Guardian Hound (9 page)

“I met a guy,” Sally told Lukas after she'd talked about dancing that night. “His name's Peter. You can't ever tell him, but I think he's the one,” she confessed.

Lukas gave a soft
woof
of agreement.

This Peter was part of the one, part of that grand knight who could help Lukas defeat the shadows. Those warm feathers that lined the nest, that made the scent of the knight
home
.

Now, Lukas just had to find the others—those cool scales and biting sword.

# # #

Lukas tried not to stare too hard at Peter when he came in door of Sally's apartment. The human boy was tall, thin, with blond hair and dark skin.

Behind him stood a shadowy figure wearing a huge cloak made of raven feathers, marking Peter as a member of the raven clan. His scent was spicy and warm, and the cool feeling of glass swirled around him.

Lukas had been too young to be formally introduced to members of the other clans at the court, but he'd seen them all and been taught to identify them: The quicksilver scent of the tiger clan, the warm mushroom-and-earth smell of the boars, how the vipers glowed, while the crocodiles stayed in the shadows.

Peter stood quiet and still after Sally invited him into the living room. Lukas liked that about him. He sniffed around Peter's feet, teasing apart where Peter lived, where he'd been, in case he ever needed to find Peter in a hurry. Lukas ignored Peter's hand when he held it out—both Lukas and Hamlin already had Peter's scent firmly in their memory. Peter smelled cautious, but not afraid. He'd need that bravery when they fought the shadows.

Finally, Lukas sat down in front of Peter, sitting on his hind legs and looking up at him.

Hamlin surged forward, and they held out their paw.

Peter looked at Sally.

“I've never taught him to shake. He doesn't know any tricks. At least, not from me. I've never seen him do that before.”

Peter squatted down so his eyes were at the same level as Lukas', then he reached out and took Lukas' paw.

Hamlin said quietly,
trust
, as he pushed forward.

Panic welled through Lukas as he watched his paw grow bigger, large enough to fill Peter's palm.

“You have the biggest eyes,” Peter said.

Notice the paw,
Lukas felt like shouting, pressing down harder with it. He restrained the urge to bark. Were all ravens this slow? He'd always heard they were the sharpest of the clans. Peter needed to see him,
now
, before Sally noticed.

Because she
was
sharp, and she would see the difference.

Hamlin lifted up his other paw, which Peter took.

Finally
, the birdman looked down and realized that Lukas was something else, just like he was.

“And big paws, too, for such a little dog,” Peter said, his eyes dark and wondering.

At least this Peter knew enough not to say anything more to Sally. Despite Hamlin's urging of trust, Lukas wasn't sure it was the right thing to do.

“You think so?” Sally asked as she picked Lukas up to take a look.

Lukas played the puppy, wiggling in her arms, licking her face and asking to be let back down. He couldn't have Sally looking too closely at him, not ever.

Laughing, Sally placed him back on the ground.

Lukas took a stand in front of Sally, staring back at Peter.

“You protect Sally, don't you?” Peter asked.

Okay, so maybe Peter wasn't too slow. He understood Lukas' role. Lukas gave a happy bark and padded back over to Peter.

“I will, too,” Peter told Lukas.

If Lukas could have rolled his eyes, he would have. Sally didn't need Peter's protection, not while Lukas was here.

Then Lukas ambled off to get a treat, leaving the humans so they could talk.

When it grew quiet, Lukas walked back toward the vestibule to see what they were doing.

Peter and Sally were kissing.

Lukas whirled and snuck away so they wouldn't hear him.

Hamlin rose up again, curling around him.

A part of Lukas had wondered if maybe Sally, someday, would be his mate, not just someone he guarded, but who would be with him.

It wasn't to be.

# # #

Something was going on with Peter. Was he in trouble? Sally smelled worried, but not full of tears—no, she smelled like steel and hard determination.

Lukas knew she was stronger than any other person he'd ever met, maybe even Oma.

“You be on the lookout for a woman with red hair,” Sally warned Lukas as they went for their evening walk. “She's been bothering Peter.”

