Black Dog (29 page)

“I'm sorry,” she said quickly. “Really I am, I didn't mean to disobey you, Grayson, only there's a phone call. It's Sheriff Pearson, you know?”

Grayson's lip curled. “You may inform–”

“Yes, of course, only I think you should talk to him, I really do,” Natividad said with earnest rapidity. “I'm so glad you're back,” she said to Alejandro, and added to Ezekiel, “You're hurt, aren't you? I'm sorry.” Alejandro gathered from her tone that there was some sort of trouble and that she was sorry for very practical reasons that the Dimilioc
verdugo
was injured. He saw Ezekiel catch this subtext too, and, a heartbeat later, Grayson, whose scowl deepened. The Master's hard gaze went to Ezekiel, judging the extent to which he might have been impaired by injury and hard traveling.

“I'm perfectly fine,” Ezekiel assured him. He sounded fine: his voice was light and amused, edged with cutting scorn for anyone who might for even a moment think otherwise. He looked fine, too. It was hard for even Alejandro to guess how much the
verdugo
might be concealing, and
he
had seen the injury dealt and heard Ezekiel admit to being tired and in pain. As a tactic, yes, but he
had
admitted it.

Grayson grunted, said shortly, “Come with me, then. All of you, come with me.” He stepped toward the door, pausing only to jerk his head toward Thaddeus and add to Zachariah, “He'll have to wait. You and Benedict may take him downstairs. All three of these can go in the main cage. Put Cass Pearson in one of the small cells.”

 

Alejandro found it impossible to get a clear picture of whatever the trouble was from overhearing Grayson's conversation with the sheriff. In fact, Grayson's side of the conversation consisted mostly of wordless mutters of annoyance. Alejandro wanted to ask Natividad for details, but his sister had vanished. That was unlike her; usually she and Miguel would both be hovering at the edges of any excitement. But neither of the twins was in evidence.

Easing away from the crowd of Dimilioc wolves was simple enough. No one called after him as he backed away, tucked himself through a doorway, and ran up the stairs three at a time to find his brother and sister.

They were, of course, in Natividad's room, Natividad cross-legged on her bed and Miguel perched on the windowsill. That was fine. But they both looked up at Alejandro with guilty expressions. While unexpected, this was not actually a surprise. He glared at them both. “Well?”

“Well, I'm grounded, so you're not supposed to be here,” Natividad said rapidly. “But–”

“Grounded!” He did not know whether to laugh or be angry. “What did you do?”

Natividad made an exasperated sound.
“Ahora no es el tiempo para armar un escándalo
, ‘Jandro! If Grayson agreed with Harrison grounding me, he ought to have left somebody else to answer the phone. Now things are happening, so I can't still be grounded!”

Exasperating, stupid, foolish – she always thought she could get away with
anything
, that
no one
would ever really be angry with her. Alejandro said harshly, “You
cannot
defy–”

Miguel, holding up his hands, said quickly, “There's trouble in Lewis, ‘Jandro, trouble with the black dogs, Vonhausel is attacking there and not here, they're attacking
right now
. Listen, listen now: yesterday Natividad laid out a big mandala around half the town. It should have stopped any stray black dog from attacking Lewis, but–”

“I should probably tell you…” Natividad began tentatively.

“But surprise!” said Miguel, too focused on Alejandro to pay attention to her. “The attack there isn't just some random black dog stray, right? The mandala's holding them for the moment, Pearson says, but from what we hear, the black dogs are really serious about killing
everybody
. Maybe for fun, maybe for practice, maybe to hurt Dimilioc, we don't know, but it's bad. And it's worse than it should be, because… Look, after that attack earlier, you'd think Vonhausel would have maybe twenty black dogs with him, right? Or not even so many if they got scared, which they should have been because we killed so many of them and they didn't kill even one of us.
Me entiendes
?”

Alejandro grudgingly tilted his head.
“Sí, sí, te entiendo
.”

 “Well, Sheriff Pearson says they think there are at least forty black dogs outside Lewis right now. Forty!”

