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The Iron Trial Holly Black 19970K 2023-09-01

But they had reached their rooratitude, Call tapped the door with his wristband, letting hiood-bye to the others, when he slaered toward his bedroom

"Call!" Tamara said "Don’t you think we should -- I don’t know, talk? About Aaron?"

"Later," Call gasped, half falling into his bedroo the door shut He collapsed onto his back, just as the wolf popped its head out of the collar of his jacket and looked around

Freed, it seemed wildly excited to bound around his room, nails loud on the stone Call prayed Tamara wouldn’t hear as the wolf sniffed its way under Call’s bed, around his wardrobe, and on top of the pajamas he’d tossed on the floor when he’d been woken up earlier

"You need a bath," he told the wolf It paused its rolling, legs in the air, and wagged its tail, tongue lolling froe, shifting eyes, he remembered Jasper’s words

They don’t have memories, or personality They’re … blank

But the wolf had plenty of personality Which meant that Jasper didn’t understand as ht he did Maybe that was how they hen the Enehout their lives, but the wolf pup had been born with chaos inside of it It had grown up that way It wasn’t what they thought it was

His father’s words ca to do with the cold

You don’t knohat you are

Pushing that thought away, Call cliainst the pillow The wolf ju like pine needles and freshly turned earth For ato bite hi twice before throwing its little body down against his stoht of the Chaos-ridden wolf next to him, Call dropped immediately into sleep

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CALL DREAMED THAT he was trapped under the weight of an enor his arms, and almost thwacked the wolf pup, as curled on his chest and staring at hi, fire-colored eyes

The full, crashing realization of what he had done hit Call, and he rolled out from under the wolf so fast that he slid off the bed and hit the floor The pain of s his knees on the cold stone shocked hi directly into the eyes of the wolf pup, who had crawled to the edge of the bed and was gazing at him

"Mruf," the wolf pup said

"Shhhh," Call hissed His heart was racing What had he done? Had he actually sht as well have taken off all his clothes, covered hi, EXPEL ME! BIND MY MAGIC! SEND ME HOME!

The pup whi like pinwheels, fixed on Call Its tongue darted out and then vanished again

"Oh, ry, aren’t you? Okay Let ht there"

He stood up and blinked at the windup clock on the nightstand Eleven in the one off yet Weird He opened his bedroom door quietly -- and was instantly faced with Ta breakfast at their co food: toast and butter, sausages, bacon, scrae juice