House of Slide: Wilds, Part I Read online

  “Don’t ever do that again,” he whispered raggedly, like he’d run for miles.

  I looked up at him, at the eyes that blazed silver. “What?” I said, but the word trembled on my tongue. I’d forgotten that feeling, the flying with the wind that had always been forbidden, not because it was a Wild gift, but because it was something else, something to be hidden in the deepest, darkest recesses of my soul. Soul. Soul-flight. Hollow touched. For a moment I saw my mother holding out her arms to me, arms pale white silky skin without the runes embedded into them that would keep her alive, keep her from dying from something as stupid and human as cancer.

  I collapsed against Matthew, fighting the nausea, not only from blocks but from the knowledge I’d forgotten, been forced to forget, knowledge about my very nature. I felt his cool lips pressed against my hair, but it came from far away, like his voice and the words I couldn’t hear past the buzzing. I had Hollow blood. I was a walking target, living under the protection of a House that had participated as eagerly as any other in the massive slaughter of the Hollows, the breeds of Soul. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything as I hung suspended in the awareness.

  “Helen,” his voice whispered through the numbness, piercing the clouds of horror. “It’s all right. You’re safe. Your blood holds barely any traces of Hollow.”

  I was breathless when I looked at him, Matthew’s face white with effort or shock as he studied my shoulder, and he didn’t stop leaning against me, holding me between himself and the oak while his arms locked me against him. A rumble of thunder was the only warning before rain began to fall, a gentle rain that I tilted my face up to catch, barely anything penetrating the thick oak leaves to fall on my cheeks and lips. Matthew was too close to me but I didn’t move even as his legs pressed against mine while his heart pounded too quickly against my chest. I wasn’t sure how long I stayed like that, with my head back, feeling the rain and wind while his cool body held me against the wood.

  What was he waiting for? I felt weak, so weak and afraid. This should never have happened. If I hadn’t been blocked, I would have known not to soul fly, particularly in front of someone with Cool blood, someone who could see souls, someone who might be bracing himself to grant me a cold, quick death.

  Death would be a mercy compared to other things that had been done to Hollow touched. I had to destroy him, to kill him before he betrayed me, my brothers, my House, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t struggle away from his beating heart, his smooth cheek against my ear.

  “I’m a Hybrid,” he whispered. “I swear to you, your secret is safe. Your House is safe. I already knew your brother’s blood before you came here. I have never willingly hunted Hollow blood, and won’t begin…”

  “Why are you holding me here?” My voice trembled instead of coming out strong and cold.

  “I don’t want you to fall and…”

  His words faded as I felt the touch of his mouth, his lips silken fire against my neck. I swallowed, closing my eyes and trying to focus, to block out the sensations that chased down my arms and spine, weakening my knees even worse than they’d been before.

  “Matthew.” My whispered gasp sounded nothing like me while my hands, hands that should have shoved him away from me clutched his shirt as though he were the only thing stable in my suddenly shifting world.

  He stepped away suddenly, turning from me while I clenched my fists and focused on his shoulders, the line and slope of them, ignoring the black around the edges of my vision, ignoring the weakness I felt to my core.

  “I won’t hurt you, Helen,” he said before he left, slipping away as quickly as shadows from the sun, leaving me gasping, aching, and feeling utterly alone.

  Chapter 7

  Helen

  As I entered the kitchen, shaking out my wet hair, holding a bouquet of lettuce, I heard, “Here’s a towel.”

  Camilla’s voice made me stiffen as she handed me a white terry cloth towel that I took, staring at her.

  “No one else can carry off the drowned rat look as well as you,” she said with a sultry smile as she flicked the ends of my hair with the tips of her perfectly manicured fingers. “Did you have a nice time at the party last night? From where I was standing, you were much more interested in the musician than any muscled Hotblood.”

  “The knife of Carve.”

  Her eyes hardened slightly. “He’s much more than that. Jarvais is so upset with him. He lost Harding, didn’t stay to clean up the mess, for you I presume.”