“Grayson was really angry with Pearson,” Natividad put in. “And Harrison
said
don't call on Dimilioc. But forty black dogs, that's too many. Grayson
can't
just stay back and let them kill all those people, only I don't
know
how long my mandala will hold because, I tried to tell you, it came out a little strange.”

“Doesn't matter how it came out,” said Miguel. “Not during the full moon. Not if there are forty black dogs trying to take it apart –
and
Vonhausel.”

Alejandro scowled. His brother was right. But he doubted Vonhausel really could have recruited so many black dogs. He said so, adding “
Especialmente cuendo su primero ataque pue un fracas
. Black dogs follow a leader who
wins
.”

“Perhaps they still expect Vonhausel to win,” Keziah suggested behind him. Alejandro didn't whirl around because he wouldn't let her see she had surprised him. But she had. He hadn't heard her approach at all, but she was poised, long and elegant and negligently scornful, in the doorway of Natividad's room. He was furious that she had come up so quietly and he had not heard her. She knew it, too. She smiled. “Or perhaps this enemy of yours has made a lot of little moon-called wolves,” she said smoothly. “Those townspeople, perhaps they do not know the difference between those little crazy moon-wolves and black dogs.”

“That's a really good suggestion,” Miguel said warmly. “That could be exactly right, and if that's all Vonhausel's got, Lewis isn't in a lot of danger, which would be great.”

Keziah glanced his way, her lip curling contemptuously. Alejandro didn't know whether he should laugh at his brother or snarl at Keziah, but before he could do either, Amira slid past her, met Natividad's eyes, looked away – a black dog looking away from a Pure girl, she
was
a nervous creature – but then crept forward when Natividad held out a hand in invitation. She ducked her head submissively, afraid of Alejandro. Keziah straightened and glared at him, not submissive at all. The light from the window caught in the crystals of her earrings, scattering into pinpoints of refracted light, brilliant against the density of her shadow. But she stayed exactly where she was, in the doorway, not moving to follow her sister.

Alejandro, pretending not to notice Keziah's aggressive stance, backed away from Natividad to let Amira come to her. Natividad gave him a warm smile, transferred the smile to Amira, and put her arm around the little girl's thin shoulders when Amira came the rest of the way in a rush and tucked herself against Natividad's side. Alejandro did not quite look at the child, in case Keziah saw his too-close attention as a threat to her sister. Keziah was not quite looking that way either, he saw – and no doubt for exactly the same reason.

Keziah said to Natividad, “All the time Amira asks, can she go visit the Pure girl? And I say no, she is not to have people visit her, she is being punished. But I think now you don't care about that.”

“Well…” Natividad began.

Keziah glanced at Alejandro. She leaned against the doorframe, ostentatiously relaxed. “You said no one would hurt Amira. Because of your Pure sister. I thought, well, good, maybe it is even true. But now I think
I
will like your sister – because of mine.”

Alejandro gave her a short nod. “I almost think
I
might like
you
– because of my sister.”

Keziah smiled scornfully. “I will enjoy fighting you, Toland. Later. Now, of course, there are other black dogs to fight. It would be good if your enemy owns little moon-bound wolves and not so many true black dogs.”

Miguel said rapidly, with that air of meek stubbornness that meant he wasn't going to back down to anybody, “I think we ought to plan for the worst case. If Vonhausel's really got a lot of black dogs, Grayson's going to have only two choices: either he's going to have to go fight Vonhausel and his black dogs there in Lewis or he's going to have to let them take Lewis apart and kill everybody there, and he can't do that because it'd be wrong, but even more so because if Vonhausel gets a clear, obvious victory, he'll get more dominant out there…” Miguel waved a hand, meaning out in the world, and continued rapidly, “and more powerful, which is obviously exactly what he has in mind, isn't that right?”

“A moderately plausible analysis,” Keziah allowed. She was not quite laughing, but there was a savage humor in her eyes. “Obviously we cannot permit that.”

