Called: The Grey Gates - Book 2 by Vanessa Nelson

Author:Vanessa Nelson [Nelson, Vanessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter sixteen

The journey had been quiet so far, which was making Max’s skin itch. The jungle around them seemed to be empty of large predators, and she didn’t trust that. Not one bit. The last convoy that had gone into the Wild, several years before, had ended up losing two tankers and half a dozen people.

Max braced herself against another jolt and bounce of the truck’s cabin, trying not to wince as a stab of pain travelled up her leg. The medical team had spent what felt like an eternity the day before running tests she had no name for then poking and prodding the bruises on her leg, stirring up enough pain to bring tears to her eyes, before declaring that she didn’t seem to have opened up the wound or done any further damage beyond the bruising. She had been cleared for light duties, with evident reluctance, the senior doctor insisting that he would talk to Faddei directly.

Max wasn’t sure what the doctor had said to the head Marshal, but Faddei had called her in the afternoon, letting her know that she was included in the convoy going to the Wild, but only because they wanted Cas and Pol. She hadn’t managed to speak to Faddei face-to-face, so just had his slightly terse tone on the phone call to go by and the knowledge that if the convoy hadn’t needed the shadow-hounds, she would have been left behind. It was something of a miracle that the injury hadn’t been worse, she knew. That didn’t help with the pain, though, as the vehicle bumped over another rough patch of ground.

She bit back a curse. She hated the thought that she might be the weak link in the team, making the others vulnerable. She’d added self-cooling ice packs and conventional painkillers to her bag when she had been packing the evening before, as well as collecting extra painkilling patches from the Marshals’ armoury when she had stopped in for her ammunition and other supplies. Leonda had been personally supervising the roll-out of the ammunition, her usual warm smile looking a little worn, dark patches under her eyes. She and her team must have been working through the night to get everything ready.

Max hoped that Leonda and her team were getting some well-deserved rest now, even as she braced herself against another bump of the truck. There was a sliver of pale blue sky ahead of them, but otherwise they were surrounded by different shades of green, yellows and reds from the varied and vibrant plant life that inhabited the Wild. Giant trees rose impossibly high to either side, their dark reddish-brown trunks barely visible through the smaller trees and shrubs competing for daylight and space. With every breath, Max drew in the mixed scents of the plants around them, a heady mix of sharp, acid-edged tones and softer, juicier smells that suggested there was ripe fruit somewhere not far away.

“Man, if this is a decent path, I’d hate to be on a rough one,” the driver said, breaking into Max’s glum thoughts.

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