29. Tark
Chapter 29
Tark
T he basket of food I'd collected from the fridge hit the ground. I didn’t even register it slipping from my fingers.
Gracie.
Someone had stolen Gracie. Her parents? Over the last few days, she'd confessed that they were trying to make her go back to the reality show and how sad this made her feel. I'd wanted to storm to wherever they were and make them leave her alone, but she'd told me she worried they'd hurt me. I'd reluctantly agreed to let this go. She said she’d handle it.
But now they were taking my mate from me.
My world burned white-hot with fury. Another bellow tore from my chest, shaking the air, sending birds from every rooftop away in a flurry of flapping wings. I lunged forward, my boots pounding against dirt, every step fueled by a need so primal it swallowed all my thoughts. I sprinted, my heart a fist punching against my ribs, catching up with Sharga, who landed on my shoulder and clung.
The vehicle kicked up dust, its tires screeching as it sped toward the open road. Too fast. I wouldn't catch it on foot.
I bellowed for Castree.
The sorhox’s head snapped up from across the pasture, her body tensing, her nostrils flaring. Her gaze met mine, and she tore forward, her hooves kicking up ground, her powerful legs propelling her toward me with incredible speed.
The moment she drew close, I sprang, grabbing her horn on this side and using her speed and leverage to swing myself onto her back.
“Go!” I snarled, pointing toward the vehicle.
Castree surged under me, thundering forward, the force of her gallop rattling my tusks. Sharga clung to my shoulder, crying, “Get ‘em!”
I leaned low, squeezing my thighs tight, letting my body sync with Castree’s movements.
The car loomed ahead. We were gaining on it.
The town vanished behind us, swallowed by dust. All that mattered was the shrinking gap between me and that cursed metal box. That fragile, flimsy human cage holding my Gracie.
The wind howled against my ears, tugging my hat loose, sending it flying. I didn’t care.
Faster. Faster.
My pulse kept pace with Castree’s pounding hooves.
Closer now.
The back bumper bobbed within reach, the vehicle jolting as it hit a rough patch in the dirt road. My grip tightened on Castree’s hide.
One wrong move, one mistimed leap, and I'd go flying. I didn't care. Gracie was inside, and I would save her.
I guided Castree alongside the car, my eyes locked onto my target.
“Fly, Sharga,” I bellowed, and he lifted off me, his wings flapping furiously.
Now. I sucked in a deep breath and coaxed Castree with a nudge of my heels into one last powerful stride?—
And I leaped.
The world blurred, time stretching. A heartbeat of weightlessness, and I made impact, my body smacking down on the flat front of the vehicle, the metal crunching beneath me.
The car bucked, swerving in one direction then the next. I braced my legs, gripping the edges of the frame. The humans inside screamed.
Good. I wanted them scared.
I peeled my lips back, baring my tusks in a snarl. My fingers dug into the metal, denting it like soft clay.
They had seconds to let her go or I’d tear this thing apart with my bare hands.
I dug my fingers into the car’s hood, holding on as the vehicle lurched from side to side. The beast inside the metal below my belly whined. The rubber wheels ground against the dirt road.
I twisted, bracing my boots against the crumpled metal, and slammed my fist down. The glass between us cracked. My instincts screamed at me to rip it clean off, yank them both from their seats, and grind their bones into the dust.
Gracie’s face appeared behind the glass, her eyes wide, her hands holding the back of the seat tight. She shouted something I couldn’t hear through the wind, the roaring blood in my ears, and Sharga’s squawks nearby.
The car surged. I slid sideways, gripping the frame as the vehicle spun a wild turn down a narrow path I knew led nowhere, nearly clipping a fence post.
A hard slam from the brakes jolted me forward. I dug my heels in and clung.
With a bellow, I reared back my fist and struck the glass again. More cracks appeared in the surface. Another punch, and the glass gave way, showering the people inside.
The man I took for Gracie’s father barked something to her mother. My eyes burned as I caught his expression—panicked, furious, desperate. He yanked the wheel, sending the vehicle skidding out into the deep grass on the side of the sorhox trail.
The woman screamed.
“Tark, hold on,” Gracie cried, her hands tightening, her arms bracing.
I'd barely registered the words before the car plunged into a ditch we'd dug for drainage.
My body launched forward, and a bone-rattling jolt slammed through me. Then I was flying through the air, bucked off the metal beast.
I twisted, my body snapping into a hard roll as I hit the dirt. The impact sent me skidding through the grass, but I stayed loose, absorbing the fall. My momentum slowed, and I dug my hands into the ground, flipping onto my feet.
The car sat tilted in the ditch, its front shoved into the dirt.
With a clang, the rear door burst open, and Gracie spilled out, coughing. Her knees hit the ground, her hands slapping the tall grass.
Relief and rage twisted together inside me.
I bolted toward her, faster than I’d ever moved, my boots eating the distance. Before she had the chance to rise, I was there, lifting her up and holding her against my chest, my arms wrapping around her.
Sharga landed on my shoulder, but I was barely aware of him arriving.
Gracie gasped, running her hands up and down my arms. “Are you alright?”
“Fine.” I buried my face in her hair, inhaling deeply. She smelled like dust and sunlight and Gracie. Mine.
“Did they hurt you?” I snarled.
She pulled back and looked up at me. “No. I’m okay.”
The fire in my chest dimmed, but only a bit. I checked her over once, twice, making sure she truly wasn't injured. Aside from dirt on her knees and panic in her eyes, she appeared whole.
Her father groaned, pushing the car door open. My head snapped up. His eyes locked onto Gracie like she was still something he believed he could claim.
A growl rumbled in my chest. I eased around my mate and stepped forward, every muscle coiled, my body a wall between him and my mate.
Gracie’s fingers tightened around my wrist.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “It’s over. They lost.”
I stared back at her, her eyes still full of lingering fear but also something fierce.
She was right. They’d lost. They had no power here. Not anymore.
I turned back to her father, letting myself stand to full height, letting him feel every bit of the looming presence I cast.
Sharga soared off Tark’s shoulder, dive bombing her father’s face.