Martin Millar - Lonely Werewolf Girl (44 page)

Clinging on to the small window ledge, apparently trying to
attract her attention, was a werewolf.

"Gawain? What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk."

"You need to talk?" The Enchantress was mystified and
considered closing the window again. But when she looked into Gawain's
werewolf eyes she could see that they had recently been wet with tears.
She stepped back to let him in. Gawain stood awkwardly in the room.
Thrix regarded him without sympathy.

"This had better be good, Gawain."

The Enchantress was angered to have been wakened in this way,
angered by Gawain's effrontery in appearing outside her window. Her
limbs were still sore from the unfortunate experience at Zatek's and
this annoyed her more.

"What's so important that you're climbing the outside of my
building? Did you damage anything out there?"

Gawain looked utterly hopeless.

"Kalix," he said, eventually.

"Is she dead?"

Gawain shook his head. He seemed unwilling to say more.
Thrix's patience was wearing very thin. She had no great liking for
Gawain.

"Tell me the problem or get out."

"I saw her kissing someone," said Gawain.

Thrix was tempted to laugh. 'So much for the grand passion,'
she thought. 'Perhaps Gawain will now realise that Kalix is not a
suitable werewolf to fall in love with.'

"Gawain, you never did have a true understanding of Kalix."

Gawain sat down very heavily. Such was his obvious misery that
even the Enchantress, who had little sympathy to spare, could not quite
bring herself to throw him out. She transformed back into her human
shape, crossed to her cabinet and brought out her whisky.

"The MacRinnalchs generally find this helpful for all
problems," she said, dryly, and poured two glasses.

118

Sarapen thought for a long time about his encounter with
Dominil. It had raised some disturbing emotions. Even though Sarapen
had focused his will on the Thaneship, to the exclusion of all else,
images of the white-haired werewolf kept interrupting his thoughts.
He'd been surprised at the strength of feeling he still had for
Dominil. When he saw the hunters heading into the studio, Sarapen had
abandoned all thoughts of Kalix and the Thaneship and rushed to save
her.

He hated Dominil. Unfortunately, his passion for her had never
abated. He remembered their closeness in the car as they left the
studio, and how near their faces had come as they faced each other in
the street. Had he not turned to go at that moment, Sarapen might have
tried to put his arms round her.

"And how the bitch would've laughed at that," he muttered,
furious with himself. To feel such emotions for the werewolf who had
nominated his cursed brother for the Thaneship. It was beyond belief.
Sarapen kept his thoughts to himself. His chief councillor Mirasen was
dead. Even if Mirasen had still been here, he probably wouldn't have
spoken to him. Sarapen wasn't in the habit of discussing his emotions.

Decembrius was on his way back to Scotland to be nursed by his
mother, which was unfortunate. Sarapen could have made use of his
superior talent for finding things. Sarapen's werewolves couldn't find
Markus, though Sarapen couldn't understand why Markus would be hiding.
Having worked up the courage to attack Sarapen's house, why would he
now go missing? It made no sense. Sarapen cursed his werewolf guard and
instructed them to keep hunting till they found him. As for Kalix,
Sarapen still intended to kill her. She deserved to die, and her death
would bring him the Thaneship.

Dominil floated back into his mind. What was she doing with
those degenerate twins? They were not worthy of her company. Dominil
had been magnificent in the battle. Her savagery had been a credit to
the fighting MacRinnalchs. Sarapen shook his head and tried not to
think about her.

Dominil was not thinking about Sarapen. She was busy booking a
new rehearsal studio and still trying to find a venue for the sisters
to play. The encounter with the Avenaris Guild had been an
inconvenience but it had not altered her schedule. She'd once again
infiltrated their computers and she was satisfied that the Guild had no
real information about either the twins or herself. It was just chance
that someone at the rehearsal studio had recognised them as werewolves.

If Dominil did think of Sarapen at all, it was only to
acknowledge briefly that he was a fine warrior; a good werewolf to have
on your side in a battle. That could also be said of Kalix. After
observing the savagery with which the werewolf Kalix fought, Dominil
had been surprised to see how skinny she was when she changed back to
human. She didn't look capable of inflicting violence on anyone. She
had done so however, most effectively.

