Page 44 of Pretty Broken Wings

“What is it?” I creep up to the dead bird on our back porch. It’s big, with glistening black feathers and a long beak.

“Ew, it’s a crow.” A shiver skitters down my spine. “Get back, it’ll claw your eyes out.”

“It’s a raven.” Gage pushes me out of the way, kneeling down.

“Don’t touch it!”

But Gage ignores me, gently moving the bird’s wing. With a snap, the wings are flapping, and I jump back, glasses slipping down my nose. It’s still alive!

“Its wing is broken.” Gage doesn’t seem flustered at all; instead, he gently reaches his hands out again and grabs the bird’s body.

“Gage, don’t.”

The bird flaps again, but Gage just murmurs to it. The bird weakly struggles.

“Get some water,” Gage tells me.

“What?”

“Get water.”

“Why?” I look around. “What are you going to do?”

Gage snaps, “Just do it, Garret.”

“Don’t call me that!” Gage loves calling me by my first name. I hate it.

Gage ignores me, still murmuring to the bird, stroking his thumb down its back.

I huff, going inside. Mom would kill Gage if he brought anything else inside. He’s like a magnet for broken animals. A damn Snow White, if you will. And yet, none of his animals respond the same way to me. They run right up to him but skirt past me. It’s annoying. How can they tell who is who? I tried for a while to steal Gage’s clothes, thinking it was that. Still, they ignored me. And that pissed me off. It’s extra annoying because everyone else loves the animals. All my friends want to know what kind of pet Gage has next. Lola the raccoon has been their favorite.

Still, I get the water and go back outside. As soon as I put the dish down by the bird’s head, it freaks out again.

“Slowly,” Gage says.

“Yeah, whatever.” I throw my hands in the air. I’ll never be Gage. I’ll never have the touch. But whatever, I don’t need it. When could I ever need to tame an animal?

Fucking never.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Suddenly, a weight crashes into my back, and I stumble forward. I almost fall, but Raven slides to the ground, and I’m able to recover. Just as I do, she’s jumping on me again, beating on my head. She screams, the sound ear-splitting as she rips at my ears.

“Fuck!” Adrenaline and pain fill me. “Goddamn!”

I whirl, ducking my head and driving myself into her body.

Raven screams, staring up at me with absolute hatred, her eyes tight with fury. Fighting me. Always fucking fighting me.

She doesn’t fight Gage!

I steady my feet, then take a breath. Be cool, Axel.

I swallow and say, “It’s too cold here. Stay with me.”

“Get out!” Raven screams.

Okay, fuck me. When I turned off her heat, I thought things would go smoother than this. I can get every girl I want, but not Raven?