“You named him?”
I nodded while watching him warily and a hand he had behind his back.
“What I want to know is how you got close to it and why it’s letting you touch it. Those things are vicious and hate dark fae,” Tobias said.
“They were torturing him, so I saved him. Once he figured out I wasn’t going to hurt him, he got used to me,” I told him, which was the truth technically.
He tilted his head to the side, and I could tell he was making sure I wasn’t lying. “Very well, but you need to keep him hidden if you want to keep him,” Tobias said with a shrug while still eyeing Ryze.
“You will let me keep him?”
Tobias nodded before pulling his arm out from behind his back. I noticed he had a cage full of mice. Ryze hissed and squirmed, wanting the mice now that he had spotted them.
“What’s the catch?” I asked him.
“No catch. You answer honestly.”
I chewed my lip, debating whether or not to believe him. “What do you want to know?”
“Last night, did you try to escape?”
I looked down at Ryze. “No,” I answered.
“You were with your... Ryze,” he said while reaching into the cage. He grabbed a mouse out by its tail. It squirmed and squeaked.
“Sit and hold onto that thing. It bites me, I won’t be happy,” Tobias told me.
I sat down, hugging Ryze to my chest, mindful of his wing. Ryze’s eyes followed the mouse hanging by its tail. Tobias stepped closer, and Ryze hissed at him.
“You bite me, fucker, I will scorch your ass,” Tobias told him.
“Shh, Ryze… He said he wouldn’t hurt you,” I whispered to him. His snake-like tongue slivered out of his beak, and he licked my chin. Tobias watched him curiously.
“You know they are bonding birds, right?”
I nodded, patting Ryze’s feathers and calming him down. Tobias brought the mouse closer, holding it out to him. Ryze struck like a cobra, and Tobias jumped, nearly losing his fingers when Ryze plucked the mouse from his hands.
Chapter 49
Igagged at the crunchingsounds Ryze made, which suddenly made me feel sick.
“If you want to keep him, you have to feed him properly. They are carnivorous birds, Aleera.”
I nodded, but I didn’t think I could force a mouse to die after seeing how viciously he’d killed it. Tobias tried to pass me one, and I shook my head, feeling my stomach grow queasy.
“How do you expect to look after him if you won’t feed him?”
“You couldn’t bring dead ones?” I asked.
Tobias looked down at the cage, not watching his hand, and Ryze struck again, plucking the squeaking mouse.
“Fucker,” Tobias hissed, sucking his fingers where Ryze got him.
Tobias sat on the ground next to his mouse cage and pulled another one out.
“So, if you weren’t trying to escape, why were you touching the wards?” he said, throwing a mouse to Ryze, who swallowed it whole.
“His wing is broken. I wanted to siphon some of the power from the ward to heal it,” I explained.