Verasa took another sip of wine, put the glass down on a small oak table, then changed instantly into her werewolf form. “Has anyone heard from Decembrius?” she asked.
Markus shook his head. “He doesn’t seem to want to get in touch.”
Verasa frowned, though her frown was mostly hidden by her shaggy fur. “Lucia isn’t pleased.”
Markus almost laughed. Verasa’s sister Lucia had been so proud when Decembrius was elevated to the Great Council. Her pride had quickly evaporated when her son showed no desire to come back to the castle.
“Why is he staying in London? Now that Sarapen’s gone, what is there to keep him there?”
Markus didn’t know. Unless it was just the desire to distance himself from Lucia, something that Markus could understand. Markus had always been very close to his own mother, but he knew the feeling of being suffocated by his family. “Maybe he likes the pretty girls,” he suggested.
The Mistress of the Werewolves was not amused. “There are plenty of pretty girls in the clan. The castle is full of them. Please try to contact him again. He really should make an appearance at the next council meeting.”
Chapter 21
Between the impressive edifice that was Waterloo Station and the dull concrete blocks that formed the National Theatre sat several streets of dark old tenements, constructed of huge blocks of gray stone. They emanated a certain seediness, home to some of the city’s less important companies and smaller banks from far-flung corners of the globe, too unimportant to occupy any of the capital’s main commercial areas. Here lay Kalix’s college, occupying a building that had seen better days. From the window of Kalix’s classroom, she could see the gray concrete roof of the Hayward art gallery. Across the river, though just out of sight, was King’s College, where Moonglow and Daniel were studying. Though Kalix had never been inside King’s College, she was sure it must be a grander place than this. The walls were a faded cream, undecorated for many years. The language charts on the walls were faded, and the computers on the desks bulky and old-fashioned. The drab classroom didn’t encourage Kalix to learn anything. Perhaps nothing could. She was too preoccupied with thoughts of Gawain and of the letter he’d written her.
A Chinese teenager who’d said hello to her yesterday greeted her in a friendly manner. Kalix stared at him. She didn’t intend to make friends with any of her fellow students. She paid little attention to anything the teacher said and was surprised when, on hearing Vex’s voice, she looked up to find the young Fire Elemental once more reciting a poem. Kalix was puzzled. As far as she knew, they weren’t studying poetry today. Possibly Vex had just stood up and started reciting anyway. Kalix looked expectantly at the teacher, hoping she might tell Agrivex to sit down and be quiet, but she didn’t. Apparently, just getting up and reading a poem was something to be encouraged.
I am sure I will one day have a hedgehog
And we will be great friends.
Perhaps my hedgehog will help overthrow the evil Queen Malveria
Whose subjects hated her for her persecution of Princess Agrivex
She would never buy her anything
Not even new boots she really needed.
Kalix was bewildered. It was even worse than the last poem. She hoped the class might rise up in rebellion and ridicule Vex for her dreadful poetry. Failing that, the teacher could at least expel her. Unfortunately, neither of these things happened. The teacher seemed impressed and once more complimented Vex on her imagination. Several Japanese students at the front of the class were busy copying it down. Kalix sighed. She really wasn’t enjoying being here.
“Would you like to pick some verbs out of Agrivex’s poem?” asked the teacher, looking at Kalix.
Kalix quailed. She couldn’t remember the poem and wasn’t entirely sure what a verb was anyway. She glanced around at Vex, but Vex was preoccupied in writing “gold star” under her poem. The teacher looked encouragingly at Kalix. Kalix looked down at the blank paper in front of her and wished desperately that she was somewhere else. She couldn’t bear it that the whole class was looking at her. Eventually, after what seemed like a very long time, the teacher moved on to another student.
At lunchtime Kalix made her way to the refectory. She wasn’t hungry and intended to simply sit on her own and think about Gawain. He wanted to see her. Kalix didn’t know whether she should go or not. Perhaps she should reply to the letter? But of course, she couldn’t write well enough to manage a whole letter, and she couldn’t ask anyone to do it for her.
