Wolf Castle

by Heather Walker

  Callum peered down at Fergus. The young man still sat hunched and broken in his chair. He showed no sign of moving. “Are ye awright, lad?”

  Fergus raised his bloodshot eyes to Callum’s face. “Aye, mon.”

  “What ails ye?” Callum asked. “I ha’e ne’er seen ye like this.”

  Fergus closed his eyes. “It’s me sight. I cinnae stop it. It drains me, and me head aches all the time now. ’Azel wants tae use her magic tae rob me o’ me sight, but I’ll no agree—no yet. Soon I’ll ha’e tae, though. I cinnae go on this way.”

  Callum frowned at his brother. He never knew Fergus’s Faery sight gave him trouble. Then again, Fergus never used his power as much in his life as he did in the last few months leading up to his marriage with Hazel. Now he used it all the time. That had to take its toll on a man.

  “Is there naught that can help ye, mon?” Callum asked.

  “It’s ainly me dragon that helps. Me sight doesnae bother me at all as laing as I’m a dragon. It’s ainly as a man it plagues me no end, but I cinnae gi’e it up, ye see. I dinnae ken what I’d be withoot me sight. It’s been me since I can remember.”

  “Then ye mun’ be a dragon all the time,” Callum pointed out. “Ye mun’ stay a dragon as laing as it takes.”

  Fergus shook his head. “I’m ambassador tae Faery. I’d be no use tae the King if I ga’e it up.”

  “What does he say aboot it?”

  “He tells me tae gi’e it up. He tells me I’m just as Faery withoot it, and I’m still a use tae him goin’ back and forth atween Faery and Urlu. He says he could ne’er get that from anyone else.”

  “There ye go,” Callum remarked. “So gi’e it up. Ye needn’t suffer so.”

  Fergus stared down at his hands. “That’s aboot what ’Azel says, as weel.”

  “Ye mun’ listen tae ye wife, lad,” Callum told him. “We all learned tae listen tae ’Azel. Now it’s yer turn. She kens what’s best fer ye.”

  Fergus cocked his head to look up. “Is that what ye plan tae do? Do ye plan tae listen tae yer wife and do as she tells ye?”

  Callum bit back a grin. He couldn’t think of Sadie as his wife. This whole thing was too new and strange, and they weren’t out of the woods yet. He clapped Fergus on the shoulder. “Gang ye outside and take off. Patrol our perimeter and see if ye can spot a sign o’ those things comin’ at us. That should sooth yer head a while.”

  Fergus smiled, but he looked terrible. He dragged himself to his feet. “Yes, Sir.”

  The two brothers started out of the room when a steady rumble shook the castle to its roots. They stopped, exchanged glances, and looked around. The chandeliers rattled in the ceiling.

  “It’s starting,” Callum whispered.

  Fergus leapt for the door. “Find Carson. Get the witch up. I’ll find ’Azel and meet ye outside.”

  “Forget that!” Callum shouted back. “Get ye intae the air! Hurry. Leave ’Azel and the witch tae me. Get outside and help the wolves hold ’em back. We’ll need an inch of space out front fer ’Azel and the witch tae work. Make sure those things dinnae gang anywhere near the entrance.”

  Fergus dashed through the door and disappeared. Callum went the other way, deeper into the castle. He had to find Hazel. He had to find Carson and get the witch out of the pigsty.

  Most of all, he had to find Sadie. He had to keep her in sight through this battle. He couldn’t let her get caught somewhere without help. If he was going down in this hellhole, he would go down with her.

  Chapter 31

  Sadie sat at the kitchen table across from Hazel. They drew pictures on squares of stiff paper. Hazel counted off the ones they already completed. “That one you’re doing is the last. Now we just have to find some sage, and we’ll be ready.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Sadie asked. “Are you sure this will work?”

  “I have no idea,” Hazel replied. “The spell is just a channel for someone’s energy. I can cast the spell without all this stuff now, but I’ve had a lot of practice. I have no idea what Koto might be capable of. She might not have the power to cast the spell at all. We can only hope it works.”

  “What if it doesn’t? Then what will we do?”

