Changeling Read online

  There was a short silence while each of them considered what to say.

  ‘So you’re all packed and ready to go?’Alexa said eventually, staring down at the large holdall on the floor.

  Trey nodded. ‘Yep. My flight to Vancouver is at seven o’clock. Tom’s kindly offered to drop me off at the airport.’ Trey turned to his friend and smiled. ‘No doubt I’ll get the full safety lecture from him on the way: the one about not taking unnecessary risks and demanding that I call Lucien at the first sign of any trouble. I’ve already had it in one form or another from your father on at least three occasions.’

  ‘Dad’s just worried, Trey. He still hopes that you’ll change your mind and agree to let one of us go along with you.’

  ‘No, Alexa. Don’t you start. I’m going on my own. It’s something that I feel I have to do–’ He held up his hand to stop her from interrupting him. ‘Please, don’t let’s go over it all again. I’ll be fine.’

  She nodded, a sad smile playing at her lips. She pointed at something in his luggage. ‘Is that that manky old sweatshirt? I told you to chuck that out; it’s awful!’ She leaned forward to try and grab it, but Trey caught her arm at the elbow and playfully pulled her back.

  ‘And I told you to mind your own business, Alexa. If I let you have your own way, I’d be changing my entire wardrobe every two months, regardless of whether I’d worn half of the stuff or not.’

  ‘Some people have no idea about fashion.’

  ‘And some people have no idea about not spending money as if it’s a race to see who can swipeout their credit cards first.’

  ‘Nobody would ever guess that you were rich.’

  ‘Nobody would ever guess that you were clever.’

  ‘Skinflint.’

  ‘Spendthrift.’

  ‘Scrooge.’

  ‘Spoilt-spendaholic-wanting-whingeing-wastrel.’

  Alexa narrowed her eyes at him, trying to think of a comeback.

  She laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder, allowing her body to rest against his. ‘When did you say you were going, Trey? Because it really can’t be soon enough.’

  He laughed back and leaned his own head down, breathing in the vanilla smell of her hair. He felt the familiar rush of emotions he experienced whenever he and Alexa were alone like this, and his face flushed. A part of him wished that she were going with him. Hell, a part of him wished that they were all going with him: Lucien, Alexa and Tom. But something told him that this was a journey that he must make alone, to try and discover for himself the truth about what he really was. And to do that he would have to leave behind the closest thing to family that he had had in a long time. Except that wasn’t quite true any more. The reason he was making this trip was because he’d discovered that he did have a member of his real family that was still alive: an Uncle Frank, who was living in Canada.

  An uncle. A living relative. A werewolf, like him. He shivered at this last thought, unsure of how he felt about meeting up with another person who had to live with the terrible affliction that had been passed on to Trey from birth. Lucien had told Trey that he was unique; that he was the last of his kind – a revelation which had had more of an impact on the teenager than he could have imagined. Alone: an orphan who’d had to live in a care home after the death of his grandmother, he’d already lost everyone and everything when Lucien had rescued him. Lucien had been nothing but good to Trey, taking him in and treating him like a son. But he had also lied to him, keeping the existence of his uncle from him.

  As if reading his thoughts (something that he was sure that she could do if she really wanted), Alexa looked up, searching his eyes with her own. ‘Try not to get hurt over there,’ she said in a voice that was little more than a whisper.

  ‘Alexa, I’ve just told you. Tom and your dad have given me the—’

  ‘I didn’t mean like that.’ She sat up now, her gaze steady and unwavering. ‘You seem to be placing an awful lot of hope on this trip. I just want you to consider that your uncle might not be everything you want him to be.’

  Trey held her look, scanning her face for any sign that she might know more than she was telling him. ‘He’s all I’ve got,’ he said finally.

  ‘That’s not true.’

  ‘You know what I mean.’

  Alexa nodded and stood up. ‘You take good care of yourself over there, Trey Laporte.’

  He nodded and smiled up at her. ‘I’ve been doing that all my life, Alexa Charron.’

