The Curse of the Wolf Girl (52 page)

“No reason. It’s not like anyone suspects you of being too self-obsessed to ever be happy. And if they did, I would certainly not agree.”

“Could we get back to thinking about Albermarle?” asked Dominil.

“Of course,” said Thrix. “Right after Malveria has told me everything she knows about Kabachetka and the shoes.”

Dominil regretted, as she had before, that such a senior and powerful werewolf as Thrix appeared to be interested only in clothes, while all around them were werewolf hunters who, as far as Dominil could see, were currently in the ascendancy.

Of all the dramatic and emotional scenes that had played out at Daniel and Moonglow’s flat since they first encountered Kalix, none was so loud, vociferous, and full of outrage as Vex’s reaction to Queen Malveria’s refusal to let her travel to Edinburgh to see Yum Yum Sugary Snacks. Vex was staggered by her aunt’s intransigence, an act of treachery so overwhelming she could barely come to terms with it. “What do you mean I can’t go and see them play? I
have
to.”

“You are not going, dismal niece. You need to remain here and study for your exam.”

“But I have to see them play! Yum Yum Sugary Snacks is the best thing ever!”

“It’s out of the question.” The Fire Queen, still smarting after her humiliation at the card table and disastrous choice of cocktail dress, was in no mood to placate her not-quite-adopted niece. “The whole idea is preposterous. I sent you to this dimension to improve your notoriously feeble mind. You will not miss classes in order to gallivant off to some concert by a werewolf band in Edinburgh.”

“But it’s only one night! I can still study.”

“Edinburgh is many hundreds of miles from here. The journey would take some time, and you need that time for study.”

“Couldn’t she teleport?” suggested Daniel, who, while not wishing to find himself on the wrong side of Malveria’s wrath, nonetheless sympathized with Vex. For Daniel, not being able to see a favorite band would also have been a severe blow.

“Teleport? My niece? Agrivex cannot teleport more than half a mile without becoming lost and bruising herself in the process. She only makes it to this dimension because I have illuminated a path for her. Were she to attempt to transport herself to Edinburgh, we would never see her again.”

Vex pushed out her lips, knowing this was true, but not willing to admit defeat. “
You
could take me. You’re going to Edinburgh for the opera at the same time.”

“Out of the question, dreadful niece. I will be engaged in important matters of fashion and do not want to be dragging along the scruffiest Hiyasta ever to plague the land of the Elementals.”

“I won’t cause any trouble,” pleaded Vex. “Once we’re there, you won’t even see me! I’ll just go to the gig!”

“Impossible. I will be there for several days and could not transport you back.”

“It’s not fair!” roared Vex. “I want to go!”

“You cannot. And that is the end of the matter.”

“But I’ve been studying hard! Look at all my gold stars!” Vex held up one of her exercise books, which was, as she claimed, covered in gold stars.

Malveria frowned and wondered, not for the first time, if Agrivex’s progress at college was quite as spectacular as she claimed. She noticed that both Moonglow and Daniel looked rather uncomfortable as Vex brandished the book.

“You may be the finest student at the institute of learning,” said Malveria, “though I admit to some doubts. However, it matters not. Missing several days’ study when your exam is imminent is out of the question. That is my final word on the matter.”

“I hate you!” roared the young Fire Elemental, and as she did so, a small flame flickered from her eye. “Ow! I burned myself.”

Malveria shook her head in frustration and snapped her fingers, extinguishing the flame. “Did I not instruct you not to do that?” The queen looked at Moonglow. “My niece is the only Fire Elemental yet known who is prone to burning herself.”

“I didn’t even know she could ignite,” said Moonglow.

“Her dramatic lack of power and control makes it unsafe for her to do so in this dimension.”

“Changing the topic slightly…About this curse…” ventured Daniel.

“Curse? What curse?”

“The curse on Moonglow and me. Isn’t it time to let it go?”

Daniel had picked a poor time to make his appeal. Already angry, Malveria stared at him frostily and dismissed his application with a curt shake of her head.

“But it’s completely unfair! I wasn’t even consulted!”

