The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf (40 page)

“Who said he was good-looking?”

“I'm assuming the worst.”

Vex told Daniel he was reading too much into it. “So she has a date with the son of a duke and he's really rich and probably handsome as well. What's bad about that?”

“Everything.”

“Maybe you're right,” said Vex. “You shouldn't have let it happen.”

“What does ‘viscount' mean, anyway? It's ridiculous we still have an aristocracy in this day and age. All titles should be abolished. As a first step, we should get rid of viscounts.”

Daniel groaned with frustration. He reached out for the last biscuit but was beaten by the nimble fingers of Vex. Kalix arrived downstairs. She was plainly dressed as always, but she'd brushed her hair till it shone.

“Off to see Manny?” asked Vex.

Kalix nodded.

“It's so nice having boyfriends,” said Vex. She turned to Daniel. “You should get a girlfriend.”

Daniel stared at Vex. Then, without a word, he headed upstairs to his room to listen to music and contemplate the unfairness of life.

“I don't know if Manny is really my boyfriend,” said Kalix.

“Why not?” said Vex.

“I don't know. Maybe he is. He's nice anyway. He understood when I got anxious. He didn't think it was weird.”

“Isn't it nice when boyfriends don't think it's weird when you do weird things?” said Vex. “Pete is good at that. But of course he's met werewolves, so anything's more normal after that.”

CHAPTER 72

Thrix had gone along with Dominil's plan, weak though it was, for lack of anything better. She was already regretting it. She hated being in Kalix's company and, after spending time with Daniel and Vex, she'd come to the conclusion that they were completely unsuitable for the mission.

“If they're the best spies we can muster we're doomed.”

It wasn't just their incompetence that irked the Enchantress. Involving outsiders in werewolf business was taboo. It didn't seem so long ago that Moonglow and Daniel had first appeared in her office looking for Kalix. Thrix had refused to even communicate with them. Werewolf affairs were not the business of outsiders.

“And now they're helping us find the Avenaris Guild. How did that happen?”

Thrix felt it was Kalix's fault. Everything went wrong when she was involved. She frowned, and then winced. She had a headache, and thinking about Kalix was making it worse. Malveria had advised her to rest, but Thrix didn't feel like resting. The tangled knot of misery, guilt and bloodlust that had formed inside her wouldn't be cured by resting.

Thrix wondered if a representative from the Guild might appear at the ball. She hoped so. She'd kill him on the spot. The Enchantress longed to kill hunters.

“First I have to get myself into the ball.”

That wouldn't be easy, and there wasn't much time. The designated designers were all in place. Replacing one of them would require bribery or sorcery on a grand scale. She gathered her thoughts and began laying plans.

“I can insert my name into programs even after they've been printed. I've done that before. And I can make one of the designers withdraw. But making the organizers think they've chosen me as a replacement is going to be tricky. That's a difficult piece of sorcery.”

Thrix was sitting at her computer with a cup of coffee on the mouse mat. She opened up a file to start recording the names of all the people she'd have to enchant, but her attention was diverted by another file that Dominil had once managed to steal from the Guild. It was a list of temporary accommodations they'd been using for their new hunters. Dominil had visited one of the addresses and killed a hunter.

I'd like to do that, thought Thrix.

Dominil believed the addresses would now be out of date and no longer used by the Guild.

Thrix studied the file. Some of the addresses might still be current. There might be hunters there.

I'd really like to meet a werewolf hunter right now
.

Thrix's headache was becoming worse. She could feel the muscles in her neck tightening. Almost without realizing she was doing it, she changed into her werewolf shape and snarled at the computer screen.

CHAPTER 73

Official business finally dragged the Fire Queen back to her own realm. The Mayusta had appointed a new ambassador to her court and there was a reception to attend. The Mayusta were one of two races of Earth Elementals. Large and physically imposing, they were colloquially known as “stone giants,” though this was considered rude and never said in polite society.

“And they are not really so clumsy,” said Malveria as she made ready for the reception. “The last ambassador caused very few breakages. Less than Agrivex, to be fair.”

Gruselvere and Iskiline had been relieved by the Fire Queen's return, as had her council of ministers. The news that the Queen had suffered a
mild fire shock had come as a blow, given her previously robust health.

“Please do not fuss,” she'd told First Minister Xakthan. “It was nothing. Were it not for my idiot nice and my ridiculous aristocrats, it would never have happened.”

The Fire Queen gave strict instructions to Iskiline and Gruselvere that she was to be protected from all unwelcome attention at the reception.

“Keep all ambitious noblemen away from me. Fling yourselves in front of them if necessary. I intend to make polite conversation with the new ambassador and no one else.” The Fire Queen paused. “With the exception of Beau DeMortalis, I suppose. The Duke of the Black Castle is good company, and will not try to marry me.”

“He might,” said Iskiline, who was busy applying some finishing touches to the Queen's makeup. “He's no longer in disgrace.”

It was some time since the notoriously rakish DeMortalis had actually been in disgrace, but it was true that until recently he had not been respectable. The Duke had fought against the Queen in the Great War. She had spared his life only because of his immaculate dress and ready wit. That was many hundreds of years ago, and recent events on the Great Volcano, where DeMortalis had fought quite heroically at the Queen's side against the attempted coup, had raised the Duke high in the public's estimation.

The Fire Queen smiled. “I suppose he is not. But he still has a notable weakness for pretty kitchen maids.”

The Fire Queen suddenly sagged in her chair, causing Iskiline to smudge her eyeliner.

