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

my fall. Droppingto his knees, Wolf leans over my head, whispering, “I am so sorry,my Lupe. Please, trust me with your true name. Let me give you whatstrength I have left.”

It feels like I am sinking in stickymud and fighting to speak is like attempting to swim out of thatmud hole unaided. With a gasping breath, I shove my final words outof my mouth, the attempt painful to my tongue. “I…ris.” The lastshreds of my vision fade to a snowy blanket in my sight. My earsroar with the sound of blood draining from my head. I can feel thatI am falling asleep, a slumber so deep that I will neverwake.

Until a golden thread of light burstsforth in that white space, a tether that holds me in my body. Myback aches, my shoulder hangs at a funny angle, and my legs arenumb from my severed spine to my toes. I can see it in my mind’seye even without my vision working properly. A fire roams like alion in my veins, burning through every internal injury,cauterizing me from the inside out. I have enough strength in me toscream when my shoulder finds its way back to the socket, and myback crackles as the vertebrae realign. Agony races down to my toesas the nerves fire off in my feet, and I am certain that my body isburning me alive. Wolf drops down beside me, exhaustion formingsweat on his brow as he wraps his arms around me, muttering unheardwords in my ear.

When I come to, I have been moved intothe charred remnants of the House of Vultures. Somehow, the livingroom and its dilapidated furniture managed to survive the onslaughtof battle. The cushions of the broken couch smell of ash and soot.“I always knew this room was a part of hell; that has to be how itescaped the fire.”

“I should think you’d begrateful to be here. Alive, I mean,” Fox whispers, his handspulling at my eyelids as he inspects my pupils. “You are extremelylucky, young lady. If you had not told Wolf your true name, youwould not have survived.”

“Where is he?” I sit uptoo fast, but the dizziness that I feel will not stop me fromfinding him. “Fox, tell me what happened! Where isWolf?”

“Right behind you, love,on this horrible monstrosity that you people call a couch.” Hisvoice tickles my ear as I am suddenly aware of his hands on mylower back. He groans as I shift, spinning around to facehim.

“Leave us, Fox. Let no oneenter this place on pain of death. Please.” The juxtaposition of mycommand and polite manner rends a giggle from my lips. Waiting forthe medic to leave, I stare at Wolf’s mask until I hear the frontdoor slam shut, my fingers itching to rip that carcass off his faceas soon as possible.

“Tell me everything thathas happened, Wolf!” I demand the minute that mask falls to thefloor.

“Cane.”

“What?”

“My true name, Iris, isCane. When it is just you and me, use it.” His hand slinks down mycheek, his fingers grazing my hair and pushing the loose strandsbehind my ear. The action raises goose flesh on my arms. “Not Wolf,not Lupe, not Mynah, or Beta, or anything else. Just the real youand the real me at last.”

I let his words warm myheart, savoring the intimacy of his demand. The real you and the real me. Wolf’smouth slowly captures mine in a kiss. His fingers hold my chinfirmly in place, and when Wolf pulls away from my touch, it is justlong enough to whisper my true name.

He pours the depths of hisaffection into his caresses, but my mind is far away. The more Iremember about my near-death experience, the more concerns grow inmy mind. Siri had asked if I knew whatWolf had done. What did she mean by that? Condor’s warnings about Wolf brushthe surface of my mind, an unwanted voice in my head. I desperatelyshut down his voice in my memory, but the stain of his accusationsremains. Why is everyone so afraid ofWolf? Who is thisman really?

The slow circles Wolf rubs on my backpull my attention back to the present. “Why did you throw a spearat Siri?” I whisper as my mouth grazes his chin.

“Why did you not go to thecave as planned?” He counters gently, not fully revealing the depthof his anger as he brushes my hair back from my face.

“I should have. I trustedAntero, and that was a mistake,” I admit. Antero’s howl as he flewout of the Pith caverns fills in my ears once more. No matter howhard I try, I can never unhear his agony.

“Well, having fallen intothat trap myself, I can hardly blame you. That boy was veryconvincing,” he replies, his fingers tracing the iridescent linesSiri etched into my skin. “Iris, what was that creature you wereflying with? What happened to your face? And why are you notwearing a mask anymore?”

As I explain everything that occurredin the Pith, Wolf’s expression closes into an unreadable mask.Whatever he thinks about the Ddraigs and the Carreglas weapon ofthe Pith, he says nothing to me.

“I am sorry that I did nottake you to the Pith. Can you forgive me?” I lean up against Cane’schest, comforted by the sound of his heartbeat. “I needed to makesure that whatever was in that place would not harm your packbefore I brought it to your attention. Do youunderstand?”

“Iris, love, you do notneed my forgiveness or permission to do anything. But at the sametime, please know that I worry about you. Just tell me your plans.I will support you always, even if I do not agree.”

Wolf’s last words catch my attentionas soon as they are spoken. Pushing away from his chest, I exclaim,“So does this mean you think the Ddraigs are dangerous?”

“Any creature that coulddo this…,” Wolf points to the swirling patterns on my hands, “isnot a monster that I easily trust. There is an elemental power inthese beasts that I do not understand. The people of Déchets thinkthe Ddraigs are—”

“Who cares what thosepeople think, Cane?! Wasn’t Antero proof enough that the citizensof Déchets are just as dangerous? If Siri