Skulk (28 page)

“Come back here,” I screamed. “I’ll kill you, get back here, you heartless bitch!”

My voice rang around my ears in the cold, silent air. I gasped, looking around at the others. They were gathered around Fran. She was on the ground, licking at a gash on her leg. They were all staring at me.

“They – they took it,” I whispered. “Didn’t they?”

None of them answered, but they didn’t need to.

“Sorry,” said Addie.

I shook my head. “It isn’t your fault.”
It’s my fault. I let her distract me.

“Aaron,” said Susanne, somewhere behind me. I couldn’t look. I couldn’t look at any of them. I turned and limped across the clearing, pain I’d hardly had time to register flaring in my front legs, and sank down with my head on my paws.

Susanne, Mo and Marcus alighted on the ground beside their dead friend.

My dad killed him.

Marcus was in butterfly form again now. Don and Addie were attending to Fran, helping her stand. I looked around for James. He had paused on the edge of the path. He was leaving. I caught his eye and couldn’t bring myself to nod to him. But I think he knew I didn’t blame him. He turned tail and vanished in a blur of orange fur.

“Go,” said Susanne. Marcus leapt into the air and flitted away towards the street. I followed him with my eyes until he vanished.

“Meg.” I looked up. Mo was there, his wings trembling.

“Where’d Marcus go?” I asked. My voice sounded low and hoarse.

“To find the new shifter,” said Mo, in a flat, dull tone. “We have to find whoever was closest when Aaron died. Marcus’ll follow them until he knows where they live. We’ll make contact, tell them what’s happened to them.”

“That’s very efficient,” I said.

“It’s... what you do,” said Mo.

I glanced over at the Skulk, just in time to catch Don snapping at Rand and Fran pushing Addie away, insisting she didn’t need help. For a second, I deeply wished I could’ve joined any group other than them. Then I remembered the Cluster.

“What about the body?” I asked.

“Susanne’s going to get changed and call the police. She’ll report that she saw a body and leave them to it.”

“Right.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Mo said. I thought about denying I’d ever thought it was. Mo hopped a bit closer and put one tiny leg on my paw. I barely felt it, just a slight movement of the fur.

His antennae brushed my whiskers and I fought back a shudder. But it wasn’t an unpleasant shudder. Just a feeling of being so
close
to him I could almost feel his tiny body quivering with every breath.

“What are you going to do now?” he asked.

I swallowed. “I don’t know.”

Mo’s eyes glittered. “I’m going to stay and help,” he said.

“What? I don’t think you should do that – look at what happened to Aaron...”

“Marcus and Susanne would do the same, if they could. They’ve got to deal with this. I’m going to stay with you. Anyway, I want to and you can’t stop me.”

A smile tugged at my face and I bowed my head, accepting his offer, even if I didn’t need to. Then I got to my feet, reluctantly untangling my whiskers from his antennae, and turned to the rest of the Skulk.

They looked up as I walked over, Mo fluttering at my shoulder.

“I hope you all believe me now,” I said quietly. Even Don had the graciousness to look a little bit ashamed of himself. “Victoria’s got our stone, and now she’s got the Cluster’s. She might have the Rabble’s and the Horde’s too.” I sat back on my haunches and looked at them. They watched me right back. A creeping unease chilled my spine. They were waiting for me to continue. Three grown adults and Addie, and they all wanted
me
to do something about it. As if I had any idea what we could do. Where was Fran’s constant butting-in right now? Where had Don’s leaderly initiative gone?

Well. All right
.
Fine.

“The only stone I’m sure about is the Conspiracy stone. Blackwell is sure it’s safe in the Tower, and that’s why the ravens aren’t interested in helping the rest of us. He thought they might be corrupt, like they might have some vested interest in letting Victoria get away with all this. I think it’s time we confront them about it. I’ll go back to the Tower and talk to Blackwell about everything that’s happened. Maybe he can help us.”

“I might be able to help,” said Fran. I blinked at her.

“Really?”

“I know a Warder in the Tower. One of the Conspiracy.”

“What?” I bristled. “You could’ve mentioned that.”

