Destiny of the Last Wolf Page 18

  "So you're sure it's safe?" Sam asks as it finally gets too dark for me to read. I put the book back on the shelf, determined to get up early and check some more titles. To be honest, I'm starting to panic a little, because this trip to the library really is my last chance. I have no back-up plan if I can't find an answer here, other than perhaps to head up to the Scottish Estate and see if I can make contact with the werewolves who live up there. Maybe I should have done that right from the start, but I guess it's too late for regrets now.

  "It's about as safe as South London," I say. "Does that make you feel better?"

  "Not really," she replies.

  "It'll be fine," I reassure her. "I'll keep an eye out for any trouble. If something happens, climb up the shelves and wait for me at the top, okay? Try not to run off." As I say the words, though, I realize that if anything does attack us, Sam's first instinct will be to turn and run. I've brought her into a dangerous situation, and with a bit of bad luck she could end up like me, wandering between the shelves, lost and alone. At least I'm a werewolf and I was able to look after myself, but Sam's human. "Here," I say, handing her the map. "In case of emergencies."

  "Do you have a spare?" she asks, taking the little piece of folded paper.

  "Sure," I say, lying. I guess if we get separated, I'll just have to hope that I can remember the way back to the main entrance.

  Sam and I clear some space on one of the shelves, and soon Sam is asleep. I find it harder to relax, though, and I find myself thinking back to the day Duncan first brought me to the library. So much has happened since then. I pull his tail from my pocket and sit there staring at it. I know Duncan can be pretty annoying, but right now I'd give anything to get him back. I've saved him once before, so why can't I do it again? Thomas Lumic can be stopped, but I need to come up with a better plan; at the moment, I'm running on empty. Finally, holding Duncan's tail in my hand, I fall asleep.

  When I wake up, it's light and I immediately realize that something's wrong. Duncan's tail has vanished, and as I look around for it, I start to worry that someone - or something - might have stolen it.

  "What's wrong?" Sam asks, sitting a few meters away as she eats a sandwich.

  "Where's the tail?" I ask. "I had it in my hand!"

  Sam points up towards the top of the shelf above me. "I put it up there," she says. "I figured it was a full moon, and... Well, I just figured it was worth a try." She pauses. "Are you mad at me?"

  "No," I say, though to be honest I am kind of annoyed. She's put the tail out of sight, and anything could have gone up there and got it. "We just have to -"

  Suddenly there's a noise from above. I look up, but I can't see anything. Still, I definitely heard something moving about on top of the shelf.

  "Did you hear that?" Sam asks, a startled look in her eyes.

  "Maybe," I say, just as there's another noise from the same place. Either some kind of creature is up there, probably getting read to eat the tail, or... "Duncan!" I shout. "Are you up there?"

  Silence.

  I step forward and start climbing up the shelves, and Sam follows just behind me. As I get close to the top, however, my foot slips and I plummet back down to the ground, landing hard. The impact shakes me and, for a moment, I stare up at the sky.

  "Jess," Sam calls out.

  "What?" I ask, sitting up.

  "Come up here," she says. She sounds a little shocked by something.

  "What's wrong?" I ask, getting back to my feet and starting to climb up again. "Is the tail still there?"

  "Kind of," she replies.

  "What does that mean?" I ask, reaching the top and climbing over the edge to join her. "Is the -" I stop suddenly as I see what Sam is seeing. A million thoughts rush through my head. "No way," I say quietly.

  "Is that Duncan?" Sam asks.

  "Er..." I pause. "I don't know... Maybe..."

  Ahead of us, looking lost and confused, there's a young boy. He looks to be only four or five years old, and he stares back at us with a kind of wild expression; but as I look into his eyes, I see the truth.

  It is Duncan!

  Jess

  "Careful," Sam says, grabbing Duncan and pulling him close. We're back down on the ground now, between the shelves, and Duncan - who still hasn't said anything - seems reluctant to be with us. He keeps trying to wander off, and Sam's doing a good job of repeatedly forcing him to stay.

