On Wings of Chaos (Revenant Wyrd Book 5) by Travis Simmons Read Free Book Online Page A

at the magnificent bird’s claws, Jovian began to realize he could very well be hunted by this creature as any rabbit would be.
    He took a step back, but before he could move far, the eagle hunkered down on the carpet and started to shiver. The sound of bones popping filled the air, and in disgust, Jovian watched the bird ripple like water, its form lengthening with every pop of bone and snap of sinew. As the figure elongated, feathers retracted into skin and wings formed into arms, tipped with hands and then strong fingers. The talons of the feet snapped into toes and the legs lengthened, growing dark hair. The face cracked and popped until it looked like a mound of concaved mud, and then it took shape again, into the face of a human.
    When it was done, a very naked, very cold Maeven Beggets laid on the floor before Jovian, shivering amidst the snow.
    "What in the realms were you thinking?" Jovian said, shutting the window tight and gathering a blanket off his bed to throw over the other man.
    "I wanted to see you," Maeven said through chattering teeth. "Grace wouldn't let me near you while you were out of it, and I needed to know if you were safe."
    Jovian gathered Maeven in his arms, helped him to stand, and then repositioned him before the fire, which he set about building back up. He set a pot of water in front of the flames and then came back to Maeven.
    "Where did you get the water?" Maeven asked.
    "Supposed to be for my bath in the morning; it's safe to drink," Jovian said.
    "Your face," Maeven said, trailing shivering fingers down the length of Jovian's face, tracing the scar that ran from his eyebrow, down across his nose, and over the opposite cheek. Jovian relaxed into the touch until Maeven's hands were cupping his injured cheek. He breathed Maeven’s scent deeply: like a pine forest after a summer's rain. He felt muscles relax that he hadn’t realized were tense.
    "Father was killed," Jovian said in a hushed voice. "This was a token from the grigori who did it."
    "What happened to the grigori?" Maeven asked.
    "Astanel was there. Apparently he was being used by the fallen angel, and he used some kind of dark wyrd to banish the grigori past the Black Gates," Jovian told him. Maeven rubbed Jovian's cheek.
    He pulled Jovian closer to him, opening up his blankets so Jovian could crawl in with him, then folding them back over him.
    "I've missed you," Maeven whispered to him, pulling Jovian closer.
    Jovian sighed deeply, allowing himself to relax into the warmth of the other man. "I'm sorry about Fairview Heights," Jovian told him.
    "What's to be sorry for?" Maeven asked, and then laughed.
    "Treating you like you weren't important, using you for. . ."
    "Oh, well, I didn't really mind being used for that," Maeven said wryly. "You needed to discover yourself."
    "And in the mean time I discovered a lot of you." Jovian smirked, and he felt Maeven laugh behind him.
    "You're a bird now," Jovian said after some time.
    "Apparently that's a side effect of my shaman ways," Maeven told him. "You're a wyrder now."
    "How could you tell?" Jovian wondered.
    "Apparently all wyrders can sense energy. Yours is different."
    "I think my wyrd is a side effect of my being part angel and all," Jovian told him.
    "Have you accepted that yet?" Maeven asked.
    Jovian shrugged.
    "Your wyrd isn't like all others," Maeven said. "It's more pure. Almost holy."
    "I guess it doesn't come from the well. It's because of what we are," Jovian said.
    "Angel?" Maeven asked.
    "Sylvie LaFaye," Jovian said. Maeven waited for him to explain. Jovian told him what Cianna had told Angelica and him.
    "So, because of that, you’re different?" Maeven asked. He sounded bewildered.
    "I guess," Jovian said. "I'm not sure how that would affect us so much, but it's the only thing that's different between us and Joya and Amber, so it has to be the answer."
    "It has to do with the love your mother put into the act," Maeven told him.
    "You think so?"
    "I kinda know," Maeven