The Curse of the Wolf Girl (38 page)

Kalix looked at Decembrius a little differently. She’d never known any other werewolf to admit to depression before. She let him in. Tiny pieces of plaster flaked off the walls as they ascended the dark stairs. In the living room, Decembrius took a seat uninvited. The gas fire was on full, and the room was warm. Kalix felt the cold more than a werewolf should, because she was permanently undernourished. They sat in silence for a while.

“Did you learn anything when they kidnapped you?”

Kalix shook her head. “Not really. Marwanis said she didn’t have anything to do with killing Gawain. So did Morag MacAllister.”

“Were they telling the truth?”

Kalix shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to investigate. I’m hopeless at it.”

Though Kalix had little time for MacRinnalch traditions, she went to her room and took out a bottle of the MacRinnalch malt whisky that was around a quarter full, found one glass and one old mug in the kitchen, and shared it with her guest.

“I like your nose ring,” said Decembrius.

“Thanks,” replied Kalix, surprised.

“Maybe Thrix has some investigating spells.”

“She wouldn’t help. But Vex thinks she visited Gawain before he died.” Kalix looked Decembrius in the eye. “Vex says you were there too. She saw your aura.”

There was another long silence.

“Well?” demanded Kalix.

“I did visit,” said Decembrius.

“You never told me that before. Why not?”

Decembrius shrugged. Kalix transformed and looked threatening. Decembrius remained human and kept his seat. “I went there to warn him.”

“Warn him about what?” growled Kalix, stepping forward and baring her teeth. Her fangs were long and sharp, and she had an urge to use them. Unexpectedly she felt something soft brush against her leg. She looked down. “Go away, you stupid cat.”

The cat started purring and rubbed itself enthusiastically against Kalix’s leg.

“Stop doing that!” cried Kalix. The cat redoubled its efforts.

“I think it wants to be fed,” said Decembrius.

Kalix shook her leg, but the cat seemed to have attached itself to her fur. It began to meow. Kalix sighed with frustration and marched into the kitchen. The cat bounded along behind her, purring enthusiastically as Kalix produced a can of cat food. Kalix tried to work the can opener, but found it too difficult with her werewolf claws and had to change back to human. As she emptied the food into the bowl, the cat purred furiously and ran between her legs. Kalix took a carton of milk from the fridge and filled the cat’s other bowl.

“Next time you interrogate someone, make sure the cat isn’t around,” said Decembrius from the doorway. “It completely spoils the effect.”

Kalix scowled at him. “What do you mean you went to warn Gawain? What about?”

“The Douglas-MacPhees had found out where he lived. I didn’t much care about Gawain, but I didn’t want the Douglas-MacPhees learning your address. So I went to warn him.”

That didn’t sound very likely to Kalix. She followed Decembrius back into the living room and wondered about changing back into a werewolf again and threatening him. She got as far as making the transformation when the cat wandered in from the kitchen and leapt into her lap. It circled around a few times then lay down comfortably.

“Every time I turn into a werewolf, this cat tramples all over me.”

“At least you’ve made a friend,” said Decembrius.

In Princess Kabachetka’s largest reception room, the one with the best view of the Eternal Volcano, her servant Alchet was nervous and unhappy. “I don’t want to go to Earth,” she protested. “It’s cold and damp.”

“I am not asking you to live there,” replied the princess, testily. “I merely require you to make a brief visit.”

Alchet squirmed uncomfortably. For her, the planet Earth was a distant and frightening place, a place where, if rumors were to be believed, ugly metal machines crawled over the land and water fell from the sky. The young Fire Elemental couldn’t bear the thought of water falling on her from the sky. “It will extinguish me. I’ll fizzle and die.”

“You won’t fizzle and die!” declared the princess. “I visit the Earth. Do you see me fizzling and dying? Now stand still so I can work the spell. And remember, once you’re there, try to come back as quickly as you can.”

“But if I’m to come back as quickly as I can, why are you sending me there?”

“Did I not explain this a hundred times? I’m perfecting a new spell for prevention of travel.”

The princess chanted a few words, waved her hand, and her young servant disappeared.

“And now,” she thought, “for the spell of non-returning.” She chanted more words, a longer spell this time. Nothing happened. The princess was pleased.

