Defy by Raine Thomas Page A

hand over Ini-herit’s lips in an obvious bid to gain his silence
about something. After a moment, the elder nodded. The two of them
turned and headed to the edge of the cliff.
    “Oh, crap,” she said. “They’re going to fly.”
She turned to Quincy, who stared at her with an odd expression on
his face. She didn’t have time to reason out what it was. “C.K. and archigos Ini-herit are up to something. I think they spotted
something on the cliffs. Will you fly me over there so we can see
what’s going on?”
    “Are you out of your mind?” he asked.
“Whatever it is archigos Ini-herit is up to, he didn’t
invite us along.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Well, I hope you
decide to stay. And I’m sorry. Again.”
    Then she turned and hurried out of the woods
toward the cliff. She still couldn’t extend her wings, and she
didn’t want to transform into a bird or other animal and end up
without clothing. But she could most definitely climb.
    Even as she reached the cliff’s edge, Quincy
took hold of her arm. She opened her mouth to protest, but he
picked her up and gave her a quelling look.
    “For the record, you are out of your
mind,” he said. And leapt off the cliff.
     

Chapter 11
     
    With at least an hour still to go before
sunrise, Zachariah stopped traveling and set up camp. He told
himself it was because he’d found the perfect uninhabited spot to
sleep once the sun rose, but the fact was he was just tired .
    The last time he felt this way was just after
he’d been scored by Nyx’s tail spike while he battled the effects
of her toxin. The feeling perplexed him.
    As he settled on the hard ground, he thought
again of the bloated, discolored being Nyx had dragged—probably
mostly on the ground, since she only flew if absolutely
necessary—back from her hunt as a gift to him. He reflected on his
efforts to reverse the effects of the toxin. An annoying, throbbing
pain still resonated in his hand, though the skin had largely
healed.
    As he removed the bandage from his wound, he
guessed what happened. He must have gotten some toxin in his open
wound from the Estilorian’s mouth. Thus, he was feeling some
effects from it. Yes, that had to be it.
    “Blasted beast,” he grumbled. But when she
turned in a series of circles and then settled beside him, nudging
his hand onto her side as her tail curled around him, he gave her a
rub. “Damned if I know why I put up with you.”
    Sadly, he figured she probably thought the
same thing about him.
    As he leaned against her soft underbelly, he
once again thought about the group he reluctantly tracked. They
weren’t exactly trying to hide their trail. He had to wonder why,
when the Waresti were surely on the lookout for Luvania’s attacker. Archigos Uriel would have all available members of his class
on the mainland conducting searches, knowing that other Estilorians
could also be at risk.
    Of course, Luvania might not have lived long
enough to give anyone a description of her attackers. In which
case, the Waresti wouldn’t necessarily think to address this
particular group of Mercesti males. As long as the males kept their
activities quiet and weren’t targeting Corgloresti forms or similar
activities, the Waresti would have little reason to pursue
them.
    Zachariah shook his head. It was really none
of his business, he thought. He had no obligation to find those
males.
    As soon as he purged the last of Nyx’s toxin
from his system and regained his energy, he would change his course
and be on his way.
     
    Climbing was remarkably challenging in the
dark.
    Tiege came to this cheery conclusion about
halfway down the cliff face. It had been years since Tate last
dragged him down this cliff with her to explore the caves. The path
they had used hadn’t changed much since then, he was pleased to
note. But a fully grown male didn’t have quite as many sturdy
handholds as a younger one.
    At the moment, he sat on a small ledge
considering the best way to get down