Chapter Five
Toby
He couldn’t believe his luck as he stared at Remy, who had caught up with him as he was trudging to the waiting Uber he’d summoned to take him home.
The glass of fizz he’d drunk had hit fast without any food in his belly.
And there was all the exercise from squishing the enormous balloon to get the air out and rolling it back into the bag.
“Really, you’re offering me another balloon ride in the morning?
” It didn’t seem real, and with the giddiness of the champagne and all the possibilities of trying again to see if he could find his mate, Toby didn’t want to get his hopes up.
They’d already gotten dashed this evening, as much as he’d had a wonderful time, before they’d landed.
I’m not doing this again. My feathers are still ruffled, his bird was adamant.
“Absolutely, you didn’t seem to enjoy this evening balloon ride as much as the others.” Remy glanced at the emptying car park. “You also didn’t complain about the bumpy landing.” He chuckled, abashed.
Toby suspected that by how pale Remy was when they exited the balloon to help store it away, he’d not been prepared for the bumpy—hard—landing. Surely that meant it hadn’t been like that before.
“I’ll give you my place in the balloon, and you’ll get to experience the flight at sunrise. I have to say it was my favorite,” Remy enthused.
He was so fervent, and it seemed that the landing was a fluke, and Toby took his good fortune and grabbed the offer with both hands—metaphorically speaking, of course—nodding.
“Thanks, if you’re sure, then yes, I’d love to do it again.
” How Toby would get Niall to open the café in the morning might take a little more effort.
Don’t forget the wind!
His bird sounded hopeful it would be an issue while Remy handed over the details and checked he had the number to ring at eleven pm to confirm the flight like he’d done today. Staying up late wasn’t going to be an issue, he was so excited he’d be lucky to get any sleep at all.
“—I’ll see you then.” Remy turned, lifting a hand in a wave, heading back to where a car sat.
A blare of a horn reminded Toby that his Uber was waiting. He got in and apologized as he closed the door. Toby had his phone out and chewed his thumbnail, considering whether texting or ringing Niall was the best option.
He opened his phone and dialed Niall. Belly dancing with jumping beans, Niall answered after the second ring. “How did it go?”
“It was amazing.” It was the truth, when up in the air, he’d never wanted to come back down.
“I’m sensing a but?” There was a sound of movement before he continued, “Tell me why you’re ringing me rather than waiting to tell me face to face?”
His friend knew him too well. “Remy offered me another balloon ride in the morning,” he rushed to say.
“Why? What happened? Did you get hurt?” Niall’s voice was creeping up in octaves.
“It was a little jarring on the landing, but nothing bad, no one got hurt.” He probably had bruises on his ass, but he kept that to himself. “Remy said because I didn’t moan about that, if I wanted, I could have his place in the morning.”
“That’s the only reason?”
Niall was skeptical, Toby could hear it, and he sighed a little dejectedly. “He felt I didn’t enjoy it the same as the others. I did,” Toby added quickly, not wanting Niall to think his money was wasted. “The alphas…”
“Assholes, all of them, if they couldn’t see what a fabulous catch you are.”
Toby chuckled at Niall’s outrage on his behalf without him saying what happened. “It wasn’t just that, I suppose I was disappointed that I didn’t meet my mate,” he confessed, because this was one of his best friends and he’d understand and not judge Toby.
A big sigh came down the phone. “I’ll cover for you in the morning so you can do the sunrise flight, okay.”
Toby sniffed back the sudden rush of tears. “You’re the best.”
“I know. So, tell me everything.”
Toby was sick with excitement, and that was probably also because he’d eaten late the night before and hadn’t really slept after Pierre had once more confirmed that there would be a balloon flight. His bird half had squawked and flapped its displeasure for hours after.
None of it was deterring Toby as he dressed much as he had the evening before.
It wasn’t like any of those people were coming this morning.
He’d a fresh T-shirt under his zip-up hoodie and, of course, clean underwear.
He had a go cup of coffee in his hand as he waited once more at the curb for the Uber.
The unknown from the day before was gone, which allowed him to settle as the Uber drove through nearly empty, dark streets heading back to the same launch site.
