House of Vultures by Maggie Claire (read my book TXT) 📕

From somewhere deep inside himself,Wolf rallies a last shred of strength. Shark seems to realize ittoo, his hands reaching up to block as Wolf’s fist connects withhis jaw. It crunches through teeth, mask, and bone as blood spraysfrom Shark’s lips. He falls to the ground with an agonizing moan.No one of the House of Piranhas comes to assist Shark. No one everhelps the loser in a fight at Omphalos.

“Get whatever six itemsyou need, Mynah. Not one more.” Wolf slumps beside the tableclosest to him, head shifting from side to side as he waits for me.Another of his pack comes forward to treat his wounds, a tawnymasked man with black coal shading lengthening the lines around hismouth into a curving smile. “No. Mynah will care for me.” In anunprecedented act of kindness, Wolf adds, “You go look afterShark’s jaw. I have a feeling I shattered it.” Wolf holds out hisknuckles for examination, pulling out a human tooth from his skin.“Do whatever you can for him, and use some of our funds if needbe.”

“Wolf, you know that isn’thow this works—”

“Just do it, Jackal!” Wolfbarks at the man, his voice becoming gentler as he adds, “I’m awareof the bartering code in Omphalos. However, I do not want to makeenemies of the House of Piranhas, do you? Offer aid to their leaderin an attempt to reach a truce before they seek retaliation. Makethem understand that I am not attempting to start a war.” Jackalbows his head and hurries over to Shark’s prostrate form,obediently following his leader’s wishes.

Enough food for twodays, I had said. It is difficult to leashmy greedy hands as I gather venison, duck, rabbits, a turkey, acouple of pheasants, and a side of elk meat from the table thathasn’t been overturned. “I will need help carrying all of this,” Igrumble to myself as I take some gold from Shark’s stores and putit into my pants pocket. As much as I want to take it all, I settlefor two handfuls of coins. It seems like a fortune to me, butShark’s money box looks barely touched. In that moment, I feel likea millionaire. A soft gray wool coat comes next, and I am surprisedto see that it is in excellent shape. Only one small hole along thebottom edge of the zipper mars the material. It is probably thebest item of clothing I have owned since the windstorm. A smallwhittling knife tucks into the sheath next to my serrated blade,and a couple of rolls of bandages fit inside my new coat pockets.“Burn ointment?” I question, staring at two of Shark’s assistantsstanding mute as they oversee my collection. The slim woman withthe mask of a lionfish takes one glance at Wolf and hurries to findwhat I need.

My arms tremble with the weight of thesupplies, Wolf carrying the elk meat on his swaying shoulders, onehand clutching my elbow. We hurry out of Omphalos as quickly aspossible, weaving through the forest until we are certain that noone follows. I keep glancing over my shoulder, fully expectingsomeone to come and rob us.

“What of your last catch?”Wolf wheezes as he scans the forest for signs of life. We pausenext to a huge oak tree, finding shelter under its canopy as I bindbloody knuckles, reset finger bones, and slide teeth out of cutsbefore using my own hair and a blunt needle that I hide in the hemof my pants leg to suture them.

I know immediately what he means. “Theboy is hidden in the forest. I need to drop this stuff off at theHouse before I go back to check on him.”

“So, you are going to lethim live then? He is a liability to you, Mynah. It is awell-accepted rule in the Houses that any unmasked being iskilled—”

“I cannot do it, Wolf. Heis my responsibility, I know, but I cannot take hislife.”

“It is no different thanif it was an animal, Mynah. I am sorry to be blunt, but it is thetruth.”

“Stop it!” I snap,struggling to keep my temper in check. “I appreciate what you havedone for me, but do not try to change my mind.”

“If you keep this boyalive, you put yourself at risk,” Wolf protests weakly, watching myjaw set against his words. Seeing that his arguments will changenothing, Wolf relents. He leans closer to me, brushing my hairacross my brow. “Then I will go and check on the boy myself. Evenbandage his wounds and make sure he gets food. You have my wordthat he will be alive in the morning. Condor will get suspicious ifyou try to leave the House tonight, so let me do this foryou.”

“You need to rest. I canmanage Condor,” I announce as I do a final check on Wolf’sinjuries. Nothing besides his fingers appears to bebroken.

“Beta, you are stubborn,but so am I. I will see to the boy. You get your supplies to yourHouse. We will meet again in the morning.” Something in the way hespeaks tells me I cannot win this battle.

Instead of trying to fight him, Iexplain where he can find the boy’s hiding place. Then a different,unspoken question rises to my lips. It is a query that leaves mefeeling vulnerable as I ask it. “What do I owe you for all of this,Wolf?”

He winks as he exclaims. “I think thata kiss will suffice.”

“I thought you weren’tinterested in blackmailing me,” I cry, knowing that I will concedeto his request. After everything he’s justendured for me, I’m lucky all he seeks is one kiss.

“A kiss isn’tlife-altering unless it is with the right person, is it? So, whatwould you lose? You kiss me and find that I am everything youdesire, or you don’t, and I stop hounding you about joining mypack. That doesn’t sound like blackmail to me. Does it really soundlike that to you?”

I try not to grimace. “Youhad that speech planned from the very beginning, didn’t you?” Wolfdoes not respond, but I know I speak truth. Always two steps ahead, I remindmyself. He chose his mask alias well, forhe is just as cunning as a real wolf. Closing my eyes