Treasures of Fantasy - Margaret Weis [113]
Skylan’s mouth was dry. He told himself he didn’t believe a word Wulfe said, but the boy’s grin unnerved him.
Skylan had to moisten his lips to speak. “What happened after . . . ?”
“I don’t remember,” said Wulfe. He gave a deep sigh. The worst was over and the words spilled out. “I never remember. All I know is that when I woke up I was in a rickety old house. I was covered in blood and tied to a chair. I didn’t know where I was or how I got there and I was frightened. A woman was with me and she said, ‘You’re one of us. Don’t bother to lie. I saw what you did.’ I said I didn’t do anything, but she knew better. She washed the blood off me and when I said I wouldn’t try to go anywhere, because I didn’t have anywhere to go, she untied me and gave me something to eat. I slept for a long, long time. I always sleep a lot . . . after . . .”
“You’ve done this before,” said Skylan, his throat tight.
Wulfe nodded his head. “When I was living with the druids.”
“What about when you were with me in our village?”
“No!” Wulfe said emphatically. “You were nice to me and the daemon never talked to me. I thought he’d gone away. I guess he didn’t.”
“You know I don’t believe you,” said Skylan.
Wulfe shrugged. “I can’t help it. It’s the truth.”
Skylan considered asking Wulfe to prove his tale by turning into a wolf on the spot, but he thought better of it. If the boy did turn into a wolf, Skylan would be forced to believe him. As it was, he could still harbor a tiny sliver of comforting doubt.
“So you stayed with this woman?”
“And the man who lived with her. They’re both man-beasts.”
“I was worried about you,” said Skylan, ignoring that last part. “So was Aylaen. Why didn’t you come back to live with us?”
Wulfe was quiet a moment. His lip trembled. His eyes filled with tears. “I killed those men. I knew you’d be mad at me.”
“Torval help me,” Skylan muttered. The sliver of comforting doubt vanished. He believed Wulfe. He couldn’t help but believe him. Raegar was right. Zahakis was right. Wulfe was fae, as he’d claimed. Skylan remembered the boy standing over him, singing an eerie little song, and the cinders from the torch falling like rain. Wulfe was a danger to Skylan and everyone around him. The boy could never be trusted. He should be killed. Skylan gave a deep sigh and reached back to gingerly touch the bite mark.
“You believe me now, don’t you,” said Wulfe.
“You don’t give me much goddam choice!” Skylan said angrily. He jumped to his feet and hit his head on the roof of the tent, nearly bringing it down on top of them, frightening Wulfe, who crawled on all fours into a corner. Skylan resumed his seat on the cot.
“You said Raegar hired these man-beasts. How did you know that?”
“The man-beasts gather in this tavern in the part of the city down by the river. I was there one day and I saw Raegar, but he didn’t see me. I hid under a table. He seemed to know these people. He said he had another job. He wanted some men killed and he would pay well. He said that the men would be coming back from the palace late in the night. Raegar gave the man-beasts money and said there would be more when the job was done.”
“If you knew this was going to happen, why didn’t you come warn me?” Skylan demanded.
“I didn’t know it was you!” Wulfe said defensively. “I couldn’t hear the names. When I did find out you were one of the men they were going to kill, I did come. Only I was too late. The wolves were right behind me.”
“How did you find out they were after me?”
“Raegar came storming into the tavern tonight. He was red in the face and sweating. He looked scared. He said he had to cancel the job. It was all right if the man-beasts killed Acronis, but they couldn’t kill a man named Skylan. The man-beasts asked if they would still get paid and he said yes. But after he left, they left, too. I asked the woman where they went and she said they were going to do the job anyway. Raegar wanted you alive but someone else wanted you dead and was paying them more money. I didn’t hear, because I ran off to warn