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"Bill-E?" Ihis abnormal yellow eyes "Bill-E it&039;s nise you," Dervish says, stepping to the left Bill-E&039;s eyes snap to the adult and he crouches defensively Behind him, Meera takes an automatic step backwards "No!" Dervish barks "Don&039;t move! You&039;ll attract - "

Too late Bill-E&039;s head swivels He spots Meera Leaps

Meera gets out the start of a screa as he hauls her to the ground They land hard, Meera underneath She tries to throw the anirabs her hand and bites hard into the flesh She starts to curse, but is cut short by the creature&039;s fist - it crushes into the side of her face Meera chokes, stunned The beast grabs both sides of her head and soes out of her Teeth glinting in thearound Meera&039;s throat The monster&039;s about to rip her head off and all I can do is stand here and gawp like an idiot

But Dervish isn&039;t so helpless He ets there a split-second before he bites Grabbing Bill-E&039;s ear, he tugs hard The creature&039;s head jerks clear of Meera&039;s throat He whines and lashes out Dervish ducks the blow Shoves the aniing it hard into the boy-beast&039;s back Brings up his right hand and jabs the tip of the syringe into the side of Bill-E&039;s neck Pushes on the plunger The liquid in the barrel disappears into Bill-E&039;s veins

Bill-E stiffens and groans Dervish whips the syringe out and tosses it aside Bill-E thrashes wildly Dervish uses both hands and knees to hold hiain More thrashing Stiffens for the third ti, limbs limp

Dervish lays Bill-E&039;s head down, then shoots to Meera&039;s side "Meera?" hehis ear to her lips, rolling her eyelids up No response He straightens her legs and arms, checks on Bill-E, looks around to see if anybody&039;s noticed the scuffle - but the road is deserted except for us He turns to face me

"You bloody fool," he snarls

I stare blankly at ive myself over to bewildered tears

Dervish lets ruffly, "Clean yourself up, then help me with Billy and Meera"

I wipe

"You thought I was a olf?" Dervish asks

"Yes," I answer hollowly

"You ass," he says, and erous than someone half-close to a terrible truth What would you have done if I was? Taken that axe to me? Chopped me up into little bits? Buriedand never returned?"

"I don&039;t know," I ht you&039;d lock yourself up in the cage in the cellar When you started for the Vale, we - "

"You know about the cellar?" he interrupts "You&039;ve been there?"

"Yes Not Bill-E - just e, the deer, the books"

Dervish snorts, disgusted "I knew you&039;d sniff it out eventually, but not this quick I underestimated you - Sherlock Grady"

He bends, ties Bill-E&039;s legs together, then his hands He slips a gag between the unconscious boy&039;s jaws, then picks Bill-E up and drapes him over his shoulders,to do with hi Bill-E&039;s throat, or caging hirunts "We&039;ll discuss that later First we have to get hie - there&039;s water, and he can feed on the deer We&039;re exposed here"

"But - " I begin

"Save it," Dervish snaps "We need toto Ma Spleen that her grandson&039;s a olf!"

I sly, then put the questions on hold Dervish carries Bill-E to the van which Meera had been hiding behind He pulls the rear door open and bundles Bill-E inside, then returns for Meera I&039;m too terrified and ashamed to ask if she&039;s alive or dead Instead I pick up ht arles fiercely where Dervish hit me, but I can use my hand now - and put them in the back of the van beside the bodies Dervish closes the door on the beast and the woman Then we climb in up front and drive back to the , as if this is an ordinary drive hoht Dervish concentrates on the road, driving slowly for once in his life His hands are shaking on the steering wheel I watch hiears Then, unable to hold the questions back any longer, I spit it out

"You knew Bill-E was a olf"

"Obviously"

"How long have you known?"

"A fewthe forest in a daze around the ti animals" His head turns briefly "You know about that?"

"Yes That&039;s what put us on to you Bill-E saw you collecting the bodies and getting rid of the of the kills,sure nobody else found them, I hoped to avoid suspicion and protect hiood"

I look back over the seat&039;s head rest I can see Bill-E and Meera Meera&039;s chest is rising and falling - she&039;s alive I study Bill-E&039;s face No hair No fangs But his skin&039;s a darker shade than usual, his fingernails have sprouted, and his cheekbones have definitely changed shape - albeit slightly And his eyes, if they were open, would be that eerie yellow colour And his mouth those teeth

"Why didn&039;t you tell me?" I ask softly

"That your best friend&039;s a olf?" Dervish snorts

"I&039;d have believed you if you&039;d shown me proof I was ready to believe it about you - I could have believed it about Bill-E too"

"Perhaps," Dervish sighs "But I hoped to spare you, the way I&039;ve spared Billy I didn&039;t know until tonight how dae would be So that he was merely moon-sick, that the disease eak in him and wouldn&039;t take hold"

Dervish drives in silence for a while, gathering his thoughts I don&039;t say anything, waiting for hiuessed?" he asks eventually "Tell me what you think you know"

"The Gradys are cursed," I answer directly "So for centuries"

"Pretty good," Dervish cooes back a lot further than centuries, and it&039;s not just Gradys - it&039;s the entire faht you had the disease, but that you could control it, or at least lock yourself up when the moon was full"

"Nobody can control lycanthropy," Dervish says quietly "When the disease takes hold - as it has in Billy tonight - you&039;re dooe takes a couple of months, but once the wolf comes to the fore, the huone? He&039;s"