Runemarks by Joanne Harris Page B

thought he was dead, and maybe he is, but his kind have nine lives, and he always was—
    “Lucky,” whispered Maddy, turning pale.
    “That’s right,” said Lucky, opening his fiery eyes. “But you can call me Captain.”

6
    He moved fast—very fast for a man just waking from a deep sleep. But to Maddy’s surprise, he did not attempt to strike at her, but simply leaped toward the mouth of the cave, so that the mindbolt she flung at him smashed against the wall, dislodging a shower of rock fragments as it did so.
    She raised her hand again, moving to the cave entrance to block his escape. This time Lucky did not attempt to run but, with a curious rapid flick of his fingers, summoned the rune
Kaen
and cast it—not at Maddy, but at
himself
—and vanished, or so she thought, leaving only a thin gunpowder trail of fire where he had been standing, a trail that now moved swiftly toward the cave mouth.
    The violet signature went with it, and in that instant Maddy summoned
Logr
—Water—and shot it at the fire trail, stopping it short and charging the air with thick steam.
    In a second Lucky was back, soaking wet and gasping.
    Logr
trembled once more at Maddy’s fingertips, ready to strike. Slowly, hands raised, Lucky got up.
    “Try that again and I’ll kill you,” she said.
    “Hold it, Maddy; I thought we were friends.”
    “No friend of mine,” said Maddy. “You lied.”
    Lucky pulled a face. “Well, of course I lied. What did you expect? You creep up on me, you whack me in the face with something that feels like a combination sledgehammer and lightning bolt, you interrogate me, and then—then you just happen to mention that you’re big friends with One-Eye, of all people…”
    “So I was right,” she said. “Who are you?”
    He had dropped his disguise, standing before her in his true Aspect. Once again Maddy thought he looked familiar, although she was sure she had never met him before. In a story, perhaps, or a picture from One-Eye’s books. But she knew him, she was sure of it; she knew those eyes.
    “Listen. I know you don’t trust me. But there are a lot of things One-Eye hasn’t told you. Things I can help you with.”
    “Who are you?” she demanded again.
    “A friend.”
    “No, you’re not,” said Maddy. “You’re the one I was warned about. The thief. The one who’s after the Whisperer.”
    “Thief?” He laughed. “Maddy, I have as much right to the Whisperer as anyone else—more right than some, as a matter of fact.”
    “Then why did you lie to me?”
    “Ask yourself rather—why did
he
lie to you?”
    “This isn’t about One-Eye,” she said.
    “Isn’t it?” Lucky’s gaze was difficult to hold; his voice low and oddly persuasive. “He knew I’d be here,” he said. “Ask yourself why. And as for the Whisperer—you’ve still no idea what it is, have you?”
    Slowly Maddy shook her head.
    “Or what it does?”
    Again she shook her head.
    Lucky laughed. It was a light and pleasant sound, instantly likeable, irresistibly contagious. Maddy found herself grinning back before she realized the trick. She was being charmed.
    “Stop that,” she said sharply, casting
ýr
with her fingers.
    Lucky looked unrepentant. Even behind the protection rune there was something in his smile that invited a response.
    “I know you,” she said slowly. “And One-Eye knows you too.”
    Lucky nodded. “Told you I was a traitor, didn’t he?”
    “Yes.”
    “And that I turned my coat when the war turned against him?”
    Again Maddy nodded.
    Oh, there was definitely something familiar about him, something she knew she ought to remember. She struggled with the thought, but Lucky was still speaking, his voice soft and compelling.
    “All right,” he said. “Just listen to this. It’s something I’ll bet old One-Eye
hasn’t
told you.” Now his grin was hard and metallic, and in the dark his eyes gleamed fire green and subtle. “Get this, Maddy,” he said. “We’re