The young werewolf slumped into a chair with the air of a person who did not want company. Ignoring this, Vex arrived immediately with a tray of food, followed by several more students, all of whom Vex appeared to have made friends with already. Kalix hadn’t made any friends. She was irritated to be surrounded by a group of teenagers all talking excitedly about things she knew nothing about.
“Hey Kalix, aren’t you going to eat anything? This soup looks good.” Vex tasted her soup and winced. “Okay, I was wrong. Maybe they have some raw steak? You’d like that.”
Kalix glared at Vex. They were supposed to be keeping their true natures secret. No one was supposed to know that Kalix was a werewolf and Vex a Fire Elemental. Kalix was experienced in hiding her true nature and could do it easily enough, but Agrivex seemed almost oblivious to the necessity of being discreet. Kalix wouldn’t be surprised to hear herself described as a Scottish werewolf in Vex’s next poem.
“You should eat,” said Vex. “Build up your strength for the house meeting.”
Kalix was immediately alarmed. “House meeting? What house meeting?”
Vex didn’t seem to know much about it. “Moonglow just said to tell you we were having a house meeting tonight.”
Kalix’s alarm grew, and her heart began to race. “Is it about me?”
“Probably,” said Vex, cheerfully. “But don’t worry, I keep telling them we have to make allowances for you.”
Before Kalix could pursue the matter further, a small, pale girl sat down next to them. Vex greeted her enthusiastically, having befriended her earlier in the day.
“I like your hair,” the girl said, turning towards Kalix. “I wish mine would grow like that.”
Kalix was disturbed to find her hair being complimented by a girl she didn’t know and shrank away, unsure how to respond. She wished again that Vex hadn’t brought all these strangers to their table. The whole experience of being at college was proving even more painful than she’d anticipated. She wondered if she should just leave. But then everyone would be annoyed at her—her mother, Daniel, Moonglow, Vex. Kalix bridled. Why was she bothered if these people were annoyed at her? She was Kalix MacRinnalch, daughter of the Thane of the MacRinnalchs. She shouldn’t have to care what anyone thought of her.
“What conditioner do you use?”
Kalix sighed and shrank further down in her chair and worried again about the house meeting.
Chapter 22
Kalix arrived home to find Daniel in the kitchen, making tea.
“What’s the house meeting for?” she asked.
Daniel didn’t know. “Just some whim of Moonglow’s.”
“I don’t want to come. Have the meeting without me.”
“Moonglow insists,” said Daniel. He didn’t want to attend a house meeting either but had resigned himself to his fate.
“But I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Daniel attempted to calm the young werewolf’s agitation.
“No one’s accusing you of doing anything wrong. We just have to talk about, eh…whatever Moonglow wants to talk about.”
“I need to go to my room.”
Daniel smiled. “If you fill yourself up with laudanum and pass out, Moonglow will know.”
The young werewolf sighed. She didn’t like the sound of this at all and imagined she was about to be blamed for something. During her upbringing at Castle MacRinnalch, any time she’d been summoned to a meeting, it was to receive some serious telling
off from her parents. Her shoulders drooped as she followed Daniel into the living room. Moonglow and Vex were already sitting at the dining table, which Daniel had recently stopped from tilting by folding up a music magazine and putting it under one of the legs, a home improvement of which he was rather proud.
“It’s a bit cold in here,” said Daniel, and he went to turn on the gas fire.
“Leave the fire alone!” exclaimed Moonglow.
“But it’s cold.”
Moonglow held up a bill that had an alarming amount of red ink on it. “We can’t afford to pay the gas bill.” She swept her hand through a pile of paper in front of her. “We can’t afford any of these bills. That’s why we have to talk.”
“What’s a bill?” asked Vex.
“It’s the money we have to pay for gas. And electricity. And council tax. And rent. And the water bill. And the TV license. And our broadband connection and cable TV. And the phone.”
