“Aye.”
“Does it hurt? I saw you the other night, from the window. It looked…” She shivered, unable to find the words to describe what she had seen.
“It hurts,” he admitted quietly. “Every time.”
“And you have no control over it?”
“Some, but very little when the moon is full.”
“What does it feel like, to be a wolf?”
He looked down at her. “Like nothing you can imagine. Everything is magnified. Sounds. Smells. I can hear a leaf falling from a tree, see clearly in the darkness, run for miles and miles…”
“It rather sounds as if you like it.”
“In some ways, I do.”
“Can you change at will?”
“Aye.”
“And if you have a son, will he be accursed, as well?”
He nodded curtly.
“Why was your father cursed in this way?”
“He angered your father’s witch,” Reyes said, his voice bitter.
“Do you mean Melena?”
Reyes nodded. “In return, she decreed that all males in my father’s line would be cursed to run with the wolves when the moon is full.”
“I find that hard to believe. She has ever been kind to me. What did your father do that made her so angry?”
“He was a handsome man, my father. She wanted a son and wished for him to sire it. When he refused to betray my mother, Melena set a curse upon him.”
“Did your father try to break the spell?”
“Aye. My father went to Melena and pleaded with her to release him. But she refused. A year later, after my mother had conceived, my father went to Montiori and begged him to order Melena to break the spell. Your father promised he would doso, but first he wanted to see my father undergo the change. My father agreed. During the next full moon, he went to your father’s keep and when the moon rose, he transformed into a wolf. And your father killed him.”
She fell silent, thinking of what Reyes had told her. It explained why he was not married. What woman would marry a man knowing that her sons would inherit the same dreadful affliction?
“Why did your father have to wait for the full moon? Could he not change at will?”
“No, though I do not know why.” Reyes shrugged. “Perhaps the curse gets stronger with time.”
Though the day was cool, she noticed a fine sheen of sweat covered Reyes’ face and chest. His steps had slowed. His skin was hot when her arm brushed against his.
“You’ve a fever,” she said.
He nodded.
“You should rest.”
He glanced at her, bemused by her concern. Would she care whether he lived or died if she knew what he had planned for her? “The keep is just over that rise,” he said. “I’ll rest there.”
She didn’t argue. If he fainted along the way, so much the better for her. It would give her yet another chance to try to escape.
