Black Dog (39 page)

“No,” said Keziah. Her beautiful, slightly
rasgados
– slanted – eyes had narrowed, giving her the look more of a fragile Oriental cat than a powerful black dog. She said, “Such a thing is not possible. One cannot bring back the dead! Once the body dies, it is dead. Once the shadow is gone into the fell dark, it is
gone
.”
Miguel hesitated, thrown off balance by this challenge. Natividad wondered whom Keziah had killed that she needed to stay gone. But Grayson looked steadily at the girl for a long moment, until she suddenly lowered her fine lashes over her dark eyes and bowed her graceful neck. Her hair, straight and crisp and black as the long nights of this frozen country, fell forward to hide her face.

Grayson shifted his attention back to Miguel. “How would one do that? How would one gather up a departed shadow? Or put it back into the body from which it had departed?”

“I don't know, sir,” Miguel answered. “But it wasn't just my
father
Vonhausel was afraid of. Vonhausel had allies – all that time, he did. I mean, blood kin. My father couldn't have protected us from them. It was my
mother
who hid us.
She
was the one Vonhausel most wanted to kill – her and Natividad. Mamá said Natividad is special. That she did something to give Natividad a special sympathy for the right kind of darkness. That Natividad should have a gift for making darkness cooperate with light–”

“What?” Natividad stared at her twin in surprise. She didn't know what he was talking about. She thought in just a moment she would be shocked and frightened and maybe even angry. Mamá had worked magic on her and not even said what she was doing? She had made up special kinds of magic to give her a
sympathy for darkness
?
She had talked to
Miguel
about all those things and about Pure magic, and not to
her
?

Her twin turned to her, raising his chin, uncomfortable but stubborn. “It's true. I don't know… I don't know exactly what she meant. She said you have to be Pure to understand Pure magic. Only she couldn't talk to you about it. She said if you knew too much about the wrong things you'd be scared and – and being frightened would be bad for you. I'm sorry,
gemela
. That's what she said.”

Natividad thought that maybe, in a little while, she would be able to understand that. At the moment, she just felt sort of hollow. She realized she was trembling, but couldn't stop. She whispered, “But what did she do to me?”

“I don't know,” Miguel said. “Things she thought were important – things she thought would help us survive and defeat Vonhausel. But I'm not Pure and I don't know.”

Neither did Natividad. She was supposed to know, but she didn't. She needed to
remember
, only she
couldn't
. She caught her breath against a shout or a scream or a sob and pressed a hand hard over her mouth.

DeAnn, frowning in sympathy, suddenly stood up and left her husband's side to stand behind Natividad, setting her strong hands on Natividad's shoulders. It wasn't the same as if Mamá had stood there like that, but Natividad leaned gratefully back against the other woman's support. She was trembling.

 Her twin faced Grayson again. “Sir, I'm
guessing
, alright? But I think what Vonhausel
really
didn't want was an alliance between Dimilioc and anybody related to Mamá. Or maybe taught by her. Or both. That's why he came after us – only he didn't know soon enough we'd gotten away, and Natividad's tangle-you-up spell probably got in his way when he followed us. It's a really good spell.”

Grayson, gazing at Miguel, said absolutely nothing. It occurred to Natividad, with sudden force, that if they
hadn't
run north – if they
hadn't
come to Dimilioc – then Vonhausel wouldn't have come after them and everything would be different. Sheriff Pearson's daughter wouldn't have been bitten, the town wouldn't have been attacked – most of all, no more of the Dimilioc wolves would have been killed. Zachariah and Harrison would still be alive.

She could tell that Grayson was thinking about that, too.

Ezekiel said smoothly, “If Vonhausel had caught you outside of Dimilioc territory, you'd be dead. Then he'd have come here anyway, as we are indeed his strongest remaining enemy, and we'd have had no warning at all. And no daughter of your mother's would belong to Dimilioc.” He raised an eyebrow at Natividad. “What can you do for us, Natividad Toland? What did your mother give you?”

