The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf

by Martin Millar

  “You’re welcome,” said Thrix. She smiled at Manny. He was quite a pretty boy, she thought. And pleasant too. She could see why Kalix liked him. Thrix transferred her gaze to a painting of a yellow cat. Or perhaps it was a lion, it was hard to tell.

  “Just one more thing. What does your father do?”

  Manny was surprised at the question. “Some sort of banking, I think. You know, in the city.”

  “Banking?”

  “Or investments maybe, I’ve never been sure. Why?”

  “Is this a cat or a lion?”

  “A lion.”

  “I like it,” said Thrix. “You do have a way with color.” She turned back toward Manny. “Your father is head of an organization that hunts werewolves.”

  “What? Why would you say something like that?”

  “Because it’s true. As you well know. And you told him the werewolves were coming.”

  “There’s no such thing as werewolves. Is this some sort of joke about my animal paintings?”

  Thrix shook her head. “Nothing to do with your paintings. Although now you mention it, Alex would be an excellent subject. When she’s a werewolf, I mean.”

  “Stop saying things like that!” said Manny, now quite alarmed.

  “You warned the Guild we were coming. But it didn’t work. Don’t you know your father’s lying dead in the ruins of his headquarters? I killed him!”

  “Go away!” cried Manny. “Stop saying all these mad things!”

  Thrix laughed. She transformed into her werewolf shape. Manny yelled in terror and stepped back, crashing into his easel and falling to the floor. Thrix picked him up, lifting him into the air with one hand.

  “Don’t kill me!” screamed Manny.

  Thrix drew the terrified young man toward her so that her snout almost touched his nose. “Why not?”

  “You said your sister was in love with me!”

  “Who cares what she thinks?”

  Thrix let go of Manny, then hit him across the face with the back of her taloned claw, a blow powerful enough to break his cheekbone. He crashed into the wall, blood spurting from his nose. Thrix hit him again, deliberately not killing him yet, because she wanted to hurt him. When Manny fell unconscious from the assault, she looked down on him with a mixture of loathing and disappointment.

  “I hoped you might last longer,” she snarled.

  She paused. “I really do owe my sister a dead boyfriend.”

  Thrix opened her jaws and bent down to kill him.

  “I think this is perhaps not the best idea,” said the Fire Queen, materializing at Thrix’s side.

  “Malveria!” yelled Thrix. “This is none of your business.”

  “Perhaps not. But I care about your welfare, dearest friend, and I do not think killing this young man will be good for you.”

  “That’s for me to decide,” said Thrix. But the madness went out of her eyes, and she looked around her, distracted, as if suddenly wondering what she was doing here.

  “I hoped that the violence of the attack might have purged the madness from your soul,” said the Fire Queen. “I see it has not.”

  Thrix stared out of the window, and didn’t reply.

  The Fire Queen looked down at Manny’s crumpled frame, unconscious on the floor, still bleeding. “Perhaps there really is a curse on the MacRinnalch women when it comes to love. Their boyfriends certainly do not fare well.”

  Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the front door.

  “What’s going on in there?” demanded a woman’s voice. “Are you all right? Should I call the police?”

  “It’s time for us to go,” said the Fire Queen. She spoke a spell in one of the ancient languages of the Hiyasta, a spell to hide Thrix’s aura and scent, so that no one would ever know she’d been there. “If the young man recovers, which is questionable, he will not remember you.”

  Malveria placed her hand gently on Thrix’s shoulder. “Perhaps the pure air of Minerva’s mountaintop will clear your mind.” With that, she dematerialized from the flat, taking the unresisting Thrix with her.

  CHAPTER 179

  A week after the attack, life was returning to normal in the small flat in Kennington. Kalix had been changing into a werewolf every night to accelerate her healing, and she had largely recovered, though she still suffered some pain from her wounds.

  “It’s lucky I got in better shape by exercising,” she said, limping into the living room. “Or I might have been in a really bad state.”

  Kalix sat down heavily beside Daniel. He’d spent most of the week in front of the fire, thawing himself out.

  “You’ve no idea how bad it felt when Malveria sucked out our energy,” he said, for perhaps the fiftieth time.

