House of Silence (Poisoned Houses Book 3)

by Lyn Forester

  Felix hangs his head, not agreeing, but silent for now.

  I spin to Connor, finger still out, and my anger wanes when confronted with his calm expression. “Well, you’re doing better than they are.”

  He grins and pushes to his feet. “I grew up with Felix. I’m used to not giving in to his tirades.”

  “Seriously, bro?” Felix whimpers, aiming sad eyes at the both of us.

  “Seriously.” Connor’s hand lands on my back, and he propels me toward the door, clapping Nikola on the shoulder along the way. “Welcome to our team. Try not to kill my brother.”

  I peer over my shoulder to catch Nikola’s eye. “I’m still not sure I trust you.”

  One side of his mouth kicks up. “I’m beginning to take that as an endearment.”

  Warmth heats my cheeks, and I hurry ahead of Connor to escape the suddenly claustrophobic feel of Nikola’s bedroom.

  Once the door slides shut, safely separating us from Felix and Nikola, I reach for Connor’s hand. “Think they’ll actually fight?”

  His fingers lace through mine. “It’s possible. Felix is itching to burn off energy.”

  “Do you think they’ll...” I trail off, not sure how to finish that question and unsure if I want to know the answer.

  But, as usual, Connor gives me brutal honesty. “I don’t know. Felix deals with people one of three ways. He ignores them, he fights them, or he beds them, which I’m not sure is that different from the fighting.”

  “I don’t know how I feel about that.” I take a deep breath. “Any of it.”

  “If it helps, Declan’s been the only one to warm Felix’s sheets since they hooked up.” His hand tightens on mine. “And how he’s approached you is far out of character. I think he’s trying to change, to be someone who deserves to be with you. But when under stress, he circles back to bad habits.”

  “I didn’t ask him to change.”

  “He needs to, though, and he knows it. What he was after—” Connor glances around the empty hallway, as if suddenly aware we walk past the doorways of students who would love bits of gossip about the High Houses. Connor’s voice lowers. “When he came back, he was on a path to destruction. Half the people he picked fights with could have killed him and been within their right to claim self-defense. Declan’s the first person who got up after a fight, wiped off the blood, and offered Felix friendship. I don’t think Felix considered himself worthy of kindness until that point. I think he’s conflicted about Nikola. He sees some of himself but also someone who can break up the foundation Felix relies on.”

  I slow my steps as we near my room, wanting to prolong our time together. “How are you so calm about all of this?”

  “Do you mean about Nikola?” When I nod, he glances back down the hall toward the room we abandoned. “If not for a twist of fate, I would be Nikola right now.” He releases my hand to hold his palms up in front of himself, right hand higher than the left. “The knowledge of what power is, to know that the actions I take can affect the lives of thousands of people.” His right hand dips below his left. “Knowing my voice will always be silent, in the background, that my life is held at the whim of others more powerful than me.”

  I stare at Connor’s hands, never having thought about it from that perspective. Connor grew up assuming he would be the latter, the silent one without power, then his entire world view changed in an instant.

  What must that have been like?

  Whenever I thought about leaving Leton and my family obligations behind, it was my choice. I never once considered I would fail at whatever profession I chose because I had never been raised to think failure was an option, that people would not support my decisions.

  How very arrogant of me, and how very blind to the conflict my friends face daily.

  Connor cups my cheek, bringing my attention back to him. “It’s difficult sometimes to see outside of our own boxes. Especially when you’ve lived in one your whole life.”

  Eyes closing, I turn my face into his palm. “Father really didn’t do me any favors with the home tutors.”

  “No, he didn’t.” Warm breath feathers over my face. “Is it too bold of me to ask how Felix managed two invitations to a sleepover with you?”

  My eyes flick open to find Connor close. “The first time was an accident. He fell asleep in my room, and I didn’t have the heart to kick him out.”

  Worry fills his eyes. “And he behaved that time?”