  “Whether it works or not,” Hazel replied, “this curse won’t be lifted. Only the other women can do that. We can only plug the hole temporarily. The McLeans will have to find the other women and figure out how to repair the breach on their own. We can’t help them do that. We can only do our best in this battle, but the curse will always come back to haunt them until they break it.”

  Sadie shook her head. “I don’t understand all this.”

  “Elle and Carmen and I have been through a lot since this thing started, and the men have been through even more. We’ve faced a lot worse than these vampires, and the curse always came back.”

  “How did you become a dragon like them?” Sadie asked.

  “I’m Faery,” Hazel replied. “Both Fergus and I are Faery, and when we mated, we took each other’s power and I became Urlu.”

  “It must be amazing to fly around like that.”

  Hazel gazed through the open kitchen door to the yard outside. Men crossed her line of sight going both ways. “It’s nice for me to fly around like that. It’s not so nice for Fergus to be both. I wish he wasn’t Faery. It’s starting to cause too many problems.”

  “Like what?” Sadie asked.

  Before Hazel could answer, a deafening boom reverberated through the room. The concussion shook a bunch of iron pots and pans off their hooks in the ceiling beams above Sadie and Hazel’s heads.

  The pots crashed down on top of them. They bounced off the table, and one of them struck Hazel in the head. She folded into a heap on the floor and didn’t move again. Sadie screamed. A slab of mutton ham bounced off its hook in the ceiling and slammed down on the cards in front of her.

  Sadie tumbled off the bench backward onto the floor. More tremors shook the whole castle. Men shouted outside the door, and they broke into a run going every which way. Sadie scrambled across the floor to Hazel. “Hazel! Hazel! Are you okay? Oh, please, say something.”

  Hazel lay still and unresponsive on the floor. A purple knob of welted tissue swelled out of her forehead. Sadie lifted Hazel’s limp hand. All their hopes of getting Hazel to coach Koto in the spell lay unconscious on the floor.

  Sadie looked around the kitchen with wild eyes. She could gather up the cards, the lavender water, and whatever else, but what good were they without Hazel? While she knelt by her stricken friend, the kitchen door blew open. Elle rushed in and surveyed the chaos. “Hazel!” she bellowed. “Where are you?”

  “Over here, Elle,” Sadie called.

  Elle dropped on her knees by Hazel’s pale form. “What happened?”

  “She got knocked out,” Sadie replied. “What are we gonna do?”

  “We have to get her out of here,” Elle exclaimed. “We have to get her out front. Maybe she’ll come to, and we can get the spell cast.”

  “What if she doesn’t?” Sadie asked.

  “Don’t confuse me with details.” Elle seized Hazel’s hand and hauled her into a sitting position. “Get the stuff.”

  “We still need sage,” Sadie told her. “I don’t know where to find it, and we’ll need a way to burn it once we get out there.”

  Elle shook her head. She dragged Hazel upright and flung the lifeless body over her shoulder. “I can’t help you with that. Just get the stuff and bring it out front. I don’t care what you have to do. Just do it.”

  Elle staggered out of the room with Hazel flopping over her shoulder. Hazel’s red hair swung back and forth with each step, and her arms and legs bumped Elle on their way to the front entrance.

  Sadie’s heart raced. She pawed up all the cards and emptied the lavender-infused water into a clay vessel. She corked it so it wouldn’t spill and shoved the cards into her pocket. She put three burning coals from the fire in a stone bowl and covered them with a ceramic pl
ate to keep them safe. Now she had to find some sage—but where?

  She raced out of the room and collided with a bevy of servant girls rushing for cover. Armed men charged down the stairs on their way outside. The whole castle exploded in pandemonium.

  Sadie snatched the first servant girl she saw. “Meggy! I need your help. I need to find some sage. It’s urgent.”

  The girl broke away. “No time! We mun’ all flee fer our lives!”

  Sadie yanked her back hard. She fought back the urge to slap the girl. “If I don’t find some sage, we’re all dead whether we flee or not. You have to help me, and you’re not leaving until you do.”

  Meggy cast one last desperate glance at her companions hurrying out of sight, but Sadie wouldn’t let her go. Meggy threw up her hands. “Oh, mercy on us! Follow me, and I’ll show ye.”

