by Alison Aimes
“Not happening.” Grif turned to Maddox. “Get yourself something to eat. Then take Nash and head back out. Track down the ghost, but don’t let him know you’re there. If he’s planning a move on the crew, we need to be ready. If he bypasses you and heads to pack territory, we need to know that, too. We can’t assume he’s here because of the mission or Nayla, but we can’t assume otherwise either.”
“Done.” But Maddox didn’t move. Instead, he cleared his throat and shuffled his boots in the sand.
Grif got the message. “Malin, gather the crew. I want to give them this latest news and let them know to stay alert.”
“But—”
“Do it.”
The male stormed off.
Grif waited until his teammate was well away before he spoke again. “Tell me.”
“The commander asked me to remind you that, feelings aside, eradicating any threat to the settlement is priority number one. We cannot afford to have another war brewing when the Council still poses a danger. If the pack or this ghost proves a hazard, they need to be taken out without hesitation. There are too many lives depending on it.”
Grif reminded himself Maddox was only the messenger, but the urge to pummel the shit out of his teammate rode him hard.
“I know it,” was all he said instead.
He’d promised Nayla no bloodshed. He’d promised her he’d protect her. But what if those things proved impossible?
His margin for error had just gotten even smaller.
42
“Watch that next foothold. It’s a tricky one.” Neck craned upward, Grif watched Nayla scramble for the next ledge, his chest tight.
After another rotation of hard travel, they were only a short distance from where the missing females were being kept. It should have been a cause for celebration, but the news about the ghost and the broken spear had left everyone even more on edge.
Especially since the currents had grown too strong for anyone who wasn’t Nayla or Sharluff to continue. Though it wasn’t a route her pack usually took, he’d made the decision to exit via the cliff and continued the rest of the way on the surface. At least it was almost as light out on the surface as it had been in the water caves, the two suns high in the sky.
But getting to the top was still tricky.
Scaling the short distance between them, he crowded as close to Nayla as he dared. “You okay, wild thing?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a small crack above your head to the left. Pull yourself up and wedge your foot in there. It will give you a chance to rest.”
“I see it.” Her arms shook as she dragged herself upward, the ground a long way off.
Even with the ropes he and Zale had tied together and set up to help with the ascent, it was slow going. The cliffs were steep and required maneuvering around massive treelike structures that grew in the crags of the cliffs. Some jutted straight toward the sky, while others were strangely curved with knobs that twisted in all directions. All were several stories high and bloodred, with ominous white spikes jutting everywhere. Spikes Nayla had warned brought agonizing pain and then death if imbedded and left in the skin.
Wouldn’t you know? The pack name for them was Gazi-teno.
He’d told Nayla he’d carry her up on his back. She’d declined. He’d suggested she get a ride on Sharluff. She’d said there wasn’t room. He’d insisted on her waiting until he’d made sure the others were all set, but then got delayed triple-checking the rope lines.
She’d started up without him.
He knew why. The news about the ghost and spear had left her more desperate than ever to prove herself one of the team—and remind him of her strength.
“Careful,” he growled. “Your rope is drifting too close to the spikes.”
“So is yours.” She glowered at him, and then slipped, her heel sliding off the ledge for a terrifying heartbeat before she righted herself again.
He shut up. There’d be words, but they would have to come later.
The only one who appeared to be enjoying the climb was Sharluff, who brushed off the sharp spikes like they were minor irritants and clawed his way up the incline with a satchel of glowing danashe crystals and Lana and Cam clinging to his back. The creature was definitely well adapted to this area in all ways.
Nayla’s climbing skills were less impressive. Her shorter arm and leg lengths made it harder for her to reach certain holds.
“You think Malin will understand directions?” She scaled another rock. “Find the females?”
“Yes.” He wanted her to concentrate.
“You think we do rescue this rotation?”
“If we can.”
He’d sent Malin ahead to scout out the female’s location and confirm that none of Nayla’s intel had changed. Scaling the cliffs as a group took time, but Malin was an adept climber. Sending him ahead meant no extra time wasted.
Plus, his usually loud and aggressive teammate had been strangely quiet all rotation. Not even a single complaint about Nayla’s suggestion being a delaying tactic. Nor another word about placing Nayla under lock and key.
Grif’s gut wouldn’t stop blaring in alarm.
But whatever he thought about Malin personally, he could not make himself believe the warrior would do anything to jeopardize the mission.
So, he’d given the male very explicit instructions. Scout only. No engagement.
After a scowling, prideful look in Lana’s direction, Malin had freeclimbed it out of there faster than Grif would have thought possible.
Few others, though, were finding the climb as easy.
“I thought we were a team.” Hurt roughened Nayla’s voice. “But you barely talk to me. You tell me nothing of rescue plan.”
Was that true? He was so busy planning and watching, staying on the alert, he probably had grown more distance. But then again, so had she.
“Or why,” she continued, “you, Zale, or Bain always by my side.”
She’d noticed. He’d wondered if she would. Until the ghost business was settled, though, that was the way it was going to be. “Now is not the time.”
