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This was another unfamiliar word—like “wearh” and “maker” Marcus’s curiosity must have shown

“Bloodlore is the knowledge that’s in the bones and blood of every creature It’s one of the things we crave as wearhs,” Gallowglass explained

Marcus had felt that hunger to know—along with the urge to hunt, to drink blood, and to fight It was co to realize that his lively curiosity—a curse, his father Obadiah had called it—was now a normal, acceptable part of who he was

“Didn’t Matthew explain how the world really works and what you were about to becolass looked concerned

“He ht have I’m not sure,” Marcus confessed “I had a fever—a bad one I don’t reo to university, and study medicine”

Gallowglass swore

“I have some questions,” Marcus said hesitantly

“I ilass said “Fire away”

“What’s a wearh?” Marcus asked, his voice low in case a member of the ship’s creas nearby

Gallowglass buried his face in his hands and groaned

“Let’s start at the beginning,” he said, rising to his feet with the practiced grace of a lass extended a hand to Marcus and lifted hi Marcus By the tiet to France, you’ll understand what a wearh is—and what you’ve taken on by beco one”

—

ONCE THEY WERE ON OPEN seas, Gallowglass had all the flags lowered save one that was black with a silver snake carrying its tail in its mouth This kept most vessels at a respectful distance

“The fa up at the standard that flapped and crackled in the wind “Granddad is ruesome than any pirate Not even Blackbeard wanted to be on his bad side”

During the voyage, Gallowglass told Marcus a story about what it was to be a wearh that finally made sense of the weeks since Yorktown At last Marcus understood the nature of not only wearhs, but witches, dae back over his life, that the healer at Bunker Hill had been a witch And he knew for certain that John Russell—the man he first knew as Cole—was a wearh As for daeh Vanderslice was the most likely prospect

Gallowglass also impressed upon him what it was to be a de Cler, nearly ied creature was the easier task Being a de Clerreat many prickly characters and lass’s description of the family and how it operated, it did not seem that the de Clermonts had read Common Sense There was certainly no hint that they had embraced the neorld of liberty and freedom that Paine outlined in his work While Marcus lay in his berth, reading and rereading the worn pages of his treasured book, he had time to wonder what his new family would think of Paine’s assertion that virtue was not hereditary

After h, frigid seas, the Aréthuse arrived in the French port of Bordeaux Gallowglass had , thanks to a combination of utter fearlessness, an encyclopedic mastery of the currents, and the fact that the de Clerhtened off every privateer and blockade-runner in the Atlantic, as he had promised it would

As they sailed down the Gironde, Marcus eyed the French countryside with awhat awaited them on terra firma

Marcus had never strayed h the varied origins of the Philadelphia Associators had introduced him to a world beyond the colonies, he as yet had no direct experience of it The air in France smelled different, and the sounds that came from the shore did, too The fields were bare, except for rows of vines held up by wooden supports that would bear the fruit for the earhs drank to quench their thirst when blood was not available The brilliant leaves that had still been on the trees in Portsmouth were nowhere visible in France in late December

Marcus had grown accusto in close quarters with only Gallowglass and the crew Bordeaux was a bustling port like Philadelphia, filled with creatures of every description—including females Once they had docked and filled out all the paperwork that was required to unload the Aréthuse’s cargo, Gallowglass led him off the ship His cousin’s hand was fir with the bright colors and strong scents of the port, left Marcus dazed and a trifle confused

“Steady on,” Gallowglass said in a low murmur “Stop and take it all in Re wherever your nose leads, like a boy trailing after every pretty girl”

Marcus swayed on unsteady legs, feeling the groundwith it Stefan, the Aréthuse’s plu while they were anchored outside the harbor, waiting for the customs men to inspect their wares Stefan not only provided sustenance to the war, but fed the wearhs from his veins, too

“À bientôt,” Stefan said cheerily as he passed, carrying the ship’s last re in its wicker cage

“Until next tilass handed hi sound “For your trouble”

“Non,” Stefan de the coins and calculating how much he could buy with them “I was paid before we set sail, milord”

“Consider it a boon, then,” Gallowglass said, “for taking care of young Monsieur Marcus”

Marcus’sworth so much money

“Monsieur Marcus was a gentleman It wasthe chicken hurtling forward in his cage with an angry squawk

Marcus bowed in return The cook’s eyes widened Had Stefan been a chicken, he would have squawked, too Gallowglass hauled Marcus upright and steered him away

“Don’t be bowing to the servants, Marcus,” Gallowglass ossips noticing your strange ways?”

As a wearh who drank the blood of living creatures for sustenance, never slept, and could reduce a mizzenmast to splinters with his bare hands, Marcus felt sure that bowing to servants was the least of arht notice

“I suppose we can attribute your oddness to being A the Bordelaise on the docks Every last one of them was festooned with ribbons of red, white, and blue The French were more visibly patriotic than most of the citizens of Philadelphia

“Great Jesus and his sainted mother! Who is that?” A small, dark wearh with a pronounced squint approached theh the croith two spirited horses in tow Marcus could tell what he was froaed, as though he had spent too much time on horseback

“This is Matthew’s latest project,” Gallowglass said “Marcus, meet Davy Gams We call him Hancock”

“Pleased to meet you, sir” Marcus bowed Davy’s eyes popped

“He’s Aetically

Davy glowered at hireat deal of trouble and cost a packet, too You better be worth it”

Not knowing how to respond, Marcus adopted the silent, attentive attitude that he had perfected while working for the doctors Otto

“How old is he?” Davy de the faces of the people passing them

“Bonjour!” Gallowglass called to one particularly attractive young wo a red, white, and blue rosette on her bodice as shopping a the hucksters at the wharf He turned back to Davy “Soive ures” was another unfamiliar word—like “wearh” and “maker” Marcus’s curiosity must have shown