  She raced past Sadie into the pantry. She rummaged through some crocks and wooden boxes until she pulled out a plain square case. She shoved it into Sadie’s hands. “There.”

  Meggy ran for the door and vanished after the others. Voices, screams, and clashes echoed through the castle. Sadie stared down at the innocent little container in her hand. She popped back the lid.

  A pile of crumpled leaves sat inside, and a pungent odor of spice drifted into her nose. This must be the sage. It might be the only sage for a hundred miles. Sadie could only trust it would do the job.

  She snapped the lid closed and hustled back to the kitchen. She gathered all her goods together in a basket and made for the front door. She got as far as the dining room when she saw something moving in the fireplace.

  She paused to take a look, and her heart leaped into her throat. A faint stirring motion disturbed the ashes of last night’s fire. An invisible finger swirled the ashes in eddies until a distinct curlicue of smoke rose out of the cold grate. It rose higher and higher until it took the form of a shape.

  The movement swirled faster, faster, until it became a distinct body with two arms and two legs and a head. It stepped out, and the eyes gleamed smoldering red. It opened its lips, and fangs bared to bite and suck and kill.

  Sadie had no time to stand and stare at the vampire before it stepped out of the fireplace. The whirlwind effect caught up more ash, and another vampire stepped clear. Another, and another. More vampires sprang out of the ashes and rushed into the dining room.

  Sadie broke and ran. She bolted for the front entrance when another tremor rocked the castle. The walls shivered, and the front door standing open before Sadie’s eyes slammed shut in her face.

  She rushed to it and grabbed the latch. She shook it with all her might, but it wouldn’t budge. The vampires ran into the entrance hall. They looked around them in search of a victim, and they spotted her.

  She screamed and fled. She kept the basket perched on her arm. She had to find another way outside, and fast. She ran all the way back to the kitchen, but when she tried to get out that way, that door flew shut in her face, too.

  She started to panic. The vampires flooded the castle. How could she get out of here? Vampires rushed at her from every room she ran into. Their wicked eyes struck terror into her heart. She couldn’t fight all of them at once, and she had to take the goods outside so Koto could cast the spell.

  She ran in terror from one room to the next. Every door she approached flew shut to bar her way. The vampires closed in. In desperation, she ran into the butler’s pantry. Another door stood open across from her. It led to a wooden stairway leading down.

  At that moment, a vampire’s hand closed on her shoulder from behind. She had nowhere else to run. She broke free and thundered down those stairs into the dark.

  She heard their footsteps following her. The minute she got into the basement, she realized her mistake. She was trapped. She started to set the basket down to free up her sword hand when she caught a glimpse of a tiny glimmering light. A powerful stink of manure and filth touched her nose.

  A lumpy shadow crossed the beam of light, and Sadie spotted Koto. The old woman shuffled through what must have once been an old pigsty. She headed for a distant opening broken under the wall. Sadie watched the witch drop onto her hands and knees and crawl out of the castle.

  Sadie’s mind screamed to put all the pieces together. Koto was trying to escape. She would run to safety and leave the rest of them to die. Sadie’s fear turned to anger. She took a closer look around the basement, and a devious plan crystallized in her mind.

  She ran for the pigsty, but she hung back until Koto got clear out of sight. She waited until the vampires filled the basement to bursting. They snarled their reeking teeth at her and moved in for the kill.

  When the opening shone clear and inviting, Sadie ran to it and shoved her basket through. She made sure the vampires saw her before she crawled outside and stood back to watch her plan unfold.

  Sure enough, a vampire stuck his head and shoulders through. She waited until he wedged his chest into the hole down to his hips. Then she whipped out her saber and chopped his head off with one swing. The head rolled down the hill and bumped to a stop between two rocks. The astonished eyes stared up at the sky.

  Sadie dropped her weapon and grabbed the body by its wrists. She hauled it forward until its hips stuck tight in the breach. The other vampires scratched and screeched down in the basement. They would take a while to get the body out.

