A Veil of Secrets by Hailey Edwards Page B

brought a peace offering.”
    “Asher, it’s early, and I didn’t sleep well last night.”
    “What?” The knob jiggled. “I can’t hear you.”
    With a growl, I pushed to my feet, stalked toward the door and opened it a crack. “Talk fast.”
    He did one better. He held up a bow and an arrow.
    “Why do you have those?” My fingers curled to grip the bow.
    “I thought a hunt would do you good.” He offered the weapons to me. “The diet here is not ideal for either of us. Since your hunger for meat has increased since… Well, I thought we might supplement our meals with fresh lepus. We might luck up and find a pecora, though I haven’t seen many animal signs since arriving except those of the domestic variety.”
    “The plague wiped out most of the larger wildlife in the area.” I grinned as I slung the thick belt holding a quiver of arrows around my hips. It might be an unconventional style, but it kept my wings free. “How do I look?”
    “Beautiful,” he said without hesitation. “You like it?”
    “It’s perfect.” Keeping my head down to hide my red cheeks, I nodded. “Did you rig this yourself?”
    The swell of his chest at my compliment told me he had.
    “We should hunt while we have a chance.” He searched the sky. “The city will wake soon.”
    “I can’t argue with that.” It had been too long since I hunted for myself.
    We crept along the river’s edge, leaving the city behind us. Once the smell of civilization faded, and the scents of the earth rose to my nose, tracking prey became easy. I inhaled a wisp of the trail of a lepus hopping to its burrow. I followed that scent on light feet, through the scrub and over the clay earth baked hard and crunchy by the sun. Asher’s now-familiar scent told me he was close.
    The moment I spotted a flash of cotton tail, I nocked an arrow and took aim.
    My target fell to the earth mid-leap.
    Remnants of the old Marne, the one who had had the luxury of delicate sensibilities, mourned.
    My next breath dragged the rich scent of my kill to me, and my stomach tightened painfully.
    When I stood over the lepus, I lifted its limp body by the arrow protruding from it. Warm blood trickled down the arrow’s shaft and coated my hand. I watched the crimson rivulet, mesmerized until an odd sensation left me scratching the base of my neck. Before I fell upon the kill, Asher was there.
    He eased the arrow from my hand and pretended not to watch when I licked a finger or when the low growl rose up the back of my throat. He had snatched my food, my meat, and taken what was mine .
    “Marne,” he said under his voice.
    “I’m fine.” My claws were not out. My back was not spasming. I was fine.
    I backtracked to the water and rinsed my hands.
    “Do you want this raw?” His expression held no condemnation. “Let me clean it first.”
    “We will sear it.” Like normal people.
    “Don’t pretend for my benefit.” He licked a fat drop of blood from his thumb. “I understand the craving, better than you might think.” He pulled a knife from his pocket. “I am Mimetidae after all.”
    Mimetidae. A flesh eater. They ate the hearts of enemies who fell in battle against them.
    He had tasted Araneaean flesh as surely as I had, yet his acceptance of the practice chilled me.
    I did not want to look at a person and imagine the crunch of their bones between my teeth or the heat of their blood pouring down my throat. I wanted to look at them and see a person. Not a meal.
    “I can’t do this.” I staggered away from him.
    Embracing the knowledge I craved the meat bloody, that he might too, unhinged me.
    I yanked the material from my shoulders, flexed my wings and leapt into the sky. The rush made my heart pound and ears ring. The air cleared my head and muted the blood thirst while I soared.
    “Running from your nature again,” Idra whispered. “Do you ever tire of it?”
    Red haze shrouded my vision at the sound of her voice. “Let me mourn in peace.”
    The