19
We were soon out of sight of both the uniformed men and the river. Blackbeak bounced atop my head with his claws tentatively gripped to my hair. I winced when Shade jostled me a little too hard and a strand was pulled.
“Less tossing about, you i***t!” Blackbeak squawked as we turned a sharp corner.
Shade stumbled on a piece of wet trash and slammed his other shoulder into the wall. The collision loosened his grip on me and I found myself sliding forward toward the ground. I flung out my arms and they provided shock absorbers as I crashed to the ground. Blackbeak was ejected from my head and tumbled a few feet away from me. Shade himself slumped to the grimy ground close at hand.
We made for a ragged, exhausted team as the sound of harsh breathing filled the otherwise quiet all
