Blood Beast by Darren Shan Read Free Book Online Page A

exclaims.
    “— are just books,” I finish tiredly, then go to see what state the kitchen’s in.
    As I’m leaving, I hear Leon mutter, “Magic! You’re a real ass sometimes.”
    “I don’t care what he says,” Charlie sulks. “I know what I saw. It
was
real magic. I’d bet a million jelly beans on it.”
    When everything’s as clean as we can get it, my friends say goodbye and make their way home to recover before school on Monday. Bill-E and Loch stay — they’re going to spend the day here. Bill-E waits till Loch’s in the bathroom, then asks how I’m feeling.
    “Fine,” I lie as my brain throbs with a splitting headache and my stomach gives a sickly rumble.
    “I heard howling last night,” Bill-E says. “After we’d gone to bed. It woke me. A few others too. There was some talk of it this morning but not much. Most people were still trying to figure out how you pulled off the trick with the bottle.”
    I grunt, saying nothing.
    “Grubbs,” Bill-E says hesitantly, “I know we’ve never discussed the family curse. You filled me in on the basics in Slawter, but you’ve never offered more information and I haven’t pushed.”
    For a long time Bill-E thought Dervish was the one who’d almost changed into a werewolf. I finally told him the truth in Slawter, only neglecting the part about Dervish being his uncle, not his father. I’ve never told Bill-E that we share the same Dad. I want to, but he feels a special bond with Dervish, believing him to be his real father. I’ve never had the heart to burst his bubble.
    “Well,” Bill-E continues after an uncomfortable pause, “I know I almost turned into a werewolf and that you and Dervish saved me. You faced Lord Loss and won back my humanity. But is the cure definitely permanent?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’m safe? For certain?”
    “One hundred percent.” I smile.
    “What about. . . ?” He hesitates again. “Your magic. . . the howling. . . Are
you
safe too?”
    I don’t answer for a second. Then, quietly, I lie. “Yes.”
    “I won’t have to lock you up in the cage in the secret cellar?”
    “No,” I laugh edgily. I hate that cellar. I’ve only been there once since we defeated Lord Loss, when Dervish’s night-mares were threatening to destroy his sanity. “I’m fine. That wasn’t me howling. Probably just a big dog that got loose. Now stop worrying — you’re getting on my nerves.”
    Loch returns, wiping his hands dry on his pants, and the questions stop, though I sense Bill-E doesn’t fully believe me. He knows something’s wrong, that I’m not coming clean. But he doesn’t suspect the worst, or anything near it. He trusts me. Thinks of me as his closest friend. Doesn’t believe I’d lie point-blank to him about something this serious.
    How little he knows.
    A long, anticlimactic Sunday. Lounging around the house, all three of us bored, channel surfing in search of something decent to watch, sticking CDs on, turning them off after just a few tracks. Loch makes cutting remarks about Bill-E, winding him up. I worry about lycanthropy and magic.
    “This is crap,” Loch mutters, switching the TV and CD player to standby. He jumps up and rubs his hands together. “Let’s wrestle.”
    “I’m not in the mood.”
    “C’mon!” he prods, slapping my face lightly, trying to sting me into action.
    “No.” I yawn.
    Loch scowls, then switches his attention to Bill-E. “How about you, Spleenio?” He grabs the shorter boy by the waist and swings him around.
    “Let go!” Bill-E shouts, kicking out.
    “We’ve got a live one,” Loch laughs. He throws Bill-E to the ground, then falls on him and starts to tickle.
    “No!” Bill-E gasps, face red, slapping at Loch like a girl, half laughing from the tickling, half crying.
    “Leave him alone,” I mutter angrily — the noise is making my headache worse.
    Loch stops and stands. “Sorry, Bill-E,” he says. “Let me help you up.” He lowers his right hand. Bill-E reaches for