“I didn’t know it was relevant. I’m sorry, dear. But I think he’s trustworthy, and I’m sure he’ll listen to me. I should go and see what he says before we rush in to attack them without any proof that they even know any of this is happening. Don, can the others come back to your house to wait for me?”

“All right,” said Don. He sniffed at Mo. “I suppose you can join us, if you’re determined to stay with Meg.”

“I should go with Fran, shouldn’t I?” I said. “I mean, if I can convince Blackwell and you can convince...”

I paused, leaving a gap for Fran to drop the name of her Warder friend. She missed the cue.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said. “Just as you said, the Conspiracy may need to be very carefully approached. I think it’ll work better if I can bring your friend Blackwell in when the others already trust me.”

My claws dug into the earth and I made a vague “ehn” of protest. I didn’t want to let her go off on her own. But I couldn’t think of a good enough reason to go with her, so she steamrolled right over my indecision.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell them everything Addie told us. I certainly believe her now,” she said, with a benevolent little smile down at Addie. “That’s decided then. I’ll get going right away and meet you all at Don’s house as soon as I’ve got some kind of answer from the ravens.”

She trotted off, without waiting for anyone to reply.

I sighed, as her brush vanished into the undergrowth. Maybe her attempts at conflict resolution would actually play out this time and the Conspiracy would decide to help us after all and everything would be fine.

Hmm.

“If the Conspiracy are against us,” I muttered, “We may need to fight Victoria ourselves. I’ve had a pretty firm sod-off from the Horde already.”

“Then let’s hope they will,” said Randhir darkly. “Cause you won’t change the rats’ minds, and there’s bugger all we can do against them pigeons for very long.”

I couldn’t quite bring myself to glare at him. I was sure there was something we could do. I was just out of ideas.

“I think Meg and I should change back,” said Mo. “Since we’ve got clothes up top. Why don’t you give us the address and we’ll meet you there. We’ll only slow you down otherwise.”

“Fine.” Don’s fur ruffled and he drew himself up to his full height. “But if you give away my address to the other shifters, if I so much as see a Cabbage White in my back garden...”

I could just see James’ face if he’d been there right then.
Oh, you’ll what?
I thought.

“Scout’s honour,” said Mo. “I won’t tell a soul.”

“109 Hendon Road,” said Don. “Near Finchley.”

“I know it,” Mo said. “We’ll see you there.”

I trotted over to Addie. Her shoulder was bleeding. Not badly, but enough to form a messy clot of fur and blood that could catch on the twigs of the bushes. I licked it a couple of times.

“Be safe, OK?” I murmured.

“Pssht,” she said, without much feeling. “I’m only going round Don’s. You worry way too much, Princess.”

“Too much?”

“Well... whatever. I’ll be fine. Don’t take too long, though.”

There was no sign of Susanne when we reached the top of the slope, but I could hear sirens in the distance. Don, Addie and Rand slipped away into the night and I went behind the bush. Marcus and Aaron’s clothes were still there and I shivered.

The change was stiff, but nowhere near as terrifyingly difficult as it had been in Susanne’s house. I cringed and yelped as my shoulder-muscles crunched into place and hissed at the feeling of the new cuts on my face – from Mum’s talons – stretching into their places on my human face. The air was cold now and I tugged my clothes on as quickly as I could.

I slipped my shoes on and stepped out of the bush. “Your turn,” I said, walking over to the fence, where Mo was perched with his yellow and black spots lit up under the street lamp.

He fluttered off to the bush and I stood there, gazing down at the dark clearing below. I couldn’t see Aaron’s body. And I couldn’t hear the sirens, any more. Had I been hearing them from far away, or had they simply been heading somewhere else?

I hoped Aaron was OK. Which was nuts. He was dead. But I still, somehow, hoped that he wouldn’t mind that we’d all left him there alone. “They’ll be here soon,” I whispered. “I’m... I’m sorry.”

There was a rustling from the bush, and I glanced over. I didn’t mean to. I was distracted. And I didn’t see anything before I quickly looked away again. Nothing much, anyway. Just a strong, brown back, the muscles and shoulder-blades shifting as he bent down to pick up his shirt. Nothing interesting.

Mo came out of the bush at a hop, one of his shoes still undone.

“So, er,” he said. “Listen.”

