I can't believe it's already October. Feels like only yesterday we were heading into spring. Where did the time go?
I don't have much to share today. I'm still waiting for my editor on the last edits for Destiny, and I'm working away on book 2 AND 3. Yep, I'm multitasking. Trying to see if I can push these two books out a bit quicker than normal since I fell behind their their releases and made everyone wait while I reworked this series. This is the attempt at least. I won't be sacrificing quality just to pump these out faster. That would defeat the purpose of my rework.
So, here we are, another exerpt from book 2:
Steadying myself as I crouched down, I scanned the city. Searching up here was a long shot, but hopefully we'd manage to pick something odd up.
"So how are we going to do this?" Raikidan asked as he crouched next to me.
It was obvious my annoyance with him affected him little. "The fastest way to locate Jay would be to Heat-Sense. As long as he's moving outside, we should be able to spot him at this height."
"What about Arnia?"
"If she's hiding, it'd be inside a building. I doubt we're going to find her this way, unless, of course, you're able to Heat-Sense through walls."
Raikidan snorted. "I have limits too, you know."
"That's what I thought."
Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I willed the heat in my chest to fill my eyes. Blinking slowly, my sight distorted and I slowly scanned the city. There were hundreds of people still walking about this late, making my job harder, but I had expected as much.
Raikidan pointed in the direction of Quadrant Three. "I see two of the groups over there."
I pointed towards the direction of Quadrant Two. "The other two are over there. They seemed to be well spread out. I just hope one of them is close enough to intercept."
"We have to find this guy first," Raikidan reminded me.
"I know that," I muttered.
I continued to scan the city. Movement caught my eye and I leaned forward. A single person streaked through the back alleys of Sector Eight. Soon after, a mob followed suit. Sliding closer to the edge of the roof slowly, I looked harder. I wanted to be sure it wasn't just a gang chasing a poor civilian.
"That looks to be him." As I continued to move, I switched my communicator to Aurora's signal so she could figure out the coordinates.
"Oh, good!" Aurora exclaimed. "I thought I'd have to wait for you to answer my call in. I was able to get a rough idea of where Arnia is. The signal was cut just before I could pinpoint her exactly."
"It'll be good enough," I replied. "It's better than what we have now, and if we can manage it, we can spread ourselves thin to cover more ground."
"All right, she's somewhere in Quadrant Two. At one point it looked to be in the middle of Sector Four and Sector Five, but I couldn't get a second reading to confirm it. It looks like our team is in the same area, so I'll let them know," she informed me.
"Sounds good. Raikidan and I will join them. Before you do, though, I need you to figure out the coordinates of this video clip I'm shooting. It's Jay, and I believe he's in Sector Eight. The other teams will need to get there ASAP to help him."
I could hear Aurora typing on her keyboard. "I'm receiving the feed now. I'll hand it over to Raynn's team and hope they won't mess it up."
"I was hoping you'd be able to get another team to help us," I muttered.
"Sorry, they were the only ones available. If it weren't for the Council, I wouldn't have been able to get half of them, and as you can see, even with a Council order Nioush chose not to help. As much of an ass as he is, he would have been a powerful asset."
"As much as I hate to agree with you, you're right. I'm just glad Seda isn't like him."
Aurora laughed. "I think she'd be dead by your hands if she were."
I chuckled and cut the connection. I quickly slid to the edge and felt strong hands grasp the back of my vest. I turned my head and glared at Raikidan. "Let go."
"I don't want you to fall," he objected.
I grunted and slipped out of his grip to move closer to the edge. "I don't need your help. I can take care of myself."
"But—"
He didn't get a chance to continue. Once I reached the ledge, I jumped.
"Eira!" Raikidan shouted.
I felt gravity pull my down like a lead weight. The wind whipped around me and deadened my hearing. Twisting my body, I faced the wall and looked for a place to push off from. Finding the right nook, I grabbed hold quickly and then pushed off with my feet. Using my momentum to my advantage, I converted the vertical movement to a horizontal one. I twisted my body again as I came close to the building I was aiming for.
Positioning myself correctly, I rolled on the roof and pushed myself to a standing position. I looked back up at Raikidan as I came to a stop and I gave him a smug snort before continuing on, hiding my limp as best as I could. I hadn't landed as well as I had planned, thanks to the guns on my back, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I could take care of myself. I'd done it all my life. I wasn't about to stop now.
Large wings flapped above me as I ran. Looking up briefly, I found Raikidan following at a distance. As long as he didn't have Seda communicate with me about my supposed slowness, I'd be fine.
"I'll take my gun back." I looked at Raikidan's in surprise. I hadn't expected him to shift, let alone attempt to run beside me.
"What, tired of flying or am I still too slow for you?" I sneered.
Raikidan sighed. "Just give me my gun. I'll be out of your hair after."
Pulling the gun off my back, I tossed it at him. I could feel my pace pick up instantly. The extra weight had been slowing me down greatly and I had no idea.
"Let me take your gun. It'll let you move faster."
"It'll slow you down more."
He shrugged. "I don't care. If I have to use up all my energy to keep up with you, I will."
I snorted. "I'll carry it myself."
"You don't have to do everything alone!"
"I don't need anyone's help," I muttered. "I can take care of myself like I have in the past."
Raikidan stopped running. "Are you saying I should have just left you to die? I should have just turned a blind eye to your condition?"
"It would have made my life a whole lot simpler if you had…" I murmured quietly as I slowed down my pace. "…And yours too…"
Raikidan grabbed my shoulders tightly, forcing me to stop entirely. "I'm not okay with that answer. I'm not okay with you not allowing me to help."
I pushed him away. "Why do you even care? I'm a Human, not a Dragon. I mean nothing to you."
"That's not—"
"I mean nothing to everyone… I came back to help the others, that's all. There's no help for me…"
"I want to help."
"It's too late!" I barked. "Where were you when I needed help twenty years ago? Where were you when I needed help ten years ago? Where were you?"
He didn't answer.
"That's right. You weren't there for me, just like everyone else. I had to do it all on my own! I had no one to rely on then, and I need no one to rely on now. When this is over, I'm out of everyone's hair and on my own just like before. You might as well accept that."
I ran off before he could say anything. Hopefully, he'd get the hint this time. He was better off not making a connection and I was better off alone. That's how it was meant to be.