Kelley Armstrong - Broken

We reached a closed door where the floor was thick with scent trails. I stood watch while Nick threw open the door and Clay wheeled through.

A muffled oath. Nick and I both rushed to Clay’s aid. My foot hit a rotted board and I pitched forward. Nick lunged for me, and Clay turned, but my ankle twisted and I went down onto my knees before either could grab me.

As I fell, I sent up a cloud of dust that launched a sneezing fit. I pressed my hands over my mouth and nose to stifle it.

Clay knelt beside me. “You okay?”

“Just klutzy,” I said. “And that, sadly, I can’t even blame on being pregnant.” I swallowed an impending sneeze. “Now that I’ve alerted anyone in here to our presence-”

Something hissed beside me. I turned to see a rat, reared up, teeth bared. Animals smelling their first werewolf usually run, but city rats can lose their natural fear of predators. This one opened his mouth to hiss again. Clay’s foot caught it in the chest, and it flew across the hall and hit the wall with a splat.

“Touchdown!” Nick said.

Clay only curled his lip.

“Never did like rats much, did you?” Nick said.

“Disease-ridden vermin,” Clay said. “Worse than scavengers. The room’s crawling with them. Must be a nest.”

Another rat peered out the partly open door, its nose twitching. Then it charged. Clay drop-kicked it into the wall beside its brethren.

“Next one’s mine,” Nick said.

“Sorry, guys,” I said as I stood. “As much fun as rat-punting might be, we-”

I stopped and inhaled. Another rat appeared in the doorway. Nick drew back his foot. I flew forward and knocked the rat back into the room, then slammed the door.

“What, only Clay gets to punt rats?” Nick said.

Clay shrugged. “With me, it’s not animal cruelty. It’s my nature. You don’t get that excuse.”

Nick sputtered and took a swipe at Clay with his foot, trying to hook the back of his knees. Clay grabbed Nick’s foot and Nick started toppling backward, but I grabbed him.

“Are you guys trying to make sure Rose will hear us if she’s here? I closed the door because there’s something wrong with those rats. Can’t you smell it?”

Nick only shook his head, but Clay walked to the dead ones, hunkered down, sniffed, then made a face.

“Disease-ridden vermin, like I said.” Another sniff. “What is that?”

“I don’t know, but-”

A floorboard creaked down the hall. Clay let out a silent “shit.” Nick automatically reached for the nearest door-the one to the rat room-but stopped before we had to say anything.

Jeremy and Antonio turned the corner, coming down the hall.

“Find something?” Antonio whispered. “We thought we heard sounds of a scuffle.”

I shot a covert glare at Clay and Nick, but only said, “Clay found a nest of sick rats. They gave us a start. Sorry.”

Jeremy knelt beside the dead pair of rats.

“They smell diseased,” I said. “What is it?”

“Nothing I recognize. You said there’s-”

Claws scrabbled against the closed door. Jeremy pointed. I nodded. He waved for us to step back, then eased the door open a crack and leaned into it for a better look.

At the base, tiny teeth and claws flashed in the opening. Beside me, Clay rocked forward onto the balls of his feet, tensed, ready to spring if the rodent somehow managed to squeeze through the half-inch crack. After a moment, Jeremy pulled the door shut.

He turned to us. “I’m going to get a better look in there.”

Jeremy motioned Clay to the door, to act as rat-punter, then gestured for Antonio and Nick to stand guard on either side of the hallway, in case Rose was still in the building. I backed up Jeremy’s nose…from the hall.

Clay swung open the door and drop-kicked the first rat that lunged at him. The next two rats fell back, hissing and chattering. From where I was, I caught a glimpse inside-a small room with a blanket and a few boxes. They took two steps into the room, then Jeremy tapped Clay’s shoulder, telling him to retreat. A last kick and squeal, and Clay went to close the door, but Jeremy stopped him.

“What’s that?” he said, pointing at the floor. “Here, hold them off and I’ll grab-”

Clay darted forward and snatched up whatever was there.

“Or you could do it for me…” Jeremy said as Clay backed out and slammed the door.

“What is it?” I asked.

Clay held up what looked like a half-chewed cocktail sausage. Then the smell hit me.

“A finger,” I said with a small shudder. “A chewed finger. Isn’t that-” I fought my revulsion and took a deeper breath. “It’s Rose’s.”

“Think the rats got her?” Nick said.

When we all turned to look at him, he said, “What? She smells like she’s rotting, right? And rats are scavengers.”

Jeremy shook his head. “I think the rotting is what caused the finger loss, not the rats.”

“So she’s…falling apart?” I said.

“The extremities would be the first to go.”

“Beyond the ‘ewww’ factor, this might be something we could use. If she falls apart, does that count as ‘dead’?”

“With our luck, it won’t,” Clay said. “Maybe we should save this. In case we have to find all the pieces and reassemble them before we can close the portal.”

“I don’t think we want to be found carrying concealed body parts,” Jeremy said. “And as soon as we get near a bathroom, I want you to wash your hands-well.”

I walked beside Jeremy as we headed down the hall. “Could you tell what those rats have?”

“Not by smell, but there were several diseases commonly carried by rats a hundred years ago that you don’t see often now.”

“You think that’s what it is then? Like the cholera and Rose’s syphilis. Something else I released from the portal.”

“It isn’t your fault, Elena. There’s little the Victorian era can throw at us today that we can’t cure.”

“So far…” I said. “But what if the next thing-”

“If we can get this portal closed, there won’t be a ‘next thing.’ Concentrate on that, starting with finding a zombie who can lead us to the controller.” Jeremy stopped and looked around. “We’ll split up here. I doubt Rose is in the building, but she may return.”

WE FINISHED SEARCHING THE BUILDING, BUT FOUND NO sign of Rose. At eleven, Jeremy sent Clay and me to look for Zoe. This time, both Clay and I went into Miller’s. Our entrance caused only the barest ripple of interest from the regulars. One sweep of the bar told us Zoe wasn’t there.

“You looking for Zoe again?” the bartender asked.

I nodded and approached the counter. “Has she been in?”

He shook his head. “Might not be, either. You got lucky last night. If she does pop by, I’ll tell her you were looking.”

I thanked him and we left.

We went back to the warehouse, where we hung out with the others, waiting for Rose. When she didn’t show up by two, Jeremy declared the night a bust. That was an understatement. The whole day had been a write-off, and we were no closer to finding Shanahan or a zombie or closing the portal than we had been when we woke up. Shanahan hadn’t even called me back about the investment.

A jab in the stomach woke me the next morning, and I started awake, hands flying to my belly, twisting to tell Clay that I’d felt the baby move, I’d finally-

“Sorry,” Nick mumbled.

I wasn’t surprised to see Nick sleeping beside me. I’d have been more surprised if he hadn’t been. When the Pack was together, shared sleeping arrangements were common…which isn’t as kinky as it sounds. Our goofing around does push the boundaries of platonic pretty hard sometimes, but Clay and I are monogamous, fanatically so, as Nick often grouses. A wolf thing, one mate for life and all that.