I tried to put myself in a listening position, and ended up folding my hands in my hoodie, and then unfolding them again, and then trying to lean on the fence which was too loose and sagged worryingly underneath me, and trying to stand up straight again without losing too much dignity, and I almost missed the next thing he said.

“Can I have a word, I mean, alone?” He ran his hands through his tight black curls and looked at me with a sort of intense, worried stare. I tried to swallow. “That’s part of why I suggested we change. I didn’t really want to say this with the others here.”

“OK,” I croaked. Not very attractive. I sounded like a frog.

“It’s just... it’s about Fran.”

“Fran?” I stared at him stupidly, while my brain performed a clumsy three-point-turn. “What about Fran?”

“How much do you trust her?”

I frowned. “She irritates me. But
trust
? I don’t have any reason not to, I guess.”

“Why does she irritate you?”

“It’s probably irrational,” I hedged. “It’s just that she encourages Don, and eggs him on, and then he argues with Rand... and she’s patronising to Addie. It’s just like every time she speaks, she’s
trying
to make things better and stop them arguing and she just makes everyone more angry.”

“Yeah, like when James was trying to challenge Don about hating him for being gay. She just seemed to say, like, exactly the wrong thing for both of them.”

“Exactly.” I shrugged, feeling my face going a little red. “It’s probably really unfair. I’ve only met her twice. But it’s almost like...” I trailed off. What could I put at the end of that sentence that didn’t sound insanely paranoid?

“See, there was this thing that happened when the pigeons were attacking. I don’t think anyone else actually saw them take the stone. You were all fighting them off and Marcus and Susanne were so focused on Aaron...”

“What? What did you see?”

“I wouldn’t swear it meant anything, except, it just looked like Fran kind of held out her leg to the pigeon to scratch at. It didn’t look like a bad wound, but she fell down, and that was when they took the stone.”

My blood crawled in my veins like it’d turned into a hundred miniscule insects.

“You think she
let them
have the stone?”

“I dunno,” Mo shrugged, unhappily. “But I know she made the Skulk stay split up and she wouldn’t let you go with her to the Tower. I know that it’s possible you could have hidden the Cluster stone but someone kept the ritual from working.”

I hissed through my teeth, and turned and kicked the fence. It rattled and bounced back at me. “We’ve got to follow her. Maybe we’re wrong and she’ll be there with her Warder friend and everything will be fine.”

Mo put a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, maybe.”

He didn’t believe it. Neither did I.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

We hired a minicab from the station to take us to the Tower. This was no time for faffing about on night buses. I instinctively reached for my pocket even though I hadn’t had any money on me for days, but Mo dug around and came up with just enough cash to get us across London. He winced as he handed it over. It was only £40, but it was all he had.

He smiled and muttered to me, “Never bring a bank card if you’re going to shift in case you have to leave your clothes, but carry a bit of cash if you can.”

I nodded, wishing I could think of a way to tell Mo I’d pay him back a thousand times over, if my life ever stabilised enough for me to actually be able to get at my bank account.

The driver made vaguely insinuating comments about late nights and “your place or mine” all the way to the Tower. Mo said “nah mate, just friends”, and then nothing else. I stared out of the window at the bright lights of shops flashing by, hoping we’d find that Blackwell was wrong about the Conspiracy, and wondering if Mo could hear my heart hammering.

The cab left us by Tower Hill tube station, looking down towards the Tower itself. I shivered a little and huddled deeper into my hoodie. Last time I was here it’d been a grey, drizzly afternoon. This time I took a second to gaze at the floodlights around the White Tower and the moat, the way the pinpricks of light over on the south bank were reflected, gleaming and dancing in the river. The Shard was lit up like a beacon in the darkness.

Was the Cluster stone up there right now? What would she do with it when she had it?

“Do you think we beat Fran here?” Mo asked.

I shrugged. “Let’s go and look.”

We strolled down the slope and crossed the almost-empty road, and then walked around the chest-high wall that encircled the grassy moat.

Even in the middle of the night, there were a couple of people about. A few cars whooshed by and we passed a young couple strolling arm in arm, chatting in some East-European language with a map in their hands and huge smiles on their faces. I thought it must be nice to be so happy to be lost. It must be nice to get lost with someone you loved.