Guardian Hound (25 page)

Lukas shivered, and Sally bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn't have asked that.

“They did attack. Trying to get inside me. To control me. Even when…” Lukas paused, his gaze distant. “I did fight the shadows one other time,” he said softly after a long moment. “When I broke the curse. I couldn't really fight them, though. I had to let them roll over me. I had to endure them before I could break free.”

“So you didn't fight?” Sally asked.

Lukas shook his head. “I've never fought and won. Not on my own. Only the knight has been able to do that.”

“You've brought together a brave group of warriors, from all the different clans,” Sally pointed out. “Of course they all want to fight the shadows. But maybe that isn't what they need to do.”

“It's too much,” Lukas protested. “To ask them to accept, to endure the shadows. It's too hard.”

“But that's why I'm here,” Sally pointed out gently. “I'll bring them through. That's what the heart is supposed to do, isn't it?”

Lukas sighed and looked at his hands, rubbing the left over the bandage wrapped around his right. “Peter won't like it. You, in danger. In the fight.”

“You don't like it, either,” Sally pointed out.

Lukas shook his head
no
.

“You can't really guard me, though, unless I do,” Sally said, trying to reassure him. “You're the guardian hound. That's your job. To protect us while we endure.”

“That makes sense. But—” Lukas sighed. “I don't want to change. To…transform into my hound soul. I'm afraid I won't be able to change back.”

“I understand,” Sally said, nodding. “But you're going to have to,” she added gently. “The knight needs his hound.” She remembered reading about knights and their hounds in history class, going off to battle together.

“I know,” Lukas said. “I will guard you as best I can,” he promised.

“And we will endure,” Sally promised in return.

She not only had a heart that beat wild and true, but the courage to stay—what her dad had always lacked.

Seattle, Present Day

Lukas

A much more subdued group gathered in Mei Ling's expensive suite late that afternoon. Lukas winced at every bandage and scar that he saw. The sunken eyes and pained expressions hurt him greatly. His own wounds were nothing compared to what he'd put the others through.

“It'll be all right,” Rudi assured Lukas quietly, standing beside him.

Lukas shook his head
no
, but didn't say anything.

All of the clan members that he'd found were warriors, trained to fight like how Rudi was training Lukas. He knew how strong the urge was to use tooth and claw against your enemy.

To stay still, strong, and endure in human form…how could he ask them to do that?

But Sally was right. He must.

Lukas waited while everyone got settled. Mei Ling draped herself over one of the chairs, her makeup hiding her injuries, but her dark eyes still showed how much pain she was in. Ariel sat more stiffly in the other, her face deliberately blank. Virmal sat even closer to Harita, looking as though he wanted to tear something—anything—apart. Peter and Sally looked pale and drawn.

Hamel pressed closer as Lukas cleared his throat. “Last night didn't go how I'd hoped,” he said.

“You don't say,” Ariel said dryly.

Lukas nodded, feeling his cheeks grow enflamed. “I'm sorry. I made more than one mistake, and I put you all in danger.”

“You hurt my brother,” Harita hissed.

Virmal gave a deep growl.

All the hackles stood up on the back of Lukas' neck. He didn't want to fight Virmal, not just because he was supposed to be working together with him, but because there was some odd attraction he didn't understand that made him want to bite and not tear.

“Hush, you,” Ariel said dismissively.

Virmal turned to glare at her, still growling.

“Y'all don't scare me,” she drawled. “So just put it back in your pants.”

Part of Lukas was indignant at how Ariel talked to Virmal, yet part of him snickered at the putdown.

“We're not here to fight each other,” Peter interjected.

“No, we're here to fight the shadows. And we lost,” Mei Ling said pointedly. “I don't like to lose.”

“I know,” Lukas said. “And I'm sorry. But next time, it will be different.”

It had to be different. Or they'd all be dead.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Peter asked. “What do you want us to do differently?”

“The only time I've ever really successfully fought the shadows on my own…I didn't fight,” Lukas admitted.

Mei Ling raised one cool eyebrow at him. The rest of the warriors just stared at him.

God, he was such an idiot. He still pushed on. “I've always just had to,
uhm
, endure, I guess. Not fight. Let the shadows do their worst, spend themselves, finish their attack. Only then could I break away.”

“Not fight?” Virmal asked. “We're sitting ducks.”

“If we give up, we'll die,” Mei Ling said. “That's what you've said. The whole world. Dead.”

“No, no, you're not supposed to give up. But just, hold on. As warriors, you're all strong, and different. Unique. But in human form—”

“We're weak,” Ariel interjected.

“You may be able to combine, to transform, and be greater than you are individually,” Lukas finished.

