like that?”
“Malveria gives you a set amount each month. You’re supposed to pay the bills out of that. She explained it to you very clearly when you moved in.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Quite sure. The next day you went off and bought twelve T-shirts.”
“I like T-shirts,” said Vex, brightly. She noticed everyone was staring at her. “Maybe I could manage with less.”
“We’ll all just have to economize,” said Daniel, diplomatically. “No point blaming anyone.”
“Really?” asked Moonglow. “I was thinking of blaming you for buying so much music and video games that you can’t pay the phone bill.”
“Well, Kalix eats a lot of meat! Think how expensive that is!”
“Hey!” protested Kalix. “I don’t use as much heating as Daniel. He’s always got the fire on.”
“I don’t have a comfy werewolf coat. I need the fire on. Who is it spends hours in hot showers?”
“I need to keep my coat clean. At least I don’t use the hair dryer for an hour at a time.”
“My hair takes a lot of careful drying!” protested Moonglow. “And I’m the only one who’s budgeted properly to pay these bills! You’ve all just spent your money on everything else!”
“Well, to be fair…” began Daniel, but his words dried up.
“Yes?” demanded Moonglow.
“Nothing.”
“Were you going to say I have more money than you?”
“No. Maybe.”
“Yes, you were. Fine, my parents give me a little more money than yours do. I still have to budget. You don’t see me walking around in new shoes all the time.”
“You bought new shoes last week.”
Moonglow flushed. “They were my first pair for ages. And who helped pay for your car tax last month?”
Kalix and Vex shrank in their chairs at the mention of Daniel’s car. They were supposed to give him money for a share of the petrol, but neither had done so.
Daniel sighed but tried to remain diplomatic. It was unlike Moonglow to voice such annoyance, but he realized she’d been driven to it by the rest of the household’s reluctance to heed her warnings. “Okay, we’re in a mess. Moonglow, if you tell us all what we owe, we’ll just have to raise the money as best we can.”
“So, am I forbidden to buy clothes and stuff?” asked Vex, who, for the first time, seemed to be appreciating the seriousness of the situation.
“You’re not forbidden to buy anything. You just have to make sure you pay your share of the bills.”
“Is that before or after I buy clothes?”
“Before.”
Vex looked miserable. “House meetings really suck,” she muttered.
* * *
After the meeting was over, Kalix escaped to her own room as quickly as possible. She was relieved not to have been directly blamed for their problems, but now she was worried about money. The allowance her mother gave her wasn’t overly generous, but it should have been enough to pay for her rent, bills, and upkeep. Unfortunately Kalix spent a large proportion of it on laudanum, and that wasn’t something she could do without. She sipped a little from her bottle and wondered if she could cut down on her intake. The thought made her anxious.
As she lay on the bed, she had the troubling feeling that she was spending her life pretending to be a normal person, making a budget and paying bills, when really she wasn’t normal at all. She was a werewolf. She’d never felt strange about being a werewolf before. But now, trying to fit in with the rest of the household, she found herself troubled by the differences between them all, and it made her unhappy.
She took Daniel’s werewolf comic from her table to distract her attention and struggled to read more of it. As far as Kalix could make out, Arabella Wolf had been bitten by a werewolf, changing into a werewolf herself, and now terrorized New York every full moon. Kalix looked disapprovingly at a picture of Arabella, growling at a pair of young lovers in an alleyway.
“She looks ridiculous. Werewolves don’t look like
“Malveria gives you a set amount each month. You’re supposed to pay the bills out of that. She explained it to you very clearly when you moved in.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Quite sure. The next day you went off and bought twelve T-shirts.”
“I like T-shirts,” said Vex, brightly. She noticed everyone was staring at her. “Maybe I could manage with less.”
“We’ll all just have to economize,” said Daniel, diplomatically. “No point blaming anyone.”
“Really?” asked Moonglow. “I was thinking of blaming you for buying so much music and video games that you can’t pay the phone bill.”
“Well, Kalix eats a lot of meat! Think how expensive that is!”
“Hey!” protested Kalix. “I don’t use as much heating as Daniel. He’s always got the fire on.”
“I don’t have a comfy werewolf coat. I need the fire on. Who is it spends hours in hot showers?”
“I need to keep my coat clean. At least I don’t use the hair dryer for an hour at a time.”
“My hair takes a lot of careful drying!” protested Moonglow. “And I’m the only one who’s budgeted properly to pay these bills! You’ve all just spent your money on everything else!”
“Well, to be fair…” began Daniel, but his words dried up.
“Yes?” demanded Moonglow.
“Nothing.”
“Were you going to say I have more money than you?”
“No. Maybe.”
“Yes, you were. Fine, my parents give me a little more money than yours do. I still have to budget. You don’t see me walking around in new shoes all the time.”
“You bought new shoes last week.”
Moonglow flushed. “They were my first pair for ages. And who helped pay for your car tax last month?”
Kalix and Vex shrank in their chairs at the mention of Daniel’s car. They were supposed to give him money for a share of the petrol, but neither had done so.
Daniel sighed but tried to remain diplomatic. It was unlike Moonglow to voice such annoyance, but he realized she’d been driven to it by the rest of the household’s reluctance to heed her warnings. “Okay, we’re in a mess. Moonglow, if you tell us all what we owe, we’ll just have to raise the money as best we can.”
“So, am I forbidden to buy clothes and stuff?” asked Vex, who, for the first time, seemed to be appreciating the seriousness of the situation.
“You’re not forbidden to buy anything. You just have to make sure you pay your share of the bills.”
“Is that before or after I buy clothes?”
“Before.”
Vex looked miserable. “House meetings really suck,” she muttered.
* * *
After the meeting was over, Kalix escaped to her own room as quickly as possible. She was relieved not to have been directly blamed for their problems, but now she was worried about money. The allowance her mother gave her wasn’t overly generous, but it should have been enough to pay for her rent, bills, and upkeep. Unfortunately Kalix spent a large proportion of it on laudanum, and that wasn’t something she could do without. She sipped a little from her bottle and wondered if she could cut down on her intake. The thought made her anxious.
As she lay on the bed, she had the troubling feeling that she was spending her life pretending to be a normal person, making a budget and paying bills, when really she wasn’t normal at all. She was a werewolf. She’d never felt strange about being a werewolf before. But now, trying to fit in with the rest of the household, she found herself troubled by the differences between them all, and it made her unhappy.
She took Daniel’s werewolf comic from her table to distract her attention and struggled to read more of it. As far as Kalix could make out, Arabella Wolf had been bitten by a werewolf, changing into a werewolf herself, and now terrorized New York every full moon. Kalix looked disapprovingly at a picture of Arabella, growling at a pair of young lovers in an alleyway.
“She looks ridiculous. Werewolves don’t look like
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