Screeching again, this time Rhys dive bombed the eagle from above, forcing it to lose even more height. Below them, Rhys could see Castle Hill, with its flat, lightly forested top the perfect place for two large, winged creatures to land.
He kept harrying, driving the eagle down, shepherding it when it tried to veer away and fly back out over either the city itself or the ocean. Despite the fact it was also a shifter, Rhys could see it tiring.
But he had no such concerns. The thought of saving Maisie meant that physical concerns meant nothing to him. He felt no fatigue. Only determination.
He dropped height again, trying to push the eagle down. But this time the eagle, clearly at the end of its stamina, fluttered weakly, doing the flight equivalent of staggering.
And that was all it took.
The eagle went off-balance, the high winds battering it as its wings went out of kilter. It didn’t help of course that it was carrying extra weight in the form of Maisie, and it couldn’t seem to figure out how to right itself while still carrying her.
Shit!Rhys thought – the eagle was flapping and tumbling, and any moment now, Rhys could see it was going to –
It opened its talons.
Maisie fell.
Chapter 19
Oh. Shit. That’s not good.
As last thoughts went, Maisie thought that was probably pretty lame. But considering she was plummeting to earth at several times the speed she thought she should be, she didn’t think she had time to come up with something better.
Shethoughtshe’d been terrified as she’d sped through the air, several hundred meters above the ground, in the claws of some kind of giantbird. But now, she thought, that had seemed pretty cushy compared withthis.
At least she’d been relatively safe in the bird’s claws. Now, she was in freefall.
She didn’t even have enough time to scream – she’d always thought she would, in a situation like this. But now, she was silent, the parts of her brain that could do anything other than feel utter terror completely shut off.
Above her, she could see the blue of the sky, the rapidly shrinking silhouette of the bird that had been carrying her and her own flailing hands, reaching out for something that just wasn’t there.
There was nothing to grab on to. She was falling out of the sky.
Well, at least I had a nice holiday first. And I got to meet Rhys.
It was inane, she knew. But right now, there was simply nothing else left to –
“Oof.”
Maisie let out a completely undignified grunt as she landed.
She had to admit, she was a little surprised. One, because it only seemed like she’d been falling for a couple of seconds – ten, at most.
But then, as she’d already known, fear could do weird things to your brain. She must have fallen all the way to the ground already, somehow.
But there was also the fact she wassurethat if she’d fallen to the ground, she’d bewaytoo splattered everywhere to be making a grunt of surprise, or any other kind of noise. She’d kind of thought she’d be entirely mush.
And then, there was theotherfact that the ground she’d landed on seemed to be rather warm. And soft. Andmoving.
“Rhys!” Maisie cried out breathlessly, sitting bolt upright.
And it was – he was carrying her just the way he had when he’d flown her out to their own little private island.
The warmth and softness had been his feathers and fur beneath her face and hands, and the movement was the beat of his enormous golden wings, as she rode him to safety.
I knew it. I knew he’d never let me down.
As if he’d sensed her thoughts, Rhys let out a low, comforting croon, as if to agree.