“Is that what your visions tell you?” Mei Ling asked.

“My visions aren't as clear as that. But somehow, you must form the knight. If you don't…” Lukas didn't have to finish that.

“But how will we protect ourselves, if we can't fight?” Virmal asked. “Who will protect my sister?”

Harita rolled her eyes at him. Lukas knew she didn't think she was the one who needed protecting.

“I will protect you,” Lukas assured them. Hamlin pressed close, and Lukas' voice grew rough. “We are the guardian hound. And that was my second mistake.”

“What do you mean?” Ariel asked sourly.

“I didn't take my true hound form, last night. I—I was afraid. I was cursed and forced to stay in hound form for ten years. I didn't transform, not as I should have,” Lukas admitted.

Virmal snorted. “A hound? Protecting us? You have no claws, no armor.”

“He is the size of small horse. You might be surprised,” Peter replied.

“So we meet again tonight, to not fight?” Mei Ling asked. “I don't like it.”

The rest of the warriors nodded.

“But you'll be there?” Lukas asked.

“The birdman promised me a fight,” Ariel said. “But I
ain't
got a better suggestion. The first time I fought those damn shadows, I couldn't do anything, either.”

“We'll be there,” Harita said quietly.

“And the shadows won't be the only thing hunting you if we don't survive,” Virmal promised.

# # #

A large drop of water plopped onto Lukas' nose as he stepped out of the house. He shook his head and looked up. Solid clouds blocked the night sky, reflecting back orange from the streetlights.

Of course it would rain tonight. The clear spring weather wouldn't hold.

Lukas sighed and brought up the hood on his jacket, shoving his hands into the front pockets. All his clothes—his sweatpants, T-shirt, jacket, and even his boots—were loose, so he could slip out of them easily when he transformed.

The wind blew cold and clean, carrying scents of cherry blossoms, crocuses, and new grass. Lukas shivered, and Rudi placed a hand on his shoulder, urging him forward into the wet night. Rudi left his hand there, giving Lukas a solid weight to ground him.

Hamlin bounded up to Lukas, then sank back down again.

Lukas didn't share the excitement of his hound soul: Dread marched with him, lining his stomach, making his chest leaden.

They didn't bother turning on the lights at Miller's Park this time. The ground squished under Lukas' feet, the tops of his boots already soaked through. The rain had turned into a mist, fine and persistently wetting everything it touched.

“Thanks for coming back tonight,” Lukas told the assembled group. They all looked bedraggled by the rain, tired, and everyone bore wounds from the night before, bandages gleaming in the dark.

“So what do we do?” Peter asked.

Lukas looked to Sally.

“Let's try standing in a circle, holding hands,” Sally suggested, taking Peter's hand in hers, then reaching for Virmal's.

“I don't do this
Kumbaya
shit,” Ariel muttered, staring at the group, her arms crossed over her chest.

Harita took Virmal's hand, then reached out to Ariel with the other, while Rudi on the far side did the same.

“Fine,” Ariel said, swinging out her arms and grabbing the offered hands.

As soon as the circle closed, shadows sprang into the night. They rushed at the group, speeding like snakes, rustling darkness across the wet grass.

“Closer!” Sally urged. She threw an arm around Peter's shoulders, drawing them in.

Rudi looked up from the group. “It's time,” he told Lukas.

Fear struck Lukas. He didn't want to do this. His friends—the knight—they would stay human. Why did he have to change?

With a whining growl, Lukas stripped his hoodie and T-shirt over his head and toed off his wet boots. The ground was freezing against his bare feet and his skin was already wet.

Lukas spread his arms out and raised his face to the cloud-covered sky.

Come
, he told Hamlin.

Let go
, Hamlin replied.

Shadows slid past Lukas' feet, heading toward his friends. The tall tree in the corner of the field shook. It was only moments before the tall shadow thing was back.

How could Lukas let go? He wanted to fight. He
needed
to fight.

Fight, yes. And survive
, Hamlin assured him.

But he couldn't fight. He'd never been enough, just by himself, to fight and win.

Endure. It was all Lukas was good at.

Lukas dropped his head down to his chest, his arms falling, then he let go, leaning against his hound soul, trusting that Hamlin would catch him.

Quicker than a blink, Lukas found he'd transformed. He growled, fighting back his panic. He wanted to change back to human, to see if he could, but there was no time.

Shadows slammed into the exposed backs of the huddled humans. Sally, Virmal, and Ariel all cried out in pain. Then Sally yelled, “Stay! Stay here!”

Lukas didn't know which warrior fought not to transform. He knew all of them wanted to. But Sally kept the group together, held them there, helped them endure.

