The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf (88 page)

The Baron ripped the parchment in half and threw it contemptuously at Markus's feet. “You're not fit to be Thane, and the MacRinnalchs aren't worthy of my loyalty. You will see us no more at your castle.”

With that, he stormed out, vowing never to return.

Thane Markus was upset. “That was worse than I was expecting.”

“Let him grieve,” said Verasa. “He has four other sons and two daughters to comfort him. He'll get over it.”

Markus sat on a chair and stared at the floor. His fever was passing, though he hadn't fully recovered.

“No one forced Wallace to go to London,” Verasa pointed out. “It was his own choice.”

“He went to London to show me up,” said Markus. “Because he knew I'd cheated him.”

“I keep telling you, these stories are false.”

Markus shook his head. He didn't believe his mother. “And then I got sick when the clan needed me. I'm not much of a Thane.”

The Mistress of the Werewolves put her arm on his shoulder. “Nonsense. Haven't you presided over the destruction of the Avenaris Guild? You had the courage and authority to authorize the attack, and we destroyed them.”

Markus would not be comforted, and spent the rest of the day alone in his room, turning away the attentions of all who sought him out, including Beatrice and Heather. They were distressed to be turned away. Neither of them believed the rumors about his victory over Wallace, and nor did they mind that Markus hadn't taken part in the attack. Both were so in love with him that they were relieved he was still alive.

There was much grief in the castle over the deaths of Eskandor, Feargan and Barra. Grief was felt throughout all the estates of the werewolves.
The MacAllisters were proud of the warrior spirit shown by the baron's sister Morag, but deeply shocked that she had been killed.

It was a matter of opinion whether it had all been worthwhile. Some werewolves thought it had been, because they'd struck such a blow against the Avenaris Guild. But others thought it had not been, because the Guild was far away, and hadn't had an impact on the lives of most werewolves in Scotland. So why send werewolves to die in London? Some thought that an attack had been justified, but it had all been too rushed, and blamed Thrix and Dominil for not planning it carefully enough.

Preparations for the funerals were made, but they would not be glorious. They would be quiet, sad affairs and, at some of them, the Thane would not be welcome.

CHAPTER 178

Thrix had called her mother, asking about Decembrius. Verasa told her that Doctor Angus had operated on him, but the outcome was still uncertain. Decembrius was still hovering between life and death. The Mistress of the Werewolves had much more to say to her daughter, particularly about Sarapen, but Thrix ended the call abruptly. She was driving through London and had reached her destination. She emerged from her car with a scowl on her face.

“Wallace, Morag, Eskandor, Feargan and Barra,” she muttered to herself. “And probably Decembrius.”

Thrix climbed the stairs of the old, red-brick council block. On the top flight, she knocked sharply on the last door. Manny answered. He was surprised to see Thrix, though he recognized her as Kalix's sister.

“Alex isn't here. We . . .”

“You broke up. I know. May I come in?”

“I suppose so.”

Thrix entered Manny's flat, which smelled strongly of oil paint. She looked around at his pictures of animals. She wasn't that impressed, though there was something cheerful about his bright use of color.

“Kalix told me what happened.”

“Who's Kalix?”

“I mean Alex.”

Manny pursed his lips. “I wish I hadn't broken up with her.”

“I don't think you can blame yourself,” said Thrix. “She did sleep with an old boyfriend. A lot of people would break up over that.”

“Maybe. But you know . . . I shouldn't have got so mad.” Manny suddenly looked hopeful. “Did Alex ask you to come here?”

“No. But I know she misses you a lot. She's been unhappy ever since you broke up.”

Manny looked unhappy in turn. “I didn't mean to make her sad. I just . . . I was just so upset, you know.”

Thrix nodded sympathetically. “Of course.”

“I was quite mean to her. I'm sorry about that. I met her in the street and I asked her to call me, but she hasn't.”

“Alex is very shy. She's probably just trying to work up the courage.”

“Really?” Manny looked hopeful. “Thanks for telling me. I should call her.”

“You're welcome,” said Thrix. She smiled at Manny. He was quite a pretty boy, she thought. And pleasant too. She could see why Kalix liked him. Thrix transferred her gaze to a painting of a yellow cat. Or perhaps it was a lion, it was hard to tell.

“Just one more thing. What does your father do?”

Manny was surprised at the question. “Some sort of banking, I think. You know, in the city.”

“Banking?”

“Or investments maybe, I've never been sure. Why?”

“Is this a cat or a lion?”

“A lion.”

“I like it,” said Thrix. “You do have a way with color.” She turned back toward Manny. “Your father is head of an organization that hunts werewolves.”

“What? Why would you say something like that?”

“Because it's true. As you well know. And you told him the werewolves were coming.”

“There's no such thing as werewolves. Is this some sort of joke about my animal paintings?”

Thrix shook her head. “Nothing to do with your paintings. Although now you mention it, Alex would be an excellent subject. When she's a werewolf, I mean.”

“Stop saying things like that!” said Manny, now quite alarmed.

“You warned the Guild we were coming. But it didn't work. Don't
you know your father's lying dead in the ruins of his headquarters? I killed him!”

“Go away!” cried Manny. “Stop saying all these mad things!”

Thrix laughed. She transformed into her werewolf shape. Manny yelled in terror and stepped back, crashing into his easel and falling to the floor. Thrix picked him up, lifting him into the air with one hand.

“Don't kill me!” screamed Manny.

Thrix drew the terrified young man toward her so that her snout almost touched his nose. “Why not?”

“You said your sister was in love with me!”

“Who cares what she thinks?”

