Claimed (24 page)

With a rough twist, he snapped the male’s neck, then forced his damaged wings to unfurl. The male dropped, a dead weight plummeting to the ground, but all of Sorvar’s attention was on the figure flying towards the small shuttle hovering high over the palace.

A low growl started in his chest that built and built until a roar thundered through the sky. With a beat of his wings Sorvar shot after the Crasgich male, intent on one thing.

Chapter Fifteen

God damn son of a bitch! Tina struggled in the rough grip that pressed her against the disgusting body of the male who held her. What a fine fucking pickle she was in now. A stinky pickle.

She’d worked on and studied a lot of species in the three months she’d been studying at The Fortress, but these Crasgich took the cake for most disgusting species out there.

Wind blew her hair all around her as the male flew them towards a shuttle hovering far above the palace. Morgath males fought Crasgich males, bodies flying through the air all around the palace. An occasional shot whizzed past them from some unknown person on the ground.

Tina wriggled again, trying to loosen the male’s hold. “Let me go, asshole!” she yelled over the whipping wind.

“Shut up,” the male said in return and squeezed her tighter.

Fire burned in her shoulder and wing thanks to that asshole Dane. If she’d had a weapon handy she would have shot the bastard herself. If she had a weapon, she’d shoot the stink ass that had her now, too.

But she didn’t have a weapon. She did have claws, though, and these males had a lovely wide gap between their scales that the icky viscous gunk oozed out of. A perfect place for Tina to dig her claws in.

Something she needed to do soon, as in before they reached that little hovering shuttle and she disappeared from Sorvar’s life forever.

“No, you stupid twat. I won’t shut up. You should know what kind of female you’re stealing before you steal her. If you think I’m going to do what you say, then you’re more of a moron than you look,” Tina taunted.

The male growled, his claws digging into her, making her hiss in pain. In retaliation Tina pressed her claws into the soft sticky gap between two of his scales on the side of his waist. The male gasped, his wings faltering for a few beats that sent them plummeting a few feet in the air.

Oh, this was good. This was better than good. If just that little bit of pressure had made him react so strongly, what would happen if she did it a little bit more? Tina dug in her claws, wrapping them around the broad scale.

“You’re going to let me go or I’m going to rip this lovely little scale out, then another and another.”

The male shuddered, a small noise that was almost a whimper coming from him. “I cannot,” he said. “If I let you go, father will kill me.”

Tina dug in further, feeling the soft skin under her claws give way. “And what do you think Sorvar is going to do with you when he catches up to you?”

The arms around her relaxed just a little and this time it was a definite whimper that was whipped away by the wind as soon as the male had made it, but the male didn’t let her go and kept flying at a steady pace for the hovering shuttle.

Well, she’d warned him. Tina dug her claws in, gripping the scale and jerked with all the force she could. A scream was her reward. The male’s claws dug into her in reflex. They dropped through the sky, his wings faltering as a keening sound vibrated the chest she was pressed against.

Still, he didn’t let her go. Tina grasped another scale and started to pull, slower this time, so the pain would last longer. Her chest tightened at the noises of pain the male made. She’d never liked hurting people. As a medic sometimes it was necessary to cause some pain, but she’d always hated that part of her job.

This was different, but she still felt like a bitch. Other than trying to kidnap her, this male hadn’t hurt her, yet she was torturing him. Tears stung her eyes, and her stomach twisted into a painful knot as she pulled and pulled.

As suddenly as the male had scooped her up off the ground, he let her go. With her claws dug so far into him, Tina couldn’t let go fast enough and ripped out the second scale as she dropped away from him. His pained scream drove through her chest like a spear, wounding her healer’s heart.

But she didn’t have time to worry about the male. Tina forced her battered wings open, gritting her teeth as pain slashed through the damaged membranes and her body.

She hadn’t been flying for long and was an amateur at best. Her muscles were not developed enough for her to spend long periods of time in the sky. She had one chance at best to get to safety, or she’d be out of luck.

