Page 45 of A Skirl of Sorcery
I felt the blood drain from my face. With slow, deliberate movements, I crawled around the chimney to the other side of the roof. When I saw the dark ‘gunk’ that Thane had mentioned, my heart skipped a beat.
Shit. Oh, shit. No wonder Cayden and the other Barrow werewolves were dangling on a precipice of bloody violence.Suddenly I had a very good idea as to what had happened to Ashina Barrow and quite possibly several others.
Steeling myself for the unpleasantness to come, I drew closer to the misshapen patch of black and crouched down. Even before I smelled it, I knew it was the same magical residue that I’d discovered opposite the Shellycoat house. It wasn’t as strong but it was definitely the same stuff.
I rocked back on my heels, no longer worried that somebody from the Barrow household might see me. Suddenly, that was the least of my concerns.
I called out to Thane in a low voice, ‘Did you get close to this … gunk?’
‘Close enough to know that it’s incredibly nasty. It reeks to high heaven of bad magic but, whatever it is, it’s old. I figured something dark and magical died up here and rotted away leaving that crap behind. I wouldn’t get too close if I were you.’
He didn’t need to tell me twice. ‘It’s not death residue,’ I told him. ‘This is something else. I think I know what’s happened to the Barrow pack.’
I glanced again at the boarded-up window as another thought occurred to me. Had the Barrows suffered a recent burglary as well as the Shellycoats? Uneasiness swirled around my belly: if Bin the trow had been involved, I’d had the chance to put a stop to him but instead I’d chosen to take a different path. If that were the case, I’d definitely chosen wrongly.
Thaneand I sat together in the corner of a busy café. The noise of clinking crockery and the chatter around us was more than enough to mask the sound of our conversation; we were lesslikely to be overhead in a busy spot than somewhere with no customers.
It had taken some persuasion to get Thane to leave his stake-out, but for once Tiddles had been on my side and had nipped his fingers to encourage him to listen to me. Now she was curled up on his lap snoring.
‘You’re saying that you believe what happened to this ban sith has also happened to my mo—’ he swallowed and corrected himself ‘—to Ashina Barrow?’
I didn’t beat around the bush. ‘The signs are there. If somebody could rip out a ban sith’s voice, they could also rip out a werewolf’s lupine soul. Ashina isn’t dead, but if she can no longer transform during the full moon she’ll be very sick, right? Sick enough for her pack to believe she’s dying.’
Thane’s skin was pale and his voice was distant. ‘The pack had to work hard to prove themselves in the years after I left. They didn’t want to appear weak, and that will still be a concern now.’
And that was the reason they’d not told anyone what had happened. I nodded.
‘And last time I checked,’ Thane continued, ‘there were nineteen Barrow werewolves. Last night there were seven. What if it’s not just Ashina who’s been affected but others, too? What if it’s not a coincidence that I only ran into seven of them last night?’
He met my eyes. ‘That’s why Cayden is so angry with me. All those years ago I weakened the Barrow pack and now he believes it’s my fault this is happening to them.’
‘It’s only a theory,’ I cautioned.
He sighed and rubbed a hand across his shorn, copper-coloured hair. ‘But it fits.’ Unfortunately it did.
‘How long do you think a werewolf can go without transforming?’ I asked.
‘We don’t have a choice, Kit. The full moon forces that transformation every month.’
I watched him. He knew what I was asking: if a werewolf was forced out of their wolf body and couldn’t return despite the demands of the full moon, how long would they survive? Months at best because the shock to their system and the inability to accede to their natural cycle wouldn’t be healthy. That could easily prove as lethal for a werewolf as Keres losing her ban sith wail. And it was obvious from the residue I’d found that the Barrow werewolves had been targeted long before the ban sith, so their time had to be running out.
‘I’m not a Barrow wolf, Kit,’ Thane whispered. ‘They’re not my family. Not any more. But I have to—’ he choked.
I took his hands in mine. ‘I get it, Thane. We’ll help them.’
‘How?’
‘I’m already on Keres’ case and I have a few ideas. You can’t talk to the Barrows but you know other werewolves. Maybe ask around and see if anyone knows what has happened to them?’ I gave him a warning look. ‘Don’t try and approach the Barrow pack yourself, will you? They want someone to blame and right now, for whatever stupid reason they’ve concocted amongst themselves, they’re blaming you.’
‘I’ll stay away.’ His voice was resigned.
‘You have to promise, Thane.’ I wanted my ginger werewolf to be safe; hell, Ineededhim to be safe.
He held my gaze. ‘You have my word.’ That was more than enough. ‘There are a few people I can speak to who might know what’s happening, and last night’s full moon could work in my favour because I’ll be more likely to catch them off-guard. They might be more willing to talk.’ As long as Thane was in problem-solving mode, he wasn’t focused on the trauma of what was happening.
I checked my watch. ‘Let’s reconvene this evening before the sun goes down.’
‘Eight o’clock?’ he asked. ‘At your place?’
