The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 60 - Mad as a Hatter

"This isn't fair," Aria said.

I moved to the side of the pavement and crouched down beside her. "Look, I don't like shopping either! But you need more than one outfit to wear, and we need to get your school uniform."

She folded her arms over her chest. "I already have clothes. And I'm not ever going to school, so I won't need a uniform."

I had four guards with me — and four more waiting at the car — since we had left New Dawn's territory. They formed a protective barrier around us now, shielding us from the constant flow of people on the pavement. We were creating a pinch-point, so I was keen to get moving again.

"Come on, Aria," I said, not ungently. "We've been over this already. You need new clothes because your old ones are not really ... accessible."

We would come to the uniform issue later. I knew how to pick my battles with nine-year-old girls.

Aria narrowed her eyes. "They're not accessible because you kidnapped me."

"Well, technically, Jace did the—" I stopped myself and swallowed. "But yes, that's why. I'm sorry. I know this is annoying. If you can be patient and choose some clothes, we'll go and get ice-cream afterwards."

"Okay, I guess," she sighed. I sensed I was losing her attention, because her eyes had wandered to the other side of the road. "Hey, do you see all those pigeons? They're super close to the humans ... it's like they're not even scared. I bet I could catch one."

I blinked at her and then followed her pointing finger to a flock of pigeons pecking for crumbs outside a bakery. There was nothing special about them. They were just city pigeons, utterly desensitised to pedestrians. But while I was distracted, Aria had slipped away. I heard Zoe mutter a curse as she started after her. They weren't just here to guard me — they were also making sure Aria didn't run off into the woods at the first opportunity. This was her first outing.

As it turned out, she wasn't heading for the outskirts of the town. She was making a beeline for the pigeons, and to get there, she had crossed the road, dodging cars and bikes. I started after her instinctively, but I didn't have her speed or disregard for danger. I got stuck waiting for the traffic to pass.

So my guards and I were watching and helpless as Aria sunk into a crouch. She approached the flock of pigeons from behind, and then she threw herself towards them at terrifying speed. The pigeons scattered in every direction, buffeting her with their wings, and Aria ended up sprawled on the pavement.

And yet, when she picked herself back up, she was holding two of them. One was flapping like mad, so she tucked the other between her legs to hold it still while she broke the bird's neck. It was at that point that I managed to bolt across the road, much, much too late.

"Only two, but they're nice and fat," she told us, beaming from ear to ear. She took hold of the second one and got ready to twist again.

"Aria," I hissed, trying to grab her. "Let the pigeon go right now."

She shied backwards, the pigeon in her hands forgotten for the moment. "Why? We can have them for dinner."

People were looking at us. It seemed to me that half of the humans had stopped in their tracks, and the other half were craning their necks around while they walked to stare for as long as they possibly could. There were a dozen little exclamations ranging from astonishment to horror. My guards were standing around, equally stunned and not helping in the slightest.

"You can't murder animals in the middle of a town, that's why!" I exclaimed. "Let it go before you make me properly cross."

"It's not murder, it's hunting," she muttered defensively, but my wolf must have got the better of hers, because she released the pigeon. It headed into the skies with a series of loud, panicked flaps that only served to attract even more attention from our onlookers.