The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf (71 page)

She looked up, sensing that Thrix was approaching. She opened her door just as her cousin arrived.

“Another useless meeting,” said Thrix.

“We still have tomorrow,” said Dominil.

Thrix sat on the bed. She smelled faintly of the clan whisky. “I thought with Markus on our side we'd get agreement but the barons seem set against it.”

“They don't want to send their werewolves to London.”

“They should.”

“I know they should, but they don't want to. The clan hasn't settled down as much as we thought. There are still resentments against Markus. Kurian and my father are just as bad as the barons.”

“Looks like it's just going to be us,” said Thrix. “And Decembrius, maybe.”

“I haven't given up hope of persuading the council,” said Dominil. “Perhaps we made a mistake, going to them before our plans were complete.”

“We don't have a complete plan,” said Thrix. “Unless you've thought of one in the past few hours.”

“I have.”

Thrix looked up sharply. “Really?”

“Yes. We need to get someone inside the building to plant the other
end of our pathway. We talked lightly of postmen and so on. I don't see why that couldn't work, provided it's convincing. Merchant MacDoig does business with the Guild. What if we arranged for him to send some legitimate package to them? A courier carrying such a package could gain access to the building.”

“Maybe. The Merchant would probably help.” Thrix frowned. “And he might just as easily sell us out.”

“That would be a risk. But the MacRinnalchs are more valuable clients than the Guild. If the Thane or the Mistress of the Werewolves made the arrangement, I think he'd stick to it.”

“Do you have any whisky?” asked Thrix.

“Do you really need more?”

“Don't you start as well.”

“As well as who?”

“As well as my mother, who said I'm drinking too much.”

Dominil produced her bottle of the clan malt from her cupboard and poured a small glass for Thrix, and one for herself.

“So we send a package to the Guild,” said Thrix. “And the courier has the petal in their pocket. Once inside the building they hide it somewhere. That sounds good. But who's going to take it in? You were probably right about them having some sort of warning system. An alarm will sound if a werewolf walks in.”

“Kalix could do it.”

“Kalix? That's ridiculous.”

“I don't see why. She has her pendant. She's the one werewolf who can never be detected.”

Thrix considered this. “I suppose you're right. I'd forgotten about Kalix's pendant. It would conceal her from any sort of finding spell. And she's quite resistant to sorcery anyway.”

It had been noted in the past that Kalix did not seem to be much affected by sorcery, even by spells that affected other werewolves. No one knew why, though Thrix suspected it was to do with her unusual birth.

“I can see problems,” said Thrix. “Even putting aside the fact that Kalix is bound to let us down, remember she's fought with hunters all over London. She's killed enough of them, but there are probably some left who'd recognize her. What if she walks straight into a hunter who's seen her before?”

“That would be a risk,” admitted Dominil. “But we don't know what the inside of the Guild's headquarters looks like. The front door probably
just leads to a reception area. Whoever is on duty is unlikely to be a werewolf hunter. More likely it will be some civilian employee who's never seen a werewolf before. If Kalix was suitably disguised she might be able to deliver the package without being detected.”

“How would she hide the petal?”

“She'd have to use her initiative.”

“Kalix doesn't have enough sense to have any initiative.”

“You're being too hard on Kalix and I have no desire to discuss your prejudices again,” said Dominil. “It's a reasonable idea and we should present it to the council.”

Thrix poured herself another drink, uninvited. “You can present it,” she muttered. “I'm not recommending Kalix for anything. I can see trouble with the barons. MacGregor and MacPhee still blame her for the old Thane's death, and MacAllister doesn't like any of our family.”

“I'll call Kalix tomorrow,” said Dominil. “If she agrees to my proposal, I'll talk to Markus.”

CHAPTER 136

Moonglow was wrapped in a black dressing gown with a black towel round her hair when Kalix arrived in the living room around midday. Moonglow had washed her hair and was drinking tea while reading a book before engaging in the lengthy drying process.

“Morning, Kalix.”

Kalix joined her at the table by the window. Though it was a very old table, badly stained with age, it had taken on a cheerful, almost jaunty air, thanks to the vase of yellow flowers Moonglow had placed there, now illuminated by the sun's rays which streamed in through several holes in the net curtains.

Kalix was dressed in her running vest. “Look,” she said, and flexed her bicep. “I've been exercising.”

Moonglow thought that Kalix's arms looked just as skinny as they always had, but nodded encouragingly.

“It's really making me feel better. I've been running and doing push-ups and I'm much healthier. And I ate loads last night when I was a werewolf and I don't feel like throwing up at all.”

“That's really good.”

“I should have tried getting healthy before, instead of all that stupid self-improvement stuff,” said Kalix. She poured herself a bowl of cereal, something she would not normally have done after a night of eating meat. Moonglow felt quietly pleased, though didn't say anything, for fear of making Kalix think she was monitoring her diet. There was a loud banging upstairs.

“It's OK!” shouted Vex. “I fell out of the attic again but I didn't hurt myself!”

She ran down the stairs, smiling.

“Trouble with your ladder again?” asked Moonglow.