“You will fight for Dimilioc, will you?” Alejandro asked her sharply. “My father taught me that it is right to protect human people against cur black dogs. What did yours teach you?”

Keziah grinned, a dangerous flash of white teeth with very little humor in it. “I should hardly have acquired a conscience from
my
father. Such a commodity was not in high demand in my family. So, now I make my
own
choices, Toland.”

Alejandro smiled, showing his own teeth. “Then your father did teach you something important.”

The Saudi girl lifted one shoulder a fraction in a minimal shrug. “Amira and I, we are not really Dimilioc. Not yet.” She lifted a scornful eyebrow. “No more than you,
Toland
, which you know, if you are not a fool. Those of us who are foreign to Dimilioc must show that we will fight Dimilioc's enemies, and also that we will protect these human people who owe allegiance to Dimilioc. If we do not, then Dimilioc will shut us out in the cold wind.”

“Exactly!” cried Miguel. “That's what I was going to say! All of us need to stick together, that's obvious! Listen, if Grayson leads you all out to fight Vonhausel and his lot, then you're going to need that new black dog, aren't you? Thaddeus Williams, I mean. Even one more black dog on your side could make a big difference. Territorial as you all are, that's something I don't think Grayson's going to realize. I mean, he'll certainly figure it out when you're actually in Lewis, fighting a million black dogs. But then it'll be too late! But you…” He glanced quickly from Alejandro to Keziah and back. “You see already that you're going to need Thaddeus, don't you?”

It would not have occurred to Alejandro to try to recruit Thaddeus Williams for a big fight the very day he'd been brought, by force, to Dimilioc. He glanced at Keziah, whose eyebrows had gone up in surprise or thought.

She said slowly, as though this was difficult to believe, “The human boy is right. That is perfectly true. I will fight for Dimilioc, but I did not come here to die. Certainly I do not wish to die for human townspeople I do not even know. If we go to fight in Lewis, it would be better to win.”

Alejandro found himself smiling again, and did not know whether he was pleased because Keziah had admitted that Miguel was right, or because of her dry understatement. “He is very strong, that one,” he conceded. “But will he fight for Dimilioc?”

 Miguel jumped up and paced back and forth, thinking out loud. “Natividad, you need to work on Grayson. He'll listen to you even if he's angry, won't he? I mean, any male Dimilioc wolf will obviously listen to anything you say, isn't that right?”

“Wow, that's a reassuring idea,” Natividad said drily. Amira was still tucked against her. Natividad was stroking her hair.

“It is true,” Keziah said. “So, you would be a fool not to use that, Pure girl.”

Miguel said very fast, before Natividad could answer, “You need to get Grayson to see that he shouldn't delay with Thaddeus, he has to make him that offer about joining Dimilioc, he has to do it right now. He's going to need
everyone
.” He glanced uncertainly at Amira.

“My sister is strong,” Keziah said, still amused.

“
She
isn't going to fight!” said Natividad, horrified. She put both arms around Amira as though cuddling a much younger child and glared at Keziah. Alejandro wanted to laugh, but he instantly moved forward, warning Keziah to keep back with a hard look. He said sharply to his sister, “Amira is not a tame little puppy, Natividad!”

Keziah had not moved. Now she laughed, with hard-edged aggressive humor. “This Pure Girl thinks Amira is just little. No, girl. You make her shadow settle low, so low you do not see it, but it is a good, strong shadow. Amira fights with me. Grayson knows that.”

“If she can fight, we will need her,” Alejandro said, though privately he wondered how much use a cowering little creature like Amira could possibly be during a real fight. But he said, “Natividad, think of me when I was twelve, thirteen – she is that old.”

“She's not like you!” Natividad protested. “Look at her! She's a baby!”

Without looking up, Amira said all in one breath, muffled against Natividad's shoulder, “I can fight, I can fight better than anybody, I won't let anybody hurt Keziah – or you.” She looked up at last, though she kept her arms around Natividad. “I like you. I do. I don't want to kill you and you don't want to kill me. That's because you are Pure.”

“That's right,” Natividad said, looking a little stunned.