“You think—”
“Nayla, stop asking questions and focus,” he growled.
At least she was almost to the top.
She swiveled to glare at him, strands of hair plastered to her temple. Her chest was heaving, her skin shimmering even more than usual, but she definitely looked proud. “I’m fine. I told you. I can care for myself.”
“And I told you, these are not normal times.”
Still, now was not the time for a rehash. He’d checked her rope three times. It was secure and she was strapped in tight. He’d covered all his bases.
He breathed a sigh of relief as she heaved one arm and leg over the edge and started to slide onto her belly.
No need to worry, after all. He could—
His rope snapped.
Acting on instinct, he grabbed hold of the nearest rock tip. The jagged surface cut into his skin as he dangled by the single handhold.
“Grif!” Nayla threw herself forward, seizing his free wrist with one hand while she gripped her rope as an anchor.
She tugged, trying to pull him up. All that happened was that she slipped forward a few inches, his weight dragging her down.
“It’s okay.” Blood seeped beneath his hold, making his grip slippery as his legs stretched, searching for a ledge that didn’t appear.
He saw Lana and Cam on top scrambling toward him. He heard Zale’s and Quil’s shouts from below. But most of all, he observed the cracks spreading through the rock beneath his grip, small pebbles already pinging their way down the cliffside.
“Hold on.” Ears twitching, Nayla tugged harder.
“Let go.” He reached for the rope at his hip.
“What? No!”
“My handhold is disappearing. When it goes, I will drop. I’m not taking you with me.”
“No. Others are coming. They help me pull you up. Sharluff help,
too.”
“Not in time.”
“Th-then, I help swing you to my rope.” She sounded frantic. “We do together.”
The crack in the rock lengthened. “I’m too heavy. All that will happen is you fall with me. That I won’t allow. Let go. I will loop my rope around a stronger rock.”
“Th-that won’t work and you know it!”
“It’s the only option I’ve got. Let go.” If he failed, Ryker would make sure Nayla was safe. He would succeed where Grif had fallen short
“No. We a team.” Determination flared in her iridescent gaze. “If you go to Void, I go too.”
She seized hold of his wrist with both hands, leaving her body dangling over the ledge.
“Nayla, no!”
“Together.” She threw her body to the side, giving him no choice.
With a roar, he used the extra momentum to launch his body toward the rope.
He caught it—barely—propelled by terror and the image of her body broken on the rocks below. His hands closed around the thick strand just as she tumbled over the edge, her hands still locked to his wrist.
He held tight, fighting gravity as he yanked her upright and flung her back over the edge.
Gripping the rope with two hands, he scrambled up behind.
She was already shoving to her knees and launching herself into his arms. A triumphant glow on her face. “You safe. We did it.”
Her voice sounded as if it came from under water, but he knew it was just the roar of adrenaline muffling everything else. The faint, relieved shouts of his crewmates also echoed in the distance.
Grif wrapped his arms around Nayla and held tight.
“Don’t ever fucking do something like that again.” His voice was a low growl, his fury and fear a sharp blade in his chest
If he hadn’t been fast enough, if he hadn’t been as strong, if she hadn’t been so light, she would be dead.
Empty green eyes flashed in his mind, sharper and more vivid than before.
He’d thought losing his sister would be the most agonizing thing that happened to him, until now.
“You’re hurt. Sharluff has paste. I be right back.”
She slipped from his hold, leaving his arms as empty as the widening hole inside his chest.
He rubbed at his sternum and noticed the tracks of crimson snaking from his forearm and dripping into the dirt. The cut had to be deep. It was another reminder he’d been lucky to hold on as long as he had. Lucky too he’d been able to grip the rope and catch her at the same time. If not, he might have lived, but Nayla would have died.
Died. On his watch. While his heart still beat and his pain and grief swallowed him whole.
“Grif? Are you okay?” A worried-looking Lana sank onto her knees beside him. Cam stood sentinel behind, a silent, dark-eyed presence. “Nayla has gone to get some supplies to bandage your hand.”
Neither female had spoken to him directly since that night at the fire. He’d gotten his share of dirty looks, but neither was looking at him with anger now, only concern.
“What happened?” Lana sounded breathless, her eyes full of fright. She examined his hand as she spoke.
“My rope snapped.” Whether it was more bad luck or deliberate, he couldn’t say until he’d examined it. The bulk of it lay in a heap at the bottom of the cliff, but a shorter portion still dangled from the rock where he’d initially secured it. He’d be taking a look at it the moment his legs started working right.
“Do you think it was the ghost?”
“No.”
Both of them seemed surprised. Lana’s hold on his palm tightened while Cam’s lips pressed tight and her scar whitened.
“No stranger could have slipped in and done that.” He left the rest of his words unsaid.
But both understood, their eyes growing wide.
“I don’t… I can’t… Well, it must have been an accident then.” Lana nodded as if the question was decided. “It was very brave of you both to do what you did.”
“You’re lucky to be alive,” added Cam.
