Page 40 of Lana Pecherczyk
She?
Manfri and Cielo shared a surprised look.
“Come with us,” Cielo offered.
“There’s nothing you can do for me.” The manacle chinked as Nikan lifted his foot and showed his raw, chafed ankle. “This is my fault. I disobeyed her.”
“Fuck that,” Cielo snapped. “No one deserves to be in chains.”
Again, Nikan seemed to consider answering. Manfri could see the plea for help in his dark eyes, the yearning to be free. But Nikan shook his head. He must be terrified of his mother.
What had that floater done to this crow to make him so frightened? A thousand horrible thoughts conjured in Manfri’s mind. What if it was abuse? What if it was torture?
Manfri’s mother always said he had a vivid imagination. She was awesome … if a little spacey. She was all about love, happiness, and following one’s instincts despite her love for his father ostracizing their kettle to the outer limits of the murder. She nurtured Manfri, never trapped him.
Nikan had no one up here. No friends. No food … at least, none that they could see. Not like Manfri and Cielo had at home. What was a crow shifter without a kettle, a family? Without brothers?
His heart ached for Nikan, and he knew that with Cielo’s growing distance, this might be the only time he had backup for his next daring proposal.
Manfri lifted his chin and said with a steady gaze, his hand on his dagger. “If you want to call a Vendetta against your mother, we will fly with you.”
Nikan’s brows furrowed. “A Vendetta?”
Crimson. Manfri and Cielo shared another shocked look. This was worse than Manfri had initially thought. What kind of crow shifter didn’t know about a Vendetta? Cielo’s eyes held the same disturbed note as Manfri’s. They had to get Nikan out of here.
“A Vendetta,” Cielo explained, “is when a crow vows revenge?—”
“Justice,” Manfri corrected.
Cielo scowled at him, but if he was going to explain it, then he should do it right.
“It is a time-honored tradition in the crow shifter community,” Manfri added. “If one of our own has been hurt, they—or their family—have the right to call a Vendetta against the offending party. They paint blood in a V-shape acrosstheir face, from their eyebrows to their chin. Then they walk through the murder. Their closest friends and family must join the hunt until justice has been served.” He stopped short of saying Vendettas were rarely called because crows could be tenacious, vicious, and single-minded in their justice. It almost always ended in death for the opposing party or obsession and madness for the one who called the Vendetta. As Cielo said, it became more about revenge than justice. Sometimes it hurt more than it healed.
“I don’t understand,” Nikan said.
“He means we will kill your mother with you,” Cielo continued. “Or die trying.”
Nikan blinked. “You don’t know me! Why would you do this?”
“We don’t have to know you to see this is wrong.” Manfri gestured at the manacles. He wanted to point out the too-small, tattered clothes hanging from Nikan’s slim figure—he could use a good meal. But Manfri bit his words back.
“You could take anything you want from here,” Nikan said, waving at the treasure hoard. “Take it and leave. My mother is asleep. I can’t stop you from stealing, so do it. Don’t risk your lives on a foolish notion.”
Manfri fidgeted and avoided Cielo’s gaze. He knew his proclamation had been hasty. Perhaps he should have thought about it first, but Cielo pressed on.
“We’re not going without you.”
“You’ll die if she wakes and catches you helping me,” Nikan warned. “There won’t be a corner of Elphyne you can fly to where she won’t find you.”
He was right. If they failed, even if they escaped, the Collector would hunt them down and eat them. The Collector was probably in Vendetta mode every day.
“We do it now while she’s asleep.” Cielo unsheathed his dagger again, his eyes hard and ready to fight for their new friend.
“No,” Nikan said, stopping them. “I don’t want her to die.”
“She chained you here for Well-knows how long.” Manfri finally pointed at Nikan’s too-small clothes. “There’s a whole world down there. Food. Clothes that fit. More treasure. Fun. Females.”
He waggled his brows suggestively on that last one.
