Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 131364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Saoirse shook her head. “We’re family,” she chided. “Speaking of which, go talk to our runner. She’s been asking every five minutes if you’re awake.”
Heart aching in a way complex and new to her, Eleri walked toward the doorway—but Malia appeared there before she could reach it. “I knew I heard talking!” Her body hit Eleri’s with force as she wrapped her good arm tight around Eleri, her other one trapped in between their bodies.
Her own throat thick with emotions she’d forgotten she’d once felt, Eleri held the girl as tightly. All she could remember of their time in Hendricks’s bunker was pushing at a sobbing Malia to run.
“Uncle Adam let me see him, the man who hurt us,” Malia said, speaking in the embrace, her head tucked against Eleri’s shoulder in the way of a fledgling taking comfort. “Mom and Dad weren’t sure I should, but I got Naia and Uncle Adam to back me up. I really, really liked seeing him locked up. Felt much better afterward.”
As Malia drew back, Eleri had the thought that this child was very definitely a raptor. What worked to heal her might not work on a human or Psy, and that was fine, because Malia wasn’t human or Psy. “I’m surprised you didn’t offer to claw out his eyes,” Eleri said. “I would turn his brains to liquid if I could.” Exactly as he’d done to his victims.
Malia’s hand flew to her mouth, but her eyes were sparkling. “I did,” she whispered after lowering that hand. “Make the offer. Uncle Adam said no—he thinks I’d be traumatized by it, but nope.” A scowl. “I don’t know why the bigs worry so much.”
Saoirse, who’d just walked over, hugged her daughter to her side. “Because you’re a piece of all our hearts, little bird.”
Malia dropped her head against her mother, a child again rather than a raptor bent on vengeance. “I guess it’s allowed, then,” she said in a begrudging fashion.
Saoirse kissed her daughter’s temple. “Time for you to work. I need you to take this data chip up, and return with the team’s analysis of the last set I sent.”
Eleri watched as Malia tucked the chip securely inside the small bag slung sideways across her body. “Gotta fly,” the teen said and was gone.
“Have you eaten?” Saoirse asked in the aftermath of her whirlwind of a child. “Adam left me with strict instructions—not that he needed to give them. I’m a big sister.” A stern but loving tone unlike any Eleri had ever before had directed at her. “I’m fully capable of bullying you into good nourishment.”
“I drank nutrients,” Eleri said, a touch intimidated…but oddly happy about it.
Care.
This was care, was family in a way she, Bram, Saffron, and Yúzé had been before their work had eroded away their beings. She’d already asked Adam to bring the missing members of the Cartel here, conscious how much the two needed her and Bram, and her falcon had promised her he would.
“I promise I’ll eat a bar in a short while,” she told Saoirse. “I feel hungry, but I don’t think my stomach’s ready for a full load at once.”
Saoirse jerked her head toward the other tent. “Do we need to bully him, too? He’s big, but I have Dahlia on speed dial.”
Intrigued all over again at Bram’s apparent total susceptibility to Adam’s wing-second, Eleri shook her head. “No, Bram’s always on me to feed myself properly.”
Bram believed that nourishment was strength—he’d had no way to understand how hard it was to drink and eat even plain nutrients when there was no feedback, not even the dulled one of the tasteless items. “Was it Malia you were talking to before? I heard conversation when I woke.”
“No.” Saoirse indicated for her to follow as she went back to take more readings. “That was Ashaya Aleine—she was just leaving to head back up. Adam placed markers along the best access route this morning, so we can move without guides.” She unfolded a camping chair. “Sit and I’ll tell you all the news.”
“Actually, I think I’ll stand for a while, stretch.” Her body, for all its thinness, had always been fit and fast. She’d kept it in peak form for a hunter and she wanted to get back to that…but with a few more curves. She liked how Adam’s hands felt on her, wanted more skin surface to experience it.
“I get you.” Saoirse frowned and adjusted her scanner before taking another reading. “It’s hard enough for me being down here—the bats might like it, but there’s no real space for my falcon to stretch out her wings unless I want to go in circles.”
A shake of the head. “Malia’s annoyed at not being able to try it out, but talked one of the other runners into doing it—he didn’t need much encouragement, to be fair. I thought he’d cause a bat stampede, but our upside-down friends seem to have decided to ignore all of us for the time being.”