Wolf Island (19 page)

I wheeze at her, then manage to get hold of the hand around my throat. Filling my fingers with magic, I sever through the
flesh and bones of the noose, then yank myself clear. Panting, I make a fist and smash it into her face. Her nose shatters,
splattering me with blood, pus, and slimy snot.

“You look like hell,” I snarl.

“You can talk,” she sneers, running a scornful eye over my deformed features.

For a moment we grin at each other and get our breath back.

“It’s not too late,” Juni purrs. “Join us. I sensed you killing those pitiful humans. You’ve found your true self. Come with
me. Put the last vestiges of your useless human morals behind you. With us, you can kill forever. There’s a whole world of
humans to torment and butcher. You can be a glorious, wolfen god.”

“I bet I could have you too,” I chuckle darkly.

“Maybe.” She smiles. “Lord Loss is my master, but you could be my mate. I can change out of this grotesque form, be any woman
you wish. In the new world, anything will be possible.”

“There’s just one problem,” I sigh.

“What?” Juni frowns.

“I hate your guts,” I hiss, and spring on her.

I drive my fist towards the hole where Juni’s nose used to be. My plan is to jam a few fingers in the gap, widen it, then
claw out her brain, scoop by gloopy scoop. But Juni’s faster. She ducks, then lashes at my stomach with a leg. I wasn’t expecting
a bloody kung fu move! I’m sent hurtling backwards and slam hard into the wall. My head cracks and my neck almost snaps.

She’s on me before I hit the floor, hands a blur, jabbing incessantly. I try to roar, but all that comes out is a startled
croak. I get a glimpse of her throat and lunge for it. Juni shimmies and rams a forearm into my mouth, gagging me. As I choke,
she sends what feels like a million volts of magic sizzling through my body. I scream mutedly and go limp. Juni hits me with
another burst of energy. Another.

Blood’s pumping from my nose, mouth, and ears. Even from my eyes. I’m seeing events through a red mist. I reach deep within
myself, looking for the power to strike back, but I’m in disarray.

Forgetting about magic, I lash out at Juni. She laughs, removes the arm from my mouth, and wraps it around me. Squeezes tight,
like a boa constrictor.

“Poor Grubbs,” she coos, wiping blood from my eyes. “You don’t have the hang of magic, do you? You’re strong, but experience
is everything. My master told me to be wary, but I knew I had the beating of you. When the soldiers and werewolves failed,
I decided to finish you off myself.”

I spit blood at her. She stops it midair, letting the pearly drops float in front of my eyes. Then she leans forward, extends
her tongue and delicately slurps the red pearls from the air, as though tasting an exquisite wine.

“Now it’s time to die,” she says. Her face is blank. The madness and hatred in her eyes have been replaced by a cold businesslike
look.

I struggle feebly. This can’t be happening. I’m the pack leader, a magician, part of the Kah-Gash. I’ve fought and defeated
stronger demons than this servant of Lord Loss. I should be dancing on her corpse, not fighting for breath, locked within
her suffocating embrace.

“A kiss,” Juni hums, pressing her face to mine. “I’ll suck your last breath from your body along with your part of the Kah-Gash.
I’ll take everything and own you completely. You might think it’s the end, but your agonies are just beginning. I have the
power of death. I’ll pluck at the strings of your soul until the end of time, and every strum will draw a thousand screams.”

She covers my mouth and inhales, drawing the last of my oxygen from my lungs. I go limp, senses crumpling. It’s like she’s
sucking me down a tunnel into herself. I can’t fight. I’m helpless. I’m doomed.

Then, for no apparent reason, she breaks the contact and blinks, staring at me as if stabbed in the back. My heart leaps hopefully.
Someone must have found a way past the barrier, snuck up behind her and struck while she was gloating over me. I glance over
her shoulder in search of my savior but I can’t see anyone.

Juni releases me and takes a step back. Her expression clears and she smiles. Then she laughs, and the laughter strikes me
harder than any of her blows. She screams with crazy delight, jumping up and down on the spot, bits of her diseased flesh
dropping off like bloated tics.

“Oh Grubbs!” she cries. “You absolute darling. How delicious. How ironic. The savior of the world… protector of mankind…
Hah!
”

I slump to the floor, take a painful, rasping breath, and stare at Juni. Has she lost herself entirely to madness? Have I
been saved by a mental breakdown?

“I just had a vision, darling Grubbs,” Juni says, backing up to the window. “I had them all the time when I was Beranabus’s
assistant. I catch glimpses of the future. That’s why he valued my services so highly. I served Lord Loss in the same way
when I joined him. That’s how we knew the cave in Carcery Vale was going to be reopened, why we acted when we did.

“But this vision was the most vivid ever. You were in it, the star of the show. It was the near future…
very
near. You were at your most powerful, tapping into the sort of power that would allow you to crush me like a bug.”

Juni sticks a hand through the window. It’s pulsing at the edges. It will close soon, but not before she fires off her parting
shot.

“I saw the world destroyed,” she whispers. “It was blown to pieces. The seas bubbled away, lava erupted, the land split and
crumbled. Everyone died, young and old, good and bad. Then a ball of fire burst from the heart of the planet, incinerated
the globe and blasted the ashes off into space, before spreading to consume the universe — worlds, suns, galaxies, all.

“You were there,” she sobs, crying with happiness. “But you weren’t trying to stop it. You made no attempt to save the world.
You couldn’t… you didn’t want to… because
you
were controlling the mayhem. The Demonata won’t destroy your universe, Grubbs Grady —
you
will!”