  “It wasn’t any fun getting machine-gunned either,” said Kalix.

  “Hey, you volunteered for that,” said Daniel. “Moonglow and I were unwitting victims.”

  Kalix smiled. Daniel was proud of his part in the rescue. “How did you know we needed rescuing anyway?”

  “Lady Gezinka told me,” said Daniel. “Obviously I made a big impression on her.”

  “Is Daniel going on about Lady Gezinka again?” said Moonglow, appearing from the kitchen. Kalix laughed. To hear Daniel tell it, the most beautiful aristocrat in the land of the Hainusta was obsessively in love with him.

  Moonglow shivered. “I’m still getting these bouts of feeling really cold.”

  “Me too,” said Daniel. “If I’d known how bad it was going to be I’d have let Decembrius die. How is he anyway?”

  “He’s getting better,” said Kalix, who’d been had been talking to Dominil on the phone.

  There was a crash in the kitchen.

  “You’d think Vex would be able to navigate to the living room by now,” said Daniel.

  Vex appeared. “This is the worst outrage ever! Aunt Malvie has requisitioned my bag!”

  “What bag?”

  “My Japanese green plastic bag! She says it’s a matter of national importance.” Vex looked down at the bag she was carrying, a new pink Hello Kitty basket. “She gave me this one to replace it.”

  “It’s nice,” said Moonglow.

  “I know. I like it better, really. But what’s the world coming to when your aunty steals your bag?” Vex grinned, and didn’t really seem very outraged. “Everyone feeling better?” she asked.

  “Just about,” said Kalix.

  “Me too,” said Vex. “And I’m going to see Pete tomorrow. I can’t wait.”

  Vex had been too busy to see her boyfriend for a week, and was feeling his absence. The doorbell rang. Vex bounded downstairs, and soon arrived back in the living room with Dominil. The white-haired werewolf also seemed to have made a full recovery. If she was still feeling pain from her wounds, she wasn’t admitting it.

  “Please excuse my intrusion,” said Dominil. “Are you all well?”

  Daniel, Moonglow, Vex and Kalix nodded. There was a moment’s awkward silence. No one had ever worked out how to make small talk with Dominil.

  “I have come to express thanks, both personally and from the clan. Daniel and Moonglow, thank you for rescuing us from the Guild’s building. Had you not arrived with the van, I doubt we would have survived. Agrivex, thank you for your healing. I have a letter from the Mistress of the Werewolves, formally declaring you friends of the MacRinnalch Clan. The Mistress of the Werewolves wished me to add, on a personal note, that if you are ever in the vicinity of Castle MacRinnalch, you are welcome to visit.” Dominil handed over the letter.

  “Does this include me?” asked Vex.

  “It does,” said Dominil. “The Mistress of the Werewolves has also written to the Fire Queen, declaring a wish that the long-standing bad feeling between the MacRinnalchs and the Hiyasta might be ended, in view of the assistance rendered to the clan by Queen Malveria and yourself.”

  Moonglow had risen from the couch, feeling it was the proper thing to do. “Thank you,” she said. “We appreciate it.”
/>   “We’re pleased to be werewolf friends,” said Daniel.

  “I shall inform the Mistress of the Werewolves when I visit the castle tomorrow,” said Dominil, quite formally. “There is one other thing I have to attend to. Agrivex, may I have a word with you in private?”

  “Like a secret meeting? Are we spies?”

  “No,” said Dominil. “Please come with me.”

  Dominil led Vex to the kitchen, leaving Daniel and Moonglow puzzled.

  “I have something unpleasant to tell you,” said Dominil.

  “What?”

  “Your boyfriend Pete. His motivation in pursuing a relationship with you is largely to make me jealous. This is a foolish endeavor. I have no interest in him.”

  Vex laughed. “Don’t be silly, Dominil. Why would you say such a silly thing?”

  “I’m under an obligation to inform you. It doesn’t matter to me whether you believe it or not. But as proof, if you desire it, I called Pete and made a date with him tomorrow night. He was very eager. I will not be making an appearance.”

  With that Dominil departed, walking calmly out the front door.