Lukas didn't scent the woman on Sally, but he still spent as much time as he could looking up, not just watching the ground. He didn't smell anyone around Sally's building whose scent lingered, as if they'd been coming by and watching the apartment.

Why was Peter endangering Sally? He should know better. Lukas thought the ravens were more protective of their mates.

But Peter also smelled young. He was older than Lukas, but he carried the milky scent of a boy, not a man.

Two nights later, Lukas woke from a warm dream to the stink of shadows. He shook himself, coming awake instantly.

He was still in Sally's apartment, curled up in the living room on his end of the couch. Where was the smell coming from? He raised his head. It wasn't from the alley behind the apartment, or the sidewalk beside it.

No, it was coming from inside the apartment building itself.

Lukas growled and raced to the door, planting himself on the parquet floor.

Someone was there, outside, in the hallway.

When the doorbell rang, Sally walked into the vestibule, still drying her hands on a kitchen towel.

Lukas growled at her.

“Pixie?” Sally asked, wondering.

Hamlin growled, now, low and menacing. Lukas knew that he'd grown in size, and his hair stood on end, his hackles rising.

“Who's there?” Sally called when whoever it was rang the doorbell again. She didn't try to come closer, but stayed where she was, staring at him from the edge of the front hall.

“Tamara. You met me, dancing.”

Lukas didn't care where she'd come from. She stank of shadows and some other clan, warm fur that had been matted and stained—not hound clan, maybe boar or tiger clan.

“I'm sorry, I can't come to the door right now,” Sally said.

“But you must let me in,” the woman wheedled.

Lukas planted his feet wide, staring at Sally, his teeth bared. Whatever was outside could
not
be allowed to come in.

“I really can't,” Sally said, watching him wide-eyed. She smelled scared.

Lukas knew it wasn't because of the creature outside, but because of him. However, he couldn't let her near the door. She didn't know that he wouldn't hurt her, and there was no way he could tell her.

“Not even if I have news about Peter?” the voice through the door asked, dripping with false sweetness.

“What about Peter?” Sally asked.

Lukas growled louder. That other woman was
not
coming in here. He didn't know if she lied about Peter, and he didn't care. She was tainted with shadows. He couldn't let them in here.

“He's going away this weekend, you know.”

“Yes, he told me,” Sally said firmly.

Leaving? Why was the birdman leaving? Was this why Sally had been sad earlier?

“You know he'll face his death, there, at Ravens' Hall.”

“You're being ridiculous,” Sally said defiantly.

Lukas couldn't let down his guard, couldn't let Sally get closer to the door. But he wanted to grin and wag his tail at her: There was that strong heart. Hot anger now underlay the scent of Sally's fear. She would stand up to any challenge, every challenge. He'd been right about her.

“There's just so much you don't know. About him. And me.”

Lukas could tell from Sally's face that she also added him into the mix of things she didn't know about. He'd explain, or he'd have Rudi explain. Someday.

“You should just give him up now. It's hopeless, completely hopeless.”

“You're crazy,” Sally told her. She added a whisper, “Good boy for not letting her in.”

Lukas nodded at her, but didn't let down his guard.

“No, my dear, you are.” With a laugh, the other girl scratched her claws across the door and walked away.

“What was that all about?” Sally wondered out loud. “It's okay, now, Pixie, she's gone,” she told Lukas.

Lukas scented the air. Something wasn't right. Something magical and tainted with shadows still remained. He gave Sally a woof and sat down right next to the door, determined not to let anything come through.

“All right, you stay there. Don't let her in,” Sally added. “I'm calling Peter.”

Lukas could still smell the fear on Sally. It would take her a while to forget, for her to accept him as her little Scottie dog again. However, he'd done the right thing.

The scent of the shadows increased. Lukas growled, low and deep in his throat.

Something was trying to get in.

“Pixie?” Sally came back, phone in hand. “What is it?”

He barked, pawing at the shadows that were seeping under the threshold. How could he stop them? His claws couldn't tear them to pieces. They were just like smoke, ephemeral and without true form.

