JOLENE
It was only once I was up on Wyn’s back that I saw the reason Zohro had thrown me up there. There was an animal creeping towards us, its huge, slinky body low in the grass. It was massive, somehow both feline and reptilian, like an Old-Earth panther but covered in scales. To my eyes, it appeared far more alien than the bull had before.
And that made it all the more terrifying.
We have to ride.
I knew it with grim certainty. We wouldn’t survive an encounter with that thing, whatever it was. The ranch wasn’t far…
Could we make it?
By force of habit, I reached for the reins as Zohro leaped up to land behind me. But he snagged them from me before I could get a grip on them.
And then we were moving.Flying.
The breath left my lungs as fear and exhilaration gripped me in equal measure. I’d missed riding so damn much. But this was too fast, too bumpy. I was bigger and way less balanced than thelast time I’d been on a horse. Centre of gravity? Didn’t have one. My pelvis spasmed and ached as we galloped forwards.
But Zohro’s left arm was firmly wrapped around my waist. A protective support that made me feel a little less like I was going to bounce Baby Girl right out of me.
And when he’d told me that I wouldn’t fall…
Maybe it was crazy. But I believed him.
We closed in on the ranch in breathless seconds, Zohro bent over me, bellowing commands at Wyn as the genka gained on us. But terror, not relief, lit up my veins when we approached the fence.He’s going to try to jump.
He didn’t, thank God. His tail was a whipping blur, snapping ahead to unlatch a gate I hadn’t noticed in the fencing. As we rushed through it, he used his tail to slam the gate closed, yanking hard on Wyn’s reins to slow her enough so that he could snap the latch entirely shut with his tail.
“Where’s your gun?” I asked, my heart battering my ribs as a very angry something hurled itself so hard against the fencing that the planks shook with the force.
“My what?” Zohro leaped off of Wyn, leaving me alone in the saddle. Which had me feeling slightly betrayed, after he’d promised me I wouldn’t fall. Until I noticed that his tail was now secured around my hips like a wrap-around seatbelt.
And that his arms were open below.
And that his eyes were on me.
“Your gun!” I repeated. “Does that not translate? Something to fucking shoot that thing!”
That thingwas pawing at the planks now, scratching and emitting low growls of frustration.
“A blaster-style weapon? Only the wardens can carry such things.”
“You live all the way out here, alone, with things likethatcircling your ranch?” I asked in utter disbelief. “And all you’vegot is aknife?” I shivered, feeling both hot and cold. “What if it jumps the fence?”
“The genka preys on land animals. It is fast, and can leap far forward. But it cannot jump up into the air very well. It also cannot climb.”
“Small miracles,” I muttered.
“Dismount,” Zohro ordered impatiently. “We have to get inside.”
“Don’t need to tell me twice.”
Only, dismounting turned out to be a lot harder than I’d expected. The movement that had once been so natural to me became nearly Sisyphean as I attempted to manoeuvre my weak, aching hips. With an exasperated grunt, Zohro gave up on waiting, tightening his tail on me and grabbing my waist with his hands to pull me down himself.
The world tilted. My stomach clenched. I yelped as gravity sucked me down.
But true to his word, I didn’t fall. Zohro caught me easily, cradling me against his chest and moving at once, taking big strides through the fenced-in pasture.
“Wyn,” I said, craning my neck to look back at her. She still had all her tack.
