Read Online The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard - Free Book Online

What—what happened?
    â€œPhilippe?” Isabelle asked.
    â€œI’m fine,” he said, the lie small and unconvincing to him. He could still feel the weight of Morningstar’s gaze; could still feel the magic turning, slowly focusing on him: the gaze of a gigantic cobra, annihilating his will, turning his own desires into dust.
    And something else, too, something darker, quieter—that had lain biding its time away from the light, and that now stretched and turned, sniffing the air like a predator searching for prey . . .
    A summoning. Of what?
    â€œI don’t know what happened. But it’s gone now. There is nothing to worry about.”
    His gaze, roaming, found the stone mirror: the luster had gone from it, leaving only a bleak darkness. “It’s gone now,” he repeated; but he knew that, whatever had been contained within the mirror, it was within him now; and that whatever had been summoned with its magic was outside—within the House.
    *   *   *
    IT was late at night, and Madeleine couldn’t sleep.
    By no means unusual. Nights like these, with the lambent starlight hanging over the House, brought back memories—of how she’d first come to it; of Elphon’s death, and his shimmering blood on her hands as she crawled away from the House of Hawthorn; as she prayed so very hard to a God she no longer believed benevolent to spare her, to let her go just a bit farther, to reach safety before Asmodeus’s thugs found her.
    On nights like these she took angel essence; breathed it in, and let the rush of power sweep everything from her mind; let herself believe that she was safe, that nothing like Asmodeus’s coup would ever take place in Silverspires; that even if it did, she would have the power to protect herself, to protect Oris. That what had happened in Hawthorn would never happen to her again.
    It was a good lie, while it lasted.
    An insistent knocking at the door of her laboratory drew her from her trance. Slowly, carefully, she rose, fighting a feeling of weightlessness that promised she only had to wish to take flight; the rush of power slowly settling into her limbs. In that moment, she was the equal of any Fallen, had she wished to cast spells—but of course that wasn’t why she took angel essence. It never had been.
    â€œWhat is it?”
    She’d expected many things, chief among them either Selene or Isabelle; but the one on her doorstep, his face pale with fear, was her assistant, Oris.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?”
    â€œThere’s . . . there’s something in the House,” Oris said. “It’s after me.”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous,” Madeleine said, but then she took a closer look at him. His hands were shaking; and if she focused the magic within her she could see through his skin, could feel the panicked rhythm of his heart. Whatever he’d seen had badly frightened him. “Fine. Calm down. Tell me about it.”
    â€œIt’s . . . I don’t know. It’s dark and angry and if I turn my head to look at it, it’s gone. But it’s following me. It’s . . .” He stopped then. “You think I’m lying.” His voice was flat.
    â€œNo,” Madeleine said. “But Silverspires has strong protections, so unless someone within the House is working magic on you, I can’t see why . . .”
    Oris drew himself to his full height. “I don’t have enemies in the House.”
    â€œI didn’t think you had.” And even if that had been the case, personal vendettas were outlawed by order of Selene. “Where did you see it?”
    â€œFirst? In my rooms,” Oris said. “But it has been moving around—”
    â€œThen let’s start with your rooms,” Madeleine said, gently.
    The House at night was different; expectant, as if poised on the edge of something that