  She grinned then, a mischievous look in her eye as she leaned forward. She lowered her voice as she spoke. ‘Tom’s organizing a farewell dinner for you tonight. He’s got the caterers bringing the food – much to Mrs Magilton’s disgust – and he wants us all to sit round together. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I thought I’d let you know. I know how much you hate surprises.’

  Trey nodded his thanks. ‘Lucien already told me.’

  ‘Oh, did he now?’ She was laughing as she straightened up, shaking her head. ‘Honestly, this place. You can’t have any secrets here.’ She moved off towards the door.

  ‘Thanks, Alexa,’ he said, just as she was about to leave.

  She stopped at the door and turned back to face him again. ‘Whatever happens, Trey, just remember that you have a family here now. And we want you back safe.’ She hovered in the doorway, and Trey knew that he should say something. He wanted to tell her how much they had all come to mean to him. In particular, he wanted to tell her how he felt about her: to tell her how special she was to him. But none of the right words came, so he just nodded his head, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

  ‘Thanks,’ he repeated, and watched her turn and walk away.

  The meal went well enough. They all sat around the table in the dining room to eat. Tom had arranged for the caterers to prepare all of Trey’s favourite food and he now sat back in his seat with a belly full of steak that had been followed up with a banoffee pie that was to die for. Lucien had picked at his food, as he always did, but Trey thought that he seemed more uncomfortable than usual tonight. Lucien kept looking over at Trey’s plate, and he thought that he detected a strange look on his guardian’s face when he caught sight of the blood that had seeped out of the rare steak.

  The conversation around the table had been stilted, with everybody skating around the subject of Trey’s departure in the morning and struggling to think of alternative things to talk about.

  In the end it had been too much for the teenager, who rolled his eyes when Tom started to talk about the weather again. ‘Oh for goodness sake. Will somebody please say something – anything – about my trip. You all avoiding the subject isn’t going to change anything – I’m still going. Jeez, anyone would think that I was planning a trip to the Netherworld on my own.’

  ‘Have you contacted your uncle as I suggested, to let him know that you are intending to visit?’ Lucien asked.

  ‘No. I know that you think I should, but I don’t want him getting scared and doing a disappearing act on me. He hasn’t ever tried to contact me, so I’m guessing that he doesn’t really want me in his life. I’m planning on just turning up and seeing what he has to say for himself.’

  Lucien inclined his head to one side and arched his eyebrows in a way that Trey took as a signal that he thought the teenager’s reasoning was flawed. However, the vampire kept any further views he had on the subject to himself.

  When Lucien next spoke, it was to Alexa. ‘Tom and I have arranged for somebody to meet Trey when he arrives in Canada.’ His voice was like polished mahogany, and Trey smiled as he remembered the fascinating draw the voice had had on him when he had first met the vampire in the care home. The vampire looked as enigmatic as ever: he was handsome, in a dangerous looking way, and he exuded an aura of confidence that was difficult to resist. It was this certainty and authority that had made Trey trust Lucien that day. The tall, mysterious stranger had taken him away from his dull and sad life, and introduced him to one which was
filled with demons and vampires and djinn. It was Lucien who had revealed to Trey the terrible truth about his lycanthropy, and about the legend that the vampire believed the boy was to fulfil: to overthrow the evil vampire Caliban, who was building a powerful army in the Netherworld, and to restore peace between the human and demon realms.

  Lucien caught Trey’s look, smiling back at his young ward. ‘After much … negotiation, Trey has finally agreed to allow me to have somebody escort him until he manages to make contact with his uncle. Much against my will, our representatives over there will leave Trey to his own devices as soon as that contact is made.’

  ‘I still say that it’s madness!’ Tom said, turning to Trey. ‘What exactly is your problem with having somebody with you over there to keep an eye out for you?’

