Got you!
I stand, putting the ruined newspaper in a trash can; my dragon is vibrating with excitement. Now I have what I need. The scent is still fresh.
I head in the direction the old shifter indicated, my senses zeroed in on that specific scent signature. The crowds thin out as I move toward the older part of the market. The buildings here are worn, paint peeling, the kind of area where people don’t ask questions.
The scent trail leads me down a side street, then into a narrow alley between two buildings. It’s getting stronger. He’s close.
I head down the alley, and there he is. It was almost too damned easy. Kaine is exactly as he looks in his picture, only bigger. Tank top stretched across his chest, shorts showing legs like tree trunks. He’s leaning against a wall, talking on his phone, and he hasn’t noticed me yet.
I step into the alley. “Are you Kaine?”
His head snaps up. For a second, he just stares at me. “Who wants to know?”
He zones in on the badge on my shirt pocket. Then recognition hits, and his eyes narrow. “Fuck.”
“You’re overdue for your vaccination. You need to come with me.”
“Like hell I do.” He pockets his phone and straightens to his full height. He’s big, but I’m bigger. “I don’t need that shit pumped into my body.”
“That shit keeps you from dying of Hemorrhagic Fever,” I tell him. “It keeps everyone on this island from dying. So yeah, you need it.”
“I’m not going.” He takes a step toward me, shoulders squared. “And you can’t make me.”
Wrong thing to say.
He bolts.
My dragon roars with satisfaction as I take off after him. Kaine is fast for his size, but I’m faster. He barrels out of the alley and into the street, scattering pedestrians. I’m right behind him, my longer legs eating up the distance between us.
He takes a sharp turn into another alley. It dead-ends at a brick wall. By the time he realizes his error and spins around, I’m already there, blocking his exit.
“Last chance,” I tell him. “You should come quietly.”
“Fuck you.”
He charges.
I meet him head-on. His fist comes at my face, and I block it, countering with a jab to his ribs. He grunts but doesn’t slow down, grabbing for my shoulders, trying to use his weight to take me down. I twist out of his grip and drive my elbow into his kidney.
He staggers but recovers quickly, spinning to face me again.
“I don’t need the vaccination!” he roars. “It’s all a lie! The Council is controlling us!”
Great. A conspiracy theorist. Those are always fun.
“The only thing the Council is trying to control,” I growl, ducking under his next punch, “is a Hemorrhagic Fever outbreak. You remember the last one? We lost half the population.”
“That was over fifty years ago and all propaganda!” He comes at me again, this time with a kick aimed at my chest.
I catch his leg and yank, sending him off balance. He hits the ground hard, but he’s up again in seconds. Tough bastard. My dragon approves.
We trade blows. He gets in a good hit to my jaw that snaps my head back and makes my ears ring. I taste blood. Good. I needed this.
I return the favor with a combination that leaves him gasping. He crunches over the middle. He’s slowing down now, his movements getting sluggish.
“Just…stop…already…” I punctuate each word with another hit. “And get…your damned…vaccination.”
He tries one more desperate swing. I dodge it easily and drive my fist into the pressure point at the base of his skull. His eyes roll back, and he drops like a felled tree.
