Chapter 41
Wren
Grim shifts and the roof tears away like paper. Half the wall comes down in a shower of debris that rains down around us. I throw my arms up instinctively, trying to shield myself, but I don’t need to.
Grim sweeps his wing over Falkor and me, creating a protective shelter. Chunks of ceiling bounce off the leathery membrane above our heads.
I almost forget all about the mind-bond thing when his dragon crashes into my consciousness like a tidal wave, filling every corner of my thoughts. There’s no keeping him out this time. No mental wall strong enough to hold him back.
The bond snaps into place with such force that I gasp, going down onto my knees.
Mine.
Wren mine.
His voice roars through my head. It’s not words exactly. More like emotions and images and raw, primal instinct, all compressed into something I can somehow understand.
He’s frantic. The need to protect us consumes him so completely that I feel it as if it’s my own emotion.
And beneath that, there’s rage. Pure, molten fury at the males outside who dare to threaten us. He wants to attack. Wants to incinerate every single one of them until nothing but ash remains.
He wants to kill.
“No!” I scream. “Take Falkor and me away from here,” I command. “Do it now!”
I’m not sure who he grabs first, but in the next second, a massive talon closes around me with surprising gentleness. I should be used to this by now, but I’m not. My stomach lurches as I’m lifted off my feet. Through the chaos, I see another talon wrapped around Falkor.
Then we’re shooting upward through the destroyed roof.
The acceleration is brutal. My head snaps back. The ground falls away so fast that my vision swims.
Gunfire erupts below us.
The crack of automatic weapons fills the air. The bullets strike in dull thuds and metallic pings as they hit Grim’s scales.
Terror floods through me. I might be angry with Grim, but that doesn’t mean I want anything to happen to him.
Grim angles his body, twisting mid-flight so that his bulk is between us and the Mainland Security forces.
There’s more gunfire. I’m not sure if any more bullets find their target.
I hope not. Grim doesn’t make a sound, doesn’t so much as slow down.
He just keeps climbing, keeps putting distance between us and the danger below.
The world becomes a blur of speed and motion. The house shrinks below us. The security vehicles look like toys. The men firing at us become tiny dots.
And then they’re gone.
We’re so high, moving so fast, that I can’t do anything but hold on to consciousness by a thread.
Everything starts to fade, and it goes black. I’m not sure how much time passes before I come to, but we’re far above the clouds.
The world is nothing but endless white below us and brilliant blue above. The sun is so bright it hurts my eyes. The air is thin and cold, stealing the breath from my lungs.
Nausea rolls through me in violent waves.
I’m going to be sick.
I swallow hard, forcing it down. My head is pounding. My stomach is in revolt. Every part of me wants to curl into a ball and never move again.
But I can’t.
Through my blurred vision, I see Falkor in Grim’s other talon. The old male is completely limp, his head lolling to the side. His eyes are closed.
Fear pierces through my nausea.
Please be okay.
He looks so pale. I push through the sick feeling, through the fear, reaching out with the bond. It’s still so new, so strange. Like flexing a muscle I never knew I had.
Grim’s presence floods my mind again, and this time I don’t fight it. Instead, I let it wash over me, let myself feel the connection between us.
“Take us to Eldra’s house.” The words are swept away by the wind rushing past.
I don’t even know who Eldra is. I have to trust that Grim knows what he’s doing. He might have lied to me, but he has never done anything to put any of us in danger. If he thinks that Eldra is somewhere safe for Falkor, then that’s where we’re headed.
Grim’s dragon makes a deep, rumbling noise and banks hard, changing direction. The sudden shift makes my stomach lurch all over again, but I grit my teeth and hold on.
We pick up even more speed. The clouds blur past us. My eyes water from the wind.
Then we’re dropping like a stone.
My stomach shoots up into my throat. A scream tears from my chest, but the sound is ripped away by the rushing air. We’re falling so fast that everything becomes a smear of color and motion.
I’m going to die. We’re all going to die. This is it.
At the last possible second, Grim slows. His massive wings snap out, catching the air. The deceleration is almost as violent as the fall, but it works.
We hover just a few feet above the ground, grass and wildflowers swaying beneath us from the wind created by his wings. There is a house right next to us. We must be at Eldra’s home. I lift my head and note that there are more houses nearby.
He opens one talon.
Falkor drops onto the grass below with a soft thump. He doesn’t move.
“Falkor!” I try to scream his name, but we’re already shooting back into the sky.
Grim’s dragon skyrockets upward with terrifying speed. My vision tunnels. Black spots dance at the edges.
“To the Vaccination Center.” I’m not sure I even say it. In fact, I doubt I do, since I’m barely holding onto consciousness.
Our bond pulses. I know he heard me because he banks sharply, and my world goes black again.
I’m shocked awake by the sound of gunfire.