  ‘We’ve been over this again and again, Tom,’ Trey said with a sigh. ‘I want to meet up with my uncle alone. I don’t want to be followed around the country by a demon acting as a bodyguard, and I certainly don’t want you or Lucien clucking around me like a couple of mother hens.’ He looked over at Lucien and held his gaze. ‘I’ll never get a better chance than this. Since Gwendolin’s death Caliban has been almost powerless. Without his sorceress he can’t open portals into this realm from the Netherworld as easily as he used to. You said yourself, Lucien, that he is extremely quiet right now. I want to do this, and this is the best opportunity that I’ll have.’ He realized that his voice had increased in volume, and he shook his head apologetically. ‘As much as I really appreciate your concern, you are going to have to trust me.’ He looked back over at Tom. ‘I’ll be careful. I promise. I’ll call you and Lucien every day so that you can have a good cluck at me on the phone.’

  ‘Madness,’ Tom said one last time before reaching out for his wine glass.

  Lucien smiled over at his friend before returning his attention to Trey. ‘We have to respect Trey’s wishes, Tom. Besides, my understanding is that the area in which Frank Laporte lives is heavily protected from the likes of me and my kind – an arrangement that Trey’s uncle struck up with a demon lord some time ago. Once Trey is with his uncle, he should be as safe as if he were here with us.’ He paused, his stare intensifying. ‘Safe from vampires, at least.’ He ran his fingers around the edge of his wine glass, and smiled at the ringing sound it produced. ‘Trey knows that we can get our people over in Canada to assist him if he should find himself in any trouble. Trey has made his mind up, and we, his friends, have to go along with his request.’

  They had all finished eating, and as if some silent signal had been passed to them, Alexa and Tom stood up to leave.

  Trey looked between the two of them and Lucien, aware that this had been planned beforehand.

  ‘I’d welcome the chance to have a few words with you before you leave us,’ Lucien said by way of an answer to Trey’s quizzical expression.

  Tom and Alexa left the room without another word.

  ‘Well,’ Lucien said once he was sure that they were alone.

  ‘Well,’ repeated Trey.

  ‘I take it that you have everything packed?’

  ‘Yeah. Anything that I don’t have, I’ll buy when I’m out there.’

  ‘Of course.’

  An uncomfortable silence filled the room. For the first time, Trey noticed the ticking of the clock on the far wall, as though the device had chosen that particular moment to start its monotonous reckoning.

  ‘Thank you, Lucien,’ Trey said. ‘I know how difficult this is for you.’

  The vampire nodded and picked at a fleck of material on his jacket sleeve.

  ‘I was going to tell you.’ Lucien looked over at Trey, a strange and unreadable expression on his face. ‘It was never my intention to keep the existence of your uncle from you. I was merely waiting for the right time. It seems that you and I have had precious little time to really talk about the things that matter since we first met. That is something that we shall have to put right upon your return.’

  ‘You’re certain that I will return?’ Trey said, and immediately regretted allowing the words to escape him.

  Lucien paused, considering the response. ‘I hope so, Trey. I really do. This is your home – the best place for a boy with your powers to be safe.’

  Trey listened to the sound of the clock’s mechanism, irked by it now that it had come to his attention. ‘They didn’t like each other, did they? My father and his brother.’

  ‘And what makes you say that?’ Lucien raised a quizzical eyebrow.

  ‘My father’s journal,’ Trey said by way of an explanation. ‘To be honest, it was a big disappointment to me. I don’t know quite what I expected to find in it, but it’s all a bit … cold. Facts and appointments, mostly. Some references to you and missions that you both went on. Then there’s the entry about a visit that he made to my uncle with my mother. Shortly after that there’s a single line: “I wish that I’d killed Frank when I had the chance.” I’d say that constitutes a pretty strong dislike, wouldn’t you?’

  Lucien looked over at the boy, weighing up how best to answer him. ‘It wasn’t as simple as that, Trey. They were both werewolves. They were not the only ones. A pack of sorts began to emerge, and in that situation there has to be a leader: an Alpha. There were only two contenders for that position. Somebody was bound to be disappointed. Disappointed and … embittered.