  I shrugged and tried to look nonchalant as I turned on the sink, running the clear water over the different shades of green. “He is interesting. You were right about that. I suppose you would know.”

  She laughed a trilling little laugh as she tossed her perfectly coiffed golden hair. “You can’t imagine that we were ever that friendly. He’s a Hybrid.”

  I ripped the salad into a bowl in little pieces with a little too much enthusiasm. She hadn’t said that they’d never been together, only what I should think. “That’s a pity. I could use some advice about how to manage him.”

  She raised her blond eyebrows as her golden eyes dissected me. “He’s not easy. I suppose there’s something worthwhile in rising to a challenge. If I were you, I’d walk around in his clothes in the rain picking lettuce. It’s frankly bizarre yet impressive how well you read him.”

  I tried not to snarl at her insinuating that everything about me was trying to manipulate him. Of course she wouldn’t understand why I’d be caught looking like a drowned rat in his clothes without an extremely compelling reason.

  I didn’t like her smile.

  “You knew my brother would be here.”

  She shrugged elegantly. “Of course. Your brother has created quite the scandal.”

  I forced a tight smile to stay on my face. “Not like destroying a White House before transfer to new Head, though. Your brother will be remembered for that.” I didn’t say the word, but ‘coward’ hung in the air.

  Her face tightened, but the smile stayed frozen on her mouth. “I’m here to accompany you to a café, like you suggested yesterday, but maybe we should catch up another time when you’re less damp.”

  I took a bite of salad without dressing and chewed slowly while she stood, slipping her gold purse over her pale gold chanel jacket and gave me her best calculated smile.

  “That would be delightful,” I muttered with my own painfully appropriate smile before she turned and left the hideous green kitchen.

  I found a lemon in the fridge and squeezed it on the otherwise completely dry lettuce. However marvelous the greens, I needed dressing. I added pepper and ate, feeling a little more settled with every bite. I took deep breaths and tried to get her out of my system. How distantly related was she from Matthew? I frowned as I analyzed my feelings, the anger, possessiveness and jealousy. I had no business feeling jealous of Matthew. We’d kissed once and I’d nearly electrocuted him. I fingered my neck where he’d tasted my skin, completely making me forget that I might have to kill him.

  I’d never killed anyone before. Unless he was a certain threat, I couldn’t start now. I’d mangled this trip. Not only had I failed to rescue Saturn from his ineligible match, but revealed myself as part Hollow to an assassin. I straightened up, but in the soaked shirt I hardly looked respectable. I’d have to find Cami and my clothes.

  I left the room, feeling a headache crowd behind my eyes. I heard something from a room along the hall, a murmur that sounded like Matthew. I moved like a Wild daughter should, making my way to the door soundlessly as I slipped over the parquet floor in my bare feet.

  I heard another murmur, definitely Matthew’s voice as unmistakable as the goose-bumps on my skin. I opened the door soundlessly on well-oiled hinges. The room was dark while rain slashed against windows, but a bright lamp with red fringe lit up Matthew’s arm where he held it out for the needle in his vein. I couldn’t see more than the outline of the man taking his blood, a halo of golden hair above
strong, wide shoulders that tapered to narrow hips. His suit was impeccably tailored, a camel color that would show blood.

  I stood there while Matthew’s head lolled against the back of the chair, eyes closed with dark circles that darkened as the man took another vial of blood from his veins. Matthew grew paler with every drop.

  “Next time you avoid a summons, I’ll take it all,” the man said sounding warm and modulated as he turned to pack the vials into a small case. I saw his face, golden eyes, soft, sensuous lips that smiled even while my heart jerked to a stop.

  I staggered as the world flipped upside down and inside out, my head pounding until even the dim light felt like stabbing knives in my brain. I reeled, hitting a solid piece of furniture that I held onto, trying to not slide to the floor.

