Page 18 of Robb

You cannot get eaten by a shark on land, the dingo urged, appalled. We will never live it down. I refuse to go out like this.

Then suddenly there was a hand pulling at his wrist, a voice yelling in his ear – and then he was bursting out of the laneway as the ground trembled and an almighty slap filled his ears, followed a split second later by a colossal rush of air and the sound of what was, he supposed, the sound of a great white shark yelling in either pain or rage. Possibly both.

He chanced a quick backward glance to see the shark writhing on the bluestone cobbles, and he almost felt a brief twinge of sympathy – those things really were hard – but it was gone as soon as it had arrived, and he turned back to see Tahnee, fear and concern written equally over her features. She was obviously saying something, but his ears weren’t quite picking it up.

The sound of footsteps came out of the depths of the alley once more, and while Robb didn’t know whether it was the shark shifter, the croc shifter, or someone else sent by Hargreaves to ruin his day, he knew that he wasn’t up to dealing with them right now. The last thing they needed was to get shot full of wyvern venom, or to be test subjects for whatever new abomination of a weapon Hargreaves had dreamed up.

“We have to get out of here,” he said, aware that he was being a bit of a broken record at this point, but not really caring. This was getting beyond a joke, and the threat to both the two of them and the general public was just too high.

“You’re welcome,” muttered Tahnee, but she was already one step ahead of him, dragging him along, her hand grasping his firmly, the warmth of the mate bond spreading up his arm and through his chest. His dingo was about ready to pass out from happiness, bounding around on springy legs like a puppy, but Robb really didn’t have time to indulge its delirious joy right now.

Sprinting down the slippery footpath and ducking between clusters of umbrella-toting shoppers, they ran for the nearest main street, Robb acutely aware of the sound of footsteps rapidly following. Chancing a backward glance, he caught a glimpse of the shark woman – and saw that she had something around her wrist that would probably look like a chunky bracelet to random passersby, but which he could tell contained some sort of miniature weapon, probably a poison dart shooter.

Great. Better and better.

Robb ducked his head and tried to look inconspicuous as he ran, cursing his noticeable height as he did so.

His only hope was that she wasn’t willing to make a scene. He wouldn’t put it past Hargreaves, though – if it was Hargreaves they were dealing with – to risk taking out an innocent bystander if it meant that they could achieve their goal. A Hargreaves agent would have no compunction about using a poison dart that couldn’t be traced by human medicine on a random passerby.

Tahnee moved through the crowd like liquid, finding the path of least resistance at every turn, and Robb was happy to follow her lead. She was the expert in escaping armed adversaries, after all, and so Robb was completely unsurprised that the pursuing footsteps were starting to fade in the distance.

Not that they were safe yet, of course – and even if they did manage to escape, he had no idea what they were going to do next.

Turning a corner, Tahnee hauled him across the street against a red light, and a symphony of angry DING DING DINGs arose from the sea of trams.

“That wasn’t exactly inconspicuous of you,” he snapped, as he almost slipped over on a wet tram track.

“Oh, lighten up,” Tahnee laughed. “We lost her, didn’t we?”

Robb wasn’t sure that they had – but at the very least, he didn’t think that their pursuer was close by. Maybe she’d stopped for the lights, like a sensible, law-abiding person.

Well. Obviously not law-abiding. But someone who valued their own neck a little more than to risk it by dashing into oncoming traffic.

Being mates with Tahnee is going to be the death of me, he thought wearily.

Tahnee practically hurled him into the open doors of a waiting tram, ignoring the lecture from the driver about not running in front of heavy vehicles, and they pressed themselves in amongst the commuter crush.

“Knew I could lose her,” Tahnee whispered triumphantly.

Grudgingly, Robb had to admit that she was right, even if her methods were downright dangerous.

Robb took a moment to examine his surroundings and gather his thoughts. He had no idea where they were going – but, he supposed, anywhere was better than where they’d come from.

Well, now I’m just tempting fate, he thought grimly. If there was something he’d learned throughout his long career, it was that things could always get worse.

Peering out the window while keeping his face hidden, he chanced a look at the direction they’d come from. There was no sign of the shark woman… but that didn’t mean a lot. She could be anywhere.

He got out his phone, finding Daniel’s number – the man was probably still sitting in the lecture, or else enjoying some cheap, rubbery cheese and crackers during a break in the program. Either way, he should be told what had happened so he could organize a clean-up crew and do a general sweep of the area. The man was a bit of a boofhead, but he was competent enough, despite appearances. He was also trustworthy, which was the more important thing.

Keep it simple, Robb thought as he typed. No need to over-explain. And especially no need to mention my mate, the formerly wanted criminal, right now.

Well, he’d sent enough of these things throughout the years that he had it down to a fine art by now. Three or four sentences. No extraneous details. Strictly what the crew needed to know to do their jobs, and nothing else.

Done. Sent.

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Robb glanced out the window again. And again.

“Uh… why aren’t we moving?” he muttered, hunching down further still.