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"You know about the Deins "You’ve seen theic, how destructive they are You know that some, like Lord Loss, can cross between their universe and ours"

"Does this have anything to do with him?" I croak

"No He doesn’t need the cave, and from what I know of him he isn’t interested in it" Dervish stops for aabout the best way to proceed "Lord Loss is an exception Most demons can’t cross readily between universes If they could, this world would be aith the Des and slaves

"Many dee portion of their ti to open s between the two universes They find weak points where crossing is easier and work on thees on this side The Disciples try to stop thes where we can, deal with the aftermath e can’t"

"Like in Slawter," I nod "You explained all that to me before But what about the cave?"

Dervish puffs his cheeks up, then blows out air "More than a o, the Deroups The dehting is rife But in this case thousands banded together to launch an all-out assault They set out to create a large, per-a tunnel instead of a temporaryThe cave was the focus for their attempt

"They were helped by a twisted druid Our world was y and like any fory it can ebb and flow over the course of tih this world There were h they called themselves druids and priestesses It’s a source of debate as to why there’s so little uess-"

"You’re rarins sheepishly "Sorry Keeping it sih the cave They nearly succeeded From e know, many did cross over, but only lesser demons The tunnel was shattered before the masters could cross and the cave entrance was later filled in and hidden froain

"Since that time a watch has been kept on this area There’s always been a watcher here-even before the Disciples were for sure the cave isn’t reopened I’ line of watchmen That’s why I don’t wander the world like et away to deal with other matters occasionally but the cave is my main priority"

"But you said you didn’t knohere it was How could you keep people away from it if you didn’t know its location?"

"Powerful spells were cast when the cave was filled in As watcher, I would have known instantly if anyone tried to gain access The spells would have led ht to the cave"

"Then why didn’t you co?" I frown

Dervish’s left eye tics "The spells didn’t work"

"But you said-"

"So," he snaps "That’s why I was so worried I thought a powerful e must be at work, one with the ability to override the protective spells When you told ht panic Before the tunnel can be reopened, a sacrifice ical potential of the cave would have been reactivated, allowing the De a new tunnel"

"That’s why you wanted to know if there was anybody else in the cave," I note

Dervish nods and licks his lips "I’ician-they should have worked You didn’t see Loch slip, did you?"

"No"

"So you can’t be certain there wasn’t somebody else present, that he wasn’t deliberately killed"

"Bill-E ith him He would have seen if there’d been anyone else up there"

"Maybe," Dervish says dubiously "But if there was so spells when the cave was reopened, they ic to wipe their presence from Billy’sphantoh to the cave today-yesterday, I mean We went down by ourselves as soon as we discovered the entrance There can’t have been anybody else"

"You’re right," Dervish sighs "I’ at shadows But I’m so wired! Back when the tunnel was open, only lesser demons were able to cross But the core of the tunnel idening all the tiot to the point where the masters could cross The shell of that core remains intact If the Demonata ever restored it, thousands could cross in a matter of days, masters and all"

"Couldn’t you force theain, close it like before?" I ask

Dervish pulls a face "Huical than they were the last time it was open And back then they only had to deal eaker deht wind of it in advance, but if they opened it without our knowing"

He trails off into silence It’s hotter than nor on this late The teht Lord Loss in the cellar, the unnatural heat of the Dehly uncoily on my seat

"What happens now?" I ask quietly

"The cave will need to be hidden again Fresh spells will have to be cast and we’ll try to find out why those in place before didn’t work But that’s a job for a ician I’ll put out the call and we’ll wait"

"I thought there weren’t es"

Dervish shakes his head "There’s one He’s the head of the Disciples, though we don’t have hts ht alongside hi this area a few years later I don’t kno long it will take him to come, but hopefully it won’t be more than a month or two"

"Are we safe while ait?" I ask edgily "What if an evil e finds the cave and makes a sacrifice?"

"It’s not that simple," Dervish says "The tunnel can’t be opened instantly A sacrifice would have to be made to start the process, then over the next feeeks the entrances would fuse with the core At that point sothy, coic at work-it would be impossible to mask-and I’d move heaven and hell to stop it But I don’t think we’ve anything to fear Since I wasn’t warned by the spells when you broke through to the cave, nobody else can have been The Demonata don’t know the entrance to the cave has been cleared, so they have no reason to move on it"

"Then we’re safe?" I watch his face closely in case he tries to lie

"As safe as we’ve ever been," Dervish says calmly and there’s no hint of deception in his features I start to relax slightly He raises a finger "But regardless of how safe it is, I don’t want you going back to the cave"

"As if!" I lick ain?"

Dervish shrugs "Life will go on as nor watch, and another Disciple will replace rey and of no use any to tell him what you told me?"

"Yes As soon as Ma and Pa Spleen let hiht not be any tiht I’ll be glad to see dawn"

"Loch won’t ever see dawn again," Ito think about the cave, de about my poor dead friend

Dervish s hand on my shoulder "You can talk with me about him if you want I knohat it’s like to lose a friend I can help"

"Yeah Maybe Thanks" I take a deep breath and look up The fear grows in ue and hold it still It whispers caution Screams for silence But I have to tell hier

"There’s more than Loch and the cave that we need to discuss"

"Oh?" A puzzled little s major

"I think I have the family curse" His smile freezes I push the fear down deep and spit out the words I never wanted to voice "I think I’ into a olf"

I tell Dervish everything-the sickness, the party, the bottle, theto findas if my life depended on it The whispers, the face in the rock, splitting the ith my scream

Dervish listens silently for thehis beard Occasionally he’ll ask me to elaborate, to describe the sickness and whispers in more detail But most of the time he just watches htly, like a priest hearing confession

A long pause when I finish Then Dervish tuts like a teacher "You should have called ot home"

"I knohat I should have done," I snap "But I didn’t I was afraid you’d ic And I hoped I rong about turning into a olf Keeping quiet was dumb, but I never clailare at hirunt when he doesn’t say anything "Ans you describe suggest it, but"

"What?" I hiss

"Victims don’t realise," he says quietly "Nobody turns into a olf overnight It’s a gradual process, spread out over three or four ht-if they wake covered in blood, or lying naked outdoors-but I’ve never heard of anyone being conscious of the change or actively fighting it When they start to turn, theiror do anything to stop it What you describe is unlike anything any other member of the fa with this for a long ti maybe it isn’t?" I feel hope blossom in ain "The signs all point to lycanthropy-the distorted face, the hands clenching, the howling If so to you, I’d say you were definitely das yourself It"