Martin Millar - Lonely Werewolf Girl (11 page)

A song played in her head.
Hello Dad, Hello Mom,
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch Cherry Bomb
! The Runaways
first single. She wished she could have seen them onstage. And maybe -
it occurred to her for the first time in her life - maybe it would have
been good to have met someone who actually liked them. Kalix had
sometimes overheard young people talking about music, discussing bands
they liked, but she'd never joined in. Perhaps that would have been fun.

The laudanum started to enter her system, giving her the
familiar warm glow. Now ready to die, Kalix slipped into
unconsciousness.

32

Huddling in the corner of the office, Moonglow and Daniel both
found it hard to believe they were really hidden from Sarapen but they
were glad that they were. They had never seen a man who radiated such
primeval power. He was six feet six inches tall, broad shouldered and
very muscular. His face was weather-beaten and his features, though not
exactly handsome, were sharp and striking, with a prominent scar
running over the left side of his jaw. His thick black hair, rather
long, was pushed back roughly from his brow, and he wore a black
leather coat that reached down to his ankles. Despite his size he moved
easily. As for his eyes, they were dark and penetrating. When he turned
his gaze to the corner of the room in which they were hidden Moonglow
shrank back behind the Fire Queen and Daniel hid behind them both.
Malveria was amused by the situation. She was not at all frightened of
Sarapen but she was always entertained by plots and stratagems.

Sarapen towered over his sister, taller by ten inches and at
least twice her weight.

"Good day, sister."

Sarapen sniffed. He could tell that there was someone else
concealed in the room. His sister's sorcery could not fool him
completely. But it was not Kalix's scent so he paid it little heed.

"Good day, brother."

They regarded each other coolly. Thrix and Sarapen had never
been friends. Sarapen had been over one hundred years old when Thrix
was born. Throughout her life at the castle Thrix could never remember
Sarapen paying her much attention. He had at least seldom troubled her.
There was no bitter argument in their past, no wound which still
festered, as there was between Thrix and Markus. Still, Sarapen made no
secret of his disapproval of her lifestyle. Sarapen honestly could not
understand either her desire to distance herself from the clan or her
attempts to build a career in the outside world. Both things went
against tradition and therefore irritated him.

"What brings you here, brother?" said Thrix.

"Kalix," replied Sarapen, curtly. "She must return to the
castle."

"So?"

"So kindly tell me where she is."

"And why would I know that?"

"You are the only member of the family who's been in contact
with her."

Thrix realised she had not offered her brother any token of
hospitality. This was bad. Though she did not want to associate herself
with the family, neither did Thrix want to be seen as a werewolf who
had become degenerate. Feeling that perhaps in the circumstances it was
a little absurd, she crossed over to her cabinet and produced a bottle
of whisky. The MacRinnalch malt, distilled on the family estates using
barley from the fields to the north of the castle and water from the
pure stream that ran through Colburn Wood. She poured two glasses and
passed one to Sarapen. Sarapen thanked her politely. He did not think
this was absurd. Had his sister failed to offer him any token of
hospitality he would have been deeply offended.

"You shouldn't have given her the pendant. You had no business
hiding her from the justice of the clan."

"I don't believe Kalix received much justice during her life
at the castle!" said Thrix, suddenly flaring up.

She lowered her voice.

"Besides, there was no reason not to give it to her. She has
not yet been sentenced."

"Only because she fled the castle. Was it of no import to you
that she nearly killed the Thane?"

Sarapen too had intended not to lose his temper but as always
the memory of the attack on their father roused him to a fury.

"We've fully discussed this already," said Thrix. "And to
answer your original question, I've no idea where Kalix is."

Sarapen regarded her grimly. He sipped the rest of his whisky.

"Sister. We are not enemies. For the good of the family, I
appeal to you to help me locate Kalix."

"So that she can be taken home and killed?"

"If the council decides it's appropriate. Why are you
protecting the girl? I was under the impression you also found her
annoying."