Sally was already talking with Peter, but the birdman wouldn't get there in time to get her away.

Hamlin surged forward, and they grew in size just as the shadow began to take shape.

It looked like a ghost tiger, but its claws were deadly sharp, as were its teeth.

Hamlin charged at it, rising up on his hind legs to smash down against the beast.

He went right though it.

The beast came inside, heading for Sally. Hamlin tore after it, barking at it, harrying it, worrying it, biting again and again into the faint smoke that left a bitter taste on his tongue.

It couldn't reach Sally, not with Hamlin always standing between it and her. He bristled and lunged, barked and bit. Sally ran away, it chased, and Hamlin fought.

But it was just smoke. He couldn't tear it to pieces, no matter how he tried. How could he fight a shadow? That had always been his problem.

Finally, the thing dissipated, either the spell worn down or because it couldn't reach its target.

Hamlin shrank back down, and Lukas turned mournful eyes to Sally.

“You. Stay. There,” she said, pointing a shaking hand at him.

Lukas whined and thumped his tail, his ears down. He'd just been protecting her. Couldn't she see that?

A knock on the door startled both of them. Lukas ran to it first.

“Sally? Sally? It's me, Peter.”

Lukas sniffed. Traces of the shadows remained, but not coming from Peter—he smelled of warm feathers, hard glass, and fear. Lukas barked once in reply, and he let Sally open the door this time.

At least Peter recognized that Lukas was the one who first had to be appeased. Peter knelt slowly, letting Lukas and Hamlin get a good sniff of his hand, making sure no shadows clung to him before they stepped to the side to let Peter in.

Lukas hadn't expected Sally to slip out the door, closing it quickly behind her. He gave an unhappy bark.

“It's okay,” Peter said. “I'm here with her. I'll stay with her.”

There wasn't anything Lukas could do with the door between them. Not that he couldn't knock it down if he needed to, or crash through one of the windows if need arose.

Peter couldn't protect Sally, couldn't guard her as well as Lukas could, but for now, she was safe enough with him.

He listened to their conversation. At least Peter told Sally that she should trust Lukas. He waited, frustrated, not letting Sally out of earshot, until the door opened again. Then he immediately stood between Sally and Peter. He trusted Peter, but Peter didn't know about the shadows.

It was good for Peter to acknowledge that Lukas could take good care of Sally.

And he would.

# # #

Sally didn't trust Lukas after that. She was always staring at him as if she expected him to suddenly change form again.

He didn't know what to do, so he played at being more of a puppy with her. He carried her things out of his toy basket, looking expectantly for her to play with him. He also followed her everywhere, from kitchen, to living room, to bedroom, and back again, always hanging out in the same room with her. He kept alert to more shadows, patrolling the small apartment regularly.

Sally seemed wary of another attack. She took Lukas everywhere she went: To the office, to the store, for long walks. Whatever that shadow thing was, it had scared her more than he had.

“I'm off to get groceries,” Sally told him one evening. “I'll be right back.”

Lukas stood by the door, willing to go with her, but she told him, “Not this time.”

Then Sally didn't come back.

Lukas fretted, waiting by the door, getting up every time he heard footsteps, but Sally didn't return. Not for hours and hours.

Something was wrong. Was it the shadows? Was it Peter? Had she been in an accident?

Lukas decided to wait until midnight, then he was bursting out of the apartment. However, before he could go through one of the windows, he heard keys in the lock.

Kate, Sally's regular dog sitter, came through the door. She wore her usual oversized poncho, and smelled of her three dogs, four cats, and two canaries.

Lukas liked her. Kate always talked to him as if he could understand everything she said.

“Hey boy, I know you're worried,” Kate said when Lukas came right up to her. “Sally went away with her boyfriend for the weekend. Unexpected death in his family. She said to be sure to tell you not to worry.”

That other woman had said Peter was going away for the weekend to face his death. Now Sally was there with him?

Lukas was worried. There was only one thing to do.