Of Blood and Honey (Fey and the Fallen) Read Online Free

didn’t know Kevin well, having only seen him in the streets around Derry. The other two were from other parts of the country, and he didn’t know them at all, but it was easy to see that Tom and Hugh didn’t approve of Kevin’s sympathies.
    “Aren’t you going to light it?” Tom squinted at him.
    Hugh sneered. “Maybe he don’t got a light.”
    Stuck, Liam looked to Kevin, who pantomimed placing the cigarette behind an ear. “Oh,” he said, taking Kevin’s hint. “Ah. I think I’ll save it. For later.”
    Hugh laughed. “Look at him. A right cool one, he is.”
    “To be sure,” Tom said. “Until someone knocks the piss out of him. Then we’ll see him crying for his mammy like a babby.”
    Kevin said, “Maybe Liam is saving it for trade.”
    The chain-link fences between the cages were where one went to barter with the other prisoners. News, books, food—all flowed through the fences from one cage to the next. The entire make-shift prison was connected like one big organism in this way. Some Loyalists were known to barter with Catholics upon occasion. Cigarettes made good trade because no matter the brand they crossed the divides.
    Hugh asked, “Saving it for trade? What you got in mind must be special. What might that be?”
    “Don’t know, yet,” Liam said. “But I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
    “He’s sure to think of something,” Tom said in a sing-song falsetto. “Oh, pull me other one.”
    “Knock it off yous,” Kevin said. “Let’s talk to the boys in the next cage. Maybe one of them got the paper.” Kevin played football and was among the best in spite of the leg. He liked to keep up with the Derry City team as well as Celtic—not that there would be any football news. The season was well over, but there was always the speculation about next year’s season.
    The moment Kevin’s back was turned Tom’s expression changed into something that said Liam was no better than a dog’s leavings and whispered, “Going to pound the shite out of you, mammy’s boy.”
    Liam was confused as to why Tom insisted on calling him that. There’d been no word from home yet, and he hadn’t had a visit either. He was starting to wonder if his mother had forgotten all about him.
    Hugh gave him the two fingers and then trotted to catch up with Kevin.
    Deciding it’d be best to stay behind, Liam paused and considered his options, but Kevin turned and shouted for him to stop lagging. He glanced up at the blond guard who was still watching with an intent expression. A chill ran down Liam’s back for no reason he could name and that settled it. He ran after Kevin.
    Dinner consisted of a thin stew which Kevin warned him not to eat with a shake of the head. Liam put his spoon back down and reached for the slice of bread balanced on the corner of the bowl. Tom kicked him hard under the table, and when Liam reached down to massage the hurt out of his shin Hugh snatched the bread slice and glared. Taking a big bite, he paused to give Liam a toothy grin. It was easy enough to get the message: Don’t say a word, or you’ll regret it.
    Liam drank his tea in silence. A strange prickling sensation started in his fingers, shot up both arms and slammed into his chest. Breathing became difficult. The tingling grew painful. He tried rubbing his palms on his jeans to make it go away, but it didn’t work. Increasingly uncomfortable, he reached down and shifted his chair. The instant his hand gripped metal, the feeling stopped.
    “Sit still, you wee shite,” Hugh hissed.
    Fuck you and your fucking friend, Liam thought and went back to his tea. He imagined giving Hugh a good kicking and the prickling returned. Experimentally, he touched the edge of his chair. Again, the sensation receded. Interesting.
    Guards strolled along the edge of the canteen, the blond man from the tower among them. Liam looked away before anyone could notice and caught the stench of bad cologne with an undercurrent of stale beer as