Chapter 19 #2
Ever twists in her seat, and I’m so desperate for a glimpse of her face, I don’t immediately register the weapon in her hand.
She pulls the trigger, and a net comes spiraling out of the short barrel.
It’s not big enough to ground me, but it’s plenty big enough to slap me in the face and slow me down.
With an enraged roar, I claw through the net, just in time to see her slip into the ravine behind the other flier.
I swoop up and back, looking for a point of entry, but the ravine is too thin for me to fit into.
I expand my wings, forcing myself to slow down and solve the problem.
I hover in the air, each forceful flap of my wings coaxing dust into the air.
The ravine is filled with black?.?.?. logs maybe?
It’s hard to say, but when I drift lower, it definitely looks as though someone has dropped charred trunks throughout the gorge, making it difficult to pass through.
I study Ever as she slowly navigates her flier through the debris field.
She’s careful not to touch anything, allowing herself to only go at a snail’s pace in some of the more crowded junctures.
I survey the ravine and identify a good spot to pluck her from this laughably slothful escape attempt.
Anticipation prods my patience, and I can’t tell if I want time to slow down or speed up as Ever closes in on my ambush spot.
She’s ten feet away?.?.?. eight?.?.?. six.
She guides her flier over a particularly wide log, and my scales ripple with the need to strike.
Now! I shout at myself and drop like a meteor from the sky.
Her helmeted head snaps up, and I swear I can hear a muffled scream when I reach a clawed hand into the ravine to grab her.
Only my palm doesn’t wrap around her body—it clutches hot metal and thin leather instead.
Everything slows when I look down to see my mate leaping through the air, arms stretched and reaching for the hand of the other flier in front of her.
The person in muddy-green riding gear leans back to catch my mate, and several things happen at once.
The empty flier I’m clutching crashes into the black trunks directly in front of it.
The other person catches Ever, but just barely, and the front of their flier clips one of the rocky walls with a damning crunch.
I try to pull my hand from the ravine to reach for the duo before they can gain any momentum trying to get away, but something alarmingly grabs onto my hand, and I can’t pull it free.
Startled, I look down, prepared to set whatever it is on fire, but freeze when I realize it isn’t an animal that has me—it’s the black logs, only they’re not logs at all now that they’ve curled themselves around my wrist. I pull with all my might, but it only causes more dark limbs to secure themselves around me.
Fuck!
Desperately, I watch Ever and the other flier slowly making their way farther down the ravine, and I snarl at them.
Ever turns to watch me, and I can feel the self-satisfaction radiating off her.
She brings a hand to her helmet and mimes blowing me a kiss before she straightens in her seat and wraps her arms around the torso of the male in front of her.
Outrage overcomes me, and I swing my body around to try and knock them from their flier with my tail.
I miss by mere feet, and all they feel is an angry breeze instead of my wrath.
Ever doesn’t acknowledge the swipe in any way, and I know I’m on the brink of losing it if she slips away from me again.
“ Tove! I need you! ” I shout through the red haze taking over.
“ I’m on my way. What’s wrong? ” she frantically replies.
“ I think a plant is trying to eat me, and if you can’t make it stop, I’m about to go into a frenzy, ” I warn, and the silence that meets that statement is anything but encouraging.
“ Describe it, ” Tove orders, and I hurry to do just that.
“ Aeson, whatever you do, don’t struggle, and don’t light it on fire.
Judging by the extensive root system and the carnivorous vibes it’s giving off, I’m pretty sure you just stuck your hand in a Scream Eater.
If you try to scorch it, cut it, rip it apart, or anything else that exposes its xylem, it will release a gas that will knock you out so it can eat you in peace.
I’ll be there in three minutes. Do not do anything until I get there. ”
Easy for her to say—she’s not watching her Bonded race away with her arms wrapped around another male.
The black stems—or maybe they’re leaves—currently choking my wrist slowly move up my forearm, and I force myself not to fight it.
Fabric brushes across my palm as I loosen my grip on the flier in my fist. I notice it’s a pack of some sort.
Ever’s pack, I realize. Slowly, carefully, I bring my thumb over the seat so I’m not holding onto the downed vehicle anymore, but instead, I’m gripping the pack.
I relax when my measured movement doesn’t seem to trigger the plant in any way.
That’s of course when the flier I just let go of tilts and the engine catches one of the black trunks and rips it open.
I have seconds to hold my breath and lift my head as high as it will go before a sickly brown vapor plumes from the injured stem and begins to rise.
My desperate gaze finds Ever again, and I watch helplessly as her flier slowly soars out of the ravine and races off.
I refuse to look away, even as my vision tunnels and my lungs scream for air.
Internally I claw at our bond, packing it with all the fury and despair radiating through me, but there’s no answer.
My soul begs for her to look back, but she doesn’t, and once again I have no choice but to watch as my Bonded runs from me.