My eyes snap open. We’re descending toward what’s left of the Vaccination Center. I recognize the parking lot and the temporary tent structure Drake spoke of.
Weapons swivel in our direction. Muzzle flashes light up the late afternoon.
Bullets pepper Grim’s scales once again. He twists his body, angling himself so that I’m protected. I hear each impact. Feel his body jerk with the force of them.
We descend rapidly. Grim uses his free talon to slash through the blue tarp covering the same hole he created when he rescued me days ago.
The tarp tears away with a sharp ripping sound.
Movement in the sky draws my attention in that direction. It’s two dragons, both with riders on their backs, and they’re closing in fast.
Grim screeches, and the sound is pure rage. It vibrates through my chest, through my bones, through the bond connecting us. I feel his fury as if it’s my own.
“Put me down,” I tell him through the bond, pushing the thought at him as hard as I can. “I need to get that phone. Put me down!”
He doesn’t want to. I can feel his resistance, his desperate need to keep me close, keep me safe.
“Now, Grim! Please!”
He drops down through the hole in the roof.
We’re barely inside when he opens his talon. I fall five or six feet, but it feels like more. I hit the ground, my ankle twisting beneath me. I roll, trying to absorb the impact.
Pain shoots up my leg. I bite back a cry.
Above me, Grim disappears back through the roof.
The sounds of battle fill the air. There are screeches of pure rage echoing through the sky. The snap and crack of scales colliding. The whoosh of wings beating the air.
I scramble to my feet, wincing at the pain in my ankle. No time to worry about it now.
I half-run, half-limp to the cabinet where I last saw my phone disappear. My hands shake as I drop to my knees, pressing my cheek against the dirty tile floor to look underneath.
My heart sinks because there’s nothing there.
Disappointment crashes over me. We’ve gone through all the danger for nothing.
It can’t be.
I get up and take another look from the other side. And there it is.
Excitement surges through me, momentarily overriding the fear and pain.
The phone is all the way in the corner, wedged behind the leg of the cabinet where it meets the wall. That’s why I couldn’t see it before. The shadows there are deep, and the phone is small.
I reach for it, stretching my arm as far as it will go, and my fingertips brush the edge of the case.
I stretch farther, grunting with the effort. Pain shoots through my twisted ankle, but I ignore it.
My arm isn’t long enough.
Crap!
I try to squeeze myself farther under the cabinet, but there’s no room. The gap between the floor and the bottom of the furniture is too small. My shoulders won’t fit.
Maybe I can move the cabinet. I stand and then brace myself and push, but the heavy piece of furniture doesn’t budge. Not even an inch.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Above me, the dragons continue to fight. There’s screeching. Grim is angry…but he’s also afraid…and not for himself. He doesn’t want to hurt the other dragons.
I have no time to think about it because there is a noise from the front of the building that makes me freeze. It’s footsteps, and they’re coming this way.
Someone is coming. They will know I am here.
I crawl toward what’s left of the reception desk as quietly as I can, my heart hammering inside me. Then I slide under the broken desk just as a figure appears in the doorway. There’s a spot just big enough for me to fit. If he so much as bends down, he’ll see me.
Shit!
This almost feels like a reenactment of the other day…only this time I might not get so lucky.
It’s a security guard. From his smaller stature, I think he’s from the Mainland, which is good for me, since he won’t have enhanced senses. He’s holding an automatic rifle, the barrel sweeping the destroyed clinic as he advances.
I press myself to the floor, making myself as small as possible. My breath comes in short, shallow gasps that I try desperately to keep quiet.
Please don’t see me.
“I know you’re in here,” the guard calls out, his voice echoing through the ruined space. He sounds calm. Like he does this every day. “There’s no point hiding. This building is surrounded. There’s no way out.”
He takes a step forward. Then another.
“You might as well give yourself up now,” he continues. “Make this easy on yourself. No one else needs to get hurt today.”
Every instinct screams at me to run, but there’s nowhere to go. He’s between me and the only exit. And even if I could get past him, there are more security forces outside.
I’m trapped.
Grim has his hands full with two dragon shifters he is reluctant to hurt, never mind kill.
The guard moves deeper into the clinic, his boots crunching on debris. He’s checking behind overturned furniture. Working his way methodically through the space.
It’s only a matter of time before he checks under what’s left of the reception desk.
Overhead, the dragon battle intensifies. Something slams into the roof, making the entire building shudder. Dust and small bits of debris rain down.
The guard doesn’t even flinch. He just keeps searching.
“Grim,” I reach out desperately through the bond. “Grim, I’m in trouble.”
I feel a surge of rage and protective fury. I also feel his frustration.
He can’t get to me. Not yet.
I need to do something. I need to think.
The guard is getting closer. He’s just a few feet away from my hiding spot. He’s going to find me, and then I’m done for.