The Torn Wing Read Online Free PDF Page B

don’t get your knickers in a knot. Let a girl have her fun.”
    Rieker ground his teeth and took a step back so she could no longer touch him. “Why did you come back to London? What are you after this time?”
    Larkin contemplated them through narrowed eyes. “You both think you’re so clever, don’t you? Saved the ring and now you’ll live happily ever after.” Her lip curled like a feral dog. “Well, happily ever after doesn’t exist in my world and soon it’s not going to exist in yours either. I’ve come to warn you.”
    Rieker raised his eyebrows. “Warn us about what?”
    “Donegal is on the move and if he’s not stopped he will take everything that is precious from you.” Larkin snapped the fan closed and tapped it against her fingers. “Believe me when I say there are worse things than dying.”
    “Now that you’ve warned us,” Rieker said in a dry voice, “What is it that you want from us?”
    The faerie blinked and then her lips twisted in a beguiling smile. It was as if the warmth of the sun suddenly flowed into the room. “Why, I want you to help me.”
    A chill ran up Tiki’s arms. Her voice came out in a ragged whisper of disbelief. “ Help you?”
    “You don’t seem to understand.” Larkin snapped her teeth at Tiki as if she wished she could bite her. “I won’t be able to stop him this time.” Lightning fast, her mood shifted again, her tone becoming cajoling. “But if you help me, I’ll help you.”
    “What do you mean this time ?” Rieker said slowly.
    Larkin’s throaty chuckle echoed in the room, reminding Tiki of the thunder she’d heard during the storm. The faerie was dangerous, unpredictable and untrustworthy, yet Tiki held her breath, waiting to hear what Larkin would say next.
    “It’s time to face the facts. I saved your life, William. You owe me. The faerie blood that runs in your veins may allow you to guard the ring of the truce, but it also binds you to the laws of our world. You are beholden to me.”
    Tiki gasped. “ Saved him? You murdered his family.”
    The faerie stood oddly still, her arms held close to her body. In the past she’d danced and twirled—a butterfly flitting from flower to flower—but now, she barely moved. Her icy gaze was frozen on Tiki. “How do you know that?”
    Tiki motioned with her hand. “Rieker told me.”
    Rieker was silent, watching Larkin with a wary expression.
    A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. “Oh, and does he tell you all of his secrets now?”
    At Rieker’s continued silence a tiny thread of doubt wove its way around Tiki’s heart.
    Larkin’s lips twisted in perverse pleasure at the betraying play of emotions across Tiki’s face. “I didn’t think so.” She leaned forward and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “Never forget, gutter-snipe, I’ve known William far longer than you have. I know more than a few of his secrets.”
    Tiki’s felt as though she were being pulled into a dark abyss.
    Larkin’s eyes dared Tiki to believe what she said. “ Donegal drowned those people. Not me. I arrived too late to save any of them but William.”
    “You expect us to believe that?” Tiki snapped. She shot a glance at Rieker out of the corner of her eyes. Why wasn’t he speaking up?
    Larkin snorted with disgust. “Does it ever occur to you that the obvious is not always the answer?”
    An odd sense of imbalance wobbled Tiki, as though she stood on a slippery slope. For a second, she wondered if the faerie spoke the truth.
    “You’re putting blame in the wrong place—” Larkin’s voice almost sounded weary—“because that’s the easy thing to do. Both of you underestimate the threat of the Winter king. I might have stopped him if I’d recovered the ring of the truce but now it’s too late—he’s gone too far. I need your help.”
    “That’s enough, Larkin.” Rieker suddenly came to life and moved toward the faerie as if to usher her out. “We don’t want to help you. We just want you to