The Fifth House (The Only City Left Book 2) by Andy Goldman

Author:Andy Goldman [Goldman, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2015-05-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

“What the hell happened here?” I asked, rushing into the room.

“The cats happened, Tyena,” One replied, following me inside.

Past the busted door frame, broken bodies lay strewn throughout the room.

I dropped to my knees beside the closest victim. He was old, rail-thin, and dressed in rags. The woman beside him might have been his wife, for even in death they still clasped hands.

My heart thudded inside my chest and I could barely catch a breath as I crawled to the next body. She was face down, her long, dark hair covered in a layer of dust and plaster. I leaned down and lifted her shoulder to see her face.

Not Mom. It’s not her. But my heart didn’t calm itself until I had checked the rest of the bodies. She’s not here. Thank the gods.

“You’re telling me the cats did this?” I asked, standing up. “Why?”

“Yes. It seems that they’d rather see humans dead than possibly working for the Fifth House. Ruthless little beasts.”

I exited the room, my throat tight. A group of six recruits were shooting the breeze further down the hallway, for all the world as if there wasn’t a bunch of dead people in the room nearby.

They’re former wolves, I decided. This sort of thing is just another regular day for them.

One strode out of the room and stood beside me. “You were worried your mother might be in there?” she asked.

I shot her a look. “Well since I don’t know where she is anymore, I had to check.”

“I told you, Tyena. She’s safe. I won’t let her get hurt, but I don’t want her distracting you from your training, either. Try not to worry about her so.”

Try not to worry? I shook my head. “All I’ve done these past few years is worry about her. As long as there’s a war always going on, I won’t stop worrying.”

“You blame me for that. You blame the Fifth House. But look at what the cats are capable of, too. Don’t you see? Until we gain control of this planet, this sort of barbarism will continue unchecked.”

“This isn’t like the cats. If you left them alone, they’d be content to stay in their city.”

“You’re fooling yourself. This isn’t their first attack and it won’t be their last. Until we take Pudlington, we’ll have to remain extra vigilant against further feline attacks.”

“Do you have a cat detector in that pocket of yours? Because if they can hide in the ceiling and the ducts, it won’t be easy to track them down,” I said. “Unless…”

I closed my eyes and willed the cratered landscape into focus. Once I had a clear mental picture of it, I floated down toward the surface, eager to transform.

“No,” One commanded.

She squeezed my shoulder so hard that my eyes flew open and I lost focus on that strange world that allowed me to become a werebear.

“What gives? I was going to sniff out the cats who did this.”

“You’ve got to start practicing the new powers you’ve been given and stop relying on the animal forms.

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