House of Vultures, Maggie Claire [fun to read .txt] 📗

his hold on the leader of the House of Vultures.“What did you say?”

Condor raises his hands slowly to liftthe edge of his raven hued mask to reveal his true face. “Somehow,I doubt that you’ll have the heart to kill me, Brother Mine. Afterall, you failed to do it the first time, didn’t you?” Condor tapsthe scar that runs from forehead to chin.

“How could you havesurvived?” Wolf backs away from Condor, his face leeching its colorunderneath his mask. “I did what I was told to do—”

“Oh yes, I know,” Condorsneers as he lunges for Wolf’s knife, missing his mark by a hair’sbreadth. He lands hard against Wolf’s chest instead, forcing him tothe ground. “But you didn’t mind the task either, did you? Fatheralways preferred you. You were the more cunning of us, and you wereso eager to please him. What would he say now, do you think? Wouldhe still love you best?”

“Father said it was amercy to kill you, but deep down, I knew better,” Wolf answered,his eyes searching for an escape. “How did I not realize that youhad survived? How long have you known that your brother was theWolf?”

“Long enough. And once Ifigured out that you were interested in little Mynah, it was toomuch to resist. Can you imagine how it felt? Every time I touchedher, I thought of you. How furious you would be to see her hurt andused. It was a rush of power, Brother Mine. Pure magic.”

Only through the restraints of hisfinest warriors does Wolf cease beating his brother. Blood dripsfrom his knuckles and Condor’s dark, feathered mask. “I will soonknow what you felt about Mynah,” Wolf whispers over Condor’sprostrate body. “Because I will feel that same rush of power as Iwatch Mynah take her vengeance upon you. She deserves the right topunish you first. But when she’s done, when she’s abandoned yourbroken bag of bones, I will take my turn too. And I will smile aswe dig your grave together.”

“Who is evil now, BrotherMine?” Condor wheezes from his place on the ground, silenced by aboot stomping into his face.

Chapter 10

Siri eases me into the Pith, keen eyesscanning the ground for any signs of the boy. I see his mask lyingin shards along the rocks, a bare spot where the sand has blownaway. Standing over the pieces, anger floods my heart. “I cannotbelieve I spared his life, even after I learned about his birthorigins.” I relish the sounds of the wood chips crunching under myboot as the Ddraig sniffs the air around us. “Where is theungrateful, lying traitor? He wouldn’t just leave without exploringthis place, and the other Ddraigs will finish him off before he hasa chance to breathe in their presence.”

“He’s not far away,” Sirireplies, sniffing the air around the cavern as she paces around itscircumference.

“Why did I pity him?” Iberate myself, my hands roaming over my unmasked face. The air onmy face is uncomfortable after being hidden for so many years. “Hetold me he was a priest, and I just assumed that meant he washarmless. He was going to kill me, I am certain! If you had notstopped him, he would have choked the life right out of me. Aftereverything I had done to keep him alive—”

A breeze tickles my hair as Sirisnorts. “What did you expect from the Windwalkers? They are nothingbut tricksters and thieves!”

I stop my raving long enough to listento her words. “What do you mean? What is a Windwalker?”

“Windwalkers are thelowest of low, the vilest creatures in existence!” Siri’s eyeswatch the cavern walls, as if Antero might be hiding among thestones. “Have you never wondered how Cassé became so barren? Didyou ever ask how ‘the windstorm’ occurred? The Windwalkers causedit with their strange powers! They breezed right over the Devil’sSpine, travelling on the wind with the elemental magic in theirblood. They danced on the wind, spiraling and stirring up its poweruntil a mighty dust storm ravaged the land. The cruelest part oftheir attack was how they walked within the storm, shrouded in winddevils and tornados. They used their magic to dismantle humanbeings as if they were made of straw, then disappeared into thinair!”

“How could you possiblyknow that if you did not see it?” I accuse, turning on theDdraig.

“I told you, the people ofDéchets are horrible. I may not have seen your world get destroyed,but that does not mean it was their first attack, Iris. They’vebeen coming after the Carreglas for centuries. It is lucky theDdraigs were already hidden before the Windwalkers decided toattack, or else your kind would have no chance of retaliatingnow.”

Siri keeps muttering underher breath, but my mind drifts far into the past. Back to mybirthday, so many years ago—back to the day I had watched myparents literally fall apart. A Windwalker had been there. He orshe had stood right in front of me, ripping my parentsapart. I remember watching my father’shands disintegrate, the nails separating from his fingers.The idea that it might have been purposefullydone by another person makes my throat go dry. Numbness settlesdeep into my bones, and I have no idea how to remove it. “Why did Isurvive?” My voice sounds like I am asleep.

“Because you were born tobe a Cadogan, that’s why! Windwalkers couldn’t kill you because theblood of the Ddraigs protected you.” Siri nudges my shoulder with aclaw, the force of it almost tipping me over. “Makes you harder tohurt, just like us.”

“So, everyone thatsurvived that day has Ddraig blood?” Eventhe sadistic ones like Condor and Falcon? Even Lion—which makes Wolf’smassacre even more impressive. What aboutCreeper? Was heborn to be a Cadogan too?Somehow, I could not believe it.Warbler?Was she meant to be one of us?

Siri shakes her head at me, “I’m surethat some of the non Ddraig blood survived too. They were eitherfortunate or smart enough to hide until the Windwalkers werefinished.” I find some comfort in the possibility that maybe Falconand Condor aren’t carrying the same protective blood asme.

“Siri, why are we notroaming the caverns’ depths in search of Antero? He could beanywhere in this place! We cannot let him get back