I open my eyes and find the darker blond healer from the camp standing over me.
Fuck, that’s a handy gift.
He chuckles, and I realize I must have said that out loud.
“Pigeon,” I tell him, panic suddenly blazing inside of me as I try to sit up more in Ryn’s arms.
Vian, the darker blond healer, furrows his brow in confusion.
“My gryphon, she’s hurt,” I explain, and he nods like he already knows.
“I did what I could to help her stabilize, but you’ll need me and Wrye both to fix everything when this is over.”
Relief slams through me at the realization that I won’t lose Pidge. I figure Wrye must be his lighter blond brother, and I’m half tempted to demand that they fix her now, but we’re clearly in the middle of a fucking war zone, so it will have to wait.
“Thank you,” I offer Vian as the last of my throbs and aches fade.
He just looks at me funny as he pulls his hands away, and I have to stop from rolling my eyes.
I need to teach these gryphons manners. I add it to the list of shit to tackle when we’re not on the brink of extinction, and try to push out of Ryn’s arms to get on my feet.
He doesn’t let me go.
Instead, he wraps me up in a bone-crushing hug and buries his face against my neck.
“Careful or we’ll have to call Vian back,” I tease, but my arms are just as tightly wrapped around his neck, and I’m breathing him in deeply as his scent and presence ground me. The citrus part of his lilac-on-a-warm-breeze smell is gone, and I inhale him deeply, loving this smell and how it makes me feel safe in ways I didn’t realize until now.
I kiss Ryn quickly on the lips and then put my game face on. I look up and see gryphons flying and fighting all over. It’s hard to tell which side we are and whether or not we’re winning, but I scan the air for the sky shadow and Lazza, the dick who has a date with destiny.
“When this is over, I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” Ryn declares, and then he also slams his Altern mask in place and starts assessing the situation.
Both of our gazes land on the fight we’re looking for at almost the exact same time. I see Zeph and Treno both working together to attack Lazza high up in the air, all of them flying toward the peaks in the distance. Lazza seems like he’s trying to get away, but between Treno and Zeph, he can’t escape.
Just then, I spot a handful of gryphons who seem to be doing warp speed in the direction of the three battling leaders.
“He’s going to make a run for it,” Ryn declares, and he takes off in the direction they’re flying.
“Ryn, I can’t shift,” I yell at his back as I rush to catch up behind him.
Ryn curses something I don’t catch and turns back to me, like he’s not sure what to do. A spark of something lights up his features for a split second, and then he’s closing the distance between us and picking me up and flinging me onto his back.
“Then hold on, Huntress,” he shouts over his shoulder, and then all of a sudden, feathers, fur, and wings explode all around me. I’m no longer holding Ryn’s neck, but choke-holding his gryphon as he leaps into the air and flaps furiously to join the fight.
Well, holy fucking shit, don’t mind me while I ride my gryphon mate into battle. I just hope I don’t fall off!
22
I was obsessed with horses as a preteen, and then I rode one and learned that shit is not as easy as it looked. All the graceful equestrian riders who just appeared to be comfortably mounted on their trusty, sure-footed steed are lying liar faces. Because when I got on the back of one of those things, I bounced around so much I thought I broke my ass, and then I got bounced right off when the big beast hit the brakes but my body did not.
Riding a gryphon is a lot like riding a horse, only there’s no saddle or reins to hold onto. And it’s not bumpy so much as jarring in a one wrong move and you’ll fall to your death kind of way. Oh, and you’re doing all of that while sitting behind what feels like a running jet engine.
Tears streak horizontally out of my eyes from the wind whipping past me as I tighten my death grip on Ryn’s gryphon’s feathers in my efforts to hold on for dear life. The hurricane it feels like we’re flying through shoves up my nose, and it feels like I just accidentally inhaled water, but nope it’s just fast-moving air.
I’ve always loved speed, and I love flying, but I realize that my body just isn’t as cut out for this convertible airplane ride like Pigeon’s body is. Worry pools in my stomach, and I check on the other part of me. She’s still wrapped up and safe, but I need to rip Lazza apart soon and get her the help she needs…and a nap. I feel like we’ve both earned like a month-long nap at this point.
Roars and screeches reach my ears past the sound of the wind. We must be getting close. I can’t exactly see to tell, because I just so happened to not have my gryphon riding goggles on me for this little adventure. Ryn and I streak right past what sounds like one semi-truck slamming into another, and I turn to clock what the hell that was and see we just flew right past Zeph and Treno and the handful of gryphons they’re fighting.
I turn back around and blink back the fresh set of wind