Malveria adopted an imperious expression, the sort she might use on the throne when displeased with her council. “Had the bargain not happened, young human, Kalix would be dead. Would you have preferred that?”

Daniel attempted to look defiant. “You had no right to curse me when I didn’t know anything about it.”

Malveria swiveled towards Moonglow. Moonglow was dressed in black as always, something the queen, who loved color, could never quite fathom. “What about you, Moonglow? Would you wish that our bargain had never happened?”

Moonglow sagged. She didn’t want to answer. She lifted her palms a few inches, looked hopeless, and told them no, she wouldn’t have wished that. “I couldn’t just let Kalix die.”

“And that,” declared Malveria, triumphantly, “is the end of the affair. As I have already explained, I could not extend such power in helping a werewolf without exacting a price. My peers would have mocked me otherwise. The bargain was fair, and the curse will not be removed. Now Agrivex, attend to your studies, and do not dare to go to Edinburgh. If you disobey me, the consequences will be dire.”

With that, Malveria dematerialized, leaving behind a depressed Daniel and a furious Vex.

“I’m going to the gig anyway,” she declared. “See if she can stop me.”

“How could you get there?” asked Daniel.

It was a reasonable question. Vex lacked the necessary power and skill to teleport 330 miles north to Edinburgh, and she had no money to pay the train fare. Every spare penny in the house, belonging to either Vex, Kalix, Moonglow, or Daniel, was currently tucked away in a series of envelopes in Moonglow’s room, ready to pay off the crippling household debts.

“I’ll get a lift in the band’s van! I can be a roadie.” Vex was advancing towards the phone, ready to call Dominil, when another flash of light brought Malveria back into the room.

“One more thing, most dismal of nieces. Do not attempt to travel with the band. I’ve informed Dominil that you are not to go, as you are busy studying. Dominil approves of my decision. Now farewell.” Malveria vanished.

Vex scowled and sat down heavily on the old sofa. “This really sucks,” she said. “I hate everything.”

At the headquarters of the Avenaris Guild, Mr. Carmichael was fending off complaints from irate werewolf hunters.

“Why has my expense claim been rejected?”

“Since when do we have to fill out Form 226a in triplicate?”

“They’re asking me to pay back £2000!”

“How am I supposed to keep track of every penny when I’m out hunting werewolves?”

Mr. Carmichael, who believed that a calm center of operations was important for a successful operation, did his best to mollify his senior hunters. “There have been some problems with our new financial structure. I’m taking steps to improve matters.”

“You mean you’ve sacked Albermarle?” Everyone knew that Albermarle had been responsible for the rigorous enforcement of expense claims.

“We’ve moved him to another position,” said Mr. Carmichael, smoothly. “He’s engaged in field operations now.”

This caused some consternation among the assembled hunters.

“Couldn’t you have just moved him into another office post? The man’s an idiot, but there’s no need to kill him.”

“Albermarle passed our tests and asked for the transfer,” said Mr. Carmichael. “I’m sure he’ll perform satisfactorily. Easterly is there to take care of things.”

“Poor Easterly, having to take care of that fool.”

* * *

Albermarle hadn’t turned up to his strategy meeting with Captain Easterly this evening. Easterly didn’t really care. There was no talking to Albermarle. He had all but abandoned trying to look after him. He was far more concerned with his date tonight with Thrix MacRinnalch. Yesterday he’d talked with Princess Kabachetka and once more asked her to boost the sorcery that enabled him to see Thrix for what she was. The princess had warned him again that he was endangering his life. “Too much fire may burn you out, Easterly.”

Easterly deemed it to be worth the risk. The destruction of Thrix would surely be the greatest achievement in the history of the guild.

“Are you still planning to travel to Edinburgh?”

Easterly wasn’t certain. Last time they’d talked, Thrix seemed to have gone off the idea. “She says she’s not so keen for me to meet her family again.”

The princess laughed. “No doubt. You must increase your efforts at wooing her, Captain Easterly. My spell will be ready by then, and I’ll need you close at hand to kill her.”

Easterly nodded.

