Page 6 of Marc
Fear tried to choke me, but I set my shoulders back.
I was the daughter of Finn and Lia Erickson. Dad was a fearless pilot, and mom was a fearless drone operator. They never flinched. They never let their fear take over.
I wouldn’t, either.
Memories of the crash filtered through my head and my stomach clenched to a sickening point.My Talon. I didn’t evenwant to think about the state of my quadcopter right now. The pain was too much.
“Hunter Squad is coming,” I whispered.
Marc would come.
I blew out a breath, pushing through some bushes. I needed to focus on surviving, not on Marc Jackson’s gorgeous face, or muscular body, or his smile.
I sighed. I was insanely attracted to the big lug. He was handsome, fun, brave. He drove me slightly crazy with his jokes and silly bird nicknames he called me.
Apart from monster hunting, he never took anything seriously. He never had relationships; he just had fuck buddies.
I wanted someone I loved, and who loved me back.
I wanted something like my mom and dad had.
I wanted to be worth all the effort for someone. I definitely wanted more than one hot, sweaty night.
That made Marc off-limits.
But right now, I’d give anything for him to be here. That big, strong body, his gorgeous brown skin, his charming smile. He’d hold me, keep me safe, make me laugh.
I shivered. My flight suit kept out most of the cold, but I really needed to find somewhere safe to rest.
I heard the snap of a twig, followed by the rustle of leaves.
Heart leaping into my throat, I spun and lifted my blaster. My heart was pounding so hard my hand wasn’t exactly steady.
Nothing appeared. Relaxing a little, I turned to keep going.
On the hillside, I spotted an overhang of rock, but it wasn’t quite a cave. It wouldn’t give enough shelter. Maybe I’d find a cave ahead.
There was another rustle of leaves.
This time, it came from above me.
My head jerked up, just in time to see a monster flying out of the tree at me.
It crashed into my chest before I could even pull the trigger.
“Dammit.” I hit the ground, my bones jarring.
The bird-like monster snapped its beak at me, its eyes glowing red like a demon. It had no feathers, just scales on its body. It looked as though a lizard and a hawk had had a baby.
It was smaller than the ones that had downed my Talon, at least. Gripping it hard, and keeping it from tearing my face off, I rolled. It squawked, it’s powerful body jerking like crazy.
I heaved the monster with all my strength. It hit a tree trunk with a wild squawk.
I’d dropped my blaster, dammit. I rolled again, searching for my weapon.
Hell, it was too dark. I couldn’t see it. I patted the ground.
Sharp claws dug into my ankle and I yelped.