  "Give me a minute," I say, frantically searching through the book. Finally I find the right section, where the illustrious Mr. Honners discusses the rebirth of werewolves. It seems it's fairly standard for the rebirth to happen like this, and I guess I was jumping the gun a little when I assumed that Duncan would come back 'fully formed'. It never occurred to me that he might start off as a kid again, and now I'm desperately trying to find out what this means: do I have to wait for him to grow up, and will he have all of Duncan's original memories?

  "He must be growing fast," Sam says. "I mean, last night he was just a tail, and now he's a kid. Maybe we just have to hang on a bit, and he'll be all grown up by dinner?"

  "Maybe," I say, still trying to find something - anything - in the book that will at least give me hope. The last thing I need right now is to have to deal with a young Duncan running about. Closing the book, I'm horrified by the notion of having to help Duncan through a hyper-accelerated version of puberty.

  "He reminds me of my little brother," Sam says. "Quiet, not saying much, that kind of thing. I like kids that are insular. The ones who shout and scream get on my nerves."

  "Sure," I say, not really listening as I step over and kneel down in front of Duncan. "Okay, Duncan, can you hear me? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  He nods.

  I bite my lip for a moment, trying to work out what to do. "What do you remember?" I ask him. "Do you remember anything at all?"

  He stares at me.

  "Duncan, you need to answer me," I say firmly. "Do you remember me?"

  He frowns.

  "For fuck's sake," I say, sighing, "can you just -"

  "Not like that," Sam says, pushing me out of the way. "Duncan, it's okay. Ignore her, she's just a bit anxious. Do you know what's going on?"

  He shakes his head.

  "Do you know how you got here?"

  He pauses. "No," he says finally.

  Sam smiles. "At least you can talk," she says. She turns to me. "That's good, right? He remembers how to talk, which means he can probably remember other things from his previous life." She stares at me. "Doesn't it?"

  "I hope so," I say, but I'm still not convinced. What I needed was a full, back-to-normal Duncan; what I've got is a little kid who seems like he's going to cause more problems than he solves.

  "Duncan," Sam says, turning back to him, "do you know who this is?" She points at me. "Do you know her name?"

  Duncan stares at me. "Jess," he says finally.

  "That's right," Sam continues, "and do you know who..." She pauses. "Jess, name someone he should remember."

  "Thomas Lumic," I say.

  "Do you know who Thomas Lumic is?" Sam asks. I have to give her credit: she's good with Duncan, and she gets more answers out of him than I managed.

  "No," Duncan replies.

  "We have to get out of here," I say, trying not to sound like I'm panicking. "We have to get back to London and..." My voice trails off as I realize I'm all out of plans. This was my plan, and it's not worked out how I expected. The only hope now is that Duncan might grow up faster than a normal kid, but I'm not counting on that.

  "And what?" Sam asks. "Is there really any point to London if you don't know what to do?" She pauses. "Why are you bothering, anyway? You've got Duncan back, even if it's not quite how you wanted it to be. Do you really need to stop this Thomas Lumic person?"

  "He..." I start to say, but then it hits me: maybe she's right? The only threat Lumic posed was that he wanted to kill Duncan. Now that he thinks he's done that, and he's got a body, maybe he'll just... go away?
I mean, it's not like he had some grand plan to take over the world. He'll probably just shuffle off and I'll never hear anything about him again, so why am I so bothered about stopping him? I look over at Duncan, and I realize that I could just wait around for him to get older. Failing that, I could drop him off at the Scottish Estate and let the other werewolves raise him. I've been wanting to be free of him for a while, so why not just use this opportunity?

  "What about when the darkness falls?" Duncan asks suddenly.

  "The what?" I ask.

  "The darkness," he says, fixing me with a slightly creepy stare. "What are we going to do when the darkness falls?"

  "I don't know what that means," I say. "What are you talking about?"

  He looks at Sam.

  "What's the darkness, Duncan?" she asks.

  "It's coming, isn't it?" Duncan says to her. "I thought you knew everything."

  "We don't know everything," Sam replies. "Jess doesn't know very much at all, and I know even less."