“True.” He forced himself to meet their gazes head-on. It had always been hard for him when it came to Cam. Even now, she reminded him of all he hadn’t been able to do, and the fact that Melody and Hope’s mother was still out there.
Another female he’d failed to save.
Nayla had almost been another.
Zale and Bain, having finally made it to the top, hustled over. So did the rest of the crew. He waved them away with the assurance that he was fine and the gruff order to get the tents set up. The last thing he wanted was more people fussing over him. He also wanted to be alone when he examined the rope.
“It would be good if you checked Nayla out when she comes back.” He extracted his palm from Lana’s hold and tried to pretend the monster inside him wasn’t clawing to break free and do something. Vanquish something. Break something. Battle something. Just so he could feel less out of control. “I had to toss her fast. I suspect she landed hard.”
“Yes. She’ll clearly do anything for you.” Lana paused and he knew they were finally getting to the real reason she and Cam had come. “I hope you’re willing to do the same.”
He sat taller. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
“I don’t mean risk your life. Or perform some physical feat or battle some danger. I’m talking about letting her go. Being with you only seems to put her more and more at risk.”
The female was relentless.
Cam said nothing.
“Nayla can tell me what she wants,” he told them both. “She is very clear on the fact that she knows what she needs. Whatever you may think of the outcome, my intent has always been to put her first.”
Though he’d almost failed. Despite everything, he’d almost let it all slip through his fingers.
“Here’s the paste and some bandages.” Nayla squatted beside him. Thankfully, she was too worried about his hand, fussing over him as she applied the paste, to notice the tension arcing around her.
Lana and Cam stepped back, but they didn’t leave. Instead, they stared hard at him.
He glowered back. They could judge him all they liked. He’d never give Nayla up.
He’d just do better. Guard her more effectively.
Just out of direct sight, he could hear the rest of the crew readying the campsite, pitching tents. Acting as if he hadn’t almost lost his whole world.
Then, he heard Lana ask if Nayla was okay, inquire if she needed to be checked out, and her blithe response.
“Do not worry.” His wild thing sounded so pleased, so triumphant, as if the taste of her near-death victory had made her hungry for more. “I am stronger than I look. I am sure we will experience much worse in coming rotations. Grif can count on me. We a team.”
Just like his rope, he snapped.
“No!” He seized her by her forearms. He shook her once. “No. You don’t risk yourself for me like that ever again.”
He’d been trying so damn hard. Triple-checking everything. Remaining vigilant. But the threats kept coming.
“How the hells am I supposed to keep you safe if you won’t do as I say?” He shook her again. “What do you need me to do? Tie you up and stick you back in that damn cave until this is over?”
Her body jerked as if he’d struck her. She shoved her hands against his chest and staggered out of his hold.
She pushed to her feet. “No. We a team.”
The monster inside roared once more. “I’ll do what I have to do to keep you safe.”
“You said I guest, not prisoner.” She hurled his earlier words back at him.
“Then act like one. When I tell you to follow a command, you do it.”
“No.” Her lips flattened, her ears twitching, but the sadness in her gaze crushed him most of all. “I try to wait for you to see, but you don’t. You say that monsters do not control us. But real monster is not Talg or your father, real monster is fear—and you letting it rule you.”
“Bullshit.”
“I am sorry I scare you.”
His throat went tight. She’d always looked at him like she’d never let him go. Now, she stared at him like this was goodbye. Like he’d fallen down that cliffside, instead of standing right in front of her.
“You were one who showed me I could make choices, Grif, and I will always be grateful.”
He didn’t like where this was headed.
“You also help me to learn to say what I want. To know what I want. I want us to be forever pack. A real team.” She sucked down a sharp breath. “But I will not be treated as less. I will not allow anyone turn me back into what I was, not even you.”
He was terrified of losing her—and he was losing her anyway.
“Nayla….ˮ He could fix this. He just needed to make her understand what he was up against. He would hold the strands together by sheer will if he had to. He would figure out what she needed, and he would give it to her. He always did.
“They’re not there.” Malin sprinted into view, his expression a mask of fury and fear.
Grif’s shit rotation took an even steeper nosedive.
43
“Something’s wrong.” Malin closed in, at least four glowing spears clutched in his hand.
In a single movement, Grif unsheathed his weapon and shoved her behind him.
“Did you fucking hear me?” Malin’s voice shook with rage. “The females are not where she said they would be. And I found these just now. All stacked up nice and pretty at the perimeter of our tents, just waiting to be grabbed up and used against us.”
What in the hells?
The others gathered closer, drawn by the shouting. Their expressions were a mix of worry and shock.
Grif kept his weapon raised. “Drop those spears now and put your hands up.”
“I am not the threat here,” roared Malin. He glared over Grif’s shoulder. “Are these spears part of some ambush? Did you destroy yours because you knew you’d have these? Are you supposed to use them against us?”
“No.” Nayla’s voice shook with fury. “I on your side.”
“Malin, calm down.” Grif studied the spears in his teammate’s hand.
