Hawk shrugged. 'All those years alone must have driven him crazy. Maybe his own
personality had become so fragile…'
'Wait a minute,' said Alistair. 'What about the illusion on the cell wall? The
freak kept that up for a while, and then dropped it when he realized it wasn't
needed anymore. How could the freak do that if he doesn't remember who he is?'
'Maybe he remembers sometimes, when he has to, to protect himself,' said Hawk.
'How should I know? I'm not an expert on freaks or madness!'
'You're accusing one of us of being the freak?' said Katrina shrilly. 'That's
crazy! Jamie, tell him it's crazy!'
'Be quiet. Auntie,' said Jamie. She looked at him reproachfully, but his face
was stem and uncompromising. At that moment he looked every inch the MacNeil,
head of the Family, and Katrina subsided, limiting herself to a couple of
bad-tempered sniffs. Jamie looked hard at Hawk. 'If one of us is a murderer, and
truly doesn't know it, how can we tell who it is?'
'Perhaps there's something in the documents,' said David. 'Something we missed.'
'No,' said Alistair flatly. 'Young Richard has summed up the papers' contents
very thoroughly. He didn't miss a thing.'
'We've got to do something,' said Katrina stubbornly. 'That… creature could be
leeching the life out of us even as we speak.'
'Has anybody felt ill recently?' said Marc. 'Does anyone feel tired or
listless?'
They all looked at each other, but nobody said anything. Hawk frowned as he
tried to judge how he felt. After the hectic events of the past night and early
morning he'd have been surprised if he hadn't felt a little frayed around the
edges, but he couldn't say he felt unusually tired. He cocked an eyebrow at
Fisher, and she shook her head slightly.
'We have to find the freak,' said Jamie. 'Find him and kill him. He's too
dangerous to be allowed to live.'
'Right,' said David. 'If we don't find him before he feeds again, he could be
the only living thing left in this Tower when the wards go down tomorrow
morning.'
Holly paled suddenly, and turned away. Arthur looked hard at David. 'Steady on,
old chap. You're frightening the girls.'
'Shut up, Arthur,' said Jamie. 'This is serious.'
'Are you sure we can kill the freak?' said Marc. 'He's not human. Perhaps he
can't be killed by ordinary methods.'
Alistair nodded thoughtfully. 'You mean like silver for a werewolf, and a wooden
stake for a vampire?'
'Perhaps the reason why they didn't kill him is because they couldn't,' said
Marc slowly. 'If that is the case, the wisest thing for us to do would be to
lock ourselves up in our rooms, barricade the doors, and wait it out till
morning. As soon as the wards go down, we could make a run for it.'
'And leave the freak free to turn on the city?' said Jamie. 'Hundreds of people
could die before he was finally hunted down and destroyed. The Secret of the
MacNeils would become the Shame of the MacNeils. I can't allow that. The freak
is our responsibility. It's a Family problem. And we have to deal with it.'
'Besides,' said Hawk quickly, 'splitting up is a bad idea. There's safety in
numbers.'
'So you keep saying,' said David. 'What's the matter, Richard? Can't you cope
without someone to hold your hand?'
'That's enough, David!' said Jamie sharply. 'Richard's done very well by us so
far. Now listen to me, all of you. There's still one source of information we
haven't consulted, and that's my father's will. There may be something in the
will that can help us, so Greaves and I will set up the right conditions for the
reading. It may take a little time, and I think we could all use a break to
freshen up, so I suggest you all repair to your rooms and compose yourselves
until we're ready down here. But, just to be on the safe side, I think it might
be wise if no one was to be left on their own. So choose a partner and stick
with them at all times. Happy now, Richard?'
'Not really,' said Hawk. 'But it's better than nothing. I'll look after my
sister.'
'Of course,' said Jamie. 'Aunt Katrina, if you'd be so kind as to look after
Holly…'
There was a brief rumble of conversation as the others sorted themselves out.
David and Arthur paired up together, leaving Marc and Alistair to form the final
pair. Neither of them looked too happy about it, but they both made diplomatic
noises. Brennan realized he was left on his own, and quickly volunteered to help
set up the reading of the will.
There was a pause after that as everyone waited for everyone else to make the
first move. Jamie broke the mood by nodding curtly to Greaves and Brennan to
help him dismantle the barricade at the door. It was soon done, and everyone set
off up the stairs to the bedrooms on the next floor, eyeing each other
suspiciously when they thought no one was looking. Hawk still wasn't happy about
the group splitting up, but Jamie was the authority here, not him; he couldn't
push the matter too hard without arousing suspicions. Besides, he could use the
opportunity to talk with Isobel in private. He always did his best thinking when
he could discuss things with Isobel. And he had a strong feeling he was going to
need all the help he could get on this case.
Chapter Five
Plans And Secrets
Hawk and Fisher watched closely as the others disappeared into their rooms on
the second floor, and made careful mental notes as to who was staying where. You
never knew when information like that might come in handy. Jamie escorted Hawk
and Fisher to their room, and even opened the door for them. Hawk thought about
offering him a tip, but decided Jamie wouldn't see the joke. Jamie made the
usual polite remarks about hoping they'd be comfortable, and Hawk made the usual
polite remarks in reply. Then they all smiled at each other, and Jamie went back
down the corridor. Hawk immediately closed the door, locked it, and put his back
against it. His chin dropped forward onto his chest, and he let out a long slow
sigh of relief. Fisher made vague grunts of agreement from where she lay
stretched out full length on the bed, indifferent to the damage it was doing to
her dress.
'I never knew behaving respectably could be such hard work,' said Hawk finally.
'I've done so much smiling it feels like I went to sleep with a coat hanger in
my mouth. I don't know if I can keep this up till tomorrow morning.'
'I don't know what you're complaining about,' said Fisher unsympathetically. 'At
least you don't have to be sociable and cope with a corset at the same time. My
waist isn't on speaking terms with the rest of me.' She sat up slowly and
carefully, levered off her fashionable shoes, and wriggled her toes gratefully.