  “Yes.” I lift my chin. “He honestly didn’t scare me today, not in the way you’re worried about. It made my heart ache, though. He didn’t know who he was touching. He was on autopilot, like he’d been...”

  “Trained,” Connor supplies when I trail off. “Dec’s talked to me about it some, more when they first got together than recently. I’d hoped it meant Felix stopped dreaming about what happened. But I guess I was just deluding myself.”

  Pain pinches Connor’s face, tightness around his eyes and the corners of his mouth, and I wrap my arms around his waist to offer the only comfort I can give. We can’t rewind the clock to stop Mrs. Porter from breaking Felix. Connor will forever carry the guilt of standing by while his brother was kidnapped, of taking Felix’s place as the family heir.

  “What are you guys doing?” Felix calls as he jogs down the hall.

  His green eyes sparkle as he reaches us, and a bounce fills his step that wasn’t there before. His lighter mood comes in stark contrast to his split lip.

  He grins, cracking it farther. “Did Sparks figure out yet that it’s Saturday and there are no classes to get ready for?”

  I push away from Connor. “No, but thanks for the reminder. How bad does Nikola look right now?”

  Felix dabs away a fresh dot of blood. “About the same. He’s scrappy.”

  I peer up at Connor. “Why does that sound like a compliment?”

  “In Felix’s head, it is.” The lights in the hall slowly change color as Connor speaks, shifting from dim blue to pale yellow. “Looks like it’s Quarter-Light. Do you guys want to head to the cafeteria and get first dibs on protein omelets while they’re still hot?”

  Felix makes a gagging noise.

  “Sure.” I shift the satchel on my shoulder. “Let me just drop this in my room. We can check for messages when we get back.”

  Felix slings an arm around Connor’s shoulder. “We’ll be waiting.”

  I pause in front of my door to eye their casual loungewear. “Don’t you want to change?”

  “It’s the weekend, Sparks.” Felix waves me onward. “Time for relaxing.”

  Laughing, I swipe my palm over the lock pad and tiptoe into the room.

  Felix seems better now, more in control of his emotions. It’s like what Connor said. All we can do is be strong and support each other, catch each other when we fall, and push each other to be better.

  And possibly, it would seem, fight with each other if that’s what’s needed to burn off steam.

  So long as we come back whole, that’s all that matters.

  Comfort & Alarm

  Myrrine pops out of bed the minute I come into view.

  My efforts at stealth are obviously wasted. Did she stay up all night waiting for me to come back? Guilt pings through me, but I push it aside. I have no control over Myrrine’s actions. If she chose to stay awake, that’s on her.

  “Is everything well?” she demands as I set my satchel on my empty desktop. “Is Nikola—”

  She cuts off, biting her plump lower lip.

  “It’s okay if you ask about him.” I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile. I have no idea what it’s like to have my body betray me, to be driven by instinct the way Myrrine is. “It doesn’t mean you’re rejecting a part of yourself if you’re concerned about another person.”

  She swings her long legs off the side of the bed. “You stayed in his room last night. Does that mean he is now part of your mulnupti?”

  “I...don’t know.” Slowly, I walk to my dresser to pull out a set
of casual wear. I don’t care if Connor and Felix plan to go to breakfast in pajamas, but I refuse to. “What exactly does it mean to be in a mulnupti? Is it all romantic?”

  Her brow furrows. “There are those who do not desire romance. That does not exclude them from joining a family unit.”

  I pull out a softer version of the slacks and a light sweater. “Would you be in a mulnupti with your sibling?”

  “Are you concerned about Connor and Felix?” She perks up. “Connor is the superior choice.”

  I sigh and turn my back as I shrug out of Nikola’s large sweatshirt and strap on a fresh bra before pulling a collared undershirt on with the sweater over it. “I wish I could get you to like Felix. He’s really not a bad person.”

  “He is fire.” Sorrow fills her voice. “Fire will burn you, no matter how much it might promise otherwise.”

