Part 27 (1/2)

Kevin surprised her. 'I do,' he said. 'It was his choice.'

The music played on, and it seemed like no time at all before the tape came to an end and Tess had to get up and turn it over. Kevin sat quietly in the chair, lost in his own thoughts. It didn't matter to Tess that he wasn't communicative; she didn't feel much like talking herself. It was enough that he was there.

The night slipped past. From time to time, Tess thought about going to bed, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep. Although neither of them said it, they were both waiting for the dawn and Tess noticed that, just as she did, Kevin regularly glanced up at the thin wedge or darkness where the curtains met.

Long before it began to get light, they heard Tess's father get up and go downstairs for breakfast. Soon afterwards he came up with tea for his wife. Tess waited for the regular knock on her door which woke her every morning, but it didn't come.

'He's letting me lie in,' she said quietly to Kevin.

'Lucky you.'

Tess laughed. 'I'm still not tired. But I keep telling myself how ridiculous it is to be sitting up like this.'

Kevin nodded, then looked again towards the window. Tess followed his eyes. The first hint of blue had crept into the blackness. She got up and drew the curtains, then switched off the light. When their eyes adjusted, they realised that there was more light in the day than they had thought.

'Is this dawn?' said Kevin. 'Does it count?'

'What difference does it make?' said Tess. 'We've no way of knowing what has happened, in any case.'

'I suppose not.'

'What are we going to do?'

'I don't know. Go looking, I suppose. With a good sharp stake of course.'

Tess shuddered, then sighed. 'I can't sleep. I just wish we had some way of knowing.'

As if in answer, there was a scuffle of tough little claws beneath the floorboards. Kevin froze, remembering the terrible attack the rats had made upon him when he was a phoenix. Was the vampire around, somewhere? Had he been hovering around all night, listening to them, and sent the rats to finish off Kevin before he could carry out his threat?

He stood up and looked around, horribly aware of his helplessness now that he no longer had the power to Switch. If the rats came for him here, there would be no way that he could escape.

Tess glanced over at him, understanding the situation immediately. Her mind went into overdrive as she searched for a solution. A terrier, perhaps? At least she could hold them at bay for a while.

But the nose that came poking through the gap in the wardrobe doors was very far from being aggressive. It was pink with white whiskers and it was twitching nervously. A white snout followed and a pair of weak, red eyes which peered anxiously around the room.

'Algernon!' said Tess.

The white rat heard her and moved cautiously into the room, sniffing the air and examining every object he encountered with grave suspicion. His nose was b.u.mpy with scars and bruises, and his paws were swollen from digging.

'Poor Algie.' Tess bent down as he reached her foot, and stretched out a hand towards him. She was wary, remembering the fierce bite he had given her in the crypt, but this time there was no need to worry. Algernon jumped slightly as her fingers touched his grubby coat, then turned his head to sniff at her. Before she could get a hand around him, he ran up her sleeve and perched himself on her shoulder, pus.h.i.+ng his twitching nose into the nape of her neck and up over her face.

'Apple, huh?' he said to her. 'White rat eating. White rat sleeping curled up in bed. Lots of shredded paper. Warm and cosy.'

Tess laughed in delight. 'White rat tired of tunnels and drains, huh?'

'White rat sleeping in cage. White rat running round on wheel.'

Kevin had been listening and now he bit a chunk out of an apple and handed it to Algernon, who sat up on Tess's shoulder and took it in his front paws. Eating didn't stop him from talking at all, since he didn't need his mouth to do it.

'Rat-bat-wolf-boy disappeared. Brown rats falling asleep on their feet. Sleeping in drains and tunnels. Whole city silent.'

Tess and Kevin said nothing, each of them dwelling on their own thoughts. Algernon finished the piece of apple and scuttled from Tess's shoulder into his cage. Tess was aware of a great sense of contentment. Lizzie had been right again and had helped her to do the right thing. Kevin was back, her parents seemed to be accepting the fact that she was growing up, and at that moment, Tess couldn't imagine why anyone would want to be anything other than human.

'We'll still have to look for him, of course,' she said. 'He's going to need a bit of support for a while.'

'We can leave the sharpened stake at home, though,' said Kevin. 'Do you think we should go now?'

Tess shook her head. 'I'm done in. This evening, maybe. The only thing I want to do now is to sleep all day.'

Kevin nodded. 'Good idea.' He stood up and stretched, then set off for the spare room. At the door he turned back, grinning widely.

'Just promise me you won't make a habit of it,' he said.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fict.i.tiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 1998 by Kate Thompson Cover design by Michel Vrana 978-1-4804-2421-0.

This edition published in 2013 by Open Road Integrated Media.

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Wild Blood.

The Switchers Trilogy, Vol. 3.

Kate Thompson.

For Sara Jane.

I would like to thank The Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, the Ennistymon Library and Jane Tottenham, who have all made work s.p.a.ce available to me at crucial times.

CHAPTER ONE.