Dominil didn't know why Kalix had left the twins' house
without saying goodbye. Perhaps she'd been bored. Or perhaps it was
just her way; Kalix was known to be irrational. It was no concern of
Dominil's. As she'd told Verasa, she didn't intend to play nursemaid to
another young werewolf. It was bad enough looking after Butix and
Delix. They'd got hopelessly drunk after coming back from the fight at
the studio. Not that their fighting had been very effective, unable to
transform as they were. Still, even in their human form they were
stronger than most men, and to their credit they hadn't shirked the
battle.

Though Dominil didn't like the sisters' music, she thought she
understood their motivation. Beauty and Delicious shared the vocals,
because each of them had too large an ego to allow her sister to be
sole frontwoman. Though they enjoyed posing with their guitars, for the
last few songs of their set they abandoned their instruments,
preferring just to sing, or shout, at the audience. Dominil didn't
think this was unreasonable. It was probably necessary to have a large
ego to front a band. In her practical way, Dominil had been assisting
the group with their sampling software, to fill in the sound when the
sisters put down their guitars.

Dominil left the house in the early morning, determined to
find a place for the twins to play. First, however, she had to pay a
visit to East London, to the premises of the Young MacDoig. Her supply
of laudanum had nearly run out and she needed more. Laudanum was
Dominil's secret vice. No one knew of it, not even Verasa.

119

Ann arrived at work early. She took the lift to the fourth
floor and used her key to open up the offices. She collected the day's
post, sorted it into various bundles, then took Thrix's mail to her
office so that it would be there for her when she arrived.

Ann opened Thrix's door, switched on the light, and came to an
abrupt halt. Her employer was lying on the couch. A young man, whom Ann
recognised but couldn't name, was lying beside her. They appeared to be
naked, and the coat they were using as a blanket wasn't covering much.
Thrix immediately woke up. She opened her eyes to find her personal
assistant smiling broadly at her.

"Coffee?" said Ann.

"Oh God," said Thrix, and looked appalled.

The young man opened his eyes.

"I'll just leave you two alone for a while," said Ann. "You
have a meeting in thirty minutes, do you want me to reschedule?"

"No!" said Thrix, loudly. "Bring coffee."

"We could reschedule," said Ann brightly.

"Just get the hell out of my office and bring me coffee,"
snarled Thrix, who had already had quite enough of her assistant's
amused gaze.

"Good morning," said Gawain, awkwardly, after Ann left. The
Enchantress regarded him with great displeasure.

"I have a meeting. Get dressed."

Thrix leapt from the couch and hurried to put her clothes on.
She looked in the large mirror and was horrified at the mess she was
in. Normally she turned up to work immaculately attired. Now she looked
like… she looked like a woman who had started the evening by being
thrown across the road by a spell and finished it by having sex on the
couch. It was a poor way to prepare for meeting an important client.

Gawain was hanging around looking awkward.

"You should go," said Thrix.

"All right," said Gawain.

"And don't mention this to anyone," said Thrix.

"I won't."

Gawain departed. Thrix took her make-up bag to the small
bathroom adjoining her office and hurried to do her face. As she put on
a covering of foundation - a little thicker than normal - she smelled
the aroma of Jasmine, and suddenly Malveria was standing beside her.

"Bravo!" cried the Fire Queen, with some enthusiasm. "You have
had sex!"

The Enchantress was pained.

"Do I have no privacy at all? Were you watching?"

"Of course not. As soon you were removing your lingerie, I
politely left, almost immediately. I had come to discuss various
matters, but finding you in the strong and passionate embraces of
Gawain the handsome young werewolf I naturally did not wish to disturb
you. He's certainly a most attractive young wolf and I can quite
understand why your sister Kalix is in love with him. Do you think it
might be a problem that your sister Kalix is in love with him?"

The Enchantress interrupted her eye-liner application to cast
a hostile glance at Malveria.

"What do you think? Of course it might be a problem. A big
problem, if she ever got to hear about it, which she won't."