A smile tugged at his lips, seeing that he was one of the first to arrive fifteen minutes later.
He exited the car eagerly, waving at Remy, before heading to the restrooms to pee.
There wasn’t going to be a repeat of the day before.
He’d had to pee behind an apple tree after the landing.
Not ideal, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be lucky enough to find a tree this morning, so he wasn’t taking any chances.
He didn’t want to think about another hard landing or the possibility of wet pants.
This is a blessing.
Not on your life, is it!
Honestly, you need to stop. You’ll ruin it for me if we continue to argue.
His bird made a noise which, to him, was all huff but then went quiet.
Sorting himself, he washed his hands and tucked the empty go cup under his arm.
When he reached the growing crowd, he sought Remy out, sniffing his way through the crowd as the sky lightened.
Absolutely hating the gathering ball of disappointment forming at what his senses were telling him, despite how lucky he was to be doing this again, and for free.
“Good to see you, Toby.”
“Hey, I was wondering if I could leave my go cup with you? If you don’t mind.”
“Of course. I’ll pop it in my car to keep it safe for your return.” Remy took the cup. “Are you excited?”
Toby’s nod was automatic, and he had to focus on keeping the smile bright when the last two people joined the group, and neither was his mate.
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.
“You wait, when the sun comes up, it’ll be spectacular.”
“I’m sure it will.”
Someone called Remy’s name, and he was off, Toby’s cup in his hand. He smiled at those around him, again putting his best foot forward.
Unlike the day before, he didn’t need to help.
Others were far more eager to jump in before Toby could open his mouth.
So, he watched from the sidelines, did some filming to share with his friends that he’d not been able to do the day before.
That perked him up when he captured the balloon float high into the sky, and righted the basket. It was truly amazing.
“Right, climb in, Toby, you’re here with Dan, Bill, and Horris,” Remy directed before Pierre could.
He had to grin when he noticed he was the only omega in the basket. It soon disappeared when all three men talked among themselves, boasting about other adventures they’d been on.
Toby found he didn’t mind as the balloon took flight, and he focused once more on the sky changing color.
Capturing it with his camera, but mainly he rested his chin on the back of his hands, being in the moment.
He didn’t know where the contentment came from all of a sudden, but a sense that this was exactly how it should be, him alone, came and stayed.
They flew in a different direction this time, and before long, Toby was squinting at something on the ground in the distance. It looked like someone had painted crosses across extensive areas of land. Why would someone do that?
He noticed the basket lowering, heading straight for where the crosses were. He glanced at Pierre and witnessed the pinched look that reminded Toby of a spiteful bird about to peck someone’s eye out.
“I don’t think they want anything landing on their land,” Toby spoke up to be heard above the blast of flames.
Pierre never even looked at him.
“Yeah, Pierre I don’t think those are welcome crosses,” said Bill loudly. “You need to go a bit further out to where there’s nothing on the ground.”
“I know what I’m doing!” Pierre snapped. “I told you, you don’t need to worry. I’ll deal with the farmer.”
Oh shit.
Bill shared a look of concern with everyone in their basket as it lowered and looked to be heading right for one of the large crosses.
“Everyone, sit down,” Pierre demanded, “and brace as shown.”
Aware that it could be bumpy, Toby was prepared…or so he thought.
Nothing prepared him for the basket to hit something at an odd angle and jerk the thing sideways, landing on the corner Toby was sitting in.
If he thought the last landing before was bad, it was nothing compared to this, as the palms of both hands holding on to the rope ripped open as the rope burned away the skin with the force of the basket's wild jerking.
He screamed out in pain, and led by the burning, let go without any thought other than stopping any further damage to his hands. Only they continued to bounce unceremoniously over the very bumpy ground, firing him right out of the basket.
It was a more fleeting thing as he witnessed alarmed faces as he flew out, giving no one a chance to help him, and with no time to shift, he hit the ground faster than the basket. He tried to tuck himself into a ball, only his head bounced off the lumpy ground.
His bird screamed something he didn’t understand when the agony exploded behind his eyes, and the world went white, then black, before he lost consciousness.