  “He’s energy and life,” I counter. “I think you’re superimposing your own experience onto him.”

  “We are not talking about me,” she points out.

  “Aren’t we?” Without looking back, I shimmy out of the sweats and into new underwear and soft pants. “You seem especially interested in stuffing Nikola in the out-of-bounds box, and you’re eager for me to cast Felix aside. What’s going on with you? Did something happen back at home?”

  Her comforter rustles, and I turn to find her leaning against her headboard, knees pulled up to her chin. “I agreed to accept one of my candidates. He will be joining me here soon.”

  “I thought you wouldn’t even have to meet them until Winter-Cycle.” Myrrine is a self-proclaimed lover of women, but with so few female halions, women of Myrrine’s station won’t be allowed to stay out of the breeding pool if they can produce offspring. I walk to her bed and perch on the side. “Why the change in plans?”

  When I asked about using a breeding facility like many of the human upper-class do, I learned it wasn’t currently an option for halions. While our physiology is similar enough to intermix and produce sterile halfbreeds, halions spend much of their gestation period in an egg outside of the female body, and their scientists haven’t found an acceptable way to force the egg to form naturally from conception without the benefit of being carried by a female.

  “His family had another offer on the table, one who wished to go ahead with body modifications to make him more appealing.” Angry blue blooms in her cheeks. “It is monstrous. It could not be allowed if I could save him.”

  I remember him from Myrrine’s list of candidates. His family was offering to turn him as close to female as possible while retaining his ability to reproduce. It still horrifies me. Body modification is fairly common, but to force that kind of extreme change on someone just to make them more marriageable should be illegal.

  “Are you...” I flush, uncomfortable discussing this with her since I don’t fully understand it myself. “Are you compatible with him?”

  Glumly, she nods.

  I venture another probe. “The same way you’re compatible with Nikola?”

  Her head snaps up. “I never said that.”

  “You’re not denying it, either.”

  Her eyes narrow. “Halions aren’t compatible with humans.”

  “Now, you’re just trying to convince yourself,” I say gently. “Leton is filled with halfbreeds that prove that’s not correct.”

  “Halion men desperate to mate.” She shakes her head. “It is not the same as finding someone you’re compatible with.”

  With the number of lower echelon halion men who set up home in the city with their humans, I suspect Myrrine is only mimicking the breeder enforced colony doctrine that they use to keep their females cloistered.

  But I’m not halion and can’t say for sure.

  Despite hundreds of years of sharing the planet, they keep much of themselves separate from humans. Myrrine is the first halion female in generations allowed to study outside the colonies.

  Not wanting to presume or sour her mood more, I back off. “So, when does... I’m sorry, I don’t remember his name.”

  “His name is Camille. I will be notified when he is en route.” She drops her chin to her knees. “He has business to put in order before he can transfer.”

  “Business?” I frown. “Is he not a student? Why would he come here?”

  “His talent is strong. He currently apprentices with his father and is set to take over the family business.” Her face disappears farther behind her knees. “Coming here will set him back and lower his position within the echelon. I will become an ambassador, which means time away from the colonies. He will not be able to follow his dream if he remains by my side. In accepting him as the first of my mulnupti, I ruin his life’s purpose.”

  I lean against her upraised legs. “Have you spoken with him about your concerns?”

  “No. We met only long enough to confirm compatibility before I returned to school.” Her large blue eyes meet mine. “He’s coming here to soothe my concerns, giving up so much to see if this can work between us. If he arrives and finds my eye caught by another, by a human, he will be angry. He will think I played coy.” With a wail, she launches herself at me, tackling me to the bed. “You must help me, Caitlyn.”

  “Okay!” I pat her back and try to ignore the way her plump breasts squish against mine as she snuffles behind my ear. “I understand. I’ll help however I can.”

  Her sniffing becomes more intense. “Mate with me! It is the only way.”

  “Wait, what?” I go from comforting to flailing. “I don’t understand that logic! I’m human, too! And female!”

