having to leave had crept up on us sooner than expected. And just when I found someone I could make a permanent home with.
The thought of Mari brought my hand back to the grip, the machine accelerating with a gentle thrust between my legs. After spending so much time pushing her away, I stuck to her like velcro now. I soaked up every beautiful laugh, sigh, and kiss, and then took every opportunity to fill her up with more. There was no undoing the hurt I caused her already, but I swore I'd never be a source of pain for her again.
Horus screeched above me, his shadow running along the ground just to my left. As we approached the gate, I glanced up just as he dived. Wings folded back, he hurtled through the air, almost faster than my eye could follow. I squinted, watching him, and slowing the bike down as I met up with Benji at the front gate.
"Welcome back, captain. Your bird hunting?" He shielded his eyes as we watched Horus's missile-like form together.
"Shouldn't need to. He ate this morning."
I spotted Horus's target as soon as the words left my mouth—a black-feathered bird roughly the same size as him and nowhere near as fast. Panic stole my next breath as the realization hit me.
"Oh shit! Is that T-Bone's bird?"
"Sure as fuck is."
We both whirled around to find the Sons of Odin Sergeant at Arms staring at us through the gate. Unlike Benji or me however, he didn't seem at all concerned about his raven becoming a snack for my falcon.
Tattooed arms crossed as T-Bone leveled his gaze at Benji. "Mind if I have a word with your captain?"
The kid scurried away without a breath of argument. I wondered if he'd run to get Reaper or Jandro. If T-Bone was out for my blood, I wasn't about to go down without a fight.
He leaned in close to me, wrapping his hands around the wrought iron bars that separated us. "Haven't been inside your bird’s skull in a bit, have ya?"
I bristled at the question, a knee-jerk reaction. I wasn't used to people knowing about my ability to see through Horus, much less meet someone who could do the same thing.
"I don't fly and ride," I huffed. "Been on the bike running errands all morning." My head cocked to the side. "You don't seem all that concerned, though. Confident your raven is still alive? It's been a minute."
A grin tugged at his lips. "See for yourself, Youngblood."
The dude was testing me. If his ability was anything like mine, he lost control of his body while seeing through his raven. He could stab me through the gate right now if I saw for myself.
Except for the few times Horus seemed to pull my consciousness into him himself, which I had no control over, I only looked through him when alone or with those I trusted most.
I still didn't know T-Bone from Adam, but he and his two fellow Sons proved to be trustworthy at every opportunity so far. The Sons of Odin killed my uncle—something he deserved, but I'd probably never have the balls to do—after he violated their contract and kept them prisoner. They stopped a drone attack on us, then allowed themselves to be detained, tied up, and questioned by us. All the while, dealing with the loss of their clubhouse to a fire that spared no one.
So even my skeptical ass was willing to put a tiny bit of trust in T-Bone's hands.
My eyes rolled back, my consciousness leaving my body as easily as a breath. The next thing I saw was the entire compound from five hundred feet in the air.
I was light as air and just as free. No dead prey in my talons weighed me down. A black blur caught my eye and then Horus was diving again.
No, don’t kill that bird! I yelled silently as the wind rushed past my feathers.
Horus ignored me, zeroing in on the raven like a target-locked missile. The bird cawed and beat its wings hard, but it was no match for the sky’s fastest predator.
Stop! Stop!
My, our, his, talons stretched out, wings spreading out to brake hard. One more second and those glossy black feathers would be in our reach.
Ah—fuck!
At the last possible moment, Horus twisted in midair. We veered off course, wings spread wide and floating on the momentum. Chirps and screeches left my beak, Horus’s happy sounds. The raven followed me, cackling as we began to