Brood of Vipers by Maggie Claire (good books for high schoolers .txt) 📕

up, and Wolf will find me.” Clenching my eyes shut, I swallow hard against the final truth I cannot keep from rising to my tongue. Silently, I wonder if Cyrus’s Asíle abilities allow him to pry the truth out of an unwilling speaker’s thoughts as I hear my voice say, “I keep turning to you, Cyrus, and that scares me. I’m afraid I’m growing dependent.”

The air, so full of tension and hostility, grows stale around us. Feeling vulnerable, I turn my face away from Cyrus’s scrutiny. After a time, Cyrus’s breathing slows, and he returns to his normal self. Easing closer to me, his hands brush my shoulders gently as he whispers. “And your feelings toward my brother? Don’t you harbor any love for him?”

I shake my head, too raw and emotionally spent to trust my voice. Traitor tears slip down my cheeks as I remember the coldness, the unbridled lunacy I saw in Cane’s eyes at the House of Piranhas. I never loved Cane, I remind myself sadly, wondering not for the first time if I am capable of romantic love at all. I never cared for him as strongly as he cared for me. But now I know Cane sold our people as slaves. How could Cyrus possibly think I still feel anything for a brute like that?

Love makes a man do crazy things. Siri’s voice slips into my mind, her tone full of wistful amusement. The thought of you loving another man is filling Cyrus with so much jealousy, I fear he will lose himself to madness. I know you don’t want to hear it now, but you and he must complete the coupling, Iris—

I mentally shove Siri’s presence out of my head as hard as I possibly can. Glancing over at my Ddraig, I see her exasperated expression, smoke roiling from her nostrils as she huffs and creeps over to the farthest corner of the cavern.

Cyrus slips his hands up to cup my face, his nose brushing mine as his voice hitches, his eyes soft and full of wistful sadness as he explains, “Dependence upon another person isn’t wrong, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you love that person either. You can depend upon someone you despise. I don’t want us to be in a toxic relationship.”

“Nor do I, Cyrus,” I mutter, using his shock to extricate myself from his proximity just to get a breath of unshared air to steady my nerves. “I’m still not ready to discuss us in any kind of relationship at all.”

Cyrus chuckles a bitter, frustrated sound. Turning my head, I see him observing my rigid, crossed arms, and when he speaks, his words give me gooseflesh. “I know the truths that you dare not whisper. I can see your true feelings. Fight it all you wish, Iris. Your actions will change nothing.”

“I thought I was the one that could see the future,” I quip, my shoulders taut with tension as Cyrus stalks close once more.

“But I know that you are meant for me,” Cyrus’s replies, stopping when his toes almost step on mine. He lifts one finger up to my face, tracing my jawline and smiling when I shiver. “You don’t want to admit it—you don’t even want to feel it, but you are softening toward me. And that gives me hope.” Cyrus steps away from me then, sauntering a few paces toward his Ddraig, whistling as he leaves. “I can wait a little longer.”

Itching to move, I jump from my perch in the cavern, trotting as far in the opposite direction of Cyrus as I can get. In the deepest corners of the cavern, Anemone sits with her tail curled under her chin, babysitting the young Ddraigs as they attempt to fly. She laughs good-naturedly as they flutter, sometimes rising and catching them before they land on their heads. Smoke billows from her nostrils in time with her chortles.

Enomena is close beside her Ddraig, waving to me as I stomp toward her. Catching my mood as I flop down onto an obliging flat stone, she inquires, “What’s got you riled?”

“Cyrus.” I spin my hand in the smoke that curls around me, watching its mesmerizing dance on the breeze. “It hardly matters.”

“Of course, it does,” Siri replies, shooing away the babies as she looms over my shoulder, unwilling to leave me in peace. “You’re mad because he’s right, but you haven’t forgiven yourself for being tricked by his brother. You’ve got to move on, girl. Let go of the past, and make a new future.”

“With Cyrus?” I snort, unwilling to acknowledge that the very thought sends my pulse racing with anticipation. Could I so easily switch loyalties? Not even two months ago, I was preparing to join Cane as his second in command, and now I am considering his brother instead? What’s wrong with me? Forcing my mind to focus on the issues at hand, I declare, “None of that matters right now, Siri. We have two enemies joining forces, and I have no doubt that they are coming after us soon. Cane and the king of Déchets are strong forces independently; imagine how much more lethal they will be standing united. How are we going to fight against them?”

“Right now, you need to focus only on the new Cadogans. We’ll make a plan once they are ready to fight. For now, we can spend our time in hiding—”

I do not hear the rest of her words. My mind blots out everything, a white screen robbing my normal sight, and a dull roar that reminds me of the constant whirring of the ocean fills my ears. It is suffocating in its intensity, burning my senses as I transition into the strange world of my visions. I can feel my hands clenching for anything I can cling to, desperately struggling and failing to stay alert in the present.

The room I enter in my vision is dark and stony. I see two people sitting on the rough-hewn floor, their faces out of view.