A roar made her glance over her shoulder. Her heart froze at the sight of another Crasgich male heading right for her. God, he was going so fast! He was so close he was going to slam into her!

Pavri, drop!
Sorvar screamed in her mind.

Tina reacted instantly and slammed her wings closed. She dropped like a lead sack, the male hurtling past her with a roar.

Now spread your wings and head for the tower. The male in there will protect you until I get to you.

Tina spread her wings on his command, a cry ripping from her as pain shrieked through her wings, back and shoulders. She beat them as hard and as fast as she could to slow her downward momentum, tears streaming down her face as her body protested. Banking left, she turned in the sky and saw how far it was to the tower.

Sorvar, I don’t think I can make it.

You can, pavri. For me, for our young. Just fly. One beat at a time.

She could hear the urgency in his tone, the note of desperation, and was helpless to do anything other than what he asked. She took a deep breath and did as he said. One beat at a time, Tina headed for the tower in the distance. A roar made her look over her shoulder to find the same male heading for her again. A sob ripped from her throat. Oh god! He was too close!

I love you, Sorvar. Don’t ever forget.
Rage swelled inside her—hot, potent and overwhelming.

I will not lose you, Tina. I cannot lose you. Pavri. You have my heart in your hands, and if you are gone, my heart will go with you.

For all that his words were growled at her in anger, they were the sweetest things Tina had ever heard. She put everything she had into flying for the tower, forcing herself to keep going and not look back.

Every wing beat sent tearing pain through the delicate membranes of her wings. Every beat tore at her damaged shoulder.

A growl behind her made her dip and wobble. With a sob, Tina forced her screaming body to work just a little harder, to fly faster.

Something scraping across the bare skin of her ankle made her look around right into the bulging black eye of the male she’d first seen on Sorvar’s ship. He was so close, he could touch her.

Tina shrieked and swerved, throwing her body weight to the side, but the Crasgich had far more flying experience than she did. He followed with little more than a tilt of his body.

His hand closed around her ankle and he jerked her backward, forcing air to push at the damaged membranes of her wings. Tina screamed, in pain and terror. She gasped in lungfuls of air as deep shudders rocked her.

Oh, god.
No, no, no.
She twisted and kicked with her other foot, lashing out blindly, her body dropping as her wings stilled while she tried to fight.

A deafening roar came from somewhere below her, but it was Sorvar’s yelled command in her mind that she heard.

Tina, pull in your wings!

A harsh sob broke from her chest.
Sorvar, I can’t. If I do, I won’t be able to extend them again. They’re too damaged.

Claws dug into her ankle, ripping a scream from her as the Crasgich pulled her inexorably closer and closer. Tina bucked and beat her wings, twisting this way and that.

Pavri, you must. Hurry!

He’d asked her to trust him, told her she was safe with him, and she believed him, now more than ever.

Tina snapped her wings in seconds before something hit the male holding her. She shrieked as she was yanked up by the ankle.

The wind grabbed at her hair, pulling at her wings and clothes as she was flung about. Growls and snarls punctuated her cries. Then she was flung up, up, and up. The hand around her ankle was ripped away, the claws cutting into her skin. Tina hung motionless in the sky for a second before she dropped.

Her scream caught in her throat, silenced by her inability to breathe. The wind pulled at her wings as she rocketed downward. Tina twisted in the air, stinging tears blinding her as she rolled to her front.

The ground and jagged roofline of the palace were alarmingly close. Falling through the sky once in her life had been plenty. Why the fuck was she doing this again?

Roars and the sound of fighting competed with the whistle of the wind in her ears. The muscles in her back shrieked as the wind ripped at her wings, trying to force them open.

If she didn’t do something soon, she was going to die. She trusted Sorvar, she really did, but she wasn’t about to wait around for him to save her. She wouldn’t survive if she hit the roof or the ground. For all her changed form, she was still a soft weak little human who was easy to kill and even easier to break.

