Page 17 of Gravel and Grit

Glancing down, he quickly inspected the female in the faint light of the

rising sun. With the exception of split knuckles and the bump on her temple, she was unharmed. The beacon seemed to have been spared any damage from being bounced around within his wings.

Other than what she had caused.

He’d have to put the damn thing back together but, looking closer as he flew away, he could see that she’d replaced most of the connections, fried by the EMP that caused the crash, with human tech.

He looked at her with admiration, surprised she’d managed to not just figure out his people’s technology, but fix the beacon as well. The humans having knowledge of how it worked was less than ideal but he could admit, to himself at least, that he was impressed.

Zaek whipped a look over his shoulder when he heard vehicles start up below him. He saw a dozen white trucks peel out of the hangar, each loaded down with men, right before a whining sound reached him. Scanning the sky, he spotted their little flying toys chasing after him.

Growling out another round of obscenities, he flew faster, pushing himself harder. He was running on determination and fury right now, but he knew he wouldn’t make it far before he had to stop. Shoving the beacon into his bag to free up an arm, he held the female around her waist and unholstered his handgun in preparation.

There was a mountain range rising from the desert up ahead. He’d have to lose the trucks there.

Zaek made it to the mountains, but not before he found out the hard way that the humans had mounted guns on their flying toys. He took a hit to his left wing. It missed the bones, but the bleeding hole in his membrane hurt like a bitch and made maneuvering through the peaks harder than it already was with all the added weight.

He’d managed to lose the trucks since they couldn’t follow him on the ground, and had shot down four of the five toys. The last one, however, was stubbornly clinging to his tail and dodging his bullets. Spotting a rock face up ahead, he had an idea and headed for it. Right as he came up to it, he tucked his wings tight to his back, blocking out the stabbing pain that went through his wing, and took a sharp turn, banking so close to the mountain he scraped his shoulder on the stone.

Angling his ears back he waited, then bared his teeth in a predatory smile when he heard the last one crash into the mountain.

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ZAEK

He flew for another two hours, steadily losing momentum, dipping and rising like he’d drunk too muchguurlk, before he spotted a cabin tucked away in a copse of trees in the valley between the mountains.

It looked abandoned, but to be safe he made a loop around it, blinking hard to clear the blurriness out of his eyes and scanning what he could see of the land, to make sure he wasn’t going to surprise some unsuspecting human.

By the grace ofLar, the female hadn’t woken up during his aerial escape, but he was starting to worry that he’d inadvertently hurt her more than he’d initially thought.

All the crew aboard the ship had basic first-aid training, but she wasn’t Khargal and his knowledge of human anatomy was minimal. If she were seriously injured he’d have no choice but to either take her to a healing center or abduct a physician. He was willing to do both, but that would bring attention they couldn’t afford. Worse, it would mean she really was badly injured which, for reasons he wasn’t willing to acknowledge, made him feel like his chest was being squeezed in a vise.

Landing with a grunt, Zaek stumbled but caught himself before he fell and crushed the tiny female hanging limply from his arm. He couldn’t recall ever being as tired as he was at that moment. His entire body was one big ball of pain and he was sluggishly leaking blood from bullet holes. His wounds had started to heal, but he’d need to go into the second level ofduramna, at

least, to finish regenerating.

He wanted nothing more than to find a semi-soft surface and collapse, but he had to check the cabin, perimeter, and the female before he could do that.

Zaek set her and the beacon gently on the ground within the cover of the trees then crept closer to the cabin, listening for any out of place sounds.

With the exception of normal forest noises, all was quiet… until he climbed the porch steps. The wood complained at his weight, creaking loudly and ruining any element of surprise he might have had.

Sighing, he abandoned stealth in favor of speed.

Kicking the door in, he swept the house as quickly as he could. It was small, with one empty bedroom, one bathroom, and a kitchen that flowed into a tiny living room. The few pieces of furniture present were old and worn, and the entire place was coated in a layer of dust, telling him it had been deserted for a while.

After securing the house, he checked the perimeter, drawing in deep breaths to catch any recent scents. Not finding anything, he retrieved his two stolen treasures and went back inside, wedging the door shut behind him.

Holding her and the beacon cradled in his arms, he used his tail to sweep as much of the dust as possible off the couch before carefully laying her down. He bent and stashed the beacon and his supply bag under the couch where they weren’t immediately visible but still close at hand in case they needed to make a quick getaway, then straightened with a groan.

He was starting to feel more than a little dizzy and knew he needed to hurry before his body began turning to stone without his willing it, but he paused for a second to stare down at her. Zaek told himself he was checking her for any new injuries, but his gaze lingered on her relaxed face, tracing her delicate features, and the mess of black curls spread around it, even more tangled now after their flight.

He curled his fingers into his palms so he didn’t accidentally reach out to touch that cloud of hair and shifted his tongue, absentmindedly feeling the swollen gland.

She is beautiful.

“And brave,” he quietly added, remembering her surprising but delightful lack of screaming.

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