Thrix let go of Manny, then hit him across the face with the back of her taloned claw, a blow powerful enough to break his cheekbone. He crashed into the wall, blood spurting from his nose. Thrix hit him again, deliberately not killing him yet, because she wanted to hurt him. When Manny fell unconscious from the assault, she looked down on him with a mixture of loathing and disappointment.

“I hoped you might last longer,” she snarled.

She paused. “I really do owe my sister a dead boyfriend.”

Thrix opened her jaws and bent down to kill him.

“I think this is perhaps not the best idea,” said the Fire Queen, materializing at Thrix's side.

“Malveria!” yelled Thrix. “This is none of your business.”

“Perhaps not. But I care about your welfare, dearest friend, and I do not think killing this young man will be good for you.”

“That's for me to decide,” said Thrix. But the madness went out of her eyes, and she looked around her, distracted, as if suddenly wondering what she was doing here.

“I hoped that the violence of the attack might have purged the madness from your soul,” said the Fire Queen. “I see it has not.”

Thrix stared out of the window, and didn't reply.

The Fire Queen looked down at Manny's crumpled frame, unconscious on the floor, still bleeding. “Perhaps there really is a curse on the MacRinnalch women when it comes to love. Their boyfriends certainly do not fare well.”

Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the front door.

“What's going on in there?” demanded a woman's voice. “Are you all right? Should I call the police?”

“It's time for us to go,” said the Fire Queen. She spoke a spell in one
of the ancient languages of the Hiyasta, a spell to hide Thrix's aura and scent, so that no one would ever know she'd been there. “If the young man recovers, which is questionable, he will not remember you.”

Malveria placed her hand gently on Thrix's shoulder. “Perhaps the pure air of Minerva's mountaintop will clear your mind.” With that, she dematerialized from the flat, taking the unresisting Thrix with her.

CHAPTER 179

A week after the attack, life was returning to normal in the small flat in Kennington. Kalix had been changing into a werewolf every night to accelerate her healing, and she had largely recovered, though she still suffered some pain from her wounds.

“It's lucky I got in better shape by exercising,” she said, limping into the living room. “Or I might have been in a really bad state.”

Kalix sat down heavily beside Daniel. He'd spent most of the week in front of the fire, thawing himself out.

“You've no idea how bad it felt when Malveria sucked out our energy,” he said, for perhaps the fiftieth time.

“It wasn't any fun getting machine-gunned either,” said Kalix.

“Hey, you volunteered for that,” said Daniel. “Moonglow and I were unwitting victims.”

Kalix smiled. Daniel was proud of his part in the rescue. “How did you know we needed rescuing anyway?”

“Lady Gezinka told me,” said Daniel. “Obviously I made a big impression on her.”

“Is Daniel going on about Lady Gezinka again?” said Moonglow, appearing from the kitchen. Kalix laughed. To hear Daniel tell it, the most beautiful aristocrat in the land of the Hainusta was obsessively in love with him.

Moonglow shivered. “I'm still getting these bouts of feeling really cold.”

“Me too,” said Daniel. “If I'd known how bad it was going to be I'd have let Decembrius die. How is he anyway?”

“He's getting better,” said Kalix, who'd been had been talking to Dominil on the phone.

There was a crash in the kitchen.

“You'd think Vex would be able to navigate to the living room by now,” said Daniel.

Vex appeared. “This is the worst outrage ever! Aunt Malvie has requisitioned my bag!”

“What bag?”

“My Japanese green plastic bag! She says it's a matter of national importance.” Vex looked down at the bag she was carrying, a new pink Hello Kitty basket. “She gave me this one to replace it.”

“It's nice,” said Moonglow.

“I know. I like it better, really. But what's the world coming to when your aunty steals your bag?” Vex grinned, and didn't really seem very outraged. “Everyone feeling better?” she asked.

“Just about,” said Kalix.

“Me too,” said Vex. “And I'm going to see Pete tomorrow. I can't wait.”

Vex had been too busy to see her boyfriend for a week, and was feeling his absence. The doorbell rang. Vex bounded downstairs, and soon arrived back in the living room with Dominil. The white-haired werewolf also seemed to have made a full recovery. If she was still feeling pain from her wounds, she wasn't admitting it.

“Please excuse my intrusion,” said Dominil. “Are you all well?”

Daniel, Moonglow, Vex and Kalix nodded. There was a moment's awkward silence. No one had ever worked out how to make small talk with Dominil.

“I have come to express thanks, both personally and from the clan. Daniel and Moonglow, thank you for rescuing us from the Guild's building. Had you not arrived with the van, I doubt we would have survived. Agrivex, thank you for your healing. I have a letter from the Mistress of the Werewolves, formally declaring you friends of the MacRinnalch Clan. The Mistress of the Werewolves wished me to add, on a personal note, that if you are ever in the vicinity of Castle MacRinnalch, you are welcome to visit.” Dominil handed over the letter.

“Does this include me?” asked Vex.

“It does,” said Dominil. “The Mistress of the Werewolves has also written to the Fire Queen, declaring a wish that the long-standing bad feeling between the MacRinnalchs and the Hiyasta might be ended, in view of the assistance rendered to the clan by Queen Malveria and yourself.”

Moonglow had risen from the couch, feeling it was the proper thing to do. “Thank you,” she said. “We appreciate it.”

“We're pleased to be werewolf friends,” said Daniel.

“I shall inform the Mistress of the Werewolves when I visit the castle tomorrow,” said Dominil, quite formally. “There is one other thing I have to attend to. Agrivex, may I have a word with you in private?”