Daniel felt himself weakening and hastily sat down. “Are we behind with everything?”
Moonglow held up a series of bills, all saying final demand. Several of them threatened swift action by collection agencies.
“Why do we have to pay so much council tax?” asked Daniel, mystified. “The place is a dump. What does the council do for us?”
“Collects the rubbish. Maintains the sewers. Provides schools for our children if we had any. It does seem like a lot, but we have to pay it, and quickly, or they’ll send around the bailiffs. As will the electricity company.”
Vex looked disappointed. “This house meeting isn’t as much fun as I thought it was going to be.”
Moonglow had organized the bills in order of the most urgent. “We shouldn’t have let ourselves get into this position. We’ll need to see what money we have now and pay the most important ones. Then I’ll phone the others and work out some sort of payment schedule. But we’ll all have to start budgeting better, and we’ll have to start saving money around the house. Kalix, why have you just turned into a werewolf?”
“No reason.”
“Being a werewolf doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay bills.”
“Oh.” Kalix changed back to human. “I thought it might.”
“Hey, I’m a Fire Elemental, and I pay bills,” proclaimed Vex.
“No, you don’t,” Moonglow corrected her.
“Don’t I?”
“No.”
“I thought Aunt Malvie took care of things like that?”
“Malveria gives you a set amount each month. You’re supposed to pay the bills out of that. She explained it to you very clearly when you moved in.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Quite sure. The next day you went off and bought twelve T-shirts.”
“I like T-shirts,” said Vex, brightly. She noticed everyone was staring at her. “Maybe I could manage with less.”
“We’ll all just have to economize,” said Daniel, diplomatically. “No point blaming anyone.”
“Really?” asked Moonglow. “I was thinking of blaming you for buying so much music and video games that you can’t pay the phone bill.”
“Well, Kalix eats a lot of meat! Think how expensive that is!”
“Hey!” protested Kalix. “I don’t use as much heating as Daniel. He’s always got the fire on.”
“I don’t have a comfy werewolf coat. I need the fire on. Who is it spends hours in hot showers?”
“I need to keep my coat clean. At least I don’t use the hair dryer for an hour at a time.”
“My hair takes a lot of careful drying!” protested Moonglow. “And I’m the only one who’s budgeted properly to pay these bills! You’ve all just spent your money on everything else!”
“Well, to be fair…” began Daniel, but his words dried up.
“Yes?” demanded Moonglow.
“Nothing.”
“Were you going to say I have more money than you?”
“No. Maybe.”
“Yes, you were. Fine, my parents give me a little more money than yours do. I still have to budget. You don’t see me walking around in new shoes all the time.”
“You bought new shoes last week.”
Moonglow flushed. “They were my first pair for ages. And who helped pay for your car tax last month?”
Kalix and Vex shrank in their chairs at the mention of Daniel’s car. They were supposed to give him money for a share of the petrol, but neither had done so.
Daniel sighed but tried to remain diplomatic. It was unlike Moonglow to voice such annoyance, but he realized she’d been driven to it by the rest of the household’s reluctance to heed her warnings. “Okay, we’re in a mess. Moonglow, if you tell us all what we owe, we’ll just have to raise the money as best we can.”
“So, am I forbidden to buy clothes and stuff?” asked Vex, who, for the first time, seemed to be appreciating the seriousness of the situation.
“You’re not forbidden to buy anything. You just have to make sure you pay your share of the bills.”
“Is that before or after I buy clothes?”
“Before.”
Vex looked miserable. “House meetings really suck,” she muttered.
* * *
After the meeting was over, Kalix escaped to her own room as quickly as possible. She was relieved not to have been directly blamed for their problems, but now she was worried about money. The allowance her mother gave her wasn’t overly generous, but it should have been enough to pay for her rent, bills, and upkeep. Unfortunately Kalix spent a large proportion of it on laudanum, and that wasn’t something she could do without. She sipped a little from her bottle and wondered if she could cut down on her intake. The thought made her anxious.