  Vex ran back into the living room, laughing. “Dominil’s gone mad,” she said. “You won’t believe what she just said! She thinks Pete is only going out with me to make her jealous! Isn’t that the silliest thing you’ve ever heard?” She looked at Daniel, Kalix and Moonglow, sitting on the couch. “Why aren’t you laughing?” she demanded.

  There was a long pause, ever more awkward than that generated by Dominil’s arrival.

  “Well . . .” began Daniel.

  There was another silence.

  “Don’t tell me you believe it?” cried Vex. “It’s the most stupid thing ever.

  Moonglow, you don’t think it’s true, do you?” Moonglow looked at the floor.

  “Kalix?” said Vex.

  Kalix looked at the floor, and also tried to hide behind Daniel.

  “I can’t believe this!” cried Vex. “What sort of friends are you? Dominil makes some mad accusations against my boyfriend and you all think it’s true!” Vex was rapidly becoming very agitated. “I’ll show you!” she cried. She took out her phone. “Dominil had some story about making a date with him tomorrow.”

  Vex called her boyfriend. “Hello, Pete! I’ve missed you this week! What are we doing tomorrow?”

  There was a pause. A slight wrinkle appeared on Vex’s forehead.

  “What do you mean you can’t see me? We arranged to go to the cinema.”

  There was a longer pause. Vex’s brow became furrowed. “You have to visit your grandmother in hospital? Really? Well, OK.” She ended the phone call. “He has to visit his grandmother in hospital.”

  Daniel, Moonglow and Kalix were still looking at the floor. Vex stared at them for a while, then looked at herself in the mirror above the fireplace. She teased out a few strands of hair. “I need to bleach it again,” she said. “I can see some dark roots.”

  Vex turned swiftly toward her friends. “Would everybody stop staring at the floor?”

  “I think I’ll make some tea,” said Moonglow.

  “Don’t run away and make tea!” cried Vex. “Is this true? Does Pete really not like me? He said he did.” Vex was suddenly filled by a crushing feeling of humiliation which she’d never encountered before. “Does everyone know about this?”

  “We suspected,” said Daniel. “Because that’s what the twins thought.”

  “Oh.” Vex looked bewildered. “Well, this really sucks.” She began to glow, a faint trace of orange becoming visible over her dark skin. “I can’t believe this. This is the worst thing ever. I get a stupid boyfriend who pretends he likes me and really he’s only using me to make someone else jealous!”

  The orange glow became more noticeable.

  “And this is right after Nagasaki Night Fight Boom Boom Girl was such a letdown! I really hate it!” Vex clenched her fists. “I am so angry with everything!”

  The young Fire Elemental stretched out her arms to indicate how angry she was, and then, to everyone’s astonishment, a bolt of red flame shot out from her hand. It hit the wall like a laser, and pierced the brick, leaving the wallpaper on fire.

  Vex froze. She looked at her hand in wonder, amazed at what had happened.

  “Congratulations, niece,” said the Fire Queen, materializing smoothly in the room. She snapped her fingers, extinguishing the flames. “I am sorry, Moonglow, for yet another piece of household damage. I will pay for repairs.”

  She turned to Agrivex. “It seems that you have finally learned how to produce fire. I will not send you to Arch-wizard Krathrank.”

  “Oh,” said Vex. She was still stunned. “That’s good I suppose.” A tear trickled from her eye, sizzling as it made its way down her cheek. “I lost my boyfriend.”

  “Nothing could have been better for teaching you fire,” said Malveria. “A disastrous relationship will benefit you greatly in the end.”

  “It doesn’t feel like a benefit.”

  The Fire Queen looked toward Moonglow.

  “I’ll make tea,” said Moonglow.

  “Excellent,” said Malveria. “We shall drink tea, Agrivex, and you may eat biscuits, and tell us of your hatred for Pete. Afterward you will come back to the palace, and share a bottle of wine with myself, Iskiline and Gruselvere. The pain of your boyfriend disaster will soon fade, but your new powers of fire will remain.”

  CHAPTER 180

  “Markus can’t resign as Thane,” said Verasa. “The Thane is appointed for life.”

  Clan Secretary Rainal studied the letter, handwritten on the thick, cream-colored stationery used by the clan for official business.

