Chapter 834 Chapter 834
Stones scraped his legs when they were closer to the shore. He was out of breath, and his limbs felt like jello. He stumbled and tried to catch himself, and the pain ripped through his shoulder again. He envied the pawed shifters; they could get stabbed, go shift, and everything was fine. For flyers, they had to wait until healing started because their shift was way more complicated. He didn’t understand the physiology of it and had never tried to find out because then he’d overthink it when he was shifting, and something could go wrong.
His rescuer grabbed him under his other arm and started hauling him to the shore.
“We have to get out of sight before whoever shot you comes to see the dead bird in the water.”
He wanted to thank her and ask her who she was, but he was still out of breath, and it was taking all of his coordination to stumble along where she guided him.
By the time he felt dirt under his feet, he was shivering so hard, he was probably vibrating visibly.
“Where’s your gear?” She dragged him further away from the shore into some trees.
“Not close.” He managed to get out.
“Stay here.”
He looked up to see her darting into the trees, naked. Uri rubbed his face and took a few deep breaths before he looked at his shoulder. It was bleeding. Great. He was sent here to do surveillance, and he was injured with no clue where his gear was. When he’d left it, the plan was to spot the location from the sky, not the ground.
Getting to his feet, he moved further into the trees. Each step hurt. The ground was still mostly frozen, so anything that might be in it was sharp and hard. He looked back to where she had gone. She hadn’t even cared about the bare feet. Why was it women could run over sharp gravel, but male feet were too tender for anything?
Leaning against a tree, he looked at the water and then scanned the area to see if anything looked familiar. He spotted the little red boat shed and felt relief. He had a pretty good idea of where he was now. The bad part was his spare pack and gear were miles from here.
Turning around, he went back and found a sheltered location to wait. Being without clothes made sitting down less appealing, so he squatted by a tree and used it to brace his body. If he could get back to his pack, he could get some of that salve Esen gave him on his shoulder and shorten the length of time he was going to be grounded.
Dropping his chin onto his knees, he closed his eyes. He was going to have to call the prince and tell him he was out of commission for at least a day, hopefully, no more. He looked at his shoulder. It didn’t look deep, so a day should be all he needed for tissue to knit back together.
He heard footwear on the ground and braced himself for someone to come out of the trees. Looking around, he could see nothing he could use as a weapon. If it was anyone other than his rescuer, he was going to look like a lunatic in the bush naked in weather most wore winter jackets still.
The woman came out of the trees and tossed something at him. He caught it and looked at it. It looked like a tracksuit. She’d gotten dressed and was carrying a large backpack.
“Thanks.” He got the pants on and then carefully put his arm into the sweatshirt. It was too short and a bit tight, but it was better than naked.
“What were you thinking? Taking a dive into the water like that?” Her dark eyes pinned him on the spot. “If you’d just went down at a normal speed, you could have landed gently in the water and shifted.” She looked him up and down. “You are not young enough to claim ignorance.” She reached and pulled her long dark hair up and secured it in a messy bun on top of her head. “It's no wonder we’re close to extinct when people pull bonehead moves like that.”
He noticed she was constantly scanning the area as she berated him. If he wasn’t in pain and freezing, he might actually admire her brash attitude. “They caught me off guard. My head wasn’t in it.” He looked out toward the water. “Thanks.” He walked closer. “I’m Uri.”
She turned back and gave him a once-over. “Where’s your stuff?”
He blew out a breath. “Best I can figure—” He pointed. “—about twenty minutes that way.”
She looked down at his feet and then pulled the bag off her back. “I don’t have any footwear.” She bent over and opened the bag. Straightening up, she tossed socks at him. “Those will have to do.” She looked around. “Can you get back to your stuff on your own?” Her gaze flicked to his shoulder.
Uri glanced at it. Blood was spotting through the material.
She sighed. “Come on.” She turned and started walking.
Uri leaned against the tree and put the socks on. They wouldn’t keep his feet warm or dry, but at least he wouldn’t be hobbling along because of stepping on hard objects. She didn’t wait at all, so he had to force his body to move faster than it wanted to so he could catch up. When he was only a few steps from her, he looked around and saw no sign of anyone else. “I’m from the Alliance…”
She turned around and snorted, “Sure you are. The great magical Alliance that swoops in and saves us.” She looked around and then gave him a bored look. “You must be Superman doing it all on your own.” She started walking again.
Uri had never had that reaction from another shifter when he’d told them he was with the Alliance. Usually, people were relieved. He shook his head and hurried after her. “I’m serious. When we get back to my pack, I can call…” She stopped so fast he almost walked into her.
“You have a phone? Are you an idiot? They can track those.”
“Not mine, they can’t.”
“Oh, right. The Alliance has magic phones too.” She shook her head. “I’ll get you back to your stuff, and then you need to go home and stay there before you get yourself captured or killed.”
The pieces started to fall into place. What had she been through? “I was sent here to do some surveillance on a place the teams are going to come and—” This time, when she stopped, he was ready for it and didn’t slip on the ground.
“What place? Teams? For what?” She pinned him to the spot with a cold stare. Her eyes were darkening, and he could tell she was very in touch with her bird.
He opened his mouth and then looked around. “I’m not comfortable sharing too much while we're standing out here in the open.”
She snorted. “Of course you’re not.” She began moving again and shook her head. “I overheard some crown eagles going on about the Alliance—” She waved her hands in the air. “—was coming to save them all…”
“Liz Parker’s Clan? They’re the closest…”
She glanced back at him, and just the animosity in her gaze made him stop talking. “I don’t know names. I don’t run around and hug people just because they’re not pure human.” She rolled her eyes and kept going.
Uri puffed out his cheeks and blew out the air. Maybe it would be better if he just stopped talking until he got back to his stuff so he could call and prove to her what he was saying was true.
“Try to keep up. I was on my way somewhere else when I saw the idiot shifter falling into the water. I don’t want to be wandering around in the middle of the night.”
“Where were you headed?” Clearly, his mouth hadn’t gotten the message that he wasn’t going to talk.
She sighed. “I’m not comfortable sharing too much while we're standing out here in the open.” She snorted. “I’m not telling you.”
He stepped down on something sharp and swore under his breath. How much trouble would he get in if he tranq’d a woman because she was pushing his buttons? A nap might improve her disposition. He watched her back as she moved and spotted the knife sheath on the back of her hip. With his luck, if he did, she’d come to and stab him. His gut told him that was more likely to happen than any other scenario.