Natividad only shook her head helplessly. Whatever Mamá had done, Natividad couldn't remember or hadn't understood… She'd been too slow a student, she hadn't figured things out fast enough, and now she didn't know anything and Mamá was gone,
dead
, and couldn't help her…

 “You all saw Malvern Vonhausel fight me,” Ezekiel said. He glanced coolly around the room. “He didn't need to shift from one form to another in order to dismiss his injuries. You all must have seen that. That is not something a black dog can do. That is a power possessed only by the true undead.”

 “I think Vonhausel destroyed the church in Lewis because he's worked out a new way to work dark magic, a way to kind of blend black dog magic with vampire magic,” Miguel said, his tone careful. He kept his eyes on Ezekiel, probably, Natividad thought, because he was afraid to look at Grayson. He said, “I mean, vampires couldn't approach hallowed ground, and black dogs may not like to, but they can. So that's what I think Vonhausel might be doing – making, you know, weird zombie undead black dogs.” He glanced at Grayson and stopped, swallowing.

“You suggest this only now,” the Dimilioc Master said grimly. “Indeed, it seems you have a great deal to say, now. Sit down, Alejandro.”

Alejandro was indeed on his feet. He turned his head aside and hunched his shoulders as against a blow, but, though he wouldn't look at Grayson, he didn't sit down again, either.

Without moving, the Dimilioc Master seemed to settle more deeply into his chair. Though she wasn't a black dog, Natividad could almost
see
his shadow gathering beneath him, pressing against the light, trying to rise. She caught DeAnn's hand and held it hard, laid her other hand flat against the wall and wished silently and fervently for
peace, peace, peace in this house
.
DeAnn returned her grip, undoubtedly doing the same.

Miguel dropped to his knees, sensibly trying to calm everything down. He made urgent patting gestures toward Alejandro. “It's alright, it's alright!”

“It certainly is not
alright
,” the Master said harshly. And, to Alejandro,
“Down
.”

The Master hadn't let his shadow up, though he stared at Alejandro with a black dog's fire-ridden eyes. Ezekiel had straightened and now stood tensely by the Master's side. He was barely watching Alejandro: his attention was on the room and everyone in it. Natividad glanced quickly around, too, to see what he was watching.

Keziah was lounging in her chair, ostentatiously relaxed, but her gaze was intent. Amira had ducked back into her sister's shadow. Thaddeus had his big hands curled over the arms of his chair, ready to move. His lips were drawn back in a silent snarl. Natividad couldn't guess what he might do if there was a fight, except that his wife still stood with by her side, her arm around her shoulders, and Natividad knew that DeAnn would no more stand by and let Grayson hurt Miguel than she would herself. But Grayson wouldn't anyway, she was suddenly confident of that. No, the one at risk was
Alejandro
.

Alejandro took two steps out to the middle of the room, until he stood right beside Miguel. Then he set his hand on his brother's shoulder, took a hard breath, let it out, and sank down to one knee. He didn't bow his head, but he didn't look Grayson in the face, either. He said, “Master.”

The tension in the room eased. Thaddeus leaned back in his chair, his shoulders relaxing and his expression smoothing out. Keziah raised an elegant eyebrow. Ezekiel's watchfulness didn't change at all. Grayson stared hard at Alejandro.

“Master,” Alejandro said again, finally lowering his head submissively.

Grayson tipped his head back in satisfaction, the fire in his eyes ebbing. “Stay down,” he growled at Alejandro, and glanced around the room. He looked back at Miguel last of all. “What else can this enemy of ours do? Now that he has pulled down that church, can he come against us here with new power?”

“I don't know,” Miguel said. He hadn't gotten back to his feet. Natividad thought that was probably a good thing.

“
Will
he come against us here? Or against your sister, perhaps? One hardly believes he has yet achieved his aim here.”

“I don't know,” Miguel said again.

