mouth slowly widened into a grin, the heavy stitches tearing through his lips.
And then a section of the library wall swung open, and Hawk and Fisher plunged
out into the room. The freak spun round, throwing Holly to one side. Hawk
hesitated just long enough to take in the situation, and then cut at the freak
with his sword. The freak raised his arm at the last moment, and the blade cut
into his arm instead of his throat. Hawk danced back out of range as the freak
reached for him, blood dripping unheeded from his arm. Fisher circled round to
try and get behind him. Holly struggled to get to her feet. Hawk stepped in to
cut at the freak again, and fell to his knees as every muscle in his body turned
to mush. He shook his head sickly, managing somehow to still hang on to his
sword, though he no longer had the strength to lift it. The freak reached down
and took Hawk's face in his hand. The fingers tightened, and Hawk's cheekbones
shifted and creaked under the rising pressure. Fisher snatched a burning brand
from the fire and thrust it at the freak's back. The strength went out of her
fingers as she came within range, and the burning brand fell from her grasp onto
the rug before the fireplace. Flames leapt up as the rug caught fire.
Holly threw herself at the freak, the sudden weight catching him by surprise and
knocking him away from Hawk. The freak landed on his back on the burning rug,
and flames leapt up around him as his clothes caught fire. He surged to his feet
again, throwing Holly to one side, and lurched back and forth, beating
ineffectually at his burning clothes with his hands. There was a silent puff of
blue flames as his hair ignited. Hawk and Fisher had got some of their strength
back, and were on their feet again. Hawk still had his sword, and Fisher
snatched up a heavy footstool to use as a club. Holly rose to her feet, ignoring
her smouldering clothes, and looked around for something to use as a weapon. The
freak turned his back on them and made for the door. He tore apart the
barricade, throwing aside the bulky furniture with inhuman strength, and pulled
open the door. He staggered out into the corridor, and Hawk and Fisher went
after him.
The flames were leaping high now, and his skin was beginning to blacken, but
still he never made a sound. He glanced back at his pursuers, made for the
stairs, and then stopped as he looked up and saw Jamie leading his party down
the stairs towards him. The freak looked back and forth, his mutilated mouth
twisted in a snarl, and then his power leapt out, driven beyond its usual limits
by hate and desperation. One by one those on the stairs slumped to the ground,
their eyes slowly closing as the last bit of strength drained from them, until
only Alistair remained on his feet. He advanced slowly down the stairs, his face
eerily lit by the flames that still leapt around the freak.
'It's no use, boy,' he said softly, so that only the freak would hear. 'Your
power can't affect me. I'm no more human than you are.'
They stood face to face for a moment, staring at each other, and then Alistair's
sword shot out and buried itself in the freak's chest. He collapsed silently to
the floor, twitched a few times and lay still, curled around his death wound.
The leaping flames tugged at his clothes, but did not stir him. Alistair pulled
out the sword, and then carefully and methodically cut off the freak's head,
just in case. One by one, the others rose unsteadily to their feet as strength
flowed slowly back into them. Alistair sheathed his sword, and went over to
Hawk.
'It seems I owe you an apology. I was so sure you were the freak. But then, I'm
only human.'
Back in the library, the room became a bedlam as everyone talked at once,
explaining and apologizing and generally relaxing. Holly fussed around Arthur,
wrapping his broken hand in a cloth and trying to clean the blood from his face
with a handkerchief soaked in wine. David kept squeezing Arthur's shoulder, and
telling him incoherently how well he'd done. But finally Jamie confronted Hawk,
and everyone else shut up so they could listen.
'I think you owe us some answers,' said Jamie. 'All right, we were wrong about
you being the freak. I'm sorry, but you have been behaving very suspiciously.
Who are you, really, and what are you doing here? And what the hell happened to
your eye?'
'I can't tell you who I am,' said Hawk flatly. 'But I can tell you why I'm here.
Isobel and I came here looking for someone.'
'Who?'
Hawk turned and looked at David. 'Do you want to tell them, or shall I?'
David shrugged, and met the MacNeil's gaze unflinchingly. 'Sorry, Jamie, but I'm
afraid I've rather let the side down. I'm a spy. I stumbled across a piece of
information I knew Outremer would pay a hell of a lot for, and the temptation
was just too great. I needed the money, you see. I owe a hell of a lot, what
with one thing and another, much more than you ever knew about, and some of my
creditors were becoming very insistent. There was even talk of debtors' prison.
My Family had already made it clear they wouldn't be responsible for my debts
anymore, and without their backing the moneylenders wouldn't even see me.
'It wasn't difficult, making contact with Outremer. You'd be surprised how many
agents they have here in the city. But in the end it all went wrong, and I ended
up running for my life. So I came here, to hide out while I waited for my
contact to show up. I had to come anyway, to see what Holly was going to get
from the will. I was banking on her inheriting a fortune, to get me out of the
hole I'd dug for myself. She'd have loaned me what I needed. Hell, you'd have
given it to me outright, wouldn't you, Holly? You never could deny me anything.'
'Why the hell didn't you ask me for the money?' said Jamie hotly. 'I wouldn't
have let you go under, for the sake of a miserable few thousand ducats.'
'I couldn't ask you, or any of my friends,' said David. 'I didn't want you to
know what a fool I'd made of myself. I have my pride. It's all I've got left
now. I won't give it up. I won't stand trial, either. Arthur, look after Holly.'
He turned and ran out the door, and into the corridor. Hawk and Fisher went
after him. Hawk paused at the door to order everyone else to stay put in the
library, and then he and Fisher charged down the corridor and up the stairs in
pursuit of David Brook. They were both tired after their struggle with the
freak, and David soon outdistanced them. They pressed on, following the sound of
his feet on the stairs. They passed the second floor and the third, and still
David led them on.
'Where the hell does he think he's going?' panted Fisher. 'There's nowhere left
now but the battlements, and once he's there, we've got him cornered.'
'Not necessarily,' said Hawk. 'There's still one way down, if he wants to take
it.'
They finally burst out into the morning air, and found David sitting on the edge
of the far parapet wall, waiting for them. Fisher started forward, but Hawk put
a restraining hand on her arm. The sunlight was almost painfully bright after
the gloom of the third floor, and Hawk stood quietly a moment, letting his eye