Abruptly, Alchet materialized back in the reception room, looking shaken, but relieved to be home.

The princess glared at her furiously. “Why have you returned?”

“You told me to.”

“But I was working a spell to prevent your return. It was supposed to keep you on Earth!”

Princess Kabachetka stared angrily at Alchet as if the failure of the spell was all her fault, then she dismissed her with an angry wave. The princess slumped on a chair, feeling deflated. This spell of non-returning was proving to be difficult. It seemed impossible to prevent a Fire Elemental from coming back to its own dimension. If the princess couldn’t even stop Alchet from returning, there was no chance of keeping the powerful Fire Queen out. It was all very well for Distikka to talk grandly about stranding Queen Malveria on Earth while she mounted a coup. Distikka wasn’t the one who had to work the spell. The princess cursed Distikka for coming up with a lot of complicated and impractical plans.

A liveried attendant hurried in with a message. Princess Kabachetka accepted the scroll that, when opened, disgorged fire into the air. She spoke the spell of secret decryption, and the fire formed itself into a string of burning words: “Captain Easterly has located the Abukenti shoes.”

The princess leapt in the air with excitement. The prospect of securing the most exclusive high heels in the universe was enough to make her instantly forget her previous grievance against Distikka.

“When Malveria hears of this, she may just die of shame,” she thought, with immense pleasure. She sent back a message by the next courier: “Excellent news about shoes. Must have them. No progress with spell. Need advice.”

The twins were in their element at the warehouse party. Dominil hated it. The warehouse was so dark and dilapidated that she couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to hold a birthday party there. It was hot, noisy, smoky, and crammed full of people, all of whom seemed to know Beauty and Delicious. Dominil, with more on her mind than just the twins’ performance, had to abandon her efforts to moderate their drinking. She knew this was inviting disaster but needed to devote some attention to the possibility of Albermarle appearing.

As she squeezed through the crowd, Dominil found herself confronted by Vex, who to Dominil’s great displeasure, immediately hugged her. Dominil went rigid and waited for it to end.

“Hi, Dominil! Isn’t this
great
! When is the band playing?”

“In about an hour.”

“I can’t wait to see Yum Yum Sugary Snacks again! And I want a T-shirt like yours. Can I have one?”

It was oddly loyal of Dominil to be wearing a Yum Yum Sugary Snacks T-shirt. Though she’d designed it herself, it wasn’t a garment she’d normally have cared to be seen in. But Dominil, as manager of the band, felt it was the right thing to do to wear their merchandise.

Daniel and Moonglow followed in Vex’s wake. Dominil observed that both of them looked happy. In fact, almost everyone in the hot warehouse looked happy. Unlike Dominil, they all seemed to fit in quite naturally, feeling no discomfort at the crowd, the heat, or the noise. Dominil briefly studied Moonglow and felt some admiration for the effort she’d put into her appearance—the matching black clothes, pointed boots, heavy makeup, and beads in her hair. Moonglow was in full gothic mode, and it must have taken some time to achieve the effect.

“Kalix didn’t want to come,” said Moonglow. “I think she might be with Decembrius. I’m not really sure about him…”

“Nor am I,” said Dominil.

Moonglow looked at the white-haired werewolf with a hint of accusation. “Kalix said you wouldn’t help her investigate.”

“That’s true.”

“Why not? She probably needs your help.”

“I have too much else to do. Excuse me, I have to check on the band.” With that, Dominil departed, leaving a thoughtful Moonglow behind.

Daniel led her and Vex in a wedge-shaped formation towards the bar, which had been constructed from some old crates at the side of the room.

“Cheap beer,” he muttered. “Better than nothing, I suppose. I hoped it might be free, what with it being a birthday party.”

Daniel and Moonglow were again short of money. Only yesterday Daniel had sternly warned Vex and Kalix not to fail their exams. “If you get dragged home in disgrace and you’re not here to pay the rent, I’ll be stacking shelves in the supermarket before the week is out.”

He’d followed that up with a warning to Moonglow not to transmit accurate reports of either Kalix’s or Vex’s progress. “Just pretend they’re doing well. What harm can it do?”

