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.The Fever came hard and fast, sucking the strength right out of me.A cane hit the porch inches from my knees.I looked up to see Grandfather, human again, smiling cheerfully down at me.His house was totaled, but there wasn’t a hair out of place.“That’s more like it,” he said as he bent down to meet me eye to eye.“Come.Let’s get you some meat and we’ll talk like brothers.”He held a hand out to Thelma.“Pardon, we’ll talk like brothers and sisters.You are quite the warrior as well, my dear.”She refused to take his hand and instead got up herself.Grandfather chuckled and walked through the broken wall.Thelma helped me to my feet.I couldn’t do anything else.Another howl echoed through the night as we entered the house.Snow blew through the shattered wall as I watched Grandfather set up a card table and folding chairs in the dining room.“Have a seat.I’ll be right back.” Thelma and I looked at each other with confusion as we sat down.I didn’t think I would be able to stand much anyway.He returned carrying a dish of something that smelled delicious, a carafe filled with thick yellow liquid, and a few glasses.“Venison and eggnog,” Grandfather answered my perplexed look.He set them on the table, placing the dish in front of me before going back to the kitchen.He returned carrying a bowl of strawberries and a pitcher of water.“I knew you two wouldn’t be needing rum right now, but all I have is water.The strawberries were picked this morning.” He stopped and looked at me.“Why aren’t you eating? I know you need it.Come on.Eat.Eat,” he said, motioning his hands toward my plate as he sat down.I felt like I was in some sort of bizarre dream, but he was right.If we had any chance of surviving this, I was going to need to eat before the Fever become too much.I couldn’t help but moan in contentment after taking that first bite.I know it’s not politically correct to eat Bambi, but this was delicious.Venison isn’t the easiest dish to make.“Good, huh?” Grandfather asked as he poured a glass of water for Thelma and handed it to her.“Don’t forget to have a strawberry.”Thelma and I continued to glance at each other, speechless, as we ate.Grandfather downed his glass of eggnog.“One thing I could never understand is why people would bother drinking eggnog without the rum.Sorry you two can’t join me, but you have a long night ahead of you.”At least Grandfather had his human form back, but I couldn’t stop seeing that ancient monster holding Thelma up by her throat.My rage festered as I continued to eat.It took all my willpower not to attack him where he sat.The icy wind howled through the dining room.He sat there eating his strawberries like nothing had happened.“Let’s see here,” he said after a moment of silence.“You want to know about the Green Man.”My rage was such that I didn’t trust myself to respond.Thelma, always the diplomat, took my cue and stepped forward.“Yes.He’s… done something to Nick.”Grandfather nodded.“Before we speculate on that, I’ll tell you what I know.There were whispers of a being called the Holly King back when I was young.Do you know what an archetype is?”Thelma glanced at me, but I still couldn’t speak.I just stood, trying to take in what the man said without pounding my fists into his face.“It’s an original model of something,” she answered.“Everything else is a copy.”Grandfather nodded.“That’s right.You can think of this Green Man as that.Back when men feared the forest, they didn’t have shapes or people in mind.It was simply the Other.Now, imagine that a creature was born of that fear.All of these forest gods you’ve met are all copies of this original fear.This Green Man.”Words finally got past my rage.“People keep telling me this.Just how old is he?”Grandfather smiled.“People drew his symbol on the walls of their caves.”Well, that broke through my anger.“And he’s still around?”The old man shrugged.“The way I figure, he got fed every time a new forest god popped up.Just enough to keep him alive, but not enough to wake him up.All that changed about five years ago.”“What happened?” Thelma asked.He downed another glass of eggnog, and sighed in contentment.“Don’t know.I heard whispers from my cousins that a group had begun worshiping the Green Man again.They called themselves—”“The Sons of the Green,” I finished for him.“You got it.They know things they shouldn’t, like the Holly King’s true name.The bigger the group gets, the more powerful he gets.At least that’s what I’ve heard.”“You seem awfully cheerful for someone with an ancient angry god on his doorstep,” I snapped.“He’s not in my front yard.” He huffed.“He wouldn’t dare.But he is getting a bit big for his britches, which is why I’m telling you this.”“I thought you were telling me this because I sent you into the upper decks.”He looked over at the destroyed living room and chuckled.“That you did, dear boy, but that’s not why I’m telling you this.That’s why I haven’t ripped out your spine.” That scary grin came out again, but this time I didn’t flinch.“What about Nick’s problem?” Thelma interrupted.“This Green Man did something to him.”He shrugged.“The Green Man is the lord of the beasts, the oldest lord of the beasts.His power is like a disease.Once you’re exposed, he can whisper from the shadows, but I wouldn’t worry about Nick.I’m more worried about you, little lady.”“Me?”“Yes, you.” He finished his glass and stood up suddenly.“But time’s a wasting.How about we finish this conversation on the way back to your car?”He was coming with us? My hackles rose.“No, I’m not coming with,” he corrected me.“But you need me to get you back to your vehicle.Unless you think you can find the way yourself?”Our silence gave him his answer.“Then let’s go.”The moon sparkled on the snow as we walked back into the forest.I hated the fact that I had to trust this ancient creature to lead us back, but we really didn’t have a choice.Especially once we went into the trees and I looked back.The house was gone.“This way,” Grandfather called as he trudged through the trees, smashing his way through the underbrush like a… well, like a bear.I took Thelma’s gloved hand and followed.“Thelma,” I said after a few minutes of slogging through ankle-deep snow, “what did you do back there? He said you cheated.”Darkness hid her expression, but I could see her smile.“Voodoo is all about shifting luck around.”“You called up a snowstorm?” I asked incredibly.“No, it’s not like that.I asked for some help to hex the thing, and the snowstorm decided to help out.”I shook my head.“Twenty years of fighting vampires, demons, and old gods, and I don’t think I’ll ever understand magic.You can’t really punch stuff like that.”“Magic is all about misdirection.Most of this world is physical, Nick.That’s where you come in,” she said.I squeezed her hand, and we followed in silence for a bit.But something was eating away at me.I kept an eye on Grandfather’s back as he blazed a way through the snow and pulled us back a bit.“Thelma, about what he said back there—”“Nick, it’s nothing.”“It’s the scratch, isn’t it?” I stopped and pulled her into an embrace.When I closed my eyes and focused my senses, I could smell the sickness coming from her.I never noticed it before.This was no infection.An icy fear, colder than the freezing wind and snow, encased my heart.“We’ll figure this out,” I said quietly.“What’s happening to her?” I asked Grandfather as the old man came forward [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]