Blood and Feathers Read Online Free Page A

it.”
    “Thank you, Mallory. I think it’s time you made yourself useful, don’t you?” Gwyn’s voice had a slight echo to it, as though it came from far-off, and despite his attempt to hide it, it sounded a little deflated. His wings rustled as he stepped closer to Alice, the light from them casting moving shadows on the walls. Mallory rolled his eyes, then snapped his fingers. There was a gentle tinkling sound, and the lights flared back into life.
    Alice knew her mouth was open again, but she couldn’t seem to close it. It didn’t bother her too much – presumably, said the voice in the back of her head, they were used to it. What with their being angels and everything. The laugh threatened to bubble up from inside her again, and she swallowed it down. Something tickled her cheek, and she reached up to brush it away; her fingertips came away wet, and she was startled to find that she was crying. She didn’t do crying. It wasn’t her thing. She looked up, and Gwyn was right in front of her, his wings tucked back. “Alice. This is important...”
    “How come I couldn’t see them before?”
    “I... What?”
    “The wings. I couldn’t see them before. You can’t have had them hidden away, so why couldn’t I see them?”
    “That’s all you have to say? You want to know why you couldn’t see them?”
    “Well, yes.”
    Alice wiped her face, hard. Gwyn was frowning at her, and somewhere across the room there was the sound of laughter again, a man’s this time. Mallory was laughing so hard that he almost rolled off the sofa, tipping his head back and scrambling to catch his breath. Eventually, he wagged a finger towards Alice.
    “She,” he said, “is just like her mother.”
    “I very much hope not.” Gwyn didn’t bother to look over at Mallory, instead keeping his eyes fixed on Alice. They were so very blue, this close. Blue like... well, like nothing Alice had ever seen. And it felt like they were staring straight into her. He was too close, too near – and that smell, that cold smell was overwhelming. She got the feeling it probably wasn’t aftershave after all. “You didn’t answer my question, though, did you?”
    “The wings? Fine. It’s a trick of perception. You can’t see air, can you, but you don’t doubt that it’s there. You’ve woken. You’ll find you see a lot of things differently now. That’s why we’re here. Is that good enough?”
    “Not that question.”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Who are you, and what do you want?”
    “Who are we? I don’t know if you’d noticed, but... angels?”
    Gwyn’s eyebrows shot up, and Mallory snorted back another laugh. Alice was warming to him. Gwyn, she wasn’t so sure about.
    “That doesn’t tell me anything.”
    “Oh, for...” Gwyn backed away and rubbed his forehead with his hand. His wings vanished and the light from them faded. “Do you know how many men and women across the centuries have been visited by angels? No, don’t answer. It’s a rhetorical question. Let me tell you: thousands. And in all the centuries I’ve known, never have I been greeted with such arrogance, such... such...”
    “I told you, she’s just like her mother. She has her eyes, remember? She can see to the heart of things. Even you.” Mallory stood up, patting his jacket, feeling for something in the pockets... the flask, perhaps. Evidently, he found whatever it was; a look of relief settled across his face and he stopped patting. “She wants to know who we are, and what we want? I say we tell her. All of it.” He turned to Alice and pointed at the sofa he had just vacated. “Sit down. You’re going to want to soon enough, so you might as well get comfortable.” She sat. Gwyn had retreated to the window, and Mallory smirked at him. “Are you sulking?”
    “Watch your mouth. Remember who you’re addressing.”
    “As if I could forget.” There was something hidden behind those words, but before Alice could think about it any further,