The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf (82 page)

“I took this from the Empress. I brought something back inside it.”

More shots slammed into the door. It creaked. Thrix's spell threatened to give way. Sarapen produced a
meldrava
from the bag, the slingshot used by the palace guards.

“This is loaded with lava from the Empress's own volcano. As I understand, it can't normally travel between dimensions. I'm hoping it might do some damage.”

Thrix looked at the smoldering lava. “In this dimension I'd say it might blow up the whole street.”

Sarapen laughed. “Then let's hope we survive it.”

He stepped toward the pathway. Kalix was still confused. She opened her mouth and growled at him. The huge werewolf grinned, and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Best save it for the Guild, sister. Is everyone ready?”

Everyone was, apart from Dominil, who was calmly making a phone call. She ended the call quickly. “I'm ready.”

“Then let's go.”

With that, Sarapen charged into the pathway on the wall, and the rest of the werewolves charged after him.

CHAPTER 161

Daniel and Moonglow drove through the center of the city, anxiously looking for any sign of Kalix. They crossed over Oxford Street numerous times, scanning one side street and then another.

“This is hopeless,” said Daniel. “We'll never find her.”

“We have to keep trying. Why won't they answer their phones?”

“Maybe the attack's started already,” said Daniel.

They drove on. It did seem hopeless. They had no real idea of where to look. All Lady Gezinka had been able to tell them was that the attack was happening somewhere in the center of town.

“That might not even mean around Oxford Street. It could be Knightsbridge, or Regent's Park.”

Daniel drove on. “We'll never find Kalix by just driving around.”

“We did before,” said Moonglow.

Despite his worry, Daniel managed to smile at the memory. Soon after their first encounter with the young werewolf, they'd moved to a new flat, slipping out quietly in the night because they owed their landlord money. They'd found Kalix in the street, and rescued her. Daniel stopped smiling as he remembered what had happened after that.

“That was the first time we saw Markus.”

“Don't mention Markus,” said Moonglow.

“Why not?”

“You know why not.”

“It's not my fault if you fell in love with a cross-dressing werewolf,” muttered Daniel, still smarting at the memory.

“Be quiet,” said Moonglow, who didn't remember Markus any more fondly, after the way he'd ended their brief relationship.

Daniel's phone rang. It lay on the dashboard. He pressed a key to send it to speakerphone.

“Daniel? This is Dominil.”

“Dominil? Where—”

“Don't speak, I have no time. Our van is parked in Montagu Place, close to the Swedish Embassy. It says “MacIntyre Removals” on the side. Find it and bring it close to three hundred and fifty-six Gloucester Place. We may need assistance later. The keys are tucked under the rug between the seats.”

Dominil ended the call. Moonglow was already looking up Montagu Place on her map. They had to drive across Gloucester Place to get there. There was no sign of anything unusual, but Daniel and Moonglow both feared the worst. Kalix might be in the middle of another terrible battle. She might be already dead.

“Montagu Place,” said Moonglow. Her voice trembled but she forced herself to be calm. “I can see their van.”

“I wish Malveria was here,” said Moonglow. “I know there are going to be injuries.”

Malveria was not far away. She was standing elegantly among the crowd at the fashion show, outwardly calm but inwardly seething at the sight of Empress Kabachetka talking familiarly to the accessories editor of
Marie Claire
.

“It is truly scandalous the way that woman has ingratiated herself,” muttered the Fire Queen to her niece. “What has she done to deserve it?”

“Given about a million pounds in sponsorship,” said Vex. “Why didn't you do that?”

“Because I did not know it was an appropriate thing to do!” hissed the Fire Queen. “The vile Empress would never have dreamed of giving her gold away had not Distikka advised her to. She is a cunning adviser, Distikka. Would that I had one so intelligent.” The Fire Queen suddenly tensed. “Be alert, niece. Something is afoot.”

Vex giggled.
“Afoot
. That's a funny word.”

“Silence, imbecile. Donatella Versace has just entered the room. Kabachetka should already be worming her way toward her, intent on forcing her company on the poor woman. Yet she is not.”

As Malveria and Vex looked on, the Empress withdrew from the accessories editor. Instead of making her way toward Ms. Versace, as indeed would have been expected, she was heading in the opposite direction.

“Agrivex, follow me.”

“What's happening?” asked Vex, hurrying after her aunt.

“There is only one conceivable reason why the gruesome Empress would not not be throwing herself on Donatella Versace like the craven lickspittle she is. Thrix believed her attack was a secret, but I have always suspected otherwise. I think the Empress is now going to assist the hunters.”

“You can't let her do that! Kalix is there.”

“As is Thrix. The Empress of the Hainusta will not harm my fashion designer, not while I am alive to prevent it.”

Malveria walked swiftly through the crowd, moving quickly and smoothly in the crowded room. Vex barged her way long behind her, upsetting drinks as she passed. They followed Kabachetka to a restroom. Malveria opened the door and marched inside. Kabachetka was just beginning to dematerialize.

“And where might you be going?” demanded the Fire Queen.

“Where I am going is no business of yours,” said Kabachetka.

“I think it is.”

“Well, it isn't.”

Kabachetka disappeared. The Fire Queen did the same. They both materialized in the air outside, several hundred feet above London.

“I know where you're going,” said the Fire Queen. “To assist the hunters against Thrix.”