  "Lumic mentioned darkness," I say. "He said pretty much the same thing about darkness falling. I assumed he was just talking crap, trying to intimidate me. But maybe there was more to it."

  "Did Duncan ever mention darkness before?" Sam asks.

  I shake my head. "I don't know what it means, but I don't like the sound of it. Come on, let's get out of here."

  "And go where?" Sam asks.

  "I'll think of something," I say, as I start walking. I turn back to her. "Give me the map."

  She hands it back to me, but I can see she's not happy with the situation. I guess this is how Duncan used to feel, when I was always waiting for him to come up with a plan. Now the burden of expectation is on my shoulders, and I'm the one who's supposed to solve everything. I glance over at Duncan. "Not so smart now, are you?" I say.

  He stares at me.

  "Never mind," I say, heading off along the aisle.

  "Are we going back to London?" Sam asks as she and Duncan follow me.

  "No," I say.

  "Where are we going?"

  "North," I say. "We're taking Duncan home."

  Jess

  By the time we reach the edge of the Scottish estate, it's been almost a week since Duncan was 'killed' by Lumic. I don't know how long it's going to take for Lumic to get full control over Duncan's old body, but I'm pretty sure he must be stronger by now. Sam and I have wasted so much time, though at least we've got Duncan back. Sort of, anyway. During the two-day journey from the library up to Scotland, Duncan has spectacularly failed to grow up. He's still a kid, and he still doesn't want to speak to me much. He's much closer to Sam, which leaves me feeling a little left out. Frankly, I'm being made to feel like the mean, stern adult in this situation, and I don't like it at all.

  "So this is where the werewolves live?" Sam asks as we walk through the forest.

  "This is where the werewolves live," I reply, not feeling like I want to be particularly helpful. "Most of them, anyway."

  "How come I've never heard about any of this?" she continues. "I mean, no-one knows about all of this."

  "I guess it's a big secret," I say. "Most of the werewolves are happy to live up here, away from human civilization. I've got to be honest, I understand their point of view."

  "So why are you and Duncan different?" Sam asks.

  "Duncan likes hanging out with people," I say, "and I was originally human. There are exceptions to every rule."

  "But why -"

  "No more questions," I say, interrupting her. The whole journey has basically become one big question and answer session, and I'm getting a bit tired of constantly explaining things for her. Was I this annoying when I was with Duncan? I suddenly stop walking as I hear a sound nearby. "Quiet," I say.

  We all stand in silence for a moment, before a figure emerges from behind a tree. A man, about my age and quite hot, stares at us with suspicion. He has the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen.

  "I'm here to see the Ancient Wolf," I say. This is the kind of thing that Duncan used to say. Now I'm saying it. Weird. I still feel like an outsider on the Scottish Estate. I was born human, and all the other werewolves know that. I stick out like a sore thumb and I'll never, ever be fully accepted.

  "Why have you brought humans here?" he asks, clearly unimpressed.

  "The girl is safe," I say. "You have my personal guarantee, she can be trusted. The boy is one of us. He's the reborn body of Duncan."

  The man walks over to Duncan and stares at him for a moment before smiling. "The great Duncan, huh?" he says. He leans down and looks directly into Duncan's face. "How does it feel to be a little kid again?"

  Duncan moves behind Sam, clearly afraid of the man.

  "My name is Christian," the man says, and he seems a little more relaxed and friendly now that he knows who we are. "I can't guarantee that the Ancient Wolf will be able to see you. Lately, he's become withdrawn and he accepts few visitors. But you're welcome to come and announce yourselves, and see if he'll make an exception."

  "Thanks," I say.

  "Follow me," Christian replies, leading us through the forest. He glances at Sam again, and he clearly doesn't like having her here. At least when I first came to the Scottish Estate, I'd already been turned into a werewolf. Sam's still human, so this must be doubly terrifying for her.

  "Hey," Sam whispers, leaning in close to me, "are all werewolves this hot?"

  "Not all of them," I whisper back, "but quite a lot of them." As I'm speaking, I see Christian glance back at us with a smile. Damn it, I always forget that werewolves tend to have much better hearing than normal people.

