the blue snake floated steadily towards the little animal.
“No no no no no no no no! I speak! I speak! Stop!”
I briefly wondered what it was about Alex’s magic that had the wichtlein so terrified. Perhaps there was more to my rather unfit newfound friend than I had previously thought. I couldn’t worry about that now though. The night air around me was starting to feel heavy and oppressive and I was fairly certain that it wouldn’t be long before I passed out in a heap. I concentrated on the flicker in my stomach, encouraging it to rise and keep me going long enough for me to get the information I wanted. It gave a feeble answering warmth in return. That would do for now.
I shook the wichtlein and repeated myself. “You placed a doom stone here two days ago for John Arton. Why?”
“He die soon. She kill him,” it squeaked, still squirming.
“Who she? I mean, who is she?” I tightened my hands on the wichtlein.
“Iabartu! Iabartu!”
“And who is Iabartu?” growled Alex.
“Sky god human woman.” The wichtlein stopped its pointless clawing and fumbling and raised up its head. “She seek wyr blood.”
“What? You mean dragon blood?” I was confused. We had a few little dragons occasionally rear their heads in Cornwall, but they popped up all over the country, much like the one I’d bagged for my first kill. This neck of the woods wasn’t special in that regard at all, and I couldn’t think for the life of me why John’s life would have been forfeit for one.
“Not little wyr, fire girl. Draco Wyr.”
“What did you call me?” Fire girl? How the hell did it know about my bloodfire? And what on god’s earth was a Draco Wyr? I shook the little beast, hard.
The wichtlein cackled unpleasantly. “Craw know many lots. Craw know who Draco Wyr. Man beast know who Draco Wyr. Man beast try stop Iabartu take Draco Wyr. Man beast die.” A single claw scratched my arm with intent. “You fault man beast die.”
My heart thudded. “My fault? Why my fault? I don’t know this Draco Wyr! What do you mean?” It couldn’t be my fault he’d died, could it? But why should I believe the wichtlein? I shook it even harder. “You’re lying. Tell me the truth.” My fingers curled round its whole body and, despite my condition, my bloodfire rose even further. The wichtlein shrieked in answering pain and began struggling again.
“It’s telling the truth.” Alex’s voice was quiet.
“You’re wrong!” I snarled, trying desperately to think of what I could to get the wichtlein to stop prevaricating and ‘fess up without killing it.
“Mack, I’m not.” He touched my arm. I turned and looked at him and saw it in his eyes. I stared at him dully for a second, then back at the little black creature.
The heat was gone. “Why is it my fault? What did I do?”
But there wasn’t any answer. I dimly heard Craw cackling again. Blood was thumping in my head and the edges of the world were going blurry. I couldn’t keep my head clear this time. I shook myself but the edges blurred further and I heard a roaring in my ears. My grip on the wichtlein loosened. Then everything went completely dark.
Chapter Fourteen
When I came to, I was lying against a tree. Alex’s face loomed towards me, concerned. “Mack Attack? You okay?”
I struggled to sit up. I felt very nauseous and the wound in my side screeched at me with sharp pain. I pulled up my t-shirt and looked down at the blood that was seeping through the bandages.
“Shit, Mack! Where the hell did that come from? Have you been bleeding this entire time?”
I tried to focus. “Craw?”
“He’s gone. You dropped him when you passed out. To be honest, it was either catch you or catch him. I went for you.”
I cursed and tried to sit up again. My head swam. “You need to get Julia.” It was a strain just to get the words out.
“I don’t even know who Julia is, Mack!” Alex’s voice was high-pitched and strained.
“Keep.” I gasped. “Older woman. Grey hair. She’ll be the new alpha when the Brethren go.”
“Okay, okay.” Alex nodded and started to move away then abruptly came back. “How the hell do I get back to the keep? And how can I leave you here alone? Shit, shit, shit.”
“Go west.” My vision turned dark for a second before returning. “I’ll be fine.” My daggers at least were re-strapped to my arms