"I do," admitted the Enchantress. "But finding my sister
annoying is not the same as wanting her dead. I repeat, I do not
believe she was well treated at the castle."

This was something which Sarapen did not want to hear and his
eyes blazed.

"You will not refer to that child's foolish fantasies. You
know as well as I do that she was mad from birth. The very notion of
her making such vile accusations is enough to make any decent member of
the family sick. Had I got my hands on her before you hid her, Thrix, I
would have ripped her apart."

"But you did get your hands on her," retorted Thrix. "You
pulled her off the Thane before she could kill him. And as I heard the
story she then fixed her teeth around your werewolf throat and would
have kept them there if your servants hadn't dragged her off."

"No one has ever put their teeth around my werewolf throat,"
growled Sarapen. His eyes narrowed. He had had enough of this
conversation.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know."

Sarapen seemed on the point of springing. Behind the mystical
shield the Fire Queen got ready to intervene. She was uncertain if
Thrix's sorcerous powers were strong enough to hold off her brother.
Strong enough in daylight while he was human, she imagined, but the
light was now fading outside.

"Tell me all you know of Kalix," demanded Sarapen.

It would have been easy for Thrix to defuse the situation. She
could have told Sarapen that Kalix no longer had her pendant and was
not well hidden. Armed with this information, Sarapen would simply have
departed to sniff her out himself. But Thrix was annoyed at the
arrogant way her brother had marched into her office, demanding
information. She suggested that perhaps it was time for him to leave.

"You're asking me to leave?" said Sarapen, as if unable to
believe his ears.

"I'm a busy woman," said Thrix, pointing to the sketches on
her desk.

Sarapen swept his arm over her desk, dragging every drawing
onto the floor. Thrix gasped. She could barely believe that her brother
had done such a thing. To sweep her designs from her desk like they
were so many scraps of worthless paper. The Enchantress was furious.
She uttered a word, and a bolt of power threw Sarapen across the room.
He thudded into the far wall. As he came to a halt his eyes held a look
of incredulity. He could not believe that his younger sister had dared
to assault him. At that moment night fell. Both Sarapen and Thrix,
fully in tune with the moon, felt it in their bones. Sarapen growled
and by the time his growl faded he had transformed into his werewolf
shape.

Behind the magical barrier, Moonglow quailed. Sarapen in his
werewolf form was the scariest thing she had ever seen. Immense,
bestial, his wolf's face was huge, his jaws like a steel trap, a
nightmare vision, far more frightening than either Kalix or her
attackers had been. When Kalix had transformed she had retained her
youthful grace but Sarapen was a monster to stalk a girl's nightmares.

In the same instant Thrix transformed. Daniel was fascinated
to see that as a werewolf Thrix was still blonde. Long golden hair hung
down from her head, and from her arms and shoulders.

"I'll kill you," roared Sarapen, and leapt forward. He
grimaced as the Enchantress fired off another spell but such was his
strength it barely impaired his progress. The Fire Queen was on the
point of revealing herself when the office door opened. Ann put her
head through the door.

"Your brother Markus," she announced.

33

Before falling for Talixia, Markus had had a string of lovers.
With his combination of male strength and feminine looks Markus had
always been attractive to women. These were usually casual affairs but
with Talixia it had become serious. They'd been to the opera, the
theatre, and the cinema. They'd even discussed plans for decorating a
house together.

Markus had risen late, waiting till Talixia had gone to work.
She had gone off to photograph children's clothes for a catalogue. It
wasn't a job she was especially pleased to be doing but it brought in
money. Talixia's werewolf family were not wealthy. She struggled to pay
the rent each month. Markus found this interesting. He admired Talixia
for her efforts, and for always refusing when he tried to give her
money, no matter how discreet he attempted to make it seem.