Tina forced her wings out, the air catching in the thin membranes. She beat them furiously, her teeth gritted as a scream lodged in her throat. The roof of the palace kept rushing towards her at an alarming pace.

A dark shape hurtled underneath her, flying with a level of skill that would have made her gasp if she could have caught her breath. The shape twisted and shot straight up towards her. Tina did everything Sorvar had taught her about stopping mid-flight, but her damaged wing couldn’t handle the stress and the delicate skin tore under the strain.

The scream that ripped from her throat was followed by a roar and Sorvar’s yell in her head.

Pavri!

But the Crasgich male shooting towards her reached for her with out-stretched arms as Tina plummeted straight for him. Not again! Why wouldn’t these bastards just leave her alone?

Mere feet separated them. The Crasgich male stared at her with bulging black eyes that shone in the bright sun. Tina slammed into the male with the force of a shuttle collision. The male grunted, the impact forcing him backward in the sky, her wings buckling as he wrapped his arms around her, crushing the fine bones.

Stunned by the collision and pain radiating through every inch of her body all Tina could do was whimper.

Sorvar.

His responding roar cut through the air, a vicious, furious sound that filled her with his burning fury. Strong arms gripped her to the sticky, stinking body of the Crasgich male as he propelled them higher and higher.

Tina struggled, every movement sending pain shooting through her. She clawed and kicked, wriggled and twisted until she could get one arm free, then she attacked the male’s eyes, gouging her claws into the soft tissue. She would rather die than go with them. She would rather die than be separated from Sorvar.

The male screamed and let her go. Tina dropped, again, falling through the air, but this time she couldn’t do anything but scream. Her wings were broken, the membranes bleeding and torn. She had no way to slow her descent.

“Tina!”

Sorvar’s scream carried to her on the wind whistling past her ears as she watched the training courtyard and its high walls get closer and closer.

The wind ripped at her battered wings, damaging them further as she plummeted for the ground.

I love you, handsome.

“Noooo!”

Tina felt his scream inside her. She felt his terror and desperation, his pain, and most of all she felt his blinding need for her to live.

Tears stung her eyes as Sorvar’s emotion overwhelmed her and sucked all the breath from her lungs. She closed her eyes and sent him every sliver of love she felt for him, letting it swell inside her until it drowned out his overwhelming emotions and she knew he would know how deeply she felt for him.

Pain explode through her body, and Tina screamed as her world tilted on its axis before everything went black.

Death was not supposed to hurt. Once you were gone, the pain was supposed to stop, or so Tina thought. Even after thousands of years, humanity still hadn’t discovered what the afterlife held. Even with all the information they received from their new alien brethren they still couldn’t agree.

But it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Unless she’d gone to hell. Which didn’t make any sense because she didn’t believe in hell.

She shifted position, and a shaft of pain shot through her leg making her scream. Her eyes popped open and sunlight blinded her for a few seconds until her eyes adjusted.

Where was she? Was she even alive? All she could remember was closing her eyes and pain.

Tina tried to roll to her side, but ended up screaming again as agony tore through her back and spiked through her leg. Tears burned her eyes and stung her cheeks as they ran down her face. God, she had a broken leg, and her wings were ruined.

She huffed out breaths as the pain subsided into throbbing aches that made her grit her teeth. A little more tentatively she moved one arm and blew out a breath of relief when it didn’t hurt. Her hand scraped across something lumpy and warm that rolled under her palm. Tina clenched a handful and brought it up to her face.

Gravel. She was holding gravel. Small creamy stones that seemed familiar.

She let her hand fall back to the ground and released the stones. Tentatively, she moved her other arm. Her hand slid across something warm and sticky, then bumped against something hard.

A roar made her heart clench and her breath freeze. Her hand clenched spasmodically around the hard thing, her claws scratching against it with a soft screech.

Another roar sent her gaze searching in the sky. Where was Sorvar? Why couldn’t she feel him inside her?