Wings (A Black City Novel) Read Online Free

become Dr. Craven’s human pincushion. On top of my heart condition—I had a heart transplant when I was eight—I recently contracted the Wrath virus, after an infected Darkling boy bit me. Since my arrival at the rebel base, the Sentry doctors have been trying to cure me, injecting me with experimental vaccines and drugs. Until I came here, I’d made my peace with dying, but now that there’s hope I can get better, I’m terrified the treatment won’t work.
    Elijah thrusts his hands into his pockets as he walks beside me, the sleeves of his jumpsuit rolled up to reveal the leopardlike spots on his arms. The metal bands around his wrists glimmer in the fake sunlight. Looking at them, you’d think they’re just pretty pieces of jewelry, but I know what they really are: shackles. They denote his status as a slave to the Bastet Consul, who also happened to be his father. Elijah’s relationship with his father is complicated to say the least. Or
was
complicated, I correct. The Bastet Consul was murdered nine days ago, along with Elijah’s half brother Donatien.
    “How are you coping?” I say gently.
    Elijah shrugs, knowing what I’m talking about. “Fine. Terrible. I miss them, despite everything.” He lowers his gaze. “I can’t help but feel my dad got what he deserved, though.” His topaz eyes flick up to meet mine.
    I don’t say anything, but deep down I agree with him. The Bastet Consul used Elijah to lure me and Ash to Viridis, under the pretense that they wanted to join the rebellion. However, it was just a ruse to get us to Viridis so they could hand us over to Purian Rose’s forces. The plan backfired, as the Sentry double-crossed the Bastets, and his father was killed in the ensuing fight. We only just escaped with our lives.
    I should be mad at Elijah for his part in the conspiracy—I
was
angry at him for a few days—but he was only following his father’s orders. Besides, when Garrick kidnapped me in Viridis, Elijah risked his life by coming after me. Neither of us knew at the time that Garrick was working for my father, so it was a brave thing for him to do. And now he’s a “permanent guest” here, forbidden to leave the compound in case he tells someone about the Sentry rebels. Elijah won’t be seeing the surface for a while, at least until I’m able to persuade my father to stop being so ridiculous and let him go. I think that’s why he volunteered to work in the UG. It’s the next best thing to the outside world.
    We pass a bush of bright yellow Pollyanna lilies, and I brush my fingers over the flowers. Orange pollen bursts into the air.
    “My sister was named after this flower,” I say.
    A sad smile passes over Elijah’s lips. Polly was murdered a month ago by my former bodyguard and boyfriend, Sebastian Eden, on Purian Rose’s orders. Elijah was with me when I found her body. Grief tightens around my throat like a vine, threatening to strangle me.
    I slip my fingers into my pocket and find the blade concealed there. I’d made a promise to my sister that day. I told her I wouldn’t stop fighting until Centrum was nothing but burning rubble around Purian Rose’s feet. And when that moment came, I was going to stride up to that son of a bitch and drive a dagger straight through his black heart. We approach the toolshed and I walk past it, my hand still clutched around the knife.

3.
    NATALIE
    T HE HOSPITAL IS A LEVEL UP from the UG, next to the main entrance, and by the time we reach it, I’m out of breath. I pause outside the glass doors, steeling myself for what’s to come—an intravenous drip to help with the anemia, plus a cocktail of antiviral drugs followed by several excruciatingly painful injections. We’ve been following this procedure every day since I got here, and although I’m grateful for the treatment, I hate every second of it.
    I glance up at Elijah. His Adam’s apple nervously bobs up and down in his throat as he stares at the doors leading into the