Bones of Faerie - Janni Lee Simner [57]
“She knew the rules,” he said. “You knew the rules. Why did you break them? Why did you venture out alone into the dark?”
Because I'd feared if I stayed, I'd do harm—but I knew that would be the wrong answer, too. Father drew his hand back again.
“Ian!” Kate stepped between us. “You leave her alone. You get out of my house.”
Father shoved her aside, his eyes never leaving me. Kate fell to the floor with a cry as Father grabbed my shoulders. “Answer me!” He started shaking me. From the corner of my eye I saw Allie grab a branch from the firewood pile, like a weapon. If I could have spoken at all, I'd have told her to run away. She was a stranger. He'd hurt her worse than he'd hurt me.
Father shook me harder, his face red with rage. My shoulders hurt, and my breath came out in gasps. I couldn't have answered him if I tried. I fell to my knees, and he reached for his belt.
Matthew stepped through the kitchen doorway, taking the room in at a glance. Fury darkened his features. Matthew never got angry, I thought numbly, but I knew better. He ran at Father, changing as he did, arms lengthening into legs, face into snout, fur flowing like melting silver over his skin. Even as Matthew leaped Father whirled around, throwing an arm in front of his throat, putting his body between me and the wolf.
Matthew sank his teeth into Father's arm. Father's face twisted in pain, but he held his ground, reaching for his knife with his free hand. Matthew's teeth sank deeper, snapping bone, drawing blood through Father's sleeve. I remembered Matthew's rage as he'd lain half-conscious under Caleb's care. I'll tear him limb from limb. Matthew would kill Father, I realized with a sick, cold feeling. I struggled to my feet.
Without warning Father threw his weight forward, knocking Matthew onto his back and shoving a knee into his chest. I heard ribs crack. Fur swiftly receded, leaving a human boy behind. Father didn't even hesitate, he just drew his knife toward Matthew's throat. “At least Cam was too young to know better,” he growled.
“Father!” I put all the command I could into that call. It was the same call I'd used to bring Allie back from the river, to bring Mom back from Faerie. “Father, stop!”
His blade halted against Matthew's skin. Matthew glared at him, eyes hot with rage, a wolf's eyes still.
I didn't dare let my gaze, my command, waver. “Father, come here.”
Slowly, fighting the compulsion all the way, Father stood, grasping the knife in one hand. His other arm hung strangely at his side. Slower yet, he turned to face me. Clutching her branch uncertainly, Allie moved behind him. Tallow crouched behind Allie's legs, hissing.
“What witchery is this, Liza?”
“Give me the knife,” I commanded, holding out my hand, calling the knife to me.
His arm trembled, but he reached forward and handed it to me. His eyes flicked to my hair as if seeing it—as if seeing me—for the first time. “Not you, Liza. This taint of magic cannot have touched you.”
I spoke slowly, holding my control, not trusting him. Had I ever trusted him? “Magic isn't what you think.” Treacherous hope rose in me. Maybe he truly didn't understand, like I hadn't understood. “Magic doesn't always kill.”
Father's eyes didn't leave me. “What can you possibly understand about magic? You weren't there during the War. You have no idea what magic can do.”
I'd seen as much of the War as he had, now. And I did understand, maybe for the first time. “Magic is a tool, like a knife or a bow. We can learn how to wield it.” I thought of Cam, and I knew no tool is ever fully safe, but we could learn to use this one. We had to learn, if we were going to survive.
Father spat, and I knew doing even that much while I held him took great effort. His knife felt heavy in my hand. “That's your mother talking, Liza, not you. I should have known your mother was magic-cursed the moment she came to this town, knowing no one, playing at