  I struggled free of the nausea, dizziness, and the agony of seeing the planes of Jarvais’s face, a face I’d had as many dreams and nightmares about as I had drops of blood in my veins. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do more than hang on for dear life with my eyes closed and hope I didn’t faint.

  “Pardon me, miss,” I heard Jarvais say in his impeccably respectable accents. “Are you all right?”

  I forced my eyelids open and saw his golden eyes close to mine, gazing at me in amused concern. I closed my eyes as the pounding in my head resumed.

  “I don’t feel very well,” I managed to whisper.

  He took my arm, his touch terrifying and paralyzing and horribly fascinating. “A bit worse for the better of last night’s party? Let me help you,” he said, assisting me into a chair that I gripped while he went to a well-stocked bar against the wall and began mixing me a drink. I blinked rapidly trying not to stare at him, his golden beauty unnatural in its dizzying perfection. He smiled as he turned back to me.

  “Here,” he said, handing me a glass half full of golden liquid, golden and glowing as he was. “I’ve been hung over more than a few times myself.”

  I opened my mouth and drank the stuff in one big gulp. Liquid fire trailed down my throat while I tried not to choke. “Thanks,” I gasped when I could speak.

  “Not at all. What you need to do is find a quiet, dark place to rest until your head feels a little less like exploding.” He smiled at me showing his perfect white teeth and taking the glass in one hand and my hand in the other. He helped me to my feet, gripping my hand a little tighter as I swayed.

  I felt like hyperventilating as I nodded like an idiot and stumbled towards the door, ripping my hand out of his grasp. “Good idea,” I said as I went to the door while the floor tipped sideways slowly enough I got out of the room and closed the door behind me before I collapsed against the wall until I could get it together. When I could see past the flickering black specks, I turned to the stairs, taking them two at a time until with a thump I ran into someone at the top. I rebounded against a solid, hot body with as many curves as I had, flinching against her touch as her hand came around my arm.

  “Are you all right?” Cami asked, her green eyes glowing slightly.

  I put a hand to my chest where my heart pounded so hard. I’d actually met Jarvais face to face. And he’d been taking Matthew’s blood. Was he a Nether addict or simply taking samples to check for taint? What did Matthew think of my idiocy? He knew about my humiliation from the time I’d gone to the Wild ball to find Jarvais. What other things did I not remember? What could be worse than that?

  “Fine, thank-you. Where are my clothes?”

  She blinked, dropping her hand by her side at my icy tone. “I already put them back in Matthew’s room, hanging up. I had them freshly pressed,” she said with a forced smile as she fiddled with her belt with nervous fingers.

  I wanted to hate her, parts of me did, but at the same time, I needed all the allies I could get. “That’s very thoughtful of you. You shouldn’t have taken time out from your wedding night to do something as trivial as my laundry.” And Matthew’s. I felt that same surge of jealousy as when I’d thought of Camilla and Matthew being close, part of the same House.

  She shrugged, the gesture larger than life coming from the tall Hotblood. “Satan was busy taking care of Matthew. It gave me something to do besides murder him.” She shook her auburn head, her freckles speckling her fair skin.

  “Which one?”

  She grinned. “Both. When Matthew stumbled in infected with Featherbane, I almost ripped his head off. If he’d been wearing clothing I definitely would have. Luckily for him…”

  “The sight of a naked man gives you pause?” I interrupted feeling that same smoldering jealousy flare ridiculously to life.

  She cocked her head at me. “You smell jealous. Matthew doesn’t wander around unclothed, which is a pity if you ask me. Men should take off their shirts now and then, for ventilation if nothing else. It was the unusualness of him stumbling in with nothing but a dishcloth that kept me from rendering him senseless. At any rate, the entire time he went on and on about how beautiful you are and how you are the music missing from his life, and how death would come sweetly after kissing you.”

  “He told Saturn about us kissing?”

  She shrugged. “Featherbane.”’

  “I thought it was supposed to be a truth serum more than an aphrodisiac.”

