Free White Fangs by Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden Page A

he did feel the weight of guilt. I should have been more afraid , he thought. I have been here before and it was terrible. I should have been more careful. Better prepared for the mysteries of this place .
    But how could anyone have expected this?
    "No one else is trying for shore," he said.
    "Perhaps they're waiting for someone to lead them." She smiled, but it barely touched her eyes. So far from the sea, her only touch of water was this cursed river. Jack knew then that she was right; they had to reach shore and move on to Dawson. To stay here might prove to be the end for all of them.
    "Something strange . . . ." Louis had been staring downriver at the stranded rowboat for some time.
    "Yes," Maurilio said, nodding slowly.
    Leaning against the timber railing outside the wheelhouse with Jack, Sabine glanced sidelong at him, frowning.
    "Blood," Louis said.
    "Of course there's blood," Sabine whispered.
    "No." Maurilio turned slowly to look at them, hesitant to tear his eyes from the grotesque tableau. "There's not enough."
    "Blood," the Reverend said. His voice was low and deep, a rumble that Jack was sure he felt through the decking. "Blood . . ." The Reverend was gripping the railing and staring at the bodies, and he suddenly seemed taller than before, thicker set. His brow protruded and his nose thickened. Across his cheeks and the backs of his hands, downy hair was turning thick and bristly.
    "Reverend!" Jack said, surprised, because the man had seemed so in control up until now. "You've come this far!"
    "And every step an agony . . . ." the Reverend said. His voice was as low and quiet as ever, but it seemed filled with a barely constrained rage that Jack had never suspected in him at all.
    "Don't do this." Louis stepped forward, hands held out, and Jack expected a repeat of the slap he had dealt Vukovich during the night. But he was too slow. The Reverend lashed out and Louis went flying, bouncing from the wheelhouse structure and sprawling on the wooden deck at Jack's and Sabine's feet.
    "Not now," Jack snapped, and it was not only fear for the Reverend. If he changed now, he would give them all away. Terrified, most of them probably now armed, the passengers and crew would not think twice about trying to undertake their own slaughter. And then the wolves would change and take them, murdering innocent souls and undoing every step they had taken toward humanity.
    The Reverend leapt down the staircase to the lower deck, and Jack could see how he was still changing. He heard bones straining and cloth and flesh splitting, and as he ran the Reverend cried out, a pained and exultant shout. He ducked into a doorway and disappeared.
    Maurilio glanced around in confusion. Jack and Sabine helped Louis to his feet.
    "And now?" Louis asked.
    "Now we leave him and run," Vukovich said.
    Maurilio hesitated, ready to rush after the Reverend. "Leave him?"
    "We can't just — "
    A scream rose, high and loud. It ended quickly, replaced by the sound of something being battered against a wooden bulkhead.
    "They're still here!" Maurilio said, beginning to panic. "Just waiting for us, around every corner! Maybe we're the last ones left alive, and — "
    "Lost one of your dogs?" a voice called.
    Ghost. Jack watched as the pirate captain emerged from the doorway the Reverend had disappeared through, dragging the Reverend, who was now a man again, behind him. Blood flowed from the human-shaped nose, and he was pushing with his feet, trying to stand. Ghost moved quickly and did not give him the chance.
    Jack looked around, but could see no other eyes upon them. They're all hiding , he thought, and he could not blame the other passengers.
    At the bottom of the ladder Ghost paused and looked up. His gaze rested on Sabine, and she glanced away, backing against Jack and grasping his hand in hers. Ghost shrugged slightly, then dropped the Reverend.
    "You want to catch some bullets, let your natures free," he said. "You want to be hunted and blamed for