instincts.

A quick flap of his wings and he was over the gap, staring up at the blank façade. No sound emerged from the interior, just the tantalizing spicy-sweet scent of his prey leading him around the side of the building.

He circled the entire structure, looking for the entrance and possible escape routes. He was on the second circuit when he realized none of the boards were loose and Flea wasn’t getting in the obvious way. No, the tricky little thing’s scent was all over one wall, yet no where else outside.

All it took was a step back to spot the missing window on the fourth floor. To anyone without his acute vision it wouldn’t be as obvious since there were no visible shards or jagged pieces to give away a broken pane, but the hole was a darker space that didn’t reflect the low light the same as the ones around it.

Lips tipping up in a grudging smile, Gra’ar’s eyes trailed back down the wall before him. A creature like him with wings would have no problem getting to the opening, but Flea had no such advantage. It was a long way up with no visible way to get there. The only thing he could spot was a crude drawing of a blob with random lines.

Letting the puzzle go for the moment, he considered his options. The missing pane was too small for him to comfortably fit through, and while he could break out the rest of the window, that would be noisy. If Flea was inside she’d hear him coming and have time to run.

He also had no idea what was inside. The building had the look of an old office, but there was no way to tell from where he was how it was set up. It could have been gutted, but if the space inside was divided into separate spaces she might be able to slip behind him and escape before he found her. If he had a partner to watch the exit it would be possible to flush her out, but alone it would be risky.

He crossed his arms as he debated over the best tactic. He could break the window, giving the appearance of coming inside for her while he waited below to see where she’d come out, but that would only work if she was currently in the building. If she wasn’t, the sight of the damage when she returned would scare her away, possibly before he had a chance to pinpoint her and follow.

That left him with two options. Uncover one of the windows on a different side of the building, hope he could do it quietly enough for her not to notice if she was inside, then try to figure out where she was hiding since there were multiple floors she could be on.

Or find a place and wait for her to emerge.

He consulted the band on his wrist that he wore for emergency communication. It showed the local time, and while it claimed it was midafternoon, there was no way to tell without the sun. He had no idea what her schedule would be, and if she was out or inside.

An irritated growl leaked out before he swallowed it back. There were too many variables to make an easy decision, and he had too little information.

Tamping down his impatience, he glanced around at the other buildings nearby. If he was going to wait he would need a place to hide where he could see the window. Being the only place she appeared to come and go from, it didn’t matter if she was already inside or not, she’d have to go through it eventually.

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