Hunter

Chapter 36

          The last four days had been peaceful. So peaceful that I feared the worse was to happen shortly. Besides, after Sophie's vision I had decided to send Agate away for some time. I had taken her to her aunt's, Susanne's sister. It was far away. It was perfect. Poor Ghislaine had been surprised to see me visiting unannounced. I had not seen her since her sister's death. It hurt too much. The resemblance with Susanne, although Ghislaine was a few years older, was stunning. Nonetheless, she was aware of the dangerousness of my job and had accepted to look after my daughter for a few weeks. I wished Arthur had stayed there too, but he had refused saying he would not accept to leave me alone to face this wizard who was after him, adding, and making a point, that if the warlock had located him once, he would do it again. We were only three now, counting Ulysses. My research on the potion the gnome had mentionned were floundering. Nothing in the archives, nothing in the books... Farax Ronchard had not gone missing from his cell. Henri seemed to have forgotten about us for the time being. So our fears had toned down a little. I had not told Arthur about Sophie's vision. What for? Whether it would come to be or not, there was nothing we could do, thus it was useless to tell him right away. Slowly, and it was for the best, the last days preceding the full moon, went by as quiet and restful as could be. Then, the dreaded night came. We finally were to know if Arthur was or was not able to keep the wolf in its cage.

"So. If you manage to contain the turn, I put the second key here, on that cabinet. This way, you can come back inside."

Arthur looked at his feet.

"What if I can't, isn't it dangerous not to bolt the door with a padlock? You put a big chain last time, didn't you?"

"We will take the risk."

        I went back up to the house, and sat on the couch. I had decided to wait a bit in case Arthur would succeed. Meanwhile, I reported the last events in my logbook. I had kept it up to date, but with much less precision. In that moment I thought that it had been sometime since the mage of shadows and darkness had stopped his actions. Perhaps was he too busy in his underground city? Yet, if the gnome had said the truth, it was strange he was not looking for his right hand...

Knock knock knock.

I jumped and closed my logbook abruptly. I hid it under the couch before going to the door. I was sure it was Sophie. We had not had the chance to talk again since the incident with Henri and I thought she would try to convince me to tell her the truth again. However when I opened the door, it was Henri who was there and rushed inside.

"Hi Gustave!" he said inocently.

Stay calm, don't give him what he wants.

"What the hell are you doing here? Get out of my house before I punch you in the nose again."

"I'm here to make sure no burglar dared to attack you a night of full moon."

"What are you implying?"

"Cut the crap Gustave, you and me, we both know there is a wolf in this house! In fact, if it isn't you... I suppose it's your nipper! Since I can't see him anywhere..."

My blood froze and I knew I was wanning. Luckily, Henri was not looking at me but scanning the room with his eyes as if to strengthen his point. I glanced through the window, the moon was high. I had not heard any cries. Good sign? Bad sign? I did my best to regain a neutral face before Henri turned to me again.

"You're wrong, there is no werewolf in this house. Now get out of here before it ends badly."

I crossed my arms on my chest and gave my colleague a challenging look.