Twist of the Blade by Edward Willett Read Free Book Online Page B

mother come rushing back to her side...or your side?”
    “Why bother asking?” Wally snapped. “If you know my Dad was just here, you’ve obviously got somebody watching Ariane and me. You already know they haven’t come back.”
    “Of course I’m keeping an eye on you, Wally,” Major said. “I’m concerned about you. You’re an admirable young man, with the best of intentions. But I know my sister. I know how dangerous she is, to those who follow her as much as to those who stand against her.” He paused. “So...your parents haven’t been there. Or even called?”
    Don’t listen to him , Wally warned himself. He’s not worried about you. He almost killed you to get the shard.
    On the other hand, no one else seemed concerned at all.
    “No,” he said at last.
    “I’m sorry, Wally,” Major said. “My own father abandoned my sister and I when we were quite young, and our mother, too, was...elsewhere. Like you, we were mostly raised by a surrogate. It was never easy.”
    Wally said nothing. Yeah, he sounds sincere, he thought. But so what? He’s a good actor.
    “And Ariane? Have you seen her since you were admitted?” Major continued after a moment.
    Wally found it surprisingly hard to speak for a moment. “No,” he finally managed to squeeze out.
    “Perhaps,” Major said softly, “you should give serious thought as to where your loyalties should lie.”
    Wally chewed on his lip. The only sound was the heavy breathing of the old man asleep in the next bed. I should hang up , he thought again. It was obvious that Major was trying to drive a wedge between him and Ariane.
    But he kept the phone to his ear. He’d had some doubts about the Lady shortly after she’d first appeared. Ariane had allayed them. But now those doubts were back, redoubled.
    Ariane, though, was his friend. He wasn’t about to turn on her just because she hadn’t made it to the hospital to see him, hadn’t been able to control the power she hadn’t even asked to be given.
    The best defence is a good offence , Wally thought. “I know what you’re trying to do,” he said. “Ariane has you worried, especially now that she has the first shard. She beat you in Yellowknife. We beat you.”
    “Doesn’t she have you worried?” Merlin countered mildly. “She hasn’t come to see you. She could have killed your sister and her friends. Are you sure you even know her anymore? She can’t handle the shard , Wally. Or the power my sister gave her. It’s changing her. She’s already different from the girl you met, and she’ll keep changing, becoming colder, harder, less human, caring less and less about the things you care about.” His voice grew warm, soft, conspiratorial. “You’re just a tool to her, Wally. A tool she needs now, but one she won’t need forever. As soon as she has another shard, she’ll toss you aside like a broken hammer. And that will be the end of your part in this quest.” His voice dropped further, to almost a whisper. “That’s assuming, of course, she doesn’t get you killed first.”
    Wally squeezed his eyes shut. I shouldn’t keep listening , he thought. I shouldn’t.... But there was something almost ...mesmerizing about Major’s voice.
    Magic , he thought. He used it on me before, in Yellowknife, he made me tell him what we were doing there...but I fought it off then. And it’s not going to work now! His eyes shot open.
    “Why should I listen to you?” Wally snarled. His elderly roommate grunted and rolled over, and he lowered his voice. “You’re way more dangerous than Ariane. And you’re no more of this world than the Lady of the Lake!”
    “On the contrary, I’m very much of this world,” Merlin said. If Wally’s outburst had taken him aback, his voice betrayed no sign. “I’ve been here more than a thousand years, whereas the Lady left long ago. And over the last forty years I’ve built a successful business that gives liberally to charity, employs thousands of people,