My muscles were tight and I took a moment to do a quick Jintue breathing exercise to calm myself. I had to be ready for anything on the other side of the door; I glanced back at Natham. From my distance of a few steps up we were almost face level. I looked into his dark eyes, so full of pain, his full lips pulled tight and flat. As screwed up as this situation was, all I wanted was to be close to him. My fury rose hot and fierce when I saw blood dripping from his back to the floor. I would kill them all for him if I had to, in order to make him safe with me.
I turned back to the door. It was hard to turn the handle of the door with my talons stiff and ready but I managed. The door swung on its hinges outward and I shoved it open sharply in case someone was hiding behind it. I rushed through the room and quickly spun in a circle looking for anyone coming for me from behind.
I was in a large room, narrow but long. The floor was still concrete but the walls were metal and I could just barely see in the dim light that filtered through the grimy windows set high up in the walls. There were large circular scars on the floor, white rings in regular patterns running up and down each long side of the hall. Large boxes were set here and there and there were a lot of vehicles parked inside.
I could clearly see the van that the Carthera who abducted us used as well as several trucks, SUV's and a very fancy sports car. I could see a large roll up door in the far side of the wall with a smaller opening beside it. That had to lead outside. I felt a moment's relief. Escaping was turning out far easier than I thought it would be.
I turned to go back to Natham and saw his eyes widen as he looked over my shoulder. I instantly dropped to the floor. I heard a whirr and a thunk. Pushing up with an arm, I looked up at the wood door jamb and saw a circular blade buried deep in the tan trim. I quickly rolled onto my back and sprang to my feet. I could see several men coming for me. Quickly scanning each one I revised that.
One large man, obviously a cop since he was still in uniform, was coming for me along with four Carthera.
"Stay there Natham," I said urgently. He'd had a hard time making it up the stairs. Fighting was beyond him.
"Don't give me that shit. If you are taken they'll capture me again too. How many?" he asked.
A momentary pride in my mate's fierce nature didn't distract me from the approach of our attackers. Still...
"We have a bit of a roadblock. Don't worry; I'll take care of it." I missed my weapons; I hadn't armed with more than a knife before heading to the mall and they had taken even that from me. Pulling the circular blade out of the wall, I ignored the stinging cut I got on my palm. I didn't wait for them to circle me as I launched myself in the air. The effort of pulling my shackles off the ceiling made itself felt in my sore muscles but after having been bound I relished the freedom I had in the air.
I hovered near the ceiling about thirty feet off the ground. Small movements of my wings made my body a constantly moving target as I studied my opponents. Which one had thrown the blade?
The brief pause to assess each other ended as human fired at me and I dropped toward him, dodging the bullet. I could not see the other Carthera holding guns so I needed to take him out first. I tucked my wings in close to my body, darting at the stocky cop as I dropped from the height of the tall ceiling. He frantically tried to sight on me, moving his gun jerkily.
I easily dodged the next few shots he took and then snapped my wings out, flying in the gap between the human and the Carthera a few feet from him. Twisting my body, I swiftly reached out and drew razor sharp talons across his neck. Red bloomed beneath my claws and his eyes widened. He dropped his gun as he fell choking to the ground, his eyes still wide in disbelief.
I felt a deep pain in my lower back as I flew higher and away from the attacking Carthera. I cried out as the strong movements made the pain grow worse. Reaching back I felt the handle of a knife. I knew I wasn't going to be able to fight or fly long with it in my back so with a grimace I pulled it out and my wings faltered at the searing pain, and I plummeted a few feet before I managed to catch myself on a beam running along the ceiling.
I felt warm trails begin to roll down my back and with a fierce shriek; I drove the pain from my mind by diving right for the Carthera who had targeted me. He was a Hyena; his clan easy to tell from the short stature, broad shoulders, and wide sloping forehead with a jutting jaw. They were cunning creatures in certain situations but easy to confuse in the midst of battle. They tended to be followers rather than leaders.
The hyena's mistake was to look to his leader rather than at me. I was loathe to give up the knife now that I had one so I threw the star blade like a frisbee, the deadly edges twirling around and around. My aim was true and a red line appeared across his throat before his eyes widened and he felt the cut. He had time to bring up one hand to the wound before he fell to the ground. I hoped that the wound was deep enough to keep him from recovering before his heart or lungs gave out but I still had three more Carthera after me.
I was pleased that none were bird clans so the advantage was in my favor but I was not assured victory. They had more weapons and I was weakened from hanging in the chains and fighting off the pain and despair my mate had been broadcasting.
I saw one move toward the doorway where Natham waited on the other side and I instantly flew at him, my body an arrow of deadly wrath. I used my talons this time to tear deep gashes in his flesh, aiming for his belly and throat as I drove him from the one path to my mate. I hovered over the doorway, now facing the two hale Carthera and one wounded, angry beast.
They couldn't move forward without me attacking them and three were not quite enough to overpower me while I still had the air. A full grown Carthera with mature wings would be able to stay in the air indefinitely. My wings were lightweight and immature and based on my energy levels now I would not be able to hold them off for long. I vowed not to let them know that. I would not fail.
They were creeping closer when my entire plan changed.
"Stop right there!" The voice came from behind me where I'd left Natham on the stairs. A chill shot up my spine as I recognized it. I had last heard that deep rumbling voice as it snapped orders at Trest. I half-turned to look quickly; I didn't want to take my attention off the Carthera still facing me for very long.
"Come down," he shouted.
I was frozen, my attention no longer on those behind me but focused solely on Natham where he stood in front of his father. His naked body was still bleeding and his left arm was wrenched up behind his back in a position that had to be painful. His expression was blank, his muscles slack, but his eyes were worst of all. Once again my promise had been proven false; he'd been captured by his father. The pain, mental and physical, must have been too much.
Worse than the fear, worse than anger and fury, was the look of total apathy. Bad things were going to happen again, things he couldn't stop, and in order to protect some small vestige of himself he had given up again.
I was instantly angry with him and then felt sick and guilty for that anger. I was risking everything to save us and he kept giving up on me; giving up on us. Even if I died it would be fighting to revenge my father and my mate. If my mate didn't feel that I was worth the same I had nothing left. I desperately wanted to feel him along our bond but he had shut it down and I could not focus long enough to force it open.
"I said come down, now!" roared the leopard. "If you don't, I will break his arm!"
He pulled up on Natham's arm until my mate was on his tiptoes and crying out from pain. The tears coursing down Natham's cheeks broke the last ounce of my self-control. I shrieked my fury and attacked. Diving straight at them, I clawed at the jaguar's face. He hissed at the men who tried to interfere and they moved back. That gave me enough time to wheel around and dive for him again. This time, I managed to rake my talons in two deep scores from his forehead to his chin.
My shriek of triumph echoed from the corners of the warehouse as I hovered about Natham's father.
"You're going to die!" I shrieked.
