Page 54 of Bounty Hunter

“Brace yourself!” I shout, but it wasn’t enough warning, and Ikar falls against my back with a grunt as I slide forward against the pommel of the saddle with how quickly it slows, then just as quickly, it’s rushing forward again, but this time directly behind the other flyer.Use that stinger.It seems to greedily eat up the air between the flyer ahead of us, and with deadly accuracy, the stinger raises, and Ikar and I slide forward as its body moves up almost completely horizontal with its attack. I tumble forward onto its neck, my face almost on top of its flat head, and then it lashes out with its stinger, and the rider is ripped from his seat and tossed out into the open air with ascream that fades as he falls. The stinger falls back to its normal position and then it turns to avoid crashing into the other flyer that, without the guidance of its rider, has slowed its pace. Its turn has me slipping around its smooth neck, and I scream, finding myself dangling above open sky from beneath it, grasping with both arms. Sheer terror overtakes me.

“I’ve got you! Let go!” Ikar shouts, as he grabs my upper arm tightly.

I shake my head, my eyes squeezed shut.

“Let go! Now!” he shouts again.

I release my grip, knowing that if he fails, I die. With a hard yank, Ikar pulls me back up and into his arms. I shake with nerves and shiver from sweat that has cooled from the high atmosphere and its cooler air. My body feels numb all over. My dress blows up in the front like an enormous balloon again, animal heads flapping around me. I shove it down with a growl, using Jasper and Greta to once again tuck it beneath my legs to maintain some semblance of modesty.

Wordlessly, Ikar wraps a strong arm around my waist and pulls me close against his chest, placing me snuggly between his strong thighs and opening his coat wider to share his warmth. I should argue and push his arm away. I know we can’t be together like that, but I realize how close to dying I just was, how tired my muscles are, how warm he really is now that I’m here. And I revel in the fact that he came back for me. Admittedly, though, a lot rides on my safe arrival to the city so he can have his magic back. Some of the joy sucks out at that thought.

I’m stuck on top of a terrifying monster, wearing the dress of my nightmares, higher in the sky than I’ve ever wanted to be. I’ve just helped kill two people who were trying to murder us, and I’m still low on money and in over my head with a criminal I never should have arrested, who doesn’t really seem like acriminal at all. It feels good to let everything go for a moment. I breathe in the cold, fresh air.Just a moment.Then I’ll be back to sitting on the neck of the monster, trying to tuck dead animal heads beneath me so they don’t hit me in the face, and will be distant once again from this very warm and handsome bounty, ready to finish the journey to get the bounty reward, save Renna, and free myself from this job.

I finally stop shaking and relax bit by bit, my body and muscles exhausted from stress and nerves, and finally settle my back against his chest. But with every bit of my body that relaxes against him, a different sort of warmth ignites. I’m hyperaware of each strong breath his chest moves with, the way the stubble of his beard catches in my hair. The way the muscles in his arms and legs tighten and move on either side of me as he takes over leading the sharp flyer. This is what I was afraid of, why I sat practically on the creature’s neck to keep my distance. I’m content. Where moments ago I was terrified to be flying so high, now it is a haven, and I never want to land. I lay my head back and revel in the warmth of his coat around me, the smell of leather and a musky scent that’shim. He’s capable and strong, and I feel brave and safe with him. He seems just as comfortable as I.

A thought wiggles its way through my mental wall. Could this criminal be reformed? I’ve heard of it before. I bet he wouldn’t care about my mark, about what I am. With his history, he probably wouldn’t even blink. Maybe, if he chose to live on the right side of the law, we could?—

No.I give myself a mental shake. There is no more than this moment.Enjoy it while it lasts.I gather my wandering, impossible thoughts, tuck them away, and relax a little deeper against him.

Chapter 37

Ikar

We’ve been flying for several hours now, and the first sun has almost set, taking its light with it. After seeing Vera almost slip from the monster, I instinctively pulled her to me and held her close in relief. But instead of putting the usual distance between us right after, this time she relaxed. Her small frame in front of me, safely tucked into my coat and sharing my warmth, feels too right for a man destined to marry another woman. I swallow tightly. To her, I am a criminal, a bounty. And sometimes I wish that’s all I were because then I could choose to be with her, and I would.

