SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (26 page)

“
He made me swear I wouldn
’
t hold you back, Cloud. That
’
s why I dropped you. If you wanted me
half as much as I wanted you and I handled it so badly. If I
’
d only said something...

“
I found where you hid your dinner last
night,
”
Soar interrupts himself as he
holds the cloth on her forehead. He
’
s
right. She
’
d have given up on her dream
for a male, the last thing she thought she wanted, but for this male she
’
d give up everything.

“
Yeah, what else did Talon say?
”

“
That was it.
”

Soar pushes her lids up further and Cloud
winces at the extra light streaming in.

“
Badly bloodshot, you been crying?
”

“
I don
’
t cry.
”

“
You did,
”
he
whispers and kisses the tip of her nose.

Soar unties the make-shift sling and
immobilizes her wing with one hand as he keeps her steady with the other.

“
Look, you
’
re going to draw your wings in and I
’
m going to carry you home.
”

“
Not
yet,
”
Cloud moans. The feeling in
her legs fades and she isn
’
t so sure she has the focus to
shift. She no longer detects the rabbit smell although the little body sits
next to them and the movement of the living forest comes to her in bits and
pieces.
“
There
’
s more to my magic than trust, Soar, and
I think it
’
ll cost me yours.
”

He barely looks up as he explores her
torn muscles. The smell of infection reaches her nose as air gets under her
wing. Infection and something far nastier she
’
d once scented from a sealed trunk in
Master Sky
’
s den. She turns aside and he
forgets about what
’
s under her wing as he holds
her still. Yellow bile from her empty stomach pools in the grass.

“
Wings,
”
he insists.
“
Now.
”

“
Wait, I can make gryphons do things,
Soar. With my magic I can make them.
”

“
Uh
huh.
”

Cloud
's lips tingle and she sags.

“
Have you ever used it on me?
”

He rubs the back of her neck with the
towel.

“
Our first time. I wanted you to be the
one and you wouldn
’
t have if you didn
’
t want it too. You just needed a little
nudge.
”

“
We
’
ll talk about that later, Cloud,
”
he mumbles in a pinched voice. Cloud's
shame deepens as his trust in her weakens then fails.

“
It
’
s my fault,
”
he
shakes his head. The admission, however, doesn
’
t bring back any of his trust in her.
“
Oh damn, Cloud.
”

Through her blurring vision, Cloud can
see he holds something long in his hand. Two? Three? Might be one in her double
vision.

“
Feathers, Cloud,
”
he moans.
“
You
’
re losing flight feathers.
”

But something above catches her eye. Gold
and green lights wrapped in shadow appear above the trees.

“
Pretty,
”
she murmurs as everything goes black.

“
Huh?
”
Soar
asks.

Lost flight feathers are far from pretty.
A gryphon can lose one but three on one wing could ground her and if the others
are just as close to falling out then she isn
’
t safe airborne on her own. Not that she
’
s in any shape for flying; her left wing
is three-quarters the size it should be and the remaining feathers have lost
their sheen.

But it
’
s too late for an answer. Cloud's
unconscious body weighs him down and three gryphons wearing the blood red
leathers of the Council
’
s Will alight next to the
campervan. Beneath his feathers, Con hides his dragonkin form.

Soar doesn
’
t know the others.

I don
’
t have time for this.

The big red-haired one in front can only
be Fury, Master of the Council
’
s Will. If seen alone one
could mistake Fury for being squat but he
’
s
over seven feet tall so squat makes him as broad as a truck. Con stands to his
right and a female Soar doesn
’
t know is to his left. Her
long blonde hair, severely drawn back from her symmetrical features and full
lips make Soar think she has it in for him. Fury
’
s wild red beard and unkempt hair glitter
with gold and silver ornaments. His double-bladed axe must weigh sixty pounds.

He
’
s
the gryphon the Will sends if you
’
re in deep, deep trouble and
that isn
’
t what Con suggested three
days earlier.

