Page 183 of Of Masks and Fury

The words settled the restlessness in my chest, and I tugged her around, settling her on my lap.

“You’re going to reopen your wounds,” she said, but she didn’t pull away.

“Worth it.” I kissed her with all the need and gratitude and bone-deep love racing through me. When I pulled back, we were both breathing harder.

Pain radiated from my shoulder and belly, a constant reminder of how close I’d come to leaving her. But beneath the pain, something stronger blazed, the fierce satisfaction of knowing she believed in me.

Clouds moved in as the afternoon wore on, the sky shading like old bruises.

I guided Lakast in wide arcs, searching for any sign of the sanctuary Marlane had created. Beside us, Derren and Lexie flew Kyreth, while Kerralyn rode Wairen slightly behind.

Our companions rode with us, perched on shoulders or laps like sentinels.

I was studying the ground when Gavelle’s alarm shot through my mind.Above. Many. Danger.

Winged creatures descended, huge birds with wingspans wider than a man was tall, their feathers the deep blue-black of a moonless night. Their eyes gleamed with more intelligence than I liked.

“Watch out,” I shouted, already pulling my sword free. The movement sent pain lancing through my shoulder, but I ignored it.

The first bird dove at us, its talons extended. Lakast rolled, and I swung my blade in an arc that caught the creature across its breast. Blood sprayed, but it kept coming.

Isi’s blade flashed past my shoulder, driving into a bird’s eye. It shrieked and fell away, tumbling toward the wasteland below.

“Nicely done,” I said.

“Watch your right.”

Another bird dove toward us, angling its approach to avoid Lakast’s flames. I leaned out, ignoring the protest from my wounds, and caught it across the wing joint. Bone cracked, and it spiraled away.

Around us, the others fought. Kyreth’s flames incinerated two birds at once. Levar, in dragon form, caught one in his jaws and shook it like a toy before flinging the corpse away.

They swarmed us in waves, coordinated attacks that spoke of strategy. These weren’t mindless beasts. Someone was directing them.

The realization hit like a sword in my chest. Had the creatures in the wasteland who’d nearly killed me been sent too? Were we being herded? Tracked across the entire wasteland while we searched for a place we weren’t even certain existed?

We needed to find Marlane’s sanctuary before whoever was hunting us figured out why.

A bird came at us from below, where Lakast’s flames couldn’t reach. I twisted, bringing my sword down, but the angle was wrong. The bird’s talons were going to connect with Lakast’s vulnerable underbelly.

Isi launched herself forward, her body covering mine as she drove both blades into the bird’s eyes. The momentum of its dive carried it past us, and it was dead before it started falling.

“Are you out of your mind?” I grabbed her waist, urging her back behind me. “You could’ve fallen.”

“So could you.” She was breathing hard, her body tense with adrenaline. “We’re even.”

The fierce protectiveness in her eyes made arousal spike through me despite the battle raging around us.

The battle lasted another brutal ten minutes before the surviving birds broke off, fleeing back toward the heart of the wasteland. We didn’t pursue.

“Everyone alright?” I called, sheathing my sword.

A chorus of yesses came back, though Derren was bleeding from a gash on his forearm and Kerralyn’s tunic had a tear across her right shoulder.

“We could find this place any time, right?” Lexie wiped blood from her blade on her thigh before sheathing it.

“Sure hope so,” Kerralyn muttered.

We continued, flying lower now, all of us watching for threats.