  "Can humans and werewolves... do it?" Sam whispers.

  "Yes," I reply. "They can."

  "Is it good?" she asks.

  "I guess it depends on the human and the werewolf," I reply.

  She smiles. "I think it'd be hot with this Christian guy."

  "Probably," I say, "but there's something important you should know."

  "What?"

  I pause. "He can hear us."

  Sam looks shocked for a moment, and Christian glances back at us again. There's an awkward moment as Sam's face turns bright red with embarrassment, and then we walk on in silence.

  Eventually we reach the lair of the Ancient Wolf. There are men standing guard outside, and Christian motions for us to wait while he goes to talk to them. There seems to be some animated discussion as they try to decide whether it's worth asking the Ancient Wolf to speak to us, but finally one of the men goes inside and Christian comes back over to us. "He's going to see if you'll be granted an audience," he says. "Don't be disappointed if he turns you down, though. Lately there's been something bothering the Ancient Wolf, and he wants to be alone most of the time. He has turned away almost every visitor over the past year." He smiles at Sam. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced," he says.

  Sam turns bright red again. I don't think I've ever seen someone so embarrassed before.

  "Her name's Sam," I say. "She's a human, but she's a very good human."

  "It's nice to meet you, Sam," Christian says.

  "Yeah," Sam says, mumbling a little, "nice to meet you too."

  Christian turns as the man emerges from the lair and gives us a signal. "He'll see you," Christian says, turning back to me. "But only you. Sam and Duncan must wait outside. The Ancient Wolf tires easily these days, and he only sees those whose need is urgent."

  "I'd like Duncan to come in with me," I say. "It's important that he -"

  "Just you," Christian replies. "The matter is not up for debate. This is about much more than just Duncan."

  Sighing, I walk towards the entrance to the Ancient Wolf's lair, but one of the guards stops me for a moment.

  "The Ancient Wolf is tired," he says firmly. "When he tells you to leave, you must leave. Don't make us come in and drag you out."

  "No worries," I say, slipping through the doorway.

  "One more thing," Christian calls out. I turn to him. "Take my advice
," he continues, "and perhaps try to avoid touching the Ancient Wolf's body. It's probably nothing, but there is a part of me that worries things are not necessarily as they seem."

  "Okay," I say, not really understanding what he means. I turn and step into the room, pushing the door shut behind me. It's dark inside, so dark that at first I can't even see where I'm going. As my eyes get used to the low light, I start to make out what seems to be a wall nearby with another door. Stepping forwards, I look around and see that I seem to be in some kind of small room hollowed out of the stone.

  "Come in," calls out a frail, old voice. "I've been waiting for you."

  I step through the next doorway and find myself in another room. Facing me, there's a figure sitting on a large chair. It's still very dark, but as I get closer I can see his face better. I guess I should have anticipated as much from his name, but the Ancient Wolf looks so old, it's hard to believe he could still be alive. In his human form, he looks so weak and tired. He looks like the oldest, most tired man in the universe.

  "My name's Jess," I say.

  "I know," he replies. "Duncan told me all about you."

  "He did?" I ask, pausing. "What did he say?"

  "He told me to put aside my natural revulsion and accept you as one of our own," the Ancient Wolf says slowly. "Usually, I refuse to even look upon hybrids. They make me sick."

  "Am I a hybrid?" I ask.

  "You were not born a werewolf," he replies. "You were born a human. Our culture has largely outlawed the conversion of ordinary humans, but Duncan persuaded me that he had made an exception in your case. He promised me that you have some value. I have yet to see proof of this, but I am willing to be persuaded." He pauses. "Still, I feel uneasy in your presence. Perhaps I am just old-fashioned."

  "I need your help," I say. "Duncan's in trouble, and Thomas Lumic -"

  "Lumic is irrelevant," the Ancient Wolf says. "Lumic is a madman, a fool. He's dangerous and depraved, but ultimately he poses little danger to the pack. He was a human once too, but he looked into the abyss and was granted certain knowledge. You would do well to keep away from him, but for those of us up here, Lumic poses no danger."