Grayson turned to Natividad. “Vonhausel's purposeful destruction of your mandala and the church that anchored it, even at considerable risk to himself; and the wide slaughter he attempted in Lewis: those acts are explicable if we stipulate that by this destruction he gains or enhances his ability to work demonic magic. Magic, in some measure, similar to vampiric magic, and thus threatened by the clean magic of the Pure. Even Vonhausel's determination to destroy Dimilioc is consistent with this hypothesis, for, as we have at last rid ourselves of vampires and the blood kin, he must guess that we would never permit a black dog to use any similar undead magic.”

“Yes, sir,” Natividad said shakily, since he seemed to expect a response.

“You know the things your mother taught you. Consider what you might do for us. You may wish,” Grayson growled, “to discuss this with your brother.”

“Yes, sir,” Natividad whispered.

“You have a plan, I suppose,” Keziah said, smoothly, to Grayson. “I trust it does not entirely depend on this little Pure girl single-handedly defeating our enemies and saving us all.”

The Master glowered, not at Keziah, but at Natividad. “Certainly if Malvern Vonhausel particularly wants you, he had better not get you.” He looked deliberately around the room once more, compelling everyone's close attention. “However, I believe Vonhausel does suffer from one important disadvantage, which we may use. He cannot trust any of his followers. They are strays and curs, neither trained nor accustomed to any civilized standard. He cannot allow any of his black dogs to control his moon-bound shifters: any to whom he gave such power would immediately turn against him. He must either free the shifters to run as they will, or he must keep them gathered close about him and rule them himself. Ezekiel?”

Ezekiel gave a lazy smile. “He would sooner kill them himself than release them. To him, they are tools for his use, weapons to his hand – and weapons which might be turned against him if one or another of his followers were ambitious.” The young executioner paused.

Natividad found herself trading a meaningful glance with Miguel. Her twin had cautiously gotten back to his feet but stayed beside Alejandro, who had not moved and did not look up. But they did not need their brother to explain to them that
all
of Vonhausel's stray black dogs must be ambitious to bring him down, either to rule in his place or just to get free of the constraints he imposed on them. That was what stray black dogs were like.

Grayson rumbled quietly, “Yet holding so many shifters under his constant rule must require a great deal of his attention. I believe we may safely assume that Vonhausel will find the remaining time of the full moon difficult. Yet this is also the only time he may use his full strength against us.” He lifted heavy eyebrows at Miguel.

“Yes, sir,” Miguel said meekly. “I guess that's probably true.”

Ezekiel agreed, his tone light and unconcerned, “If he wants to keep the advantage of numbers, then he must come tomorrow. After that, the moon will wane and he'll lose half his cannon fodder.”

“I guess you and the Master have worked all this out between you,” Thaddeus said abruptly. “But I think maybe you should fortify this house. I guess you're right that the next thing he'll do, if he can't get us to a battlefield he chooses, is bring his pack here. We ought to arm a couple people who can shoot. We got all that silver ammo, be a shame not to use it.” He glanced warily at Grayson. “Some of the townspeople must be able to distinguish between Dimilioc black wolves and the enemy. Maybe we could set up an ambush, you know?”

Grayson's eyebrow went up again. “An ambush.”

“If we could draw Vonhausel's black dogs out of the forest into the cleared ground in front of the house, then people with decent guns and silver ammo could shoot them up. Catch the bastards in a decent killing field if we set it up right–”

“The humans could shoot them down like the dogs they are,” Grayson said. “Then we could easily tear down the ones who survive. Indeed.”

Thaddeus looked at him. “Yeah. You already thought of it, huh?”

“The Master and I have discussed it,” Ezekiel said blandly. “Vonhausel isn't likely to know about the bullets our own silversmith has been making.” He gave Miguel a cool nod, then Thaddeus. “An ambush such as you describe should be simple, direct, and difficult for Vonhausel to counter. Even if he knew about the silver and expects exactly such an ambush, what can he do but walk into it? He must attack, and he must do so during the period of the full moon. In carrying out such a plan, darkness would not be our ally. But if we expect an attack no earlier than dawn, we might reasonably expect an ambush to succeed. If he attacks before dawn, we shall have to hold him a little while. This should be possible.”