Page 130 of Ashborne: Defiance

‘Her nose. It is her nose. It pains her, but she can think and see. She’s safe.’

From here, I could see how Grace’s hands shook as she wiped her face—leaving a deep, red smear up the sleeve of her shirt—then gripped the neck strap to steady herself.

“You did great, Grace!” I called, my voice hoarse. “Just for God’s sake, stay clipped in!”

“I missed it, but I’ll do it!” she called back.

I blinked. What the fuck? What was she—?

“I can do it! Koa can drop me on the net and I’ll do it again. Please. Just be patient—I’ll do it!”

I looked at Ronen over the net, and found his expression as shocked as my own.

“Grace, you don’t have to—”

“Flameborne, at ease!” Ronen barked, glaring at me. It was a good thing he was out of reach. I would have punched him. “Just rest a moment, Grace. Then we’ll move on.”

“Move on?!” I exclaimed. “You can’t be fucking serious!?”

‘Voski, shut your mouth, and that’s an order.’ Kham didn’t even speak—he sent me the direct instruction, in Ronen’s voice, from Ekko.

I snapped my mouth shut, but continued scowling at my squad captain.

‘Tell him she’s hurt! She can’t be expected to complete the flight.’

To my surprise, it was Gil’s voice in my head next, relayed by Kham from his dragon, Runar. ‘Take a sec, Ronen. What would we ask her to do that would test her more than what she’s just done?’

‘Nothing,’ Ronen replied through the dragons a heartbeat later, ‘But we have to keep her focused. She’s probably going into shock. We need to get her onto the net—fast.’

‘I don’t think that will be a problem. She’s fucking fearless,’ Gil replied.

I snarled. ‘Not fearless, she’s fucking reckless. No self-preservation at all. You can’t put her in a position to hurt herself again!’

‘I won’t, Voski,’ Ronen said sharply, warning me through the dragons.

I swallowed, but didn’t take my eyes off her hunched figure below me. Bren flew alongside her, leaning over. I didn’t know what she said, but Grace nodded and wiped her nose again.

More blood.

Nausea punched at my throat.

‘She’s going to have to cast off. We can’t risk her unclipping until we’re sure Koa can lower her to the net—she’s too willing to take risks.’

‘Willing? She fucking looks for them.’

‘Shut it, Voski. You’re only in this conversation because you’re on the net.’

I scowled and swallowed hard. Even though in the Shadowfang Order I outranked Gil and was a peer of Ronen’s—here with the squad, I was just a member like the others. Normally, I liked it that way. But in moments like this, it burned.

Ronen and Gil went back and forth a couple of times. I closed my eyes when they talked about Grace having to unclip to get to the net, but Ronen said he wouldn’t let her do it until she had a grip on the net.

‘…as long as Koa’s got the control to match our pace precisely, she’ll be fine.’

‘I think Koa’s proven that she’s a skilled flyer,’ I sent dryly.

Moments later, Ronen started issuing orders again, and my heart rose into my throat.

“Furyknights! Scatter!” he bellowed, sending the rest of the squad off and away, to leave Grace and Koa flying alone, which turned my blood cold.