Page 29 of No Man's Land

Lifting his drink, he said, “Thank you for saving my life. Now tell me what’s going on.”

Alex watched him in silence, firelight playing over his grave features. “If you leave now, your life will continue unaltered. Your world will continue unaltered. Nothing will change. If I tell you the truth, it will change everything.”

That, Josef suspected, was an attempt to frighten him. But what men like Lord Beaumont failed to understand was that men like Josef didn’t give a rat’s arse for continuity.Your world will go on unaltered?What use was that to him? The world was on fire, and he was happy to let it burn. Burn to the ground. From the ashes, they’d build a new world, a better world where men couldn’t be sent to war by governments they’d had no voice in electing. He was sick of this world, run by and for monied men who valued continuity over progress.

Leaning forward, elbows on knees, Josef said, “Changing the world is exactly what I intend to do, Lord Beaumont. So go on, change it for me.”

Their eyes locked in a push-pull of challenge and response. Alex bit lightly at his lower lip, a minor tell of vulnerability that spiked Josef’s pulse. Neither looked away,and, after a long pause, Alex said, “What attacked you in the tunnel this evening was not human.”

“Meaning what?” His mind grabbed at possibilities. “An animal? No, it looked like a man.” Not that he’d got a good look, but—

“It was a man, once, but it has been…altered.”

Josef frowned, shaking his head. “Explain. It’s an experiment? The government has…” Imagination faltered. “What?”

“The government has nothing to do with this.”

“Bollocks. You already admitted you work for the War Office.”

“Yes, well.” Alex hesitated. “That was an untruth, and I apologise. I don’t work for the War Office, or any branch of government. At least…” An odd smile touched his lips, secret and rueful. “Not this government. An…older one.”

“What? What the bloody hell does that mean?”

A shake of his head, as if trying to find words. “This is difficult. I’ve never had to explain—”

“Try.”

“Iam.” His eyes flashed in irritation, and he took a sip of his whisky. “Very well. The creature you encountered tonight was what we call a ghoul.”

Josef stared. Alex stared back, his gaze steady. He didn’t appear to be laughing, which was strange because this was clearly some kind of fucking joke. “For God’s sake,” Josef growled. “Is that meant to be funny?”

“Not in the slightest.”

He shot to his feet, prowled to the sideboard, and set down his drink. “I don’t even know what to say to you. This is some posh-boy joke, is it? Let’s tell the oik it’s a fucking goblin?”

“Not a goblin, a ghoul. Goblins are different.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

“You asked for the truth.”

Anger surged, hot and wild. “This isnotthe fucking truth. It’s bollocks. Why are you trying to—?” He shook his head. “God, this is what you think of me, is it? That you can ridicule me, or fob me off with a load of old crap? Well sod you,LordBeaumont. And expect to see your name in the fucking newspaper next to a picture of the dead men that…that thing, whatever it is, killed!” He stalked towards the door, his head thumping again. “Where are my fucking boots?”

“Josef, stop.” Alex was on his feet now. “Look, I know it’s difficult to believe, but you did ask—”

“It’s bollocks, is what it is. For God’s sake, you lying piece of shit, yesterday you told me it was an ‘infection’.”

Alex’s brow furrowed, embarrassed. “Yes. Well, I apologise for that dishonesty, but it was kindly meant. I was trying to protect you from—”

“For Christ’s sake! There’s a war on, man. Men are being slaughtered. The government is burning off their faces with mustard gas. Boys are dying in the mud screaming for their mothers. And you think—you think—” His voice hitched, rage choking him. “Is it all a joke to people like you?”

“Of course not, but this isn’t about the war. Rather, itisabout the war to the extent that the death and horrorof it draws dark creatures—”

“Shut up!” Josef spat. “I don’t want to hear it. God, I thought—” What? That they were friends? Hardly. “I thought you had more respect for me than this.”

Fuck his boots. He’d leave barefoot rather than spend another minute in the company of this man. And he didn’t know why he was so furious, why his eyes burned hot and stinging, except that he’d thought there’d been a connection that night in Poperinge. He’d thought it had been a mutual, equal connection. But all along Alex had looked down that straight, aristocraticnose of his and seen Josef as just another one of the ignorant, unwashed labouring masses. Good enough to fuck and stupid enough to believe any old shit their masters fed them.

Well sod that. Sod that to hell and back.

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