Page 16 of Gravel and Grit

If he hadn’t caught a whiff of her blood he might have done something he’d regret for the rest of his long life. But he did and the need to get her to safety, so he could treat her wounds, overpowered everything else.

Bowing himself over his wings, he put on a burst of speed and turned the skin of his face and head to stone, trying to block as many of their shots as possible. Finally, the open elevator doors came into sight. When Zaek slid to a stop in front of them, he felt the female jerk at his abrupt movement, followed by an unnerving thud, before she went limp and silent.

“Fuck!” he exploded around the gun clenched between his teeth.

He knew he’d just knocked her out, but there was no time to stop and

check on her. He could feel her breathing and that had to be good enough for now.

Bending quickly, he snatched the knife out of the tracks. The doors began to close immediately, but not before someMacero-cursed asshole shot him right in the fucking foot.

His military issue boots had long ago worn out and human footwear was insufferably uncomfortable. Thickening the stone on his wings to protect her meant he sacrificed some protection on other areas. The bullet cracked the thin layer of stone upon impact and sank deep into the flesh of his foot.

Zaek snatched the tranq gun out of his mouth and growled out every Earthian and Khargal curse word he could think of. Having been a soldier for most of his life meant he had plenty of experience with blocking out pain, but damn that stung.

He took a moment to catch his breath and prepare himself while the elevator rose to the top level. There would be soldiers waiting and they would fire as soon as the doors opened. That meant he’d have to fight his way through an unknown number of men before he, and the unconscious female, were free.

Free for the moment, at any rate.

When he’d snatched her up in the lab, Zaek had a half-formed idea of dropping her off in the desert just outside the base. His goal had only been to get her out of immediate danger. But, that was no longer an option. He didn’t know what the fuck he was supposed to do with her, but leaving her behind would be a death sentence.

Figure it out later. Focus on making it out of here alive.

Taking another deep breath, he unstoned his wings just enough to peek in at her. She was indeed unconscious, but the bump on her temple was small and her breathing and heartbeat were steady. When her sugary scent hit his snout, his gland throbbed and his cock hardened. Reacting immediately, he did the only reasonable thing he could—held his breath and sealed her back up again.

Nope. Must concentrate on the men with guns, not how fucking guilty wefeel that she got hurt because of us and damn sure not how unreasonably cuteshe looks all curled up like a bunny.

Zaek instantly felt the drain pulling at him as he put more energy into thickening the stone of his wings as much as possible. Beneath his armored suit, he was completely flesh. His suit would protect him from most of their

firearms, but without stone to reinforce it, it wouldn’t be able to deflect any bigger artillery. He just had to hope they didn’t break out the big guns since the last order he’d heard was to capture him alive.

Turning himself to stone had a cost, and he’d done it multiple times in a short span. Zaek knew there would be a hell of a price to pay for expending so much energy. As soon as they were out of immediate danger, he’d have no choice. He would have to go intoduramnafor a few hours to heal and recover, which meant he’d be dead to the world.

Being of the warrior class and having purer blood than most afforded him a great many benefits, but at a certain point evenhisbody would shut down.

He and the female would be helpless, but there was no alternative and no way to fight it, not with how much damage he’d taken and how much energy he’d used.

The elevator dinged as it reached the top. As he’d anticipated, the soldiers opened fire the second the doors slid open and he came into view.

In rapid succession, he threw another flash bang and two smoke bombs.

When the doors were open wide enough for him to get through, he ran as fast as he could with the extra weight and sluggishness slowing him down.

Zaek barrelled through the squadron of disoriented soldiers like a football player, sending them flying off into the smoky hangar.

Gunfire, shouts of pain as he hit them, and yelled orders filled the open building to thunderous levels, but through the noise Zaek caught a calm voice

—the same one he’d heard in the lower levels—that came over someone’s radio.

“Belay the capture order. Neutralize them both and bring me the bodies.”

Good luck with that, asshole.

The shots that had been aimed at his legs and wings changed to his head, ricocheting off the thicker stone there and hitting a few of their own people, adding their screams to the deafening mix.

Zaek smiled grimly and kept running.

The second he passed the hangar doors, he unstoned and unfolded his wings, still running from the few soldiers still capable of pursuing him. The female’s limp legs flopped down without the pouch to keep her curled into a ball. He held her tightly with one arm and the beacon with the other, then took to the air. Gritting his teeth with the strain, he rose high into the sky where they couldn’t get him.

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