Page 10 of Monstrous Hunt
Fuck that shit. I simply jumped, allowing my hindquarters to absorb the shock of a thirty-foot fall.:Piece of cake.:
:I’m not sure what cake has to do with it,:Snryx grumbled.:Be glad you didn’t break a bone. That’d take at least a few days to heal completely.:
:We don’t have days.:Urgency pulsed through me, my nerves on fire. I raced upstream, wading through increasingly deeper water. Straining against the strong current. Water roared ahead, tumbling down over a rocky cliff to splash on the rocks. If the river got much deeper, I’d need to exit. I was too heavy to be much of a swimmer.
:Listen,:Snryx commanded.:Riz, pause the echolocation. Do you hear that?:
I cocked my head, but all I could hear was the rumble of water rushing over the rocks.
Snryx played back what he heard. Every so faintly, a cry. It might even be my name.:She’s up here.:
Bounding across the rushing current as fast as possible, I clawed my way back up the ridge, tearing out chunks of earth and stone to tumble into the water below.:Riz, do you see her? Is she above ground?:
He cut sharply back across the river, scanning back and forth on both sides of the banks.:I don’t see her yet. Is she in the river or the ground?:
:If she’s in the river, we’ve got to get her out before that waterfall,:Snryx warned.:She won’t be able to survive the fall.:
Sides heaving, I scanned the rushing water, the current cold and fast. Too wide for me to jump across, too fast and deep for me to risk trying to swim. I might be able to survive the drop if I couldn’t escape the current, but I’d rather not incapacitate myself with so many active threats.
:I see her.:Riz dropped a bobbing red dot in the river, moving fast toward us.:Coming back around.:
So close, I should be able to see her. Straining my super-sensitive eyes to no avail, I quivered, on the edge of jumping into the river, current be damned.:Where? I don’t see her.:
:She went underwater.:Riz’s voice was tight and laser focused. He shot downstream straight at us, his wings skimming along the top of the water. Then he dipped beneath the surface.:I still have her locked in my sights.:
I strained harder, willing him to reach her. One of his wings broke the surface but went back down into the cold, dark water, quickly dulling his heat signature. Making him fucking invisible to my heat sensors.Please. Please save her.
Riz surged up out of the water, clutching our lifeless mate in his talons. Water dripped from his feathers, weighing him down, but he managed to flap over to us and dropped down wearily, rolling to the side so he took the fall rather than Natalie.
Immediately, Snryx started barking orders.:Shift. Everyone close in. She needs body heat.:
I already had her in my arms, smoothing wet hair off her face. Checking for a pulse. Her body was so cold. “She’s not breathing.”
Panting with exertion, Lohr dropped to his knees on my other side across from Rizan. Together, we put as much of our skin on her as possible, without interfering with the medic. Snryx had so many implements on her that for a moment, I could only despair. I’d never seen him use so many of his skills to bring one of us back, even when Lohr lost a leg and almost bled out.
Snryx even had one of the coils down her throat.:I’m removing water from her lungs. Her heart is still beating, it’s just slow and weak.:
She twitched and flopped against me, her eyelids fluttering as she coughed and choked.
:Better. Her pulse is stronger.:He removed the coil from her throat, but he still had one over her heart, another on a rag tied around her shoulder, three on her ribcage and abdomen, and two on either thigh.:Assessment complete. Broken clavicle, broken scapula, three broken ribs, dislocated patella, Aeromonas hydrophila infection localized to her left thigh.:
I pressed my cheek to hers. “My poor baby.”
:That’s not all but the most serious. She’s also suffering from some neurological issues, and she dropped weight, though she’s not dehydrated for once.:
:Neurological?:Rage compressed my chest so tightly I didn’t try to speak out loud.:Did he fucking drug her?:
:Quite the opposite, I’m afraid, though I’ll need to run some detailed comparisons on her bloodwork prior to this incident.:
I had no idea what that meant. Rising a little so I could see over Snryx’s head, I scanned the trees, watching for Axxol’s approach. He had to be nearby.
This time, he’d have to kill me before he’d lay a finger on her again.
* * *
NATALIE
A big,warm, gentle palm cupped my cheek. A raw, familiar scent filled my nose. The neck-ruffling, spine-tingling musk of a predator.
