The Man In The Wind by Sorenna Wise Read Free Book Online Page A

dragged inside their snow bunker. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they didn’t. Iris took fitful catnaps and struggled to find a comfortable spot on the mattress. She leafed through pages of her books without reading. The fear and loneliness that had earlier consumed her was gone, replaced by a crushing boredom. She told Rai about it, her voice drawn out and petulant.
           “Maybe if you actually read those books, you wouldn’t be suffering so much.”
           She heaved an exasperated sigh. “I’ve read them all already. I just keep them in here so it feels less like a barracks. I keep meaning to change them out for new ones, but I always forget until it’s too late.”
           He chuckled. “How much time do you spend away from home, that you worry about being able to take one with you?”
           “Not as much as it sounds like.” She leaned back against the pillow. “Usually I’m helping my father run his business, but occasionally it calls for a little detour. Some stuff you just can’t put a price on.”
           Rai inclined his head, his interest piqued. “What’s the business?”
           “He’s an auctioneer,” she said. “Florien Deleone, founder of the Calypso House.”
           “Huh.” Gazing at the reclining girl, Rai supposed he could see her opulent upbringing. For a thief, she had perfectly kept fingernails, and her porcelain complexion spoke more to days spent attending her father’s business functions than crawling through the back alley shadows. His days with Serberos had shown him many thieves, none of whom were as poised as she. Iris did not seem to have rough edges, or unsavory habits, or bad acquaintances. It was as if she had simply stepped out of her storybook life and assumed a necessary criminal role, after which she would re-assimilate back into the world where she belonged.
           “Do you know him?” she asked, hearing the undertone of recognition in his voice.
           He did indeed know of Florien Delone, as did every living person across five worlds. The Calypso House was so famous for its strange and wonderful collections that word of it had reached him even in his isolated chamber in Volikar’s castle. Serberos himself sometimes talked of the auctions, or mentioned his desire to obtain some rare item. And then the auctioneer’s daughter had come to add the contents of the royal treasure to their inventory. The irony made Rai smile. “Doesn’t everyone?”
           “I guess they do.” She stretched, and he heard her spine crackle. “Did you hear that? My bones are already atrophying.”
           Rai looked down at his own hand, flexing the fingers. “That’s the one good thing about the way I am. My body can never fail.” Iris shifted toward him.
           “You’re going to outlast the rest of us, that’s for sure.” Right after she’d said it, the thought occurred to her that he might take offense, and she held her breath. When am I going to learn to think before I speak?
           Her remark didn’t bother him, though, or if it did, he didn’t show it. He touched his thumb to the tip of each finger, his gestures slow and deliberate. “I don’t think I want to live forever,” he said absently. “It seems…depressing.”
           Iris nodded in agreement. She chose, wisely, not to vocalize her speculations on the subject. If she was honest, it chilled her to the bone to think about remaining suspended in time while the rest of the world spun on. To see her family age and die, to see empires fall and new ones rise—and ultimately, to be unable to do a single thing about it. Decisions, no matter how great or small, changed circumstance; they did not change time, and helplessness was her one great terror. She would rather die early than be forced to witness the decay of everything close to her heart.
           “Have you ever been in love?” she asked him now.