“Of course, azhera. You know it always excites me when you ask me to break the law,” Arcanthus said with amplified huskiness in his voice.
“You break the law on your own everyday.”
Arc’s fingers flew through the control screens on the displays, navigating options and commands faster than Drakkal could follow. “Yes, but that’s for money, not for you. This is completely different.”
Drakkal folded his arms across his chest and forced himself to remain in place despite his restlessness and agitation. “Just get to it.”
“I am.” Arcanthus continued inputting commands, pausing only to bring up another display. “But it’ll take a few minutes. Might as well tell me what happened while you’re waiting.”
Drakkal grasped the armored plate that encased the bicep of his prosthetic arm with his right hand and squeezed; his brain registered the pressure and warmth through his neural connections with the limb, and he could even make out a hint of his palm’s texture, but it wasn’t the same as feeling it with his own flesh. It would never be the same.
He’d had a year to adjust to the cybernetic arm thus far, and over that time he’d developed a new admiration and respect for Arcanthus—who’d had to wear similar prosthetics on both arms and legs for better than a decade.
“Was out searching when I caught a hint of her scent,” Drakkal said. “Tried following it, but the air was too saturated with other smells to get a clear trail. As I was walking, I passed a female handing out flyers for some show. She grabbed my arm to get me to stop…and it was her.”
“You walked right past your mate?” Arc’s tone was light with amusement.
“She had a hood on, and like I said, it was hard filtering her scent through everything else.”
“Fortunately, she grabbed you.”
One of Arcanthus’s displays changed. Drakkal recognized the gold and teal seal of the Eternal Guard in the upper left corner. The Eternal Guard maintained a massive network ofsurveillance devices throughout Arthos, though many areas of the Undercity were only lightly covered—and there was almost no Eternal Guard surveillance in the Bowels, which lay below the Undercity.
“We didn’t recognize each other until I turned around. Then she took off running. I chased her through the crowd but lost her in the tram station.” Drakkal inhaled deeply. “At one point, I almost had her. Almost grabbed hold.”
“Is this the street?” Arcanthus asked.
Drakkal leaned closer to study the still image Arcanthus had brought up on the main holo screen. “That’s it. Think she was around Burik’s Meat Emporium.”
With a few flicks of his fingers, Arcanthus opened three more holographic displays, each showing Orcus Street from a different angle. He manipulated the feeds until all were focused on the street in front of Burik’s Meat Emporium.
“There,” Drakkal said, heart skipping a beat. He leaned closer still and extended an arm to point out the small, hooded figure with an armful of flyers.
Arcanthus adjusted the display to zoom in on the terran and scrubbed through the feeds simultaneously. The crowd around her moved at an accelerated speed; Arcanthus didn’t slow the recording until a broad-shouldered figure with an armored cybernetic arm came into view.
“So, she doesn’t even come up to your neck, but she outran you?” Arcanthus asked.
“Just keep going,” Drakkal said distractedly. His attention was held by the image on screen—the terran’s hand on his arm. He wished it had been for a good reason, wished it had been because she wanted to see him, touch him, and share his company.
Startlingly, Arcanthus complied withoutcomment.
Drakkal’s heartbeat quickened as he watchedthe chase. He was so focused upon her and the way she moved that he barely noticed himself plowing through the crowd behind her. He’d not seen faces or people on that street—only obstacles between himself and his mate. But all his strength and speed hadn’t been enough. He’d drawn close to her, but never close enough.
The angle shifted as Arcanthus jumped to different camera positions, following the terran’s progress down the street. Drakkal curled his fingers into a fist as the recording showed the terran jump atop the staircase divider leading into the tram station, tightening his grip further as the display showed his fingertips brush across her hood.
Just a few more centimeters would’ve been enough.
The recording continued, following the terran down the sloped divider. Drakkal narrowed his eyes as the terran plunged into the crowd—leaving the tralix she’d bumped into with a parting slap on the backside. Drakkal clenched his teeth, and a deep, involuntary growl rose from his chest. Heat spread outward from his core, renewing his agitation. He could find that tralix, could find him and?—
The terran slipped into the tram and vanished from the images. Arcanthus switched the main display to a feed from inside the tram car. Drakkal frantically searched the crowd on the screen, breath growing ragged, but he couldn’t see her, just like when he’d been there in person, and he was going to lose her again.
Vrek’osh, what’s wrong with me?
“The other side,” he said, voice hoarse and tongue dry. “She went out the other side of the tram.”
Arcanthus changed the main feed again to display the outside of the tram from the opposite side of the station. Just as the tram’s doors began to close, the terran darted out of the car. She turned back as Drakkal appeared on the other side of the doors’ view windows.
“Oh, Drakkal,” Arcanthus sighed, shaking his head.