He paced naked around her small flat. He looked through her
wardrobe. He regretted that Talixia did not have a better collection of
clothes. He'd have bought her anything she wanted but she wouldn't
accept extravagant gifts. She did have one new item, a short blue dress
she'd brought home from a shoot. Markus studied it. It wasn't a bad
dress. Well cut, and the colour was quite suitable. He would have liked
to have tried it on but Talixia was smaller than him so he knew it
wouldn't fit. It would not do for her to discover that he had stretched
her new dress. It could lead to awkwardness.

Whilst dressing in his own clothes, he frowned, and wondered
again if he should talk to Talixia. Generally it was a difficult topic
to raise. Markus knew this from experience. He still winced at the
memory of a previous girlfriend who'd coped well with the discovery
that he was a werewolf but had thrown him out after catching him
wearing one of her blouses. He shrugged. Today he had other things to
worry about. He'd promised his mother he would visit Thrix. Markus was
not looking forward to this. He hated his sister. For reasons he could
not explain to his mother, Markus would have been far happier never to
see Thrix again.

The moment he entered Thrix's office and found himself in the
presence of two growling werewolves he transformed into his own
werewolf shape.

"So. My beloved siblings are already fighting."

Sarapen, who had been attempting to land his great claws on
Thrix's neck, was not pleased at the interruption. Thrix, busy fending
him off with her own considerable strength aided by some sorcery,
stepped back and growled.

"Did I fail to make it clear I wasn't keen on family visits?"

Daniel and Moonglow were still hidden in the corner. They
didn't realise that they were seeing something never before seen by
human eyes; three werewolves of the MacRinnalch ruling family together
in werewolf form. If they did not appreciate the uniqueness of the
event they certainly were riveted, and scared.

"Is this barrier strong enough?" whispered Daniel, as the
werewolves continued to talk angrily to each other.

"Possibly not," muttered the Fire Queen. "Are you frightened?"

"Yes," admitted Daniel.

Malveria smiled indulgently.

"I will strengthen it," she said, and made a slight motion
with her hand, adding her own mystic strength to the barrier. "There.
Now you are very undetectable. And I will leave you so for the
meantime, because my darling Thrix is now confronted by two angry
brothers and I fear for her safety."

With that Malveria passed through the barrier, instantly
materialising at the Enchantress's shoulder. Sarapen growled angrily.
He regarded fire elementals as low forms of life, and particularly
disliked the Hiyasta.

"So it was you who skulked in the corner."

"Excuse me," replied the Fire Queen. "I do not skulk. I
remained hidden out of politeness. I am a guest of Thrix, unlike you."

"Do not interfere with family business, Hiyasta," warned
Sarapen.

"I have no inclination to interfere in werewolf business,"
retorted Malveria, wrinkling her nose slightly as she uttered the word
werewolf
.
"But I dislike to see anyone picking on my good friend."

"Werewolves do not make friends with Hiyastas," said Sarapen.

"She's a better friend than you ever were," said Thrix. The
Fire Queen looked delighted. It was so nice to have a really loyal
friend, even a werewolf.

Despite the hostility between their races, Markus did not
really dislike Malveria. On the few occasions they'd met he'd found her
to be quite an attractive character. He tried to make some sort of
friendly greeting. It was difficult to smile as a werewolf, but his
tone was conciliatory.

"Greetings, Fire Queen," he said. "I'm sorry to meet you while
engaged in this quarrel. No doubt you're aware of the trouble our young
sister has caused us."

"You will not discuss our clan matters with her!" roared
Sarapen.

"I'm sure she's heard most of it already," said Markus. He
faced his brother and looked him in the eye. Though Sarapen was the
stronger Markus would never back down to him. The brothers started
growling at each other and Thrix growled at both of them. Sarapen
seemed on the point of striking his brother when the intercom sounded.

"Your mother is on the phone. She says it's extremely
important."

Thrix sighed. There was no occasion which her mother did not
see fit to interrupt. She picked up the phone in her werewolf paw, not
without difficulty.

"Yes?"

Thrix listened for a few minutes while her brothers looked on.
They were frustrated at the interruption but could hardly start
fighting when their mother was on the phone.

"I will," said Thrix, and put down the phone.