With that she skips through the window, giggling girlishly. Moaning wildly, I drag myself after her, but before I’m even halfway
the window disintegrates, and all I can do is lower my face to the cold, hard, blood-drenched floor and weep.

A
S
magic drains from the air, the barrier blocking the doorway gives way. Meera, Prae, and the werewolves stumble into the room.
Timas enters via the hole that Pip blew in one of the side walls earlier. He must have circled around while I was fighting
Juni. A dangerous maneuver — he could have been attacked by a rogue werewolf — but he got away with it. Not that it mattered.
Juni had blocked that entrance too.

“Grubbs,” Meera cries, rushing over. “Are you OK?”

I moan pitifully, reaching for a window that is no longer there, Juni’s prediction echoing in my ears. It can’t be true. She
was mocking me. It’s part of some horrible game.

But she had me at her mercy. I was helpless. It would have been a simple matter to finish me off. She spared me because she
saw me destroy the world in the future. Nothing else makes sense. I’m more valuable to her alive than dead. I can do what
she, Lord Loss, and the Shadow can’t.

“You’re wounded,” Meera says, fussing over me. “You have to heal yourself.”

“Leave me alone,” I cry, hammering the floor and cursing.

“The magic’s fading,” Meera hisses. “Use it to heal yourself or you’ll die.”

“Good,” I mutter. Better if I die. I can’t wreck the world if I’m dead.

“Grubbs!” she snaps. “Don’t be an ass. Heal yourself.
Now!
”

I sigh miserably, then focus my power on the bleeding wounds, broken ribs, and ruptured inner organs. It would be for the
best if I perished, but I can’t give up on life. I’m not that much of a hero.

“What happened?” Timas asks.

“Didn’t you hear?” I wheeze, working on my chest and upper stomach.

“The sound faded out,” Timas says. “It was like someone turning down the volume on a television set.”

“It was the same for us,” Meera says.

So Juni didn’t want the others to hear her prediction, in case they decided to kill me for the good of mankind. I consider
telling them. I’m pretty sure one of them — maybe all three — would put a bullet through my head if they knew of the threat
I pose. But that would be another form of suicide, so I hold my tongue and shake my head.

“Just more of the same rubbish,” I grumble. “She said she was sparing me for her master, that Lord Loss wanted to kill me
himself.”

“Strange,” Timas notes. “She was happy to let the werewolves slaughter you.”

“I guess she knew I’d survive. It was all a setup. She never meant for me to die, only the rest of you, so that she could
relish my pain.”

Timas makes a skeptical humming noise, but says no more. I continue healing myself, Meera watching closely to make sure I
don’t miss anything. The power’s fading fast, but I’ve dealt with most of the life-threatening injuries. I’ll live.

The werewolves — there are five in the room with us — are sniffing the floor by one of the walls. They’re growling. I bark
at them to be quiet. Listening carefully, I hear scrabbling sounds. Someone’s crawling away in a hurry.

“The maps you studied earlier,” I say to Timas, rising painfully but standing steady on my feet once I’m up. “Did they show
any tunnels or crawlways running off this room?”

“No,” Timas says, edging up beside the werewolves.

“Then they weren’t as complete as you thought,” I sniff.

“You’re right,” he says, tapping the wall. “There’s a hidden panel. I’m sure I can find the opening mechanism if you give
me a few —”

I snap at the werewolves. The largest smashes a fist into the metal panel. Again. A third time. It crumples under his fourth
blow, snapping loose at the upper and left edges. The werewolf gets a few fingers into the gap and wrenches off the panel,
revealing a small passage.

The werewolf who removed the panel darts into the crawlway, but stops at a command from me. Shuffling forward, I stoop and
stare into the gloominess. I can’t see the person scuttling away from us, but I can smell him. It’s a familiar, cultured scent.
I smile viciously.

“After me,” I say softly, then lower myself to my hands and knees. I edge forward, moving faster than the man ahead of me,
steadily catching up, making heavy snarling noises, letting him know I’m coming, savoring the intoxicating smell of his mounting
fear.

The crawlway opens out into a large room at the rear of the compound. There are several boats stacked at the sides, but all
the hulls have been shattered, holes punched through the shells, making them as seaworthy as sieves. I figure Juni wanted
to give her soldiers an extra incentive to stand and fight. She made sure nobody shipped out early.

Antoine Horwitzer is struggling with one of the useless boats, hauling it towards an open section at the far side of the room.
I can smell and hear the sea, the crash of the waves, the cries of the gulls. Antoine is sobbing, his jacket tossed to one
side, shirt ripped, pants dirty. He must know he can’t get anywhere in the boat, but desperation drives him on.

As the others emerge behind me, I raise a hand, holding them in check. Antoine doesn’t know we’re here. He’s totally focused,
head bent, straining painfully, using muscles he probably hasn’t tested in years. I’m amused by the sight of him dragging
the wreck of a boat towards the edge. For a while I forget about Juni Swan and her terrible prophecy, and just enjoy the show.

Finally, when he has about a yard to go, I cough softly.

He freezes. Moans. Gives the boat an especially strong tug. Doesn’t look up.

“Antoine,” I laugh, stepping towards him.

He looks back, gauging how much farther he has to go. His arms relax and his shoulders slump when he realizes he can’t make
it. He turns his desolate gaze on me and his eyes widen as he takes in my monstrous form, my blood-soaked body and limbs,
my fangs and wolfen face.