instincts. You sure you've never had any training?'
Hawk cast about for a convincing answer, but was saved by the sound of the
drawing room door opening. Jamie hurried in, followed by Marc and Alistair. Hawk
took one last look round the empty corridor, then backed unhurriedly into the
drawing room. He kicked the door shut and pushed a heavy piece of furniture up
against it. And then, finally, he put away his sword and allowed himself to
relax a little.
Holly and Katrina were taking turns hugging the breath out of Jamie, while David
and Lord Arthur clapped Marc and Alistair on the shoulder and pumped them for
details about what they'd found out. Greaves and Robbie Brennan nodded politely
to Hawk as he put down his lamp, congratulated him on his safe return, and set
about rebuilding the barricade. Fisher came over to Hawk and offered him a
brandy, which he accepted gratefully.
'Any sign of the freak?' she asked quietly.
'We found his lair, but he was long gone. Jamie's got some documents that should
fill us in on what the freak actually is. Apart from that, it was pretty much a
wasted journey. One bit of bad news: There's a good chance the freak is a
magic-user. We ran into a pretty good illusion spell up around his lair.'
Fisher pursed her lips thoughtfully. 'That's all we needed. Did you come across
anything that might tie in with Fenris?'
'Not a damn thing. I'm beginning to wonder if we might have been sent on a
wild-goose chase. I haven't come across anything to suggest Fenris was ever
here.'
'The circle of sorcerers said they tracked the spy right to Tower MacNeil.'
Hawk sniffed. 'I wouldn't trust that lot to cast my horoscope.'
Fisher smiled. 'Are you going to tell Commander Dubois that, or shall I?'
At that point, Jamie launched into an excited, only slightly exaggerated account
of their journey. Fisher listened skeptically while Hawk enjoyed his brandy. He
might not know much about vintages, but he knew enough not to waste a chance at
a good brandy. It wasn't often he could afford the good stuff on a Guard's
wages. Jamie finally wound up his report, and spread out the papers he'd found
on one of the larger tables so that everyone could take a look at them. With
perseverance, and a little discreet elbowing, Hawk and Fisher made sure they got
places in front of everyone else.
The pages were faded and cracked, and written in several different hands,
running from the time of the freak's birth to well after his incarceration. One
writer was definitely the freak's father. The others could have been anyone,
from members of the Family to some of the MacNeils' security people. The story
that finally emerged from the assembled pages was more than a little unsettling.
The Family could have lived with the physical abnormalities exhibited by the
freak at birth. Occasional unfortunates were inevitable when the Quality became
as inbred as it had in Haven. It wasn't until the child grew older that they
discovered just how inhuman he really was. The freak didn't need food or drink;
he drained the life force out of anyone and anything that came within arm's
reach of him. At first, no one understood what was happening. When those close
to the child felt ill and listless, they just put it down to a bug that was
going around. Then someone gave the freak a puppy for his sixth birthday, and
the Family watched in horror as he drained the life right out of it. The freak
laughed delightedly and clapped his hands again and again, glowing with health
and vitality, while the puppy lay shriveled and still on the carpet.
After that, the freak was kept in isolation. Poultry and small animals were
provided to satisfy his 'unnatural appetites,' but no one save his mother and
father ever saw him again. And they were always careful to visit him only after
he'd just been fed. The father spent years searching for a cure, almost
bankrupting the Family in the process. And then the mother went to visit her son
one day, and never came back. By the time the household realized she was
missing, it was far too late. His father found him squatting beside her body,
singing in her voice. The MacNeil almost fainted with shock when the monstrous
child addressed him in his dead wife's voice. It seemed he didn't just suck the
life out of people; he took their memories as well. The freak actually thought
he was his own mother. For a time…
The MacNeil finally did what his Family had been begging him to do for years. He
had a secret room constructed on the third floor, and walled up the freak inside
it. Since the boy was only ten years old, the MacNeil gave him poison to drink
first. It didn't work. The freak lived on, draining the strength out of anyone
who passed by his room. The MacNeil was at his wits' end. Since he'd already
told everyone the freak was dead, and established his second son as heir, he
didn't dare go outside the Family for help. So he did the only thing he could.
He evacuated the Tower, and left it empty long enough to weaken the freak. He
hoped the freak would die, but it didn't. He could hear it screaming.
Eventually, he went back inside and made a small opening in the wall. And fed
his son a rat. He slowly taught the freak to drain only food that was offered,
and not the person who fed him. It took a long time, but the MacNeil was
patient. And when the freak had finally learned, he let his Family back into
Tower MacNeil.
They couldn't leave the Tower permanently. People were already asking questions.
And they couldn't kill the freak. His magic had grown as he got older, tapping
into people's minds until they were afraid to antagonize him. As long as he was
fed regularly he remained quiet, and the Family learned to live with it.
Years passed. One by one, everyone who knew about the freak died, until it
became a Family Secret, handed down from father to eldest son. Feed the freak
what he wanted, and he would remain quiet. And so it went, down the many years.
The freak lived on, in his cell. Until finally Duncan MacNeil grew careless, and
never got around to telling his new eldest son. He died in battle, and the
supply of living food stopped. And the freak woke up hungry.
'The rest of it seems fairly obvious,' said Hawk. 'He drained the servants to
begin with, as they passed unknowing by the hidden room. Remember the colds they
kept getting? Then he broke out, and drained all the life out of someone.'
'The dead man in the chimney,' said Jamie. 'But why did he burn the victim's
face?'
'I think I know,' said Hawk. 'But you're not going to like it. Remember, when he
drained his mother, he acquired her voice and memories. Even thought he was her,
for a time. I think he took one of your guests, Jamie, destroyed the victim's
face so it couldn't be recognized, and then took his place. Only the memories
were so strong, after so many years' abstinence, the freak forgot who he was and
thought he was the person he'd killed. That's why we haven't been attacked;
because one of us is the freak, and doesn't know it.'
For a long moment they just stood there and looked at him.
'That's ridiculous!' said David. 'How could he not know what he is?'
