Read Online Feather Bound by Sarah Raughley - Free Book Online

why.
    Anton’s fists shook. “You fucking–”
    â€œAh!” As the pain shot through my spine, I sprang to my feet.
    â€œDeanna?” Hyde put away his claws just long enough to worry about me. “Are you OK?” The armor slid off his body piece by piece. He didn’t give a second glance to Anton, despite the fact that the birthday boy was more than likely planning his murder. Sliding to the end of the couch, Hyde tried to take my hand, but I pulled it out of his reach.
    â€œYeah.” I shifted my shoulder blades, turning my head slightly so he wouldn’t see my uncomfortable grimace. “No, don’t worry about me. I, um… In fact I should probably be going.”
    â€œDeanna, are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
    Rather than answer Hyde, I stared out at the terrace behind him, at the bright lights of New York flickering into the loft.
    â€œI’m–” I winced. “I-I’m fine,” I said with a shrug, turning away, but even that one shrug hurt – so much that I tripped over someone standing next to me and fell onto the glass table with a horrible crash. It shattered. To say it hurt like hell would have been an understatement. My body ached. My muscles seared. My arms and face bled.
    That was the trigger.
    From bad to worse in one explosive second. The pain in my back scraped my spine all the way up to the neck, branching out every which way as my veins were leaking acid.
    Hyde jumped up and helped me to my feet, but I doubled over. “Deanna! Somebody call 911!”
    â€œNo, no! I’m fine! I’m OK. They’re just scratches. I’m OK.”
    Hyde cupped my face. “Deanna, what’s going on? Did you drink too much?”
    Did I? No, I don’t even drink. Not even a sip. So then what was happening? What’d been happening? My back had been hurting since Monday. Why? It didn’t make any sense.
    I shook my head. “No, I’m fine,” I said more to myself than to anyone else. “Anton, where’s the bathroom?” But Anton just stared. “I’ll find it myself.”
    â€œDeanna!” called Hyde behind me, but I was already making my way through the crowd. Shannon Dalhousie suddenly flashed in my thoughts, baring it all furiously at Hedley’s funeral, her feathers spraying the wind as she fled.
    â€œNo, no,” I muttered under my breath just before asking someone for bathroom directions. Down the hall to the left. I saw Ade rushing at me from the corner, so I had to move fast. Digging my nails into my palms, I searched for the bathroom, half-blinded by the pain.
    Regular back pain. I chanted it under my breath.
    But this happens all the time doesn’t it? said an annoyingly innocent voice in my head. You’ve heard the stories. A girl about to sing a solo in front of her entire school. A guy smack in the middle of writing an exam – and then it happens…
    â€œStop it,” I told myself in a harsh whisper.
    Always unexpected. Always excruciating. And it all starts with the backaches...
    â€œHey!” cried one short blonde when I pushed her out of the way to get into the bathroom. A scrawny girl with jewelry that probably cost three times as much as the combined net worth of everything my family owned stopped making out with her boyfriend to glare at me the second I walked in.
    â€œUm, occupied,” she said bitchily, folding her arms while her boyfriend just kind of stood there awkwardly.
    I grunted and doubled over. With my arms wrapped around my stomach, I leaned against the sink’s counter for support. “Get out.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI said get out! Out !” It came out louder than I’d expected; the last word scraped my throat raw, but it did the trick. After shooting me a poisonous look, she grabbed her boyfriend’s arm and dragged him out the door. I locked it after her.
    Check. I had to check.
    My stomach pressed against