Page 54 of Outfoxed

The last thing I needed was an overenthusiastic bounty hunter realizing I could fully shift. I courted enough trouble already. If I had half a brain cell left in my head and any sense of self-preservation, I’d leave the Alley altogether.

Knowing the truth and having a decently developed sense of morality would dump me into the heart of a disaster of my own making.

Waiting until I was certain the storms were done for the morning, I marched back towards Tulsa as a human. While fox paws, with my almost cat-like retractable claws, helped make the hike through the mud and muck a little easier, I couldn’t afford to lose even more of my secrets.

I doubted anything I could do would be enough, but I would at least try.

No one else would.

Eleven

If he wanted to make a fortune off me, I’d make him earn it.

Thursday, May 7, 2043.

Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Alley.

Making the hike from Owasso to Tulsa while human ranked as one of the dumbest damned things I’d ever done. I moved faster as a fox, and the storm damage to the roads made them difficult to traverse on a good day. To complicate matters, unlike most days, where the storms blew out in the morning and regathered by dark, the dark clouds stuck around, rain plastered my hair to my head, and it would take many a long hour with a brush to restore my poor tail to rights.

Hiding in one of my cellars for a while seemed like a damned good use of my time.

In reality, I needed to take my pass into Asylum on a test drive, figure out where my bosses resided, and seek out Sandro. I expected the bounty hunter cursed me and would find me if I sat still long enough. Unfortunately, sitting still for any length of time would increase the odds of another bounty hunter coming for me.

I made it to the abandoned mall outside of Tulsa, one eye on the storm and the other on my surroundings. Until I made it back to the general safety of Tulsa, all watching the sky would do was warn me death came calling.

Watching my back paid off, as I caught a glimpse of a dark-clothed figure slinking through the debris. I eliminated Anna, Carlos, or Sandro as my unwanted shadow; they had more than a few inches on my pursuer.

Hooray. I’d attracted the attention of a new bounty hunter or fortune seeker. I kept on hiking, and after a few more sightings, I pegged him to be an older man in dire need of a shave and a bath.

If he wanted to make a fortune off me, I’d make him earn it. I increased my pace, testing the waters to see how he’d react. As expected, he lengthened his stride to keep up with me, and the instant we left the ruins, he lost the ability to hide. Unlike Anna, who made it clear she hunted for me our first dance together, my latest shadow went the creepy stalker route.

I gave Sandro credit. Maybe he meant to make a fortune off me, but he managed to remain a gentleman.

While I walked, I unstrapped Peace from my back and buckled her around my waist and exposed her sheath, folding the canvas and keeping a firm grip on it. A piece of cloth tossed over the head of my pursuer would buy me valuable seconds. As luck rarely kept me company, I’d make my own luck.

The last thing I wanted was to kill off some damned bounty hunter who wanted to use me as a meal ticket or a way out of the Alley.

I marched towards Tulsa, checking over my shoulder under the guise of fixing a strap of my pack or adjusting my clothes. The fox in me appreciated the hunter’s determination; he floundered and struggled to keep up, but he tried.

How cute.

I debated toying with him, and as the weather wouldn’t wait for some damned fool, I gave up playing with the bounty hunter and eased into a ground-eating jog, the kind I could maintain for a solid thirty minutes without much worry.

On days like today, it was good to be a fox.

Within five minutes, I left him far enough behind I eased to a brisk walk to make the rest of the run easier on myself. Every time he shuffled to catch up, I resumed my jog, making sure to extend the distance between us.

By the time I made it to the current outskirts of Tulsa, I’d left him far enough behind I wished him luck finding me in the trashed neighborhoods. In the time I’d been in Owasso, storms had reshaped the landscape again, eliminating several blocks and leaving the survivors doing their best to make the most out of a bad situation. I hesitated, and unable to walk away, I helped move a few bodies to the growing pyre and fling wood onto the stack before moving on my way.

Two blocks away, where the debris made way for standing buildings, Carlos joined the hunt, doing his best to sneak around a corner where I wouldn’t spot him. Hunger and irritation warred over each other, and while I had no interest in actually hurting the bounty hunter, of the ones I knew, I disliked him the most.

He had thoughts about women like me, thoughts that made the rich assholes seeking courtesans look like angels in comparison.

He had no scruples about breaking and bending the rules, especially if it got him paid.

Damned asshole bounty hunters.