Free Dark Heart Surrender by Lee Monroe Page A

‘Henora is asleep,’ he said. ‘She has been having trouble … since you left.’
    ‘I’m sorry.’ Luca felt anxious. ‘I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused.’
    ‘Oh.’ Ulfred waved a hand dismissively. ‘She’s highly strung – always has been, as you know.’
    ‘I’m happy – with Jane.’ Luca said, by way of justification. ‘Her family are good people.’
    ‘I’m glad.’ Ulfred’s shoulders seemed to droop then. ‘And you are making yourself useful?’
    He meant, was Luca earning his keep. The stigma of his son doing nothing but be waited on by Anna Jonas would be too shameful to Ulfred, Luca knew that. He was quick to explain.
    ‘I have a job, Ulfred. I pay for myself. And one day I will support Jane, too.’
    ‘Good.’ His father hesitated briefly, before asking, ‘And how are you coping – when the full moon comes? Are you safe?’
    Luca sighed. ‘It isn’t easy. But I have found a place. High up on the mountain, where nobody ventures. So far, Jane’s family are oblivious to my need to turn. Except for Jane herself, that is. She doesn’t find it easy either, but she knows I have no choice.’ He smiled. ‘It is worth the sacrifice, Father. Even though I wish things were straightforward. Where Jane lives, it is thankfully remote. If it were anywhere else …’ He trailed off, meeting Ulfred’s eyes.
    ‘So …’ The older man eyed him. ‘Why have you returned?’
    Luca felt again the necklace in his pocket. He hesitated before drawing it out. Saw Ulfred’s gaze flicker over it.
    ‘You’ve brought a gift?’
    ‘Not a gift.’ Luca looked down at the chain. ‘I found it at this place where I have been working. A horrible, dank place with a bad aura to it.’ He held it up in its plastic shroud, the blood visible on it. ‘In itself it may be nothing, but I just have this bad feeling. And there was something Jane’s sister talked of at the meal the evening I found it. Something that triggered a memory.’ He paused. ‘Something I heard you talk of years ago, when I was just a child. The creatures that were never allowed on Nissilum?’
    ‘Oh.’ Ulfred’s expression was wry. ‘Well, there were plenty that never came here …’
    ‘A rare species,’ Luca went on. ‘Foxes of some kind.’
    ‘Ah. The Vulpecula.’ Ulfred shook his head. ‘Deadly beyond redemption.’
    ‘The Vulpecula. Yes, that’s right.’ Luca nodded. ‘They take on human form?’
    ‘Indeed.’ Ulfred stroked his beard. ‘They are not unlike the werewolves … Not unlike us in that, biologically speaking, they are essentially animal – in their case fox – but have human genes too. Unlike us, they are primarily in their animal form, but they can, and will, turn into human beings when the need suits them. They shapeshift. They do not turn by force of the moon. And they can stay human for as long as it suits them to do so. But as humans they have all the wile and cunning of foxes themselves. That, and a quite mesmerizing presence.’ He hesitated. ‘But they are rare. In fact, I thought they were extinct. The Vulpecula have not been sighted or heard of for a long time – decades. The assumption has been that they had all but died out.’
    ‘All but,’ Luca said, swallowing. ‘I am not so sure about that.’
    ‘Luca?’ Ulfred frowned. ‘Son? You have seen the Vulpecula? On Mortal Earth?’
    ‘I don’t know.’ Luca felt like backtracking. ‘I hope I’m wrong …’

CHAPTER TWELVE
     
    ‘H ow’s it going with Polly?’ Mrs Connelly took off her glasses and studied me over her desk. ‘She’s settling in OK?’
    I shrugged. ‘I suppose so. I haven’t seen too much of her.’
    ‘Oh?’ She frowned. ‘I thought you were—’
    ‘Well, I’ve been checking in on her,’ I said, needlessly studying a fingernail. ‘She seems to be fine on her own.’
    Understatement. Every time I’d seen Polly she’d been surrounded by a throng of boys, coolly absorbing their desperate attempts to