“He also retains his cruel wit. One dreads to think what he may say about the ‘fashionable party people' debacle. Even now he may be fashioning hurtful barbs.”

Despite her fears, Malveria arrived at the reception as if she had not a care in the world. She was perfectly attired and perfectly in control of her aura. She greeted the new ambassador with overwhelming court politeness, and was relieved to see that while he did tower over her, he was not so tall as to force her to crane her neck at an unbecoming angle. She had a pleasant conversation with him and thought, once again, that the stone giants were a much more civilized race than their neighbors, the stone dwarves. The dwarves, or Maynista, as they were properly called, were not on good terms with the Fire Queen, and their ambassador rarely attended her receptions.

“Mighty Queen, you are looking more splendid than ever.” Beau DeMortalis presented himself with an elegant bow. He was dressed in an
immaculate dark-blue frock coat, customary formalwear for a Hiyasta duke. Around his collar he wore a piece of white lace, knotted to perfection.

“DeMortalis. How pleasant to see you. Was your visit to your distant estates a pleasant one?”

“The distant estates are never pleasant. It's a relief to return to civilization.” The Duke smiled winningly. “And always a pleasure to see the Queen again.”

Beau DeMortalis looked around the room. “I'm surprised at the turnout. I didn't expect to see Garfire and Stratov here . . . When did they start attending official court functions?”

The Fire Queen felt herself tensing, wondering if the Duke was about to unleash some wounding comment about her suitors. The moment passed, but before she could relax the Honorable Gloria blundered up and stood right in front of DeMortalis.

“DeMortalis, Duke of the Black Castle? What a pleasure to meet you!”

The Fire Queen frowned, and was almost moved to shake her head in disapproval. It was so like the Honorable Gloria to ignore court protocol and simply barge into a conversation and introduce herself.

And really, thought the Queen. There is no need to look so longingly at the Duke. He already knows he is the most handsome man in the room.

CHAPTER 74

Manny lived in an old block of flats in Clerkenwell, north of the river. His block was part of a red-brick estate, built at the end of the nineteenth century, originally owned by the local council but now mostly private. He had a small flat at the top of the block on the fourth floor. The living room was crowded with his paintings and the hall was mostly occupied by his bike. Fortunately, Manny had few other possessions. There was a TV in the corner, several large cushions to sit on and almost nothing else. His bedroom, also full of paintings, had bare floorboards, a rug and an old futon next to a radiator, which made gurgling noises in the night and never heated up properly. Kalix felt quite comfortable in his small flat.

“I would have tidied up,” said Manny, “but . . .” He raised his arms hopelessly. With so many paintings everywhere, and paint, and brushes and an easel, there was no way of making the place look tidy.

Kalix didn't mind. She thought it must be difficult to paint in such a small space, though the light was quite good.

“I paint at college; I've a lot of work there. But I can't afford a studio yet.”

Kalix understood; Manny was still a student. Daniel and Moonglow were always short of money too, and Kalix herself wouldn't have survived without money from her family.

Ascending the narrow staircase up to the fourth floor, Kalix had noticed that she wasn't feeling anxious at all. That was unusual. Visiting someone she didn't know very well would normally have brought on anxiety, and even panic. There was something about Manny that seemed quite calming.

Maybe it's because he's so girly, she thought, and then wondered if that was a bad thing to think. I'd better not say he looks girly. It might be an insult.

With his wavy blond hair, soft features and blue eyes, he was certainly different from any MacRinnalch Kalix had ever been involved with. Gawain and Decembrius had both been prone to scowling and looking moody. Manny seemed quite the opposite.

“I forgot to buy any food,” he announced cheerfully after Kalix arrived.

“I don't mind,” said Kalix. “I don't want to eat.”

“I should get something. I'll feel guilty if I don't offer you anything. I always get carried away painting and forget to do anything else.”

Kalix didn't care if he had any food or not, but Manny did seem quite guilty about not having anything in the fridge, so she agreed to accompany him to the small supermarket on the main road.

“We can get beer anyway,” she said.

Manny peered in the small mirror in the hallway. “Do you like these earrings?” He had a lot of earrings, two in one ear and four in the other.

Kalix nodded.

“Good. I wasn't sure about them.”

Manny opened the front door. Kalix walked out and was profoundly shocked to meet Thrix. They stared at each other in astonishment.

“What are you doing here?” demanded Kalix. “Are you following me?”

“Of course I'm not following you,” said her sister.

“Then what are you doing here?”

Thrix struggled for an explanation. She was obviously as surprised as Kalix.

“I'm visiting someone,” she said.

Kalix, enraged at this intrusion into her private life, knew that wasn't true. Manny's flat was right at the end of the corridor. Thrix couldn't have been going anywhere else.

“Who are you visiting?”

“I must have the wrong address,” said Thrix.

“Uh . . . hello,” said Manny hesitantly.

Kalix's mind whirled. She had no idea what to say to Manny. How could she possibly explain that her sister had mysteriously followed her there?

“Don't follow me!” she shouted at Thrix, for want of anything better to say.

“I wasn't following you!” shouted Thrix.

Kalix and Thrix glared at each other with loathing. Thrix turned on her heel and marched away as quickly as she could. Kalix and Manny watched her go.

“Who was that?” asked Manny.

“My sister.”

“What was she doing here?”

“I've no idea,” said Kalix.

“Does she often follow you around?”

“No. I don't know why she came here.”

Kalix felt as embarrassed as she'd ever felt in her life. She was at a complete loss as to why Thrix had suddenly appeared.
Now Manny thinks I've got a mad older sister who follows me around. It's so humiliating
.