  “He says he’s resigning.”

  “He can’t.”

  “He’s left the castle.”

  “I expect he’s in Edinburgh,” said the Mistress of the Werewolves. Markus’s letter of resignation had come as a severe shock, but she was refusing to let it show. “He just needs time to sort out his thoughts.”

  There was little indication as to what Markus’s thoughts may have been in the brief note he’d sent to Rainal, but Verasa knew why Markus had resigned. He’d been humiliated to the point where he no longer felt able to continue as leader of the MacRinnalchs.

  “It’s preposterous,” she said. “I won’t see my son driven from the clan by these false rumors.”

  Rainal didn’t reply. He’d heard Verasa’s vehement denials and he wasn’t going to contradict her. Privately, he believed the rumors. He’d watched the fight from the battlements, and he remembered clearly how Wallace’s strength had suddenly deserted him, just when it seemed he would defeat Markus.

  “What are we going to tell the clan?” he asked.

  “Nothing. I’ll go to Edinburgh and bring Markus back.”

  “What about the council meeting?”

  “Meeting?” said Verasa. “We don’t have enough council members for a meeting.”

  Baron MacGregor had announced his intention of leaving. The MacGregors would take no further part on the confederation of the werewolf clans. The MacAllisters had not yet taken such a drastic step, but Baron MacAllister was in mourning for his sister and would not attend the forthcoming meeting. Whether he would attend any other remained to be seen. Thrix was apparently still too ill to travel. Decembrius was also too unwell to attend. With the habitual absence of Butix, Delix, Marwanis and Kalix, the Great Council no longer had enough members to function.

  “Even if we coaxed Great Mother Dulupina from her chambers, we’d still only have eight out of seventeen.” The Mistress of the Werewolves couldn’t remember the last time a council meeting had been cancelled for lack of attendees. “And now, of all times. With Sarapen back.”

  Rainal scanned the Mistress of the Werewolves’ features for some sign of her thoughts about the unexpected return of her eldest son. They’d never been close and they’d ended up as bitter enemies. But on this, Verasa was guarding her feelings.

 
; “Do you think Sarapen will try for the Thaneship?” he asked.

  “There’s no Thaneship for Sarapen to try for. Markus is Thane.” Verasa put Markus’s letter in her pocket. “Don’t mention this to anyone. Is Dominil here yet?”

  “She should be arriving at the castle any minute.”

  Verasa had informed Dominil that there was unlikely to be a council meeting, but Dominil had expressed her intention of coming to the castle anyway. She wanted to make a report on the attack, which, she felt, was due to the clan.

  “There are a lot of relatives waiting to hear what she has to say,” said Rainal. The families of Eskandor, Barra and Feargan all wanted to know how they’d died. Dominil might be in for a difficult time.

  “She’s not one to shirk her duties, I’ll give her that,” said the Mistress of the Werewolves.

  “She seems like the only one who’s fully recovered. Where do you want to meet her?”

  “Show her here,” she said. “There’s no point refusing to receive her when she’s the only one who can tell us what happened in London. And we need to know everything about Sarapen.”

  Rainal paused as he was leaving. “Are you going to tell Dominil about the motion to remove her?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t suppose I have to, if there isn’t going to be a council meeting this month.”

  Baron MacPhee had tabled a motion proposing that Dominil be removed from the council because of her laudanum addiction. He wasn’t the only one who was unhappy with her continued presence. Feelings against her had grown after the deaths in London. There was some antipathy against Thrix as well, but she was the Thane’s sister, and too well connected to be assailed. Dominil was a different matter. She’d never been popular.

  “It would be best if you told her,” advised Rainal. “She’ll hear it from someone else anyway. Eskandor’s father is furious about his son’s death. I’ve asked the guards on duty to make sure there’s no trouble.”

  CHAPTER 181

  Kalix wanted to contact Manny but her nerve failed her.

  He asked me to call. It won’t be humiliating. I should do it.

  Kalix started to dial his number, but gave up halfway through. She couldn’t face it. What if she called and he’d changed his mind about wanting to talk to her? She was too fearful of rejection to take the chance.