The princess studied his aura. She frowned. There was something about it she didn’t like. “Do I sense a lack of enthusiasm for killing her?”

“I’ll do it. You don’t need to worry about that.”

The princess’s eyes narrowed. “Be sure that you do.” She examined his aura suspiciously. To her annoyance, Easterly still showed no sign of falling in love with her, which she took as a great insult.

* * *

Captain Easterly was pleased to hear Thrix’s voice when she called but was disappointed to hear her canceling their date.

“I’m sorry, I’ve had too bad a day. I’m late and I’m tired and I’m going home. Would you mind canceling the table?”

The enchantress was worn out after her abortive attempts to locate either Albermarle or Susi Surmata. She was also depressed after reading the latest financial figures for her company. Shops just weren’t buying her clothes, and she barely had enough money left to keep paying her employees. If things went on like this, her fashion house would go bankrupt. She drove back to her apartment trying to come up with a solution but couldn’t see a way out of the situation.

* * *

At his office, Easterly mused for a while. Thrix had said she wanted to be alone. That might mean it was a good time to leave her alone. Or it might mean it was a time for a lover to make a bold move. He decided on the bold move. He threw on a suit, put a bottle of wine in a bag, hurried downstairs to the garage, and drove towards Thrix’s apartment. They’d booked a table at an expensive restaurant, and while he couldn’t entirely make up for missing that, he intended to arrive with something.

* * *

When Thrix arrived home she was astonished to find him waiting on the doorstep with several plastic bags.

“Chinese takeout,” he explained. “It’s the best I could find in a hurry.” He produced a small, rather crumpled flower. “I took this off of a jar on the table.”

Finding Easterly on her doorstep with food and a flower, even though she’d quite rudely canceled their date, had a powerful effect on Thrix. Her eyes welled up with tears, something that very rarely happened. She embraced him quite tenderly on the street before leading him upstairs to her apartment. She suddenly thought she might be falling in love.

Kalix emerged from the bath and studied her naked figure in the mirror. Though her exertions as a werewolf had recently caused her to eat more, it didn’t seem to have affected her. She was still as skinny as ever. Her ribs were clearly visible. Her eyes were a little more sunken, the flesh around them a little grayer, probably from her increased intake of laudanum after another visit to Merchant MacDoig’s shop. Her skin had a slightly unhealthy, yellowish tone. Her neck and shoulders were badly scratched, remnants of her fight in the park. There were fresh cuts, high up on her arms, self-inflicted, and more on her thighs. Surrounding these cuts were the thin white marks of older scars.

Kalix was not yet eighteen. From a distance, she looked younger; close up, she looked more worn than a seventeen-year-old should.

“I’m a mess,” she muttered, but she didn’t care. She shivered. There was a small electric heater mounted high up on the bathroom wall, but it had never worked. Kalix wrapped herself in the old dressing gown that hung behind the door and trailed water between the bathroom and her bedroom where she began the long process of drying her hair. She fiddled with her nose ring and felt some anxiety about Decembrius, who was due to arrive soon to help her study.

On the small table lay a piece of paper, printed very clearly in Moonglow’s hand. It was a list of money Kalix owed for household bills. Moonglow had given an identical piece of paper to each of them. Kalix, Vex, and Daniel had accepted them gloomily and wondered how they were going to pay. According to Moonglow, they were only a few days from having their phone and heating cut off.

* * *

When Decembrius arrived, Moonglow let him in and directed him to Kalix’s room.

“It’s a werewolf study party,” she said to Daniel. “Isn’t that cute?” She stopped and looked concerned. “Do you think he’s going to try and fall on her again?”

“Why would he do that?”

“Maybe it’s his way of making advances.”

Daniel doubted it. Decembrius gave the impression of being a confident werewolf, one who was unlikely to resort to such subterfuge. “I don’t think he’d pretend to fall on Kalix twice. Think how suspicious it would look.”

Moonglow continued to worry. “Should I check on them?”

“You’re making the mistake of thinking Kalix is twelve years old and you’re her parent. You’re not. Leave them alone.”

* * *