House of Vultures - Maggie Claire (epub read online books .TXT) 📗

consolation. “And here I thoughtwolves mated for life! Better watch out, Little Bird, your big badWolf’s got his claws in other coops, if you catch my drift. Howdoes it feel, knowing that you play second fiddle to a feistylittle wildcat? How can you stay with this Wolf pup, when you seehow he loves another? Why not come into my house, Little Bird? Letme show you—”

“Do you know that she ispregnant?” Wolf flexes his fingers to extend the length of theclaws. He shifts his body quickly, shoving me behind him in theprocess.

Little Bird.I hear his voice whisper in my thoughts.I recognize the timbre of his voice.The stranger’s face appears to me once more, thistime at my home before Cassé became a land of scavengers andthieves. His fiery hair stands out against the turquoise frontdoor. I remember my mother embracing this man, ushering him insidefor a visit. He sits across from me at the table; his piercing blueeyes had little lines that crinkled around the edges when hesmiled. I’ve seen you with my family. Whoare you really, Lion? I search mymemories, desperate for an answer before Wolf attacks.

Lion howls with laughter, shaking themane of his mask. “A lion and a lynx, huh? Wonder what kind ofmutant kit she’ll have.” He mocks the girl he had abused, relivinghis conquest to the jeers of the rest of his House.

Wolf snarls as he reaches for Lion’sarm. “Will you meet my bargain?” I raise my voice over the tensionbuilding between the two males. I struggle to keep my lips fromtrembling, blocking out the knowledge that whatever Lion says willresult in a fight. If he answers affirmatively, Wolf will battleagainst him in trade. If he says no, then Wolf will have reason toattack, feeling insulted by Lion’s refusal.

Lion sneers, his wide mouth opening toshow a chipped front tooth. “Not a chance. Not for Wolf’sbitch.”

Before any of the observing crowd canreact, Wolf grazes a hand over Lion’s ear. One of his clawspurposefully catches the cord holding Lion’s mask to his face. Itfalls to the table with a clatter, a strong jawed male staring upin horror. The face, a mirror image of the one in mymind.

“Look away, Mynah,” Wolfcommands gruffly, turning my body toward his own. “You do not needto see this.”

I agree without comment, pressing myface into his chest to block out all light, so I do not have towitness the man get ripped to shreds by his own House. Once yourface has been seen, you lose your anonymity. To be unmasked, youbecome like the unchosen nameless. Only your former House does notgive you the opportunity to escape.

Tufts of hair and mane float throughthe air, scraping my arms as the wails and howls of pain ragearound us. While I appreciate not having to watch the death of theman, there is nothing I can do to stop hearing it. The crunch of aboot on bone, the sickening crack of a bat on flesh, and thedeafening snap of a mask being broken. The garbled scream of ablood-filled mouth, the dull thud of kicks landing in the softerparts of his stomach. The final, rushing hiss of a last breathexpelling from his lungs, like a whimper. I feel tears slippingdown my cheek as Wolf steps around me toward the scene, gatheringmeat for me and emptying the cash box into his coinpouch.

“Your House is dissolved,”Wolf announces over the broken body of Lion. “Your people have achoice. Join the House of Wolves or forsake your masks and behunted as the unchosen. You have until sunrise to comply. My packwill come to claim your lands in the morning.” He pulls me numblybehind him as we scurry from the city.

Everyone lets us pass,shocked into stillness at what has occurred. The air seems heavy,as if it is filled with the memory of Lion’s screams. Soon themutterings will begin as people question whether or not Wolf hadthe right to remove Lion’s mask. Was the crime proportional to thesentence? Or did Wolf overstep his bounds, giving other houses theright to attack him in retaliation? I wantto be as far from Omphalos as possible before the people startvoicing their thoughts on this incident.

We pass the city gates and enter theforest without incident.

“Mynah?” Wolf brushes ahand over my hair when I do not speak. “You do agree with what Idid, don’t you? That man has hurt countless women. It’s the firsttime he’s attacked one of my own, and that gave me the chance tosee justice done.” Wolf sits me down on an exposed tree root,uncorking a canteen and passing it to me. I cannot force myself todrink, nor can I find the words to answer his question. All I keepseeing is that broken body under the vendors’ tables, businessresuming as if a man hasn’t just been murdered. “Mynah?”

“I get it,” I snap. “Ijust have to deal with what I’ve witnessed, move on, and that’sthat.” I curl in on myself, clenching my eyelids together to stopthe tears from falling.

“That’s not it at all,”Wolf whispers, throwing his arms around me. “I don’t like what hadto be done either. But I couldn’t let that monster keep roaming thestreets. What if he attacked you?” Wolf’s claws tangle in my hair,knotting it into little white puffs as he pulls me against hischest. “I couldn’t bear it if he’d hurt you like that, Mynah.Please try to understand.”

I need to bealone. I can feel the air in my lungsburning, as though I cannot release it to draw a fresh breath. “Isthat why you want my mask off too?” I accuse, knowing it is a lie.I say it only to get Wolf to leave. “Not to kiss me at all, but tohave a reason to kill me?”

My words find their mark, and Wolfdrops his hold on me as though the touch of my skin scorches him. Ijust need a moment of space and peace to process what I am feeling.I don’t care if I have hurt him, nor do I think about everything hehas done for me over the last two days and all the other timesbefore. I don’t