The Empress looked down her nose at the Fire Queen. “It has always pained me that a fellow elemental ruler should consort with these vulgar werewolves. It is the talk of the Elemental Rulers Council.”

They hovered in the air, invisible from below, half in and half out of this world.

“You will not seek to hinder me if you know what's good for you,” said the Empress. “My power has increased since I took charge of the Eternal Volcano.”

Malveria drew herself up so that the toes of her high heels pointed almost vertically toward the ground. “It has increased to the point where it is still a fraction of mine.”

The Empress laughed. “We'll see about that.”

The Empress raised her hand and a great bolt of blue fire shot from her palm toward the Fire Queen. Malveria brushed it aside imperiously and retaliated with a bolt of yellow flame. As Kabachetka deflected that, there was an explosion like the loudest clap of thunder. People on the streets below looked up in alarm, and saw blazing lights in the clouds. They hurried on their way, not wanting to be caught out of doors in such a fierce storm. The thunder and lightning grew louder as the reigning monarchs of two elemental nations joined in combat in the dark, cloudy skies over London.

CHAPTER 162

Kalix was relieved when it was time to attack. Her confusion vanished and her cares disappeared as her battle madness descended. In combat Kalix had no worries. She was overwhelmed by a savage ferocity unmatched by any other werewolf. Once embroiled in fighting, Kalix had no regard for her own safety; she could not be halted by anything except death. She leaped with the others into the oval of purple light on the wall
and raced through the sorcerous pathway. Her mouth opened wide, displaying her long werewolf tongue and her sharp teeth. Her claws were extended, ready to tear at the hunters' throats. As she neared the glowing exit, Kalix prepared to leap at the first hunter she saw.

Once more, the young werewolf was thrown into confusion by an unexpected event. The moment she flung herself into the Guild's headquarters there was a terrific explosion, several flashes of blinding light and a billowing cloud of dense smoke. Sarapen had used the
meldrava
, catapulting the fragments of lava from the Empress's volcano right into the midst of the foyer. The lava, already seething and boiling in an alien dimension, exploded with a force that blew the foyer apart, sending the hunters concealed behind their barricades flying in all directions, injured or killed by the blast.

Kalix found herself in a burning, smoke-filled space where she was unable to see anything. Her keen werewolf senses were almost overwhelmed by the acrid smoke that poured from the blazing wood paneling. She roared in annoyance and ran blindly about the foyer, searching for someone to kill. She stepped on something she recognized as a body but to her annoyance the hunter was already dead, killed in the blast. Kalix growled angrily and ran on, blundering into Decembrius who was holding an arm over his snout, protecting it from the smoke.

Decembrius was not as out of control as Kalix. “This way!” he shouted, and dragged Kalix toward the charred remnants of a doorway. She followed him down a flight of stairs. The air was still thick with smoke. Fire alarms sounded and there were screams of men and werewolves in all directions. There was the sound of gunfire too, and then another explosion. Kalix sprinted down the stairs, overtaking Decembrius. The door to the stairwell opened and a hunter appeared with a gun in his hand. Kalix leaped at him, fastening her jaws round his throat before he had time to react. They crashed into the basement corridor. Kalix savagely twisted her neck, biting a huge chunk of flesh from her victim's throat. He fell down dead, his blood gushing out over Kalix's face. She roared in satisfaction then ran down the corridor, looking for another opponent.

As Kalix and Decembrius rushed downstairs, Thrix was heading the opposite way. According to Dominil, the leaders of the Avenaris Guild were most likely to be found in the executive offices on the top floor. Thrix struggled through the smoke and chaos in the lobby before stumbling
onto a staircase. She ran up the stairs, her golden werewolf hair streaming behind her. She passed the second and third floor unopposed. As she reached the top a young woman with a sheaf of papers in her hand appeared in front of her. The woman screamed as she saw Thrix, and ran back into the corridor. Thrix sprinted after her and dragged her back.

“Don't kill me!” cried the terrified woman. “I'm just a secretary!”

Thrix slashed her throat with her talons, killing her instantly. Her eyes lit up with the satisfaction. Fire alarms were ringing, and as smoke began to drift upstairs, the sprinklers were set off. Thrix looked round the corridor. At the end was an office with a name of the door: M
R
. C
ARMICHAEL
.

Thrix tried the door. It was locked. She spoke a spell to open it. Nothing happened. Her magic was ineffective inside the building. Thrix took a step back and hurled herself at the door. It broke under her weight and she flew into the room. She heard a gunshot and felt a sharp pain in her side as a silver bullet penetrated her werewolf pelt. Thrix snarled and kept on going. Two men in suits faced her, each with a gun in their hand. Thrix flew at them. There was another shot but the bullet missed the charging werewolf, who approached at a speed the men couldn't counteract. Thrix hit them simultaneously, knocking them to the ground. She used her talons on one of the men, tearing at his throat. As she turned her attentions to the other she felt another very sharp pain, this time in her thigh. The second Guild executive, on the ground, had managed to fire at her again. Thrix immediately fastened her jaws around his throat, killing him. She stood up, and winced. She had a silver bullet in her side and another in her thigh. The silver burned. She roared in pain and triumph. She had killed the head of the Avenaris Guild. Mr. Carmichael lay dead at her feet. Another fire alarm went off nearby, masking the sound of a hunter in the corridor. He saw Thrix and took aim. A bullet raked her fur before the hunter was brought down by Wallace MacGregor who'd just reached the top floor.