Page 11 of Feathers and Thorns

“What?” Adriel’s voice felt as though it would burst his eardrums, and Corvus cowered before him. His master grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against one of the nearby pillars. “How could you let this happen?” Adriel seethed through gritted teeth.

General Corvus’s black eyes bulged, and his wings twitched helplessly at his sides. “Sir,” was all he could choke out beyond his masters iron grip.

Adriel loosened his hold just enough for Corvus to suck in a haggard breath. He leveled the general with a glacial stare. “Explain yourself.”

“He let her go,” Corvus replied tightly.

An inferno blazed behind the ice in Adriel’s eyes. “What do you mean, he let her go?” His tone was clipped and felt as harsh as sandpaper dragged across bare skin.

“There was an avalanche, and she fell through the ice. By the time I returned, one of my men was dead, by your son’s hand, and she was back at the manor.”

Adriel released his throat, waiting to hear the rest.

The general continued his recount of events, “As I circled the property, I watched her walk right out the front door, sir, without any trouble. It seems your son ordered the rest of my flock away. Naturally, I and a few of my most loyal followed her.”

Adriel’s brow lifted. “Go on.”

The general shuffled nervously, wringing his talons together. “The couple from the temple had acquired the services of a tracker to find the girl, and they meant to escape, so we intervened. As I was about to bring the girl back to the manor, your son stopped me.”

“A betrayal, you say? From my own son?” Adriel towered over him, his shadow bathing him in a wave of darkness.

“I would not have believed it if I had not experienced it firsthand, sir.”

“Is he dead?”

“No, sir, I left him intact to carry out the mating.”

“And the girl?”

“She took Rook back to the manor—he will be out for at least a week. She departed again the following day.”

Corvus’s head whipped sideways from the force of Adriel’s fist, and ichor coated the insides of his cheeks.

“And you just let her leave?” His anger was an active volcano, on the verge of erupting and destroying everything in the outlying area.

The general shook off the blow, knowing better than to turn away from his master. “I was outnumbered, and I would not have made it back to you had I stayed.”

“You have failed me.” Adriel’s words were thick with disappointment.

“Forgive me, sir. It will not happen again.”

Adriel laughed. It was an unsettling sound, his sickly-sweet voice laced with pure malice. “I should think not. If you fail me again, I will strap you down and rip your talons out one by one before making you choke on them. Now, get out of my sight.” The commander turned to leave as General Corvus dared to speak once more.

“One last thing, sir.”

His master turned but said nothing, gesturing with his hand for the general to speak.

“I brought this.”

Adriel’s eyes lit with a dark satisfaction as his first in command held out his hand. A smirk played on his lips as a new plan began to form.

For between the beast’s clawed fingers lay the Oculus.

* * *

Adriel turned the metal eye over in his hands. Something inside of it still awoke with his touch. He could sense that a part of it was still aligned with him. At least the general had not been entirely useless, he thought to himself.

He had since dismissed the general and had returned to the Architect’s quarters at once to mull over his new plans. The girl was an unforeseen liability—there was no questioning that—but he was at a loss of what to do with the boy. I have given him everything he could ever need, and this is how he thanks me? Adriel scoffed. He debated idly if he should just have him killed, but the insolent child could still be of use.

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