Earth Bound Read Online Free Page B

eyes.
    “Talon?” She took a step forward, a hand outstretched.
    “Garnet.” He struggled to his feet, trying desperately to retract his wings. They wouldn’t obey, remaining around him like an unwanted cloak.
    She shook her head, straight black hair flying around her face and shoulders. “No. Not you. I can’t lose you.” She ran towards him and threw her arms around him.
    “Garnet-” he broke off the assurances that would have been lies, enfolding her in his arms. “I’m sorry.” He felt her tears against his bare chest and his arms tightened. “Shh Garnet. Shh.”
    “They’ll kill you.”
    “One day. But not until they know.”
    She tilted her head upwards, tears staining her cheeks, her brown eyes filled with more. “How long?”
    “When I was eighteen.”
    Her mouth opened, closed and opened again. “When you quit the army. Oh Talon.” She buried her head against his chest again.
    “Shh.” Her pain was tearing him apart. If he’d had the strength he would have ended it all before now instead of risking his family being sentenced with him.
    Again she looked up at him. “We have to do something. Can’t we get rid of them?”
    “Do you think I haven’t tried?”
    “Does our father know?”
    “No.” The word came out sharper than he planned.
    “Anyone?”
    “No.”
    “Why? Why you?”
    He had no answer for her. It was a question he’d asked a million times and never once had he received an answer. “When I’m caught, you have to deny you ever knew. They’d kill you too.” He wished he could tell her it would be safer for her to turn him in, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to die. Facing death in battle was different from being hung like a criminal.

Chapter Five
    Brianne
    Brianne ran a hand over her head again. The stubble felt strange after having long hair her entire life. A sound had her reaching for the bow, which hung at her back. She grabbed an arrow with her other hand as she spun to see Macklyn flying towards her. Lowering the bow she continued to hold it and the arrow as he flew towards her, a sack in his hands.
    She ran her tongue over the almost healed split in her upper lip, smiling slightly at the memory of her fight with Macklyn. A pity they’d dragged them apart so soon, but at least she’d managed to blacken his eye and cause more damage than the single split lip he’d given her.
    As Macklyn landed in the gully, she squinted her eyes against the red dust that swirled around them from the dry, cracked earth and the pillars of stone that created the perfect hiding place. Brianne fought the temptation to put the arrow to the string of the bow and draw it back. She hated how she relied on Macklyn to bring her food and keep her informed of what was happening. The past nine days had dragged.
    Macklyn dropped the sack at her feet. “You’ve got ten minutes to eat and get ready. It’s time.”
    “Time?” Her heart raced as she waited for him to clarify his comment.
    “We won a battle. First Officer Ewyn is at the scene preparing things now.”
    As much as she hated to, Brianne knelt at his feet to pick up the sack, quickly rising. She pulled out the flatbread, unwrapped it and took a bite as she checked the other contents. More vieteh berries, blood stained clothes, worn boots and a curved dagger. She looked up at Macklyn with a question in her eyes.
    “They were taken from a soldier similar to your size. Hurry up, you don’t want to mess this up and have one of their patrols find the battle site before you get there.”
    With a sharp nod, Brianne ate the last of the flatbread then hurried behind a stone pillar to dress in the unknown soldier’s clothes. Some of the blood was still damp and she tried not to think about it as she sat down to pull on the boots. They were only slightly big on her. Once the dagger was tucked inside one boot and the berries in her belt pouch, she returned to Macklyn. “I’m ready.”
    He nodded to the bundle of clothes and her bow