Page 18 of Birds of a Feather

“I want this. I want you,” she managed to squeak out between huffing breaths. “But it’s not safe here. We need to get back.”

Gabby nodded, though the heat of the moment burned in her eyes. Lyla had to peel herself away from that look. It took all the strength within her to not kneel in the dirt andtaste the warmth between Gabby’s legs, worshiping her the way she deserved. Instead, Lyla leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Gabby’s forehead. A gentle promise that her feelings were more than lust and longing.

“It’s a long way back to WANC, but I’ll let you know if I need any breaks.” She forced a smile. Lyla had no idea if she could make it ten feet. She looked to Gabby. She had to keep her safe. She mustered up all the positive feelings she had about Gabby and used them to propel herself back into hummingbird form. Hopefully, they’d pass something sugary to eat.

From a nearby branch, Lyla watched Gabby transform. She struggled with the arms and wings. It seemed like she kept moving the wrong set. Lyla chirped out encouragement as Gabby got ready to take off. After a few irritated caws, Gabby took to the air. Lyla fluttered her wings, catching up before taking the lead. She crossed her toes, hoping they’d be able to make it back to the shifter hospital before anything bad happened. Like Lyla falling out of the sky from exhaustion.

They managed to cover a great distance before Lyla needed to stop. From the air, she spotted rows of short trees. Her wings stalled, dropping her altitude quickly. Gabby cawed from behind, noticing Lyla’s plight. Her tank was beyond empty. With any luck, an orchard of some sort was below them. She chirped back, signaling she wanted to land. After doing a fly-by, she picked a section of trees at the center that had the least likelihood of them being spotted by any unwanted guests. It would be a pain in the ass to explain why the two women were naked. It would be even more annoying to tell the agents back at FUCN’A that they needed to fill out more paperwork to cover up the incident. It would be even worse if a regular human saw them transform. Scratch that. It would be worse if Dr. Grimm or the shrew found them. Then they’d be back at square one. Lyla had no energy to deal with any of that.

After changing back into human form, Lyla grabbed an apple from a nearby tree. She gripped the firm red and orange fruit in her hand. She could almost feel the sugar inside. She salivated with what little saliva she had left at the thought of her teeth piercing the skin of the apple.

The hot sun winking through the gnarled leafy boughs of the tree warmed up her flesh, almost too much. Her skin felt on fire from the heat of exhaustion and the summer sun. She sat in the shade of the tree, careful to not sit on any twigs. That was the last thing she needed—a stick to the hoo-haw.

Gabby pressed the back of her hand onto Lyla’s clammy forehead, kneeling next to her. Her dark brows winkled in concern, adding a gentle maternal beauty to her face. “Y-you okay?” She didn’t have to make a complete sentence for Lyla to know Gabby had asked how depleted were her energy reserves. Worry clouded her blue eyes as they passed over Lyla’s sweaty frame. She knew Lyla wasn’t doing well.

Lyla bit into the juicy apple, rejoicing in the sugar fix. Its tart flavor tingled on her tongue. She swallowed, her mouth almost too dry to do so. “It’s only a few more miles.”

“Travel as humans?” Gabby raised an eyebrow before fighting with her wings. Instead of tucking her wings in to sit next to Lyla, she crossed her arms. Her feathers caught in the low, gnarled branches. With a huff, she shook them loose, showering leaves on both of them.

“Where would we find clothes? Neither one of us has a mobile phone to order NAKED. And how would we hide those?” Lyla pointed to the large wings Gabby struggled to sit with.

A pink blush spread across her pale cheeks. Gabby probably forgot she couldn’t pass for human anymore. Lyla kicked herself for not instead saying that the pink feathers on her own head could be problematic. She leaned her head on Gabby’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Gabby lifted Lyla’s chin with her finger. “Don’t be… You… didn’t… do… this.” She spat out each word after a long pause, but she managed to string together a longer sentence than usual.

“Do you want to go to the party with me? Huggie’s party? If we ever get out of here?” The words tumbled out of Lyla’s mouth. A nervousness bubbled in her stomach. Maybe it was hunger. She was too tired to tell.

