My Guardian

She walked out into the Marketplace and took a good look around. The stands were arranged in long neat rows. There was no way a feral could go undetected in the actual marketplace; there were too many people. She walked a ways until she was beyond the stalls.

She smiled as she saw the fruits of the twins labor for the first time. The stone houses they created for her pack were impressive. She walked down the wide street between the two rows of houses.

"Hey Eva!"

Eva looked and saw Josie waving at her. She jogged over to her friend. "How are you doing?" she asked.

Josie smiled shyly. "Jorge and I got a house together."

Eva hugged her friend. "That's wonderful news! And about time too, missy!"

Josie blushed. "I spent so much time worrying if he still wanted me even though I was having someone else's baby. But when we were running in the desert, I heard him praying for our baby. He actually said 'our baby'. I never should have doubted him."

"I'm so happy for you." Eva felt like the sun had come out. After so much bad news, it felt amazing to know that her friends had finally come together.

"You're coming to the barbecue right? There's been some talk about canceling since we found out about Brian, but Alpha Stefan says we need to get to know our neighbors now more than ever." Josie glanced back at the housing opening where a tent stood roped off by yellow tape. She shuddered.

"Y'all have a date yet?" Eva asked, changing the subject. She didn't want Josie stressed over the murders.

"Day after tomorrow. I know a lot of people are worried about living with so many vampires, but they've been so kind, Eva. Perfect strangers have come up to us with boxes and boxes of stuff for the houses. And the food has been nothing short of perfection." Josie licked her lips.

Eva had a feeling that Josie was being a bit more spoiled than others. She was absolutely adorable and pregnant. According to everything she had heard, babies were a rarity around here. "I'll be there," she promised.

"Good. You can even swing by our home, and I'll make you coffee. We have water and electricity now." Josie pointed to the ceiling where two large pipes ran the length of the housing development and down to each housing structure.

"What're those?" Eva asked.

"One pipe carries water, the other electrical wires. They're needed for the utilities. Before the houses were created, they ran larger pipes in the ground for waste disposal. Aren't they clever?" Josie smiled.

"Listen, I'm going to go check on something, but you tell Jorge he owes me a beer." Eva winked.

"A beer, why?"

"I told him he'd be moved in with you before summer; he didn't believe me."

Josie tilted her head. "But Eva, how did you know we'd be together before summer?"

"Because if the two of you hadn't worked things out, I was going to handcuff y'all together," Eva said, laughing.

Josie giggled. "I'll tell him to keep a few cold ones set aside for ya."

"Thanks!" Eva waved and walked to the end of the long row of houses, following the tubes until she ended up standing in front of a large panel.

Carefully, she pulled on the door and let it swing open. She stuck her head in and looked up then down. In the large opening were three pipes. She stepped back and looked around. She pulled her handheld out. "Hey, Meryn."

"Menace. Over."

"What?"

"I'm Menace. Over."

"I know you're a menace," Eva said, laughing.

"No. That's my code name, you're BattleKitty. And you have to say over. Over."

Eva pulled back the handheld and stared at it. She lifted it back up to her mouth. "BattleKitty?"

"Yes, it's perfect for you. Over."

Eva rubbed the space between her eyebrows. "Menace, what did you say earlier about the feral. Something about opportunity."

"Well, BattleKitty, I don't have much to go on since you can't really establish a pattern with two incidents..."

"Meryn!"

"Right, all I was thinking was that the murders happened kinda close together at the edge of the Grand Hall and Marketplace, like he grabbed whoever was closest or something. Over."

Eva looked around. She jogged past the house to where the development began. On her left was a tent with yellow tape; it was where they Brian's body. There was a similar investigation tent set up around the spot where Emily and John had been found. She turned and noticed another panel in the wall.

"Menace, do you have a map of the city showing utility lines?" Eva asked.

"Yup, hold on, I'll send it to you. Why, whatcha doin'? Over."

"Just checkin' on something." Eva pulled out her phone and waited. After a minute, she was notified that she had received a new email. She opened the document and studied it.

If she was reading this correctly, the utility panels ran uninterrupted in a straight line down below the city. She ran back to the panel at the end of the houses. She looked down; it was pitch black.

Damn.

She ran over to Josie's new front door and knocked. Josie opened it and smiled. "Two visits in one day? You must have missed me."

Eva forced a smile. "Hey, in all the stuff the vampires gave you, you wouldn't by chance have a flashlight would ya?"

Josie nodded. "Two in fact. It is kinda dark around here." Josie turned and disappeared into the house. She came back a minute later carrying a standard flashlight and one attached to an elastic band.