Page 46 of Taken

She looked at the injury and frowned. It was just a surface wound, but the skin was inflamed and hot to the touch.

The banty leaned over and sniffed it. He recoiled and gave an alarm cry.

“Is everything okay?” Ash said.

Georgia placed her hand behind her back. “I’m good.”

“Then it’s time for us to go. It’s too risky to stay any longer. Let’s get out of here and see what secrets we’ve gathered.”

“I’m right behind you.” Now Georgia was paying attention to how she felt, she was running hotter than normal, but that was no surprise, given what they’d just faced. She’d feel better when they were off this planet. And if the cut wouldn’t heal, there were plenty of meds on the Apocalypse that would fix her up.

The banty chittered in her ear as if he wasn’t happy with her for concealing the injury from Ash.

“Hush. I know what I’m doing. You keep quiet, or you’ll get us both in trouble. Ash gets overprotective if I get injured. And you don’t want to see him in alpha protective mode.”

He chirped one last time then snuggled against her head.

Georgia rubbed the scratch again. It would be fine, and she wasn’t letting anything distract her from this mission, not when they were so close to a huge breakthrough.

***

After they’d checkedthe Draxian for ID and found only a dented metal bangle with numbers that may be a clue to his identity, they gave him a swift, respectful fire burial. Then it was time to move out.

They’d only been walking for five minutes when something stepped on a branch and broke it, making Ash stop. He pulled his weapon and checked the area for unwanted guests.

“What’s up?” Georgia whispered from behind him.

Ash narrowed his eyes, and his heartbeat increased. He cursed softly. “That’s what’s up.”

A creature with long scaled legs and wicked sharp talons on the ends of its toes slid out from behind a tree. Its body was covered in feathers, it had an enormous beak, and horns jutted from its head.

The banty chirped and jumped off Georgia’s shoulder.

“Whoa! We’ve not seen one like that before,” she muttered. “It looks like an Earth emu, but they don’t come with those vicious horns. They must have been grafted on.”

“Be on the alert to make sure we don’t get snuck up on again,” Ash said. “Maybe these creatures all have the same attack pattern.”

“I’m already on it.” Georgia pulled out her weapon, but she dropped it.

“Hey! What’s wrong?” Ash went to pick up her weapon, but she brushed him away.

“Nothing. I’m fine. I just fumbled my grip. It happens to the best of us.”

He didn’t believe that for a second. Georgia never fumbled at anything. She was always the professional.

She glared at him. “Stop staring at me. Pay attention to the thing that wants to eat us for dinner.”

Ash caught hold of her shoulders and turned her toward him, panic racing through his veins like acid. “You’re sick. Your cheeks are flushed, and you’re sweating.”

“Of course I’m sweating. There’s an enormous bird that wants to eat us.” Georgia twisted out of his grip. “And it will if you keep messing around.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling good? You could have stayed on the ship and rested while I collected the data.”

“You’re overreacting. And if you weren’t paying me all this attention, you’d have noticed more big-assed birds have appeared. We should focus on those if we don’t want to get our heads torn off.”

Ash turned to see two more birds had joined the first one. They clacked their beaks and lowered their heads as if about to attack.

“Leave them to me,” he said.