Raincheck Read Online Free PDF

before throwing it down in disgust. He was reaching for the canister of blueprints when Rodney moved.
     
    He caught the mugger by the back of his jacket, his talons sinking into the man’s clothing, all the way down to the skin and underlying muscle. Rodney lifted him off his feet, even as he screamed and flailed blindly with a knife that Rodney hadn’t seen before. Rodney plucked the canister out of the thief’s hand and continued to suspend him in the air.
     
    “That doesn’t belong to you,” Rodney growled in the man’s ear before hurling him to the oily pavement.
     
    When the thief rolled over, his mouth opened and closed repeatedly as he gaped, stupefied, at the sight of Rodney standing there. He dropped the knife, crawling backward on his rump, desperately scooting away as he worked his mouth, trying to make some sort of sound come out. Tears coursed down his face, gleaming on his skin in the moonlight. Once he’d put a few yards between himself and Rodney, he scrambled to his feet and ran, a half-strangled gurgle of sound escaping his body as he fled.
     
    Rodney swiftly crossed back to David and crouched, balancing neatly on his toes as he touched David lightly on the shoulder. David groaned and shifted slightly. Relieved, Rodney blew out a sigh before frowning as he assessed the situation.
     
    Now what? David was obviously injured, and Rodney was in no position to take him to the nearest hospital. He had no idea who David had met that evening; knocking on doors to ask anyone if they knew David was out of the question. He thought of using David’s cell to call the police, but the thought of David lying in the alley until help arrived was deeply disturbing somehow.
     
    He’d just have to take David back to the Freemont. Yes, the more he thought about it, the better that idea sounded. He could fly him back, lower David into his rooms through the skylight, and then get some help. Knock on a neighbor’s door and run, if he had to—any risk was reasonable, as long as David got the help he needed. Decision made, he collected David into his arms, finding the laxity of David’s body more difficult to manage than he’d expected.
     
    David listed and spilled out of his arms like he was boneless, a fact that Rodney found creepy until David’s head tipped back against his shoulder. A shock of soft hair brushed Rodney’s face, and he couldn’t help it—he turned his nose into it and took a deep breath. The hair was still a touch damp and smelled of lemons and leather and newly mown fields of hay, with an undertone of honey and whiskey as well. David smelled fantastic .
     
    Somehow he staggered to his feet with David in his arms. “You’re heavier than you look,” he said to the back of David’s head. He frowned as he tried to lift off; there was simply not enough room in the alley to come to full wingspan, and it was going to be hard enough as it was to fly while carrying David.
     
    In for a penny…. Hesitating only a moment, Rodney muscled David back out to the street and snapped his wings out to full length, bringing them down sharply. Their tips touched the sidewalk; the back draft caused bits of paper and debris to swirl around in little eddies and gather against the buildings. Again and again, he beat his wings down as the two of them slowly lifted off the ground.
     
    His center of gravity was off—David wanted to slither through his arms. In desperation, Rodney wrapped his legs around David to hold him in place as he tried to get them above building height. He even wrapped his tail around David as well, holding on with everything he had as they reached flying altitude and made their way slowly across the city. David shifted and struggled once, but Rodney held on tightly and whispered repeatedly in his ear, “You’re all right. You’re all right. I’ve got you—hold still.”
     
    To his surprise and relief, David quieted again. Rodney could feel the little tremors of fatigue in his arms