I rubbed a hand across my eyes. "I've met Starr. He's not living on the same planet as you and me. You know that, don't you?"
"He may be insane, but he's also extremely clever. Remember that."
"I will." I hesitated. "He asked me if I was from the red pack. He seems to think he knows me."
Jack swore. "That's not good."
"Oh, it gets worse."
"How much worse?"
"I'm about to find out." I rounded the corner of the building and walked onto the soft grass. The night breeze stirred around me, filled with the scent of animals and captivity. Up until that moment, I would have sworn that captivity didn't have a smell, but there it was, filling the night with an odd sense of frustration, desperation, and hopelessness.
Odd that such things had aromas.
Odder still that I could smell them. I might have the nose of a wolf, but until that moment, fear, lust, and death were the strongest emotions I'd caught.
Though technically, death wasn't an emotion, fust a passing that lingered, a sadness staining the air.
"Merle and Moss have a spirit lizard houseboy. He's apparently sensitive to the use of psychic power."
"I take it he knows you were reading Merle and didn't report it?"
"Yes. But he did want a meet."
"Any chance it's just for sex?"
"If he's sensitive enough to catch auras, I have no doubt he's mightily aroused and needing relief. But there's no way known I'm going to be a good fuck-puppy when it comes to him."
"Riley - "
"His dick has spines, Jack."
"Oh."
"Oww is more like it." I grinned faintly. "But I think he wants a whole lot more than sex."
"It wouldn't hurt to have an ally in that place."
"If he can be trusted."
"Rely on your instincts. I do."
Only trouble was, my instincts had been wrong before. And this time, there was no one near to bail my butt out. "I'm heading to meet him now."
"Be careful. Keep the line open."
"Natch." I glanced up as high metal fences came into view. "I'm almost there."
"Just be prepared to kill him if things go wrong."
I didn't answer. If things went wrong, I'd do what I had to do to preserve the mission and keep everyone - including myself - safe. But killing wasn't something I wanted to become comfortable with - even if that's exactly what Jack wanted.
I walked up the small knoll and stopped. The zoo stretched before me, metal and wire entwined with desperation and anger. The things inside might be caged, but they certainly weren't accepting or passive. Which pretty much explained why so many guards went missing. Any misstep was taken as a chance of revenge.
I scanned the cages, taking in the array of creatures, then headed left, to what looked to be the main entrance. Cages containing blue creatures with wings gave way to spiny trolls which in turn gave way to fish people. Few of them slept. Most of them were awake and watching.
Their misery resonated deep in their eyes, deeper inside me. I hated it - hated that I was feeling it. I couldn't do anything for these things from nightmare and imagination. They'd been bred for death, and that's exactly what they'd get, whether from Starr or the Directorate. It wasn't fair, but life often wasn't.