  She gave me a pointed look. “Exactly.”

  I shook my head, for a moment speechless. It simply made absolutely no difference whether or not the Hybrid/Assassin/Musician liked me. Absolutely none. So why did I feel a slight thrill in my stomach? “Thanks for that. I suppose you mean well. Of course, I’m not my brother. I’m not going to fall for a Hunter and abandon my family, so maybe you could just keep all your good intentions to yourself.” I crossed my arms over my chest while she looked at me, a Hotblood that I’d treated less than delicately.

  She smiled. “You like him.”

  “What? No, I don’t.”

  “If you say so,” she said with an ever widening grin. “Since you’re going to be staying here for some time, I thought you might like more than that very chic but dull suit you were wearing. I have a lot of clothes that I’ve never gotten rid of in spite of the fact that they haven’t fit me since I was fourteen. I shot up and out, you know how it is,” she said with a vaguely flirty look.

  “Not really,” I said with a frown.

  “Satan said your favorite color is red. I used to wear it all the time, because you know, it’s the color of passion, but it really clashes with my hair. Green is so much better for me. If you’d like to take a look, anything you’d like, including undergarments which I think most Wilds are kind of obsessed with, my room is right here,” she said, walking to the room across from Matthew’s. I wanted to tell her no, to throw any overtures of friendship back in her face, but honestly it wouldn’t be respectable, appropriate, or intelligent. I didn’t like being a drowned rat compared to Camilla.

  I nodded reluctantly, unable to say ‘yes, please’ when she’d taken my brother from my family. Her closet was overflowing onto two racks in the room with boots and bags cluttering every available surface.

  “You must enjoy shopping.”

  She shrugged. “Not really, I just hate to get rid of anything. You never know when someone shorter and with smaller feet will need a pair of knee high boots,” she said with a grin while she began sorting through a box, exclaiming in triumph when she pulled out a pair of black boots that would certainly cover a lot of leg. “These have pretty good balance and thick enough leather they can withstand a lot of impact. They’re really good boots. I had them runed for extra protection.” She handed them to me and began digging around in the back of her closet. “Where did I put it? Aha!” She turned to me holding a deep red leather jacket with sleek lines that I could imagine conforming to my body.

  “That’s beautiful,” I said, touching the supple leather.

  “Good. I’m glad I can find it a good home,” she said dropping it into my arms. “You’ll need a few drop dead dresses, some killer dresses, and of course a catsuit with
built in holsters.”

  I stared at the growing pile of clothing she was throwing onto the bed. “That’s very thoughtful, but I’m a little more classics than catsuits.”

  She stood up, sending her voluminous red hair in a stunning arch before she looked at me. “Like red leather pants to match the jacket?” she asked with a sudden grin, holding up a pair cheerfully. “I could have sworn I got rid of these. They’re tiny. You must be one of those women who only eats salads.”

  “I’m perfectly capable of putting away a steak.”

  “Oh, good,” she said, throwing the pants onto the bed. “Look. We’re going to eat dinner here tonight. The other Hunters took off after Harding fell, you know, so they wouldn’t get stuck here, so it’ll just be you and your brother and me. I don’t cook that much, really at all, but Satan does, so If you think a good steak dinner…”

  “No. Absolutely not. I’m going out to dinner tonight and every night as long as I’m here. I can’t intrude on you any more than I already have, except for one little thing I need to talk to Saturn about.”

  “He’s in the study. You know, the one where you talked earlier. Are you sure you don’t want to have dinner with us?” she asked, sounding slightly hurt.

  She had feelings right out there for everyone to see. How bizarre. “I think it would be incredibly rude for me to intrude on your honeymoon any more than is absolutely necessary. I’m sure you understand.”

  She nodded, piling clothing into my arms. “Well, maybe you can have breakfast with us in the morning,” she said frowning.

  “Okay,” I said after a long pause as we walked across the hall to Matthew’s room. I couldn’t think of a good reason not to.