I gave her a mocking smile when I saw her stand on that platform so proudly in this strange dress, but the mocking was to hide my awe at her beauty. Even wearing animal heads and ruffles that most women would die before wearing, she draws me. Now, the fabric is all tucked around her, revealing shapely, creamy legs, and with the wind, her hair no longer covers what she attempted to cover on the platform. I keep my eyes safely on the horizon and distract myself with questions. Unlike most Originators, Vera does not dress to show her mark. Now that Ithink about it, usually every inch of her, from ankle to wrist, is covered in clothing no matter the heat, and I wonder why. There are many things I don’t understand about her. I sense the secrets she holds so close, I don’t completely trust her because of it, but I’m drawn to her anyway.

I’m not sure how far this creature will take us, but I know that it has saved us many days of travel through a forest that turned out to be much more trouble than we ever expected. Our last stop is the Fae Kingdom, as Vera has so stubbornly required, before I can get to an authority to get the bounty situation cleared up. I feel torn between my rush to get to Moneyre to, hopefully, meet up with Darvy and Rhosse to continue my mission and lingering and spending more time with Vera. I remind myself that these moments are all we have, and then we’re done. It’ll do no good to develop further feelings for a woman I can’t be with.

An hour later, as the second sun begins to set and we are left with the little light given off by the third, the sharp flyer begins to descend. It was not at my guidance, so I assume we’ve gone the distance it will take us. Vera shifts and wakes before me with the change in speed and direction. She tilts her head up with a smile, warm from sleep to meet my eyes, and she pauses there. Time stops. Her mouth is mere inches from mine. If I lower my head, my lips will meet hers, and I imagine she tastes like the warm glowing sunshine that is drawing out the gold in her hair and reflecting a hint of orange in the gray of her eyes. Her lips part like her thoughts are one with mine, and I nearly groan. With torturous restraint I didn’t realize I had, I pull my eyes from her lips back to her eyes and then out to the sky ahead of us.

“We’re about to land. Our sharp flyer has taken us as faras he can go.” My voice is rough with want of her. I swallow it down.

She straightens wordlessly and once again shifts forward in the saddle, and I feel cool air where moments ago there was warmth.Necessary distance. The creature circles and slowly brings us back to the ground, landing gracefully even with its odd, insect-like legs. I watch as Vera leans forward, presses her hands to its neck once again and seems to thank it. In the meantime, I dismount and scan the field where we’ve landed. It looks safe enough, no immediate danger. The flora and trees seem more fae than shift forest to me now.

After determining which direction to head, I turn to reach for Vera, but instead of accepting my help, she hops to the ground beside me. Back to the usual then.

“You can remove the cuff now.” I offer my wrist to her. I’ve more than earned my freedom at this point.

She pushes my hand away, rolling her eyes. “If you’re so capable you can kill an armored bear without any of your weapons or magic, you’ll be fine until you can prove your innocence.”

I’ll take that as an odd sort of compliment.

“I just saved you from marriage to a shifter,” I argue, dropping my arm heavily.

“Thank you.” She smiles too sweetly, then grabs the fabric of her dress and hitches it to her knees before making her way forward.

I shrug, less disappointed than I should be that I’m still her bounty, and quickly catch up to her.

Chapter 38

Vera

Imay have grown fond of these animal heads, but I miss my trousers, boots, and my loose shirt. I used to be mistaken for a boy, but I wonder now what I would be mistaken for. A creature risen from the depths of the Shift Forest is what I look like. My hair is a mess of snarls from the windy ride, and it adds the perfect touch of ‘mussed underworld goddess’ to my outfit. The dress snags and catches on every branch I pass, and I jerk so hard once that I hear a loud rip. Ikar muffles what suspiciously sounds like a snort, and I whip my head around to glare at him. He looks at me with complete innocence, acting as if nothing happened. I’d like to see him traverse these woods in a dress such as this. Who knows what’s crawling around in the layers of this dratted outfit? I’m forced to hike it up to scramble over downed trees and rocks that block our way, baring more skin than I ever have in my life. Ikar respectfully keeps his eyes averted, but I feel like my cheeks are one never-ending fire.

While I carry my fisted dress in my hands, I hear familiar birdsong. I glance around, searching eagerly. I’ve beenworrying for Rupi for over two days, and my heartbeat picks up in pace. I don’t hear it anymore, and I wonder if I imagined it, but I grin widely when a moment later I see her bobbing through the air. I stop and angle my shoulder out for her to land, but when she sees me, she quickly changes direction and aims for Ikar instead. I frown as she flutters to his shoulder, and he greets her with a stroke of his knuckle. I haven’t seen her since two days ago, or was it three? I admit that I’m a little hurt she chose Ikar over me.

Ikar chuckles at the expression on my face. “It’s not you. It’s the dress.”

---