“
Master Fury,
”
Soar bows as deeply as
he can considering he clutches Cloud in his lap.

“
Gryphon,
”
Fury nods then he turns
to Cloud.
“
Is this the female?
”

Con nods.

“
She
’
s injured,
”
Fury says as he kneels
and reaches to touch Cloud.

Soar turns away with his mate and growls;
his body instinctively protecting her while his mind tries to tell him to
submit. Her fever has to be more than a hundred and five and Soar sweats under
his wings from holding her. With effort, he turns and allows Fury to touch
Cloud
’
s forehead.

“
We escaped Calgary during a thunder
—”

“
I
’
m aware,
”
Fury inhales, his nose
nearly on Cloud
’
s shoulder then he pries one
of her eyes open. Even in a few minutes they are more red than before.
“
This is a dragonkin sickness.
”

“
The only dragon she
’
s been around is Con and he never got
close to her.
”

“
Dragonkin,
”
Fury corrects.
“
There are no dragons around here. Show me
the injury.
”

“
Damn it.
”

Fury should let Soar take her to the
river to deal with the fever. Instead he removes the sling.

“
Bees?
”
Fury asks as he peers
under her wing. He looks Soar over. A fresh set of stings from the morning
’
s foraging cover both his arms.

“
Field medicine,
”
Soar explains but Fury
should know that already. Soar gets a glimpse of the three boils that are more
like black pus filled blisters. Each two inches mass throbs exactly where he
’
d administered the venom.

“
The venom reacts with her blood and
creates toxins,
”
Fury draws a knife.
“
The toxins are killing her.
”

“
No!
”
Soar tries to grab her.

“
You want me to help her,
”
Fury
’
s voice stops Soar. Of course he wants
her helped and in spite of Fury's strong will, Soar forces himself to allow
Fury to use the knife. The boils rupture with a hiss. Toxins squirt onto the
grass leaving it blackened and smoking.

“
Tell my sibling we
’
re
coming,
”
Fury tells Con. Con bows and
disappears up into the trees.

“
Wait, coming where?
”
Soar
demands.
“
I have to bring the fever
down.
”

Soar grabs Cloud and pulls his arm back,
shocked by the painful sting her fever causes his palm. Why doesn
’
t she burn Fury?

“
She needs more heat, not less, Master
Soar. If she were healthy she could withstand a sting but she isn't and has
three. My sister can treat this and if you
’
re coming with us then you have a minute
to get your gear on or be left behind.
”

Soar can
’
t fight or argue because he can't heal
her. He wants to turn and protest but he
’
s
already pulling on his leather trousers as his body moves without instruction
from his mind. As he laces up his tunic and straps on his knives he wonders if
all mated males are so completely dopey.

“
I will bear Cloud through the portal,
”
Fury says as Soar ties the last knot on
his armour.
“
Flay will carry you.
”

“
Who?
”
Soar turns as the female
nods.

She
’
s carrying me?

“
Where are we going?
”

“
Skyfall, Master Soar,
”
Fury stands proudly.
Cloud is small in his arms. Even from across the remains of their campfire Soar
feels the heat of her fever.
“
You shall be a guest of the
Dragonkin.
”

“
I hope our
guest
is delicious,
”
Flay comments as she looks Soar over.  Is
she flirting or does she plan on eating him?

Maybe both.

Flay and Fury turn and take off and Fury
’
s shout booms out ahead. Soar, speechless
again, beats away from the clearing in pursuit.

Stories Soar remembers of Skyfall, the dragonkin
city, place it on every continent. Other than Con, who never went beyond
proving his drunken admission of being a dragonkin with a drunker albeit brief
shift to dragonkin form, Soar knows nothing of them at all.

Except the Council
’
s Will is full of them and you can
’
t resist their command, even if it
’
s to slice your own throat open.

Then Soar defied Con, hadn
’
t he? He knew Con's will should have
forced a truthful answer and he outright lied to him. Instead of admitting Sky
’
s complicity he denied involvement of
anyone but Hunter.