Vex nodded. “My feet got confused. It's these shoes.”

Unusually, Vex was wearing one of her many pairs of Hello Kitty running shoes, instead of boots.

“Kalix looks so good in them I thought I'd try them as well.” Vex nimbly lifted her leg and planted her foot on the table. “See?”

“Very nice,” said Moonglow.

“Hey, Kalix is eating breakfast!” said Vex. “I knew we'd cheer her up with our wolf-night parties.”

Kalix immediately felt sensitive about people watching her eat, and put her cereal bowl down.

“I'm going to the pictures with Pete!” said Vex. “We're going to see some romantic comedy. Isn't that funny? Who likes romantic comedies? But it's OK when you go with your boyfriend. It's so great having a boyfriend. I have to rush! Bye!”

Vex hurried out of the living room. They heard her filling up her bag in the kitchen with food to eat on her journey to Camden, then she was gone, running down the stairs and out the front door.

“Kalix?” said Moonglow.

Kalix had slumped forward so her face was resting on the table. “I hate everything,” she mumbled.

There was a long pause.

“Still not feeling better about Manny?”

“Apparently not,” said Kalix, with her face still pressed to the table.

Moonglow wished that Vex could be more tactful. The young Fire Elemental's bright enthusiasm about her boyfriend was enough to give anyone a relapse.

Kalix sighed. “Everything is hopeless.”

“You'll get over it soon,” said Moonglow.

“No, I won't.”

Moonglow tried another tack. “Have you actually tried speaking to Manny again? Maybe he's not so mad any more.”

“He doesn't want to speak to me.”

“You don't know that.”

“He's got a new voicemail message. It says, ‘Go away I don't want to speak to you.'”

“Oh.”

There was another silence.

“I'm going upstairs,” said Kalix. The good mood brought on by exercise had disappeared, to be replaced with depression. As she closed her bedroom door she had the mean thought that she wished Vex might suffer a disastrous break-up and feel as bad as she did. She immediately regretted it. She was on the point of taking her supply of laudanum from her cabinet when her phone rang.

“Kalix? This is Dominil. Before we can attack the Guild we need something done that may be very dangerous.”

“I'll do it,” said Kalix.

“Wouldn't you like to hear what it is?”

“I don't care, I'll do it.”

“Let me explain anyway.”

Dominil told Kalix about the Fairy Queen's spell. “But the pathway will only work if we can get one of her flowers inside the building.”

“I'll do it,” said Kalix.

“Please let me finish. I plan to arrange for Merchant MacDoig to send the Guild a package. You will deliver the package, disguised as a courier. Your pendant should keep you from being detected. There is of course the risk that you might encounter a hunter who recognizes you.”

“Fine,” said Kalix. “When can I do it?”

“We still have to seek authority from the council.”

Kalix was disappointed. She'd hoped it might be today.

“You do appreciate how dangerous this may be?” said Dominil.

“Just give me the flower and I'll take it in,” said Kalix.

As she rang off she found she was a little less depressed. She wasn't going to be left out of the attack as she'd feared. She was going to be involved right from the start, and she was doing something dangerous. Nothing could have suited her more at this moment. She put on her shoes and prepared to go running again.

There was incredulity leading to outrage when Dominil suggested the Great Council that Kalix could take the marker into the Guild's Headquarters.

“Kalix?” shouted Baron MacPhee, who on this occasion lost his temper before Thrix. “Kalix is an outlaw! If she dared show her face round here we'd be sentencing her for her crimes.”

The elderly Baron MacPhee had always resented that Kalix hadn't paid the penalty for the lethal assault on her father. The old Thane and Baron MacPhee had been friends and companions for hundreds of years.

Baron MacGregor was equally annoyed. “We can't work with a werewolf who's been outlawed.”

“Even if she hadn't been,” said Tupan, “would we want to? She's known for being extremely unstable.”

“I'm not sending my MacPhees down to London to be killed as a result of some madness perpetrated by Kalix MacRinnalch,” insisted Baron MacPhee.

“Kalix is the only werewolf who can enter the building with any degree of safety,” said Dominil. “She's the obvious choice. And clan history contains other examples of werewolves who were outlawed, working with the clan for the common good.”

“Like who?” demanded Baron MacPhee.

“James MacPhee MacRinnalch joined with the forces of Baron Cosgrach MacPhee at the battle of Stirling Bridge in twelve ninety-seven,” said Dominil. “Though he was outlawed at the time, after killing MacBeatha MacRinnalch in a dispute over grazing rights.”

The council was silenced for a moment or two, disconcerted by Dominil's superior knowledge of clan history. Baron MacGregor was the first to recover.

“That was a war of Scottish independence. All available men were sent to support William Wallace. That's not the same as recruiting the drug-addled Kalix to carry out a mission. And while I'm on the subject of drugs”—the Baron gestured toward Dominil—“how can we be sure we can trust Dominil's judgment on this?”

“My judgment is perfectly fine,” said Dominil.

“Are you still taking laudanum?”

“I take a small, measured amount each day.”