  She picked up her basket and scanned the surroundings. A blink of movement drew her attention to a fleeing figure slipping into the woods. It was Koto. Sadie gave chase and caught up with the witch among the trees.

  Koto hissed in her face. Sadie had to put her basket down again to use both hands to restrain the woman. Koto scratched and fought to break free until Sadie tackled her to the ground.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Sadie snapped. “You’re not going anywhere until you help us defeat these things.”

  “Leave me alone!” Koto shrieked. “I mun’ fly!”

  “You can fly all you want after you get the job done,” Sadie replied. “You’re in this, too, and you won’t leave us in the lurch while you run away. You’re coming back with me to cast this spell.”

  “I ken naught aboot spells,” Koto wailed. “I dare not go near the Faery folk.”

  Sadie smacked her lips. “You’ll go near ’em, and you’ll be grateful for their help. Do you want those things coming after you, too? Do you really think you’ll be safe from them wherever you’re going?”

  Koto broke into incoherent screams. Sadie didn’t have time to argue with her anymore. She strapped her arms around the witch and manhandled the woman to her feet. Koto proved unusually strong for her age. She took all Sadie’s power and determination to subdue her.

  Koto fought her every step of the way. Sadie paused at the tree line to catch her breath. She couldn’t fight Koto all the way back to the castle before her strength gave out. If she slackened her grip on Koto for an instant, the witch would break and run. If that happened, Sadie would never get her back.

  She had one chance at this, and every time she stopped to breath, Koto sensed Sadie’s power draining from her limbs. Sadie cast a glance around, but she didn’t see anybody around who could help her. She left her basket of goods all the way back there in the woods. She would have to deliver Koto to the castle and come back for it. She could see no other way.

  At that moment, Koto rounded on her with a feral roar. She clubbed Sadie to the ground with supernatural force. Sadie went sprawling. Koto leapt for the trees—and stopped dead in her tracks. A huge wolf loped out of the woods and planted his legs in front of the witch. It was Lachlan.

  He transformed into a man and eyed the witch up and down. “Ye’ll no leave us in our hour of need, Granny.”

  The old woman changed her tune in an instant. She wheedled and bobbed her head. “O’ course no, me Laird. I’d ne’er leave ye. Ye ken I wouldnae.”

  “Good,” Lachlan replied. “Get ye alaing tae the castle and report tae me brother Carson. He’ll take ye
tae the Faery people to show ye what ye mun’ do.”

  Koto wrung her hands. “Oh, dinnae make me deal wi’ the Faery people, me Laird. Ye ken I’d do ought else fer ye, but no that. Anything but that!”

  Lachlan gave her a congenial smile. “Ye’ll go alaing and do what they tell ye tae do. That’s me order, Granny, and dinnae think on leavin’ afterwards withoot me leave. Understand?”

  Koto pulled her head down between her shoulders. “O’ course, me Laird.”

  “On ye go,” Lachlan replied.

  Koto walked up the hill toward the castle. Sadie stared in amazement at the docile old woman. She made a beeline for the castle entrance. She never swerved right or left. She followed Lachlan’s order to the letter.

  Sadie got to her feet and brushed herself off. “Thank you, Lachlan. I was worried for a minute there.”

  “Ne’er a worry, lassie,” he replied. “Ye did right tae stop her when ye did. We’d ne’er ha’e seen her again if she got away.”

  “That’s what I thought, but I didn’t think I could get her back alone.”

  “She’ll go back. Ha’e ye got the other stuff?”

  Sadie retrieved her basket, and Lachlan nodded to the castle. “After ye, lassie.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at him. He dropped onto his hands and knees and took his wolf form. He trotted at her side on the way up the hill, but when the castle came in sight, he broke ahead and ran the rest of the way. He left her behind and raced to join the fight.

  Chapter 32

  Callum rushed through the castle in search of Hazel and Sadie, but he couldn’t find them anywhere. He met Carson coming down the stairs. “Get down tae the pigsty and bring the witch out front. It’s time.”

  “I ha’e been down tae the pigsty,” Carson replied. “The witch’s flown. I ha’e been up and down and e’erywhere tae search fer her, but she’s gone. Forget the witch. We mun’ tumble out and meet the monsters.”