Moonglow hadn’t replied. Unknown to Daniel, the Mistress of the Werewolves had phoned last week. Moonglow, unable to lie, had given a reasonably truthful account of Kalix’s progress at college. Her report hadn’t left Verasa entirely satisfied.

* * *

A small storeroom at the back of the warehouse had been set aside as a dressing room for the band. There Dominil found Beauty and Delicious and the rest of their musicians, sandwiched between a crowd of friends.

“Are you ready to go on stage?”

“It’s not time yet,” Delicious slurred her words.

“Yes, it is.”

“They don’t have to go on yet,” said one of their friends, a young man perched on a crate with a can of lager in his hand.

“What does it have to do with you?” demanded Dominil.

“It’s his party,” said Delicious, and there was some laughter at Dominil’s expense for not knowing whose party it was.

“I think you should play when advertised,” said Dominil, stiffly. Dominil liked events to run on time, but everyone else seemed to have a flexible view of the itinerary. No one except Dominil cared if the band were late on stage. She left the storeroom and went again to the front of the building, checking for werewolf hunters. Dominil was irritated with the twins and angry with Albermarle. The noisy crowd in the warehouse wasn’t helping her mood.

Decembrius laughed as he turned the page. “If Arabella Wolf is so worried about eating her boyfriend, why doesn’t she move somewhere else?”

“I know!” cried Kalix. “Isn’t this comic ridiculous? How can her boyfriend be such an idiot anyway? Didn’t he get suspicious when all his friends were attacked?” Kalix and Decembrius were lounging in front of the gas fire, drinking tea, and reading
Curse of the Wolf Girl
. The cat was curled up comfortably on Kalix’s lap.

“It’s unfortunate that the wolf girl keeps being invited to these exclusive events,” mused Decembrius. “What happens after she kills the mayor?”

“I don’t know. I only have these six issues.”

“You should look for the others.”

“I don’t want them.” Kalix paused. Actually she did want them. Though she felt irritated by
Curse of the Wolf Girl
, for some reason she had an urge to collect them all. “Daniel says they only published twelve. Maybe I could look in the comic shop for more. Vex says the assistant was friendly.”

Kalix remembered Vex’s suggestion that she do her assignment on
Curse of the Wolf Girl
and felt briefly anxious again but managed to let it go. She’d relaxed after her traumatic experience at the hand of Marwanis and Morag. Facing danger and even death wasn’t such an unusual experience for her, and the unpleasant memories didn’t linger, unlike certain others.

“What’s it like, living with humans?” asked Decembrius. Not many MacRinnalchs had ever shared a house with anyone except fellow werewolves.

“It’s really annoying.”

“Why? Do they act funny about you being a werewolf?”

“No,” admitted Kalix. “They’re okay with that. But they keep telling me to study. I hate college.”

“Then stop going.”

Kalix made a face. “I can’t. It’s complicated.”

For the first time in her life, Kalix seemed to have obligations to other people. It was troubling, and it made her anxious. It was tempting to just leave, but she couldn’t make up her mind. She felt more comfortable with Decembrius since learning of his depression. She’d never met another werewolf with mental problems before, or at least, none that had admitted to any.

“Why is it complicated?”

“They’re sort of relying on me. Dominil thinks I should go to college as well. She says I should calm down and start acting normal.” Kalix’s temper rose. “How can I do that when I’m trying to find out who killed Gawain? And live with humans, and go to college at the same time? It’s too much. No wonder I get anxious. Now Moonglow’s lecturing me again. Everyone should just leave me alone.”

“You should just pretend to be normal,” suggested Decembrius.

“What do you mean?”

“That’s what I used to do at the castle when my mother got annoyed about me being depressed. ‘No self-respecting MacRinnalch werewolf ever suffered from depression before,’ she would say to me. It’s tough when your own mother starts complaining to the Mistress of the Werewolves. So I just started pretending to be normal.”

“Did it make you less depressed?”

“Not at all. But it got everyone off my back.”

Kalix considered this. She already did pretend to be normal, to an extent, trying to fit in with the household, despite being a werewolf. Perhaps she could extend her pretense and hide her anxiety and depression as Decembrius suggested. It might get everyone off her own back for a while.