at the nest. Surrounding me are piles of filth and corpses. Biting back my disgust, I grab the leg of the nearest dvisti and wrench it, keeping one hand on the egg itself as my shield. The dvisti is so dead that it makes a dry sound when I rip its leg free. I glance at the sky-claw to see her watching me, and carefully toss the leg into the air.
She snatches it from mid-air with a strong snap of her jaws. Old Grandfather is impossibly fast, I realize. There’s a crunch, and then she returns to watching me, glaring from above.
All right, then being faster than her is out. I must be more clever.
I wrench another limb free from the nest around me. She shrieks in anger, rattling her leathery wings in my direction, and when I fling the new torn limb into the air, she snatches at me instead, nearly grabbing my outstretched arm. I manage to roll away, hiding behind the egg once more as she bellows her rage.
She has already learned this trick, I see. If I do it again, she will snatch my arm for certain.
I rub my mouth, considering the pack I clutch against my chest. If I toss it into the air, will she snatch at it, or will she snatch at me?
There is only one way to be certain, I realize with a sinking feeling, and I know what I must do.
I grip the bag in my hands, considering the creature that hovers above, just waiting for me to move again. She does not watch what I grab this time, but watches me instead, and I know she is simply waiting for my arm to extend.
So I give her what she wants.
I will only have one chance, and I must take it. With H’nah’s name on my lips, I grip the bag tightly in my hand, then hold it up high over my head, pretending to throw it.
Old Grandmother lowers her terrible beak and clamps down on my arm, swallowing the pack.
I bellow in pain as the teeth clamp down on my forearm. It is like no agony I have ever felt before, but I expected this. I knew she would bite down on me. I knew she would snatch my arm on the side of her mouth that is weaker, which is the chance I need. With a free hand, I slam a fist against the old break in her beak. It lets out a loud crack, and then I fling myself over the edge of the nest.
Gravity does the rest. Her sharp, terrible teeth scrape all down my arm, and I can feel the furrows as they dig through muscle and over bone. I nearly black out at the pain, and then I’m falling free. She’s let go of me.
After what feels like forever, I thump to the ground, the breath knocking out of my body. I stare up at Old Grandfather, flicking her beak side to side in obvious pain. I remember to change my camouflage again, and lift my good hand to see it bleed to white, just like the snow around me. My wounded arm looks…terrible. Deep gouges line all the way down my arm, from elbow to fingertip. I cannot pay attention to that right now, though.
I must get back to H’nah.
Old Grandfather leaps into the air, and I remember that I cannot race straight for the cave. Biting back a curse, I tuck my wounded arm against my chest and haul my battered body against the cliff wall, camouflaging once more.
Now to wait.
Pain throbs through my arm, so intense and awful that I want to scream. I must remain silent, though, as Old Grandfather flies over the valley, circling and shrieking her displeasure. I bend low and pack snow against the wound, hoping that the ice will help ease the burning agony of it.
22
HANNAH
I purse my lips, tense, as the damn sky-claw circles the valley again. “How long does this shit take to work?” I ask for what must be the dozenth time. “Because I’m not seeing a sleepy, doped-up bird. I’m seeing an angry bird and no J’shel.”
“It’s going to be fine, Hannah, I promise.” Brooke pats my shoulder. “I know you’re worried.”
Of course I’m fucking worried. It’s my mate out there. It feels like it’s been hours since he disappeared, and a short time ago, the sky-claw flipped out and started flying around like a crazy beast, and my heart’s been hammering ever