“I would. Love to.” Gabby’s pink lips stretched back into a smile, lighting up her dirty face. “Now eat,” she chided, pointing to the unfinished apple in Lyla’s hand.

Lyla beamed back at her. Even though they were on the run from a shrew henchman and an evil doctor and currently sitting naked beneath an apple tree, she couldn’t have been happier. She took another bite. “I’ll probably need five of these before we can leave.” She chuckled, savoring the bittersweetness of the under-ripe apple.

Gabby laughed, the tips of her wings shaking with each breath. The golden sun shimmered in each of the sable feathers. Even her new wings were beautiful. Lyla wanted to curl up in Gabby’s lap and bask in the heat of the summer day. But she had to get her energy up. Again. She prayed for the day when activity didn’t take everything out of her.

The lactic acid buildup in her over-worked muscles protested as Lyla tried to lean back against the smooth trunk of the tree. She tried to turn her wince into a toothy grin. “I’m a little sore,” she confessed after another look of worry crossed Gabby’s face.

“Show me.” It sounded like a command, but Lyla knew it was a question. If Gabby had better control of her words, the tone wouldn’t have sounded so stern. As soon as she pointed to the ache in her shoulders, Gabby pressed her fingertips into the sore muscles, working the knots out.

Lyla moaned. It hurt, but in a good way. The softness and warmth of Gabby’s fingers left a tingling in Lyla’s core that shetried her best to ignore. She wanted to flip Gabby on her back and worship her with her tongue, lapping at her sweet nectar. Under completely different circumstances, this could’ve counted as a very romantic outing. Unfortunately, they were trying their best to not get caught on their way back to safety. Lyla couldn’t keep Gabby safe if she was distracted, no matter how delicious that distraction was.

A small flock of mismatched birds soared overhead, catching Lyla’s attention. Lyla shielded her eyes from the harsh sun to try to tell their size or type, but they were too far away to make out any details. “Do you think they’re ASS scouts or more goons from Dr. Grimm?” She pointed them out to Gabby before they disappeared beyond the edge of the orchard.

Gabby shook her head, her untamed hair bouncing over her shoulders. “Don’t know.” She was squinting up at the blue sky when a twig snapped a handful of trees away from them. Lyla’s attention snapped toward the sound.No. Not again.The flight had left her too drained to fight. She didn’t even think she could manage standing, let alone walking or fighting.

13

Lyla shuddered under Gabby’s fingers when the shrew shifter stepped into view. He still wore the clothes he had on in the parking lot by the park, so he must have been following them on foot. But how? She didn’t know enough about shrews to know why Dr. Grimm said he was good at finding things.

Bile rose in the back of Gabby’s throat. She was sick of being hunted and even sicker of being scared. She glanced at Lyla. The shock had blanched her skin, a pale comparison to her vibrant hair. Gabby could tell by looking at her that Lyla had pushed herself too far. It was Gabby’s turn to protect Lyla, to pay her back in kind for rescuing her in the parking lot.

Gabby crawled out from under the limbs of the apple tree for fear of catching her wings again. She wasn’t used to the damn things, and they extended her height by a couple of feet. She stood after clearing the boughs, stretching her wings out. The span of them was incredible, a good seven feet at least in either direction. If the shrew thought she was an easy target as a crow, what would he think of her now?

“Gabby.” The shrew somehow knew her name. He held his hands out as if to show he was unarmed. “It’s nothing personal.”

“Personal?” The word caught in her throat like a piece of unchewed food. Gabby scoffed at his soft tone and polite demeanor. Why did he seem apologetic every time he saw her? In her room, he apologized in advance before capturing her. In the parking lot, he assured her he wouldn’t hurt her. Now “it’s nothing personal.” What kidnapper walked around in a polo shirt and khakis anyway?

She narrowed her eyes at the man who wouldn’t give up tracking her. He’d found her at WANC and then again near the park. “How?” she found herself asking. She wanted to know how he was able to keep popping up when she stopped running.

He sighed, rolling his shoulders forward as if exhausted. He reached a hand into the pocket of his clean pants, pulling out a small device the size of a smartphone. “Dr. Grimm put a tracking device in the back of your neck.”

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