"I of course would never breathe a word," said Malveria.
"Though it's a shame to keep this a secret because as all the world
knows, you have been very short of sex recently. Will he come and visit
you again?"

"Absolutely not," stated Thrix.

"Why not? Was it not satisfactory?"

"What sort of question is that?"

"The sort of question which means it is time for you tell me
every detail of the sexual encounter," replied Malveria, meanwhile
borrowing Thrix's mascara to make a few minor repairs.

"No details."

"Not even one? This is very poor spirited, Enchantress. Did
you have sex on your desk?"

"No."

"On the floor?"

Thrix halted her make-up application.

"Malveria, I'm not going to tell you any details. I'm trying
to forget the details. It was a disastrous mistake to sleep with Gawain
and I'm now about to suppress the memory."

Malveria couldn't understand Thrix's attitude. She'd just
slept with a handsome and healthy young werewolf. She should be happy.

"If you are not pleased, why did you do it?"

"I don't know. He just came here to talk and things got out of
hand."

Malveria sniffed the air.

"Much alcohol was involved I suppose? Yes, it's a powerful
aphrodisiac, in my realm too. But I am not satisfied. You are not a
woman who will lose control of yourself, so why have sex with him? Do
you seek to control him?"

"No."

"Do you wish to break your sister's heart and trample on her
dreams?"

"No!"

"Then why?"

Thrix was frustrated at the Fire Queen's refusal to drop the
subject.

"I slept with him because I drank too much whisky, he's very
good looking, he has an excellent body, and I haven't had sex for a
long time. Will that do?" she said, marching out of the rest room.

She found herself confronted by Ann, a tray of coffee in her
hands.

"It seems reasonable enough," said Ann. "I've slept with men
for far less than that."

Thrix scowled at Ann and grabbed a mug of coffee.

"Are you all right?" asked Ann.

"She is fine!" said Malveria, appearing from the bathroom.
"May I have some coffee? Thank you. Is this not very entertaining, Ann,
esteemed personal assistant to my friend Thrix? That the Enchantress
should sleep with the werewolf who is so entangled with her sister
Kalix, is so full of ramifications that one can hardly imagine what it
may lead to."

"It won't lead to anything," retorted Thrix. "Because no one
is going to know. You're not to tell anyone."

"But Thrix my dear," protested. Malveria. "You are being
unreasonable. I'm a Hiyasta. We are not famed for our discretion."

"Not a word, Malveria, or I swear I'll never design another
frock for you."

The Fire Queen pouted, looking, as she did so, exactly like a
model m a magazine.

"Really Enchantress, you are so cold. What happened to the
famous werewolf passion? This is something to be talked about yet you
are swearing me to secrecy and not only this, you refuse to tell me any
details. And did I not entertain you with the tale of my sexual
encounter with three frost spirits only last month?"

The Fire Queen smiled at the memory.

"It will be a while before they can cool down enough to make
frost again!"

Malveria laughed heartily at her own joke.

"Three at once?" said Ann.

"Yes. You have never done this?"

"Enough!" roared Thrix. "No more talk about sex. I've a
meeting to attend. Ann, get me my papers. And don't gossip about this
round the office."

"I wouldn't dream of it," said Ann.

120

Moonglow was troubled by Kalix kissing Daniel. Or Daniel
kissing Kalix, depending on how you looked at it. Her natural
inclination was to blame Daniel, as he was older, but perhaps that
wasn't fair. Kalix had demonstrated her forceful personality before.

After the kiss the atmosphere in the house was slightly
strained. Daniel was embarrassed and Kalix stayed in her room, assuming
that Moonglow was annoyed with her. 'Probably she's drinking laudanum,'
thought Moonglow, which was another problem. Moonglow wondered if she
should talk to Kalix about it, but it was so difficult raising anything
with the young werewolf. The merest hint of criticism made her retreat
into an angry silence. Perhaps she should just let Kalix get on with
her life. Take as much laudanum as she wanted, cut herself, and never
eat. Moonglow wasn't comfortable with that. Kalix would surely come to
harm if she carried on like this.