Savage Wings: Book Three of The Whitechapel Chronicles

Bonus Chapter: Harper & Megan - Truth and Lies

'Is there any chance you two could just piss off outside for a bit?'

Lucius and Amy looked up from where they sat in the corner, their faces alight with amusement as Harper glared at them both from across the room.

They'd been caught up in some comic book Lucius had been reading out loud, both collapsing into fits of giggles that roused a smile on my lips, but which earned had them nothing but increasingly dark scowls from Harper.

He'd been in a particularly foul mood for three days now. Of course, he was always prone to foul moods, being the difficult, temperamental bastard that he was, but this had felt different and had seemingly come out of nowhere. I could usually pin-point exactly what or who was going to annoy him, but this time I didn't even know what had prompted his brows to look so permanently heavy and his eyes to darken with a look that had the power to flatten buildings.

Any attempts at cajoling the answers from him – whether by simple conversation or by trying to seduce him, because let's face it, that usually worked – had resulted in him barely talking to me at all, and instead I'd been subject to him muttering under his breath, watching him stomp around like a bear with a very sore head, and listening to him suck in his breath at everything that irritated him, almost as if he was about to blow up like a balloon and burst. He was brooding on something, although for the life of me, I had absolutely no idea what that might be. All I knew was that the tension had been building exponentially for days now and I wasn't looking forward to the moment when he finally exploded and probably took out half the vampire base with him.

I reached out, tugging gently at a white-blonde lock of Lucius' hair. 'Go on,' I said to the boy. 'Pretty sure Josiah is outside. Go and torment him for a while.'

Grinning – because they loved tormenting the seer, and he strangely seemed to enjoy it just as much – they both scrambled up from the floor and ran for the door of the school hall, shooting mischievous glances at Harper as they passed him. Despite his mood, they adored Harper, and seemed to be the only ones here who were unfazed by his dark temper and harsh words. I didn't know many who enjoyed his company when he looked ready to erupt, but Amy and Lucius seemed completely at home within his storm, and I had a feeling that quite often their presence prevented him from unleashing it as he might usually do. They both irritated and yet calmed him, and I would often marvel over that, just as much as I did their unfailing bond with him. Harper didn't do affection easily – fuck, how I'd learned that the hard way – and he wasn't even particularly affectionate or warm with them, but still I sensed how important they were to him, and vice versa.

In the corner, just behind where Lucius and Amy had been sitting, Fenton lazed back on an old two-seater sofa he had salvaged from a charity shop on Battersea Park Road, one leg dangling over the arm of the chair and looking disturbingly similar to how Garrick used to sit when reading. Since the Final War, Fenton too had found his place within the eye of Harper's hurricane; their once-brittle relationship, now transformed into a comfortable connection of brotherhood that consisted of an unspoken respect and a constant banter where both tried to outdo each other in an endless pissing contest of jibes and insults.

Peering over the top of his mobile phone, he raised one quizzical brow at me, before flashing me a wry grin. He was as mystified by Harper's mood as was I, but unlike me, who hadn't let it go, Fenton had merely observed the oncoming storm with amusement – something I knew hadn't gone unnoticed by Harper and which only seemed to irritate him more.

I sensed it coming and sighed inwardly. Fenton's eyes held too much of a playful glint for this to end well, but before he'd even begun to open his mouth, Harper spoke up.

'Fuck off, Grainger.'

Fenton's grin widened as he propped himself up on one elbow. 'Did I say anything?' he mock-protested.