As she lay on the bed, she had the troubling feeling that she was spending her life pretending to be a normal person, making a budget and paying bills, when really she wasn’t normal at all. She was a werewolf. She’d never felt strange about being a werewolf before. But now, trying to fit in with the rest of the household, she found herself troubled by the differences between them all, and it made her unhappy.
She took Daniel’s werewolf comic from her table to distract her attention and struggled to read more of it. As far as Kalix could make out, Arabella Wolf had been bitten by a werewolf, changing into a werewolf herself, and now terrorized New York every full moon. Kalix looked disapprovingly at a picture of Arabella, growling at a pair of young lovers in an alleyway.
“She looks ridiculous. Werewolves don’t look like that.”
Later Arabella woke up in Central Park. She couldn’t remember anything that had happened. Outside the park, newspaper vendors were selling papers with headlines about more grisly murders. Arabella was worried as she made her way back to her boyfriend’s apartment. Her boyfriend worked for the FBI.
“I’ve been assigned to solve these terrible killings,” he told Arabella. “There’s an insane beast on the rampage, and the city is terrified.”
“I hate this comic,” muttered Kalix. “It’s completely anti-werewolf from start to finish.”
Chapter 23
Thrix arrived later than she intended at Castle MacRinnalch. Her mother was displeased.
“Markus needs your support, Thrix.”
Thrix scowled. She and her brother Markus heartily disliked each other, as her mother knew very well.
“Support? What for? The war’s ended.”
“There are plenty of other affairs the MacRinnalchs need to attend to.”
“I have more important things to worry about.”
The Mistress of the Werewolves was shocked. The enchantress cared more for her business than she did for the clan, but there was no need to be so rude about it. Verasa looked at her daughter curiously. Thrix was as glamorous as ever, golden-haired and beautifully attired, but there was something unusual about her manner.
“Is anything wrong?” she asked Thrix.
“I told you, I’d rather not be here.”
“You’d always rat
her not be here, but you’re not normally this hostile. Has something upset you?”
Thrix felt uncomfortable. Though she was a skilled sorceress who’d studied with the renowned Minerva MacRinnalch, it was difficult to fool her mother. The Mistress of the Werewolves was a very shrewd wolf. Not much escaped her notice, particularly in family matters.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just stressed from work.”
“I thought business was good? Didn’t Tatler print that nice piece about your last show?”
Thrix made a face. “They did. But it’s not enough. Buyers are not necessarily impressed by catwalk reviews. I’ve spent the last three months trying to persuade London stores to sell my clothes, and I don’t seem to be getting anywhere.”
It was a problem that was much on Thrix’s mind at the moment. Her standing in the fashion world had risen recently. Her clothes were generally liked. Unfortunately, she needed to sell them to keep her business going, and fashion outlets had a remarkable ability to delay making decisions.
“They keep you waiting for months and then tell you they’ve decided to go with someone else. It’s infuriating.” Thrix poured herself whisky from the crystal decanter on the table. In common with virtually every other member of the family, the enchantress was fond of the MacRinnalch malt.
“Have you seen Kalix?” asked Verasa.
If this was an attempt to change the subject, it was a poor choice. Thrix bristled at the mention of her young sister’s name.
“No, I have not. And please don’t say you need me to look after her. I’ve done enough of that.”
“I wouldn’t say you ever took to the task that well.”
“I helped her to hide,” said Thrix, “which was more than anyone else in the family did for her.”
Verasa nodded. It was true. Thrix had helped to hide Kalix, and she was grateful for that. The Mistress of the Werewolves was an elegant woman who always looked her best for council meetings. If her clothes were conservative by Thrix’s standards, she couldn’t fault them. Verasa was never less than immaculate. The MacRinnalch children had inherited her good looks. At least Thrix, Kalix, and Markus had. Sarapen had been much more like their late father.
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