  ‘I would tell you more, Trey, but I do not wish to sway the opinion that you will form of your uncle. It would be unfair for me to do that. You will make up your own mind about him, and about what you want to do afterwards. People change, Trey, and he is unlikely to be the same person that he was when I knew him well.’

  ‘But you have kept tabs on him, Lucien. If not, how else would you have known his whereabouts?’

  ‘I have merely kept myself informed of his movements. Not that there have been any. I have not seen or heard from your uncle in a little over fifteen years.’

  ‘That’s a long time – about the time that I was born.’ He studied the vampire for any reaction.

  The vampire smiled. ‘When you have been in existence for as long as I have, it’s a mere blink of an eye.’

  It was Trey’s turn to smile and nod. Looking at his guardian it was impossible to imagine that he was over two hundred years old.

  ‘Remember, Trey, if you are at all unsure of anything that happens to you while you are in Canada, you should call me immediately. You must promise me that you will not endanger yourself out there.’

  ‘I promise, Lucien. I’ll be careful. Thank you again.’

  ‘I’ll be around in the morning to see you off. You’ll excuse me if I don’t accompany you and Tom to the airport, but the early morning sunshine doesn’t agree with me.’ Lucien stood up and motioned for Trey to join him. ‘Come on, let’s get back to the others. They will want to spend as much time with you as they can before you leave.’ He placed his arm over the boy’s shoulder and gently pulled him towards him in a gentle embrace ‘We are all going to miss you, Trey,’ he said, and escorted the boy out of the room.

  3

  Trey flew first class. Lucien had insisted that he would pay for the flight despite Trey’s protests, and when the tickets arrived, he saw that he would be flying in comfort. The ticket was open, so that he could come back whenever he wanted to, and when Trey had asked Lucien how much it had cost, the vampire had merely waved the question away.

  He spent a great deal of the flight with his head stuck in books or listening to his MP3 player – anything to distract himself from what lay ahead. Every time he allowed himself to think about meeting up with his Uncle Frank, his stomach rolled sickeningly and he was filled with doubt and worry about how the whole thing would go. Better not to think about it, he told himself. Better not to build his hopes up too high.

  As he walked out of the arrivals gate, he paused, releasing the handle to brake his luggage trolley and scanning the groups of people at the chrome barrier. Most of them were on tiptoes, straining to see through th
e crowd and eagerly scanning the face of every person who emerged through the automatic doors. Some held homemade placards with the names of the arrivals that they were waiting for. He spotted his escort immediately. Lucien’s choice of chaperone was standing holding a large board with Trey’s name on it. The creature was so obviously out of place that he might as well have done away with the human mantle that he wore to disguise himself in this realm and stood there in all his Netherworld glory. Trey guessed that the demon must be almost seven foot tall, and it towered over everybody else around it. It wasn’t just tall, it was gaunt with albino-white skin stretched tightly across its features. The overall effect was positively alarming – Lucien had sent Lurch from the Addams Family to meet him. Trey smiled when he noted that while other people jostled against each other in an effort to find a place near the front of the barrier, the demon stood in a little island, unbothered and untouched by anyone else around it. Trey pushed his trolley through the opening in the barrier and approached the creature.

  ‘Mr Galroth?’ Trey said, using the name that Tom had given him.

  The creature visibly flinched at the sound of his voice, and Trey watched as it slowly turned its eyes upon him and scanned him up and down.

  ‘Mr Laporte?’ it said with thinly disguised disdain. It held out a hand, but from the look on its face, Trey guessed that it was hoping he would not accept the appendage.

  ‘Please call me Trey. ’

  ‘Very well … Trey. I must say, having heard of some of your recent exploits, you’re not quite what I was expecting.’ The creature had an impossibly deep voice and when it spoke, it did so very slowly, as if it were always reaching for the next word.

  ‘Sorry,’ Trey said. ‘I didn’t think it prudent to walk through immigration as a seven-foot werewolf. I wasn’t sure what the Canadian authorities’ stance was on allowing giant, hideous nether-creatures into their country.’ He looked up and met the demon’s gaze. ‘I can see I needn’t have worried.’