With careful teeth, Lukas tore one long skinny shadow, then another, away from the group, flinging them across the field.

But there were too many for him to grab, and they came too fast.

“Closer,” Sally called.

The group of humans burrowed into one another, their sides and heads touching.

Suddenly, a light sprang up above the group. Up it grew, fleshing out, taking shape and form.

The scent of the group flourished, overcoming the stench of the shadows: cool glass and fresh mint, strong blood and warm silk.

Above Lukas, finally, stood his knight. He wore a full peaked helmet, with just a slit for the eyes. A solid chest plate covered his torso, while fine chain protected his arms. Broad gauntlets and leg greaves were buckled around his hands and shins. None of his armor looked new: It had all seen battle before, a dull silver with dents and patches.

Hamlin barked, greeting the knight happily. But the knight stayed frozen, floating above the group of humans, unmoving.

Where was the knight's sword?

Lukas turned and raced off to where the towering shadow beast had pulled itself out of the trees.

Another being strode beside it: a tall, dark man. A single sniff told Lukas it was a viper warrior; the acrid smell of clan poison mingled with his blood.

Was it the one from Tulum? Lukas wanted to howl. The viper warrior been thoroughly corrupted by the shadows.

“Good puppy,” the thing called to Lukas. “Go fetch.” It threw a ball of shadows at the knight. It hit the knight solidly in his chest, staining the metal further. But the knight didn't move, and stayed frozen above the field.

Lukas growled in frustration. What else was he missing? Why wasn't the knight acting, moving? The other warriors were going to kill him, if the shadows didn't, if they failed again.

Hamlin pushed them forward, diving toward the tall shadow thing, hoping to tear into it again as they had the night before.

The viper warrior was faster, however. He slashed out at Lukas. Only Hamlin's quick reflexes skidded them to the side, narrowly avoiding the claws.

The viper warrior snarled, his fangs exposed and dripping. His eyes were as black as the shadows.

What did he see? What did he think he was attacking?

Then the viper warrior struck out at Lukas again.

“Play nice, boys,” the shadow thing said as it rumbled across the field, heading toward the assembled group of humans and the nascent knight.

Lukas had to stop it.

However, the viper warrior was quicker than either Lukas or Hamlin expected. He attacked again, snarling and racing toward them.

Hamlin rose now, pushing Lukas further back. He leaped at the viper warrior, raising up on his hind legs, then crashing down, striking the man with his chest, forcing him to the ground.

The viper slashed up with his hands, tearing apart Hamlin's sides.

Hamlin struck out, and set his teeth around the viper warrior's throat.

The viper warrior stilled.

No!
Lukas screamed. He'd only ever fought shadows. He didn't want to kill a man.

“Please,” the viper warrior whispered. “Do it.”

Hamlin snapped down their jaws, biting through the man's jugular. Then he shook the body, getting a better hold, tearing out the man's throat.

The viper warrior gave a peaceful sigh as he settled into the ground, death bringing a smile to his face.

Lukas backed up. Horror tripped through his veins.

He'd just murdered a man. What would Rudi say?

Shadows fled out of the man's body, making it suddenly lighter. The body started to glow. The light grew longer, brighter, sharper, until it flew up, out of the man's body, like an arrow, straight for the knight.

Stop!
Lukas howled.

The knight suddenly moved. He held up his hand, and the light flew into it, growing steady and strong, changing into the knight's sword.

Lukas' sides ached where he'd been clawed, and his mouth burned from the poison he'd swallowed. But joy flooded through him as he watched the knight stride away from the group of humans, marching directly to the shadow beast, hacking and slicing into it.

The shadow fought back. Great sizzling filled the quiet night when the shadow's acid bit into the knight's armor. It used thin pieces of shadow like whips, smacking into the knight, scoring his arms, chest, and legs.

Lukas raced back across the field to the now-kneeling group. Shadows covered them, attacking every part they could reach. Sally hummed a quiet song, the melody jerking every time the shadows hit her.

Carefully, Lukas and Hamlin pulled the larger shadows away from the group, trying to give them some breathing room. Then he hurried back to the knight, harrying the shadow beast, not letting it retreat when the knight attacked.

Slowly, the shadow creature shrank. The knight continued to hack pieces of it off, pieces that flowed onto the ground and stayed there instead of rejoining the shadow creature.

Lukas again returned to the group of warriors. Fewer shadows attacked them. He tore around the group, circling quickly and flinging away as many shadows as he could before he rejoined the knight.

Just as Lukas reached the knight's side, the knight swung his sword over his head, then down, biting into the shadow, slicing it in two.