  “The most delightful flower blooms sweetest in the spring. If we are to share a bed and frolic in each other’s joy, then surely I will recall the delights of the more tender love.”

  “Okay, that’s enough, my lady.” Myrrine’s weight lifts from me, and I blink up in surprise as Bastian holds my roommate aloft by one hand. “You are pushing your attentions onto Caitlyn. It is unbecoming and no better than a hatchling at puberty with their first urge to bite.”

  “This is different!” Myrrine flails. “This is love!”

  “This is not love.” He gives her a gentle shake. “This is desperation, and it is unpleasant to witness.”

  I scoot out from under her until I can scramble off the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry, Myrrine, I want to help, but we need to find a different method.”

  Her lower lip juts out. “You do not know the wonder I speak of. If you will but try—”

  “Not happening.” I cross my arms in front of my chest in the universal racer sign for stop. “I’ve had enough people try to get into my pants for the day. We can talk about alternatives once you’ve cooled your head.”

  Eyes narrowing, she shoves a foot against Bastian’s unmovable mass. “Who has tried to take advantage of you? I will crush them! Was it Felix?”

  I back toward the door. “Something else we’re going to let you cool your head about.”

  Myrrine reaches back to try to dislodge Bastian’s hold on her. “Bastian, ready yourself for battle!”

  I meet the bodyguard’s crystalline eyes and mouth an apology before ducking around the short wall toward the door.

  Myrrine’s angry voice follows me. “How dare you manhandle me like this! I will have your braids cut!”

  “My lady is clearly delirious from lack of sleep. Shall I sing you the hatchling song of rest?”

  Her shriek of defiance follows me out into the hall and cuts off abruptly when the door swishes shut. At least that answers my question about how good the soundproofing is on the rooms.

  Connor and Felix stare with wide eyes at my room.

  Felix looks away first. “What’s wrong with Pinky? I’ve never heard her like that before.”

  “We better get moving.” I link my arms through theirs and pull them toward the stairs. “You don’t want to be around if she gets free of Bastian’s hold.”

  “Are they fighting?” Connor peers back. “He seems so even-tempered.”
>
  “Myrrine is going through some personal issues.” I have no idea how else to explain what just happened. “Also, she really doesn’t like Felix right now.”

  “More than she already didn’t like me?” Felix shakes his head. “I’ve been on super good behavior around her!” Then he jerks with realization. “Wait, is this still about the bite thing?”

  “What bite thing?” Without waiting for an answer, Connor tugs back the collar of my sweater to reveal the bruise left by Felix’s teeth. Over the last day, it deepened to purple, with a ring of red at the edges. Connor sighs and readjusts my shirt to hide the mark. “Myrrine thinks you’re trying to get Caitlyn pregnant.”

  Felix slams to a stop. “Excuse me?”

  “It’s the first step to halion breeding.” Connor’s voice takes on the tone of a lecturer. “During a fertile cycle for the female, the male first bites her to attune her body so she will be receptive to his seed.”

  Horrified, I cover my mouth. “It’s even worse when you explain it.”

  Flabbergasted, Felix’s mouth opens and closes before he fixes on me. “You told her that’s not how it works for humans, right?”

  I nod. “I even told her about my shot and condoms. She doesn’t believe it’s enough. Apparently, that kind of stuff doesn’t work on halions.”

  Connor, the only one in our group who seems calm about the topic, slides his hands into his pockets. “She could read a sex ed book if she needs more compelling information. Suggest that to her. She likes studying.”

  I straighten, surprised I didn’t already think of it. “That’s actually not a bad idea. I wonder if the library has any?”

  Felix’s brows pinch together. “That’s what her and Bastian are fighting about?”

  “Ah, no. Not exactly.” I want to be delicate with Myrrine and considerate of her privacy, but her current dilemma affects more than just herself, as proven moments before when she pinned me down. “You know how Myrrine prefers girls?”

  Felix bounces on the balls of his feet. “Still hot.”