Pure Magic (Black Dog Book 3) (25 page)

“I think it would be best to call the Master. I think I should do that now.”

Ethan tossed his slim little phone to Alejandro without comment. Alejandro flipped it open and studied the buttons.

In the whole village of Potosi, there had been only one phone. It had been attached to the wall with a cord, and one put in the number by turning a round dial for each number. Since coming to Dimilioc, Alejandro had used these other phones. He knew very well one pressed the buttons, but every phone seemed frustratingly different. It was not obvious to him how to even turn this particular phone on.

Natividad would know exactly how to use this phone. Miguel would know how to use ten thousand functions that Alejandro would not even guess existed. Alejandro could only suppose that probably one of the two large buttons at the top of the panel would make the phone work. One had a green line on it. Maybe that was the button that meant
Go
.

He had no intention of asking Ethan. He thought, however, of tossing the phone back to the other black dog and saying curtly,
You do it
. That would even make sense. Ethan was a Lanning. Grayson was
his
uncle. Let
him
talk to Grayson and explain what Ezekiel had done and that the
verdugo
had truly abandoned this
misión
, this mission and run away to follow Natividad south.

Let Ethan sound offended and shocked. Alejandro knew he would himself have difficulty hiding from his own relief that Ezekiel had gone after Natividad. He could hardly believe she had gone away from Dimilioc
again,
into danger
again
. Grayson would be so angry. But Alejandro couldn’t help but feel—

The phone rang, a swift run of notes like birdsong. Alejandro blinked, startled, stopping himself with difficulty from either dropping the phone or crushing it. He looked at Ethan, who only shrugged. The phone rang again. And again. Ethan opened his mouth to say something, probably something sarcastic, but then stopped and said nothing after all.

Alejandro touched the button with the green line across it.

Grayson’s deep, gritty voice said, harsh and clear and with the echo of a black dog snarl behind the words, “Ethan—”

Alejandro cleared his throat.

“Alejandro,” Grayson growled. “Well?”

“Master,” Alejandro said, and looked at Ethan, who pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, a very clear
Your problem.
“Master,” Alejandro said again. “Ezekiel . . . uh . . .”

“Yes, I understand that,” Grayson said grimly. “Leaving the pair of you to deal with these Dacha black wolves on your own. That’s not acceptable, particularly not if you must face Zinaida Alexandrovna Kologrivova. With, no doubt, a selection of the strongest wolves of The Dacha.”

Alejandro made a sound of acknowledgement and waited to see what Grayson would command.

Grayson said heavily, “I will come myself.”

Thoroughly relieved, Alejandro nodded quickly and said, “Yes.”

“You will wait. I shall endeavor to arrive at your door before dawn.”

“Yes,” Alejandro said again, and just then a narrow-jawed blond man of perhaps fifty, with eyes the pewter-gray of storm clouds and a shadow that swept out long and dense behind him, stepped out on the neighboring balcony. He looked directly at Alejandro, smiled, strode to the edge of his balcony, stepped up on a chair and then the railing and leaped. It was a man who flung himself into the air six stories above the pavement, but it was a black dog who hurled himself over the railing not a foot from Alejandro.

Natividad was completely taken aback by Keziah’s sudden appearance. She had felt the air quiver with black-dog presence, had known someone had crossed Justin’s mandala. But, though through her alarm, she’d been sure it must be Ezekiel.

She would never in a hundred years have expected Keziah.

Keziah was already almost completely human when she hit the floor. That was fast for the
cambio de cuerpo
, very fast, and Natividad hadn’t even known Keziah could hold a half-shifted form—she hadn’t ever seen anyone do that but Thaddeus. Keziah must have been working
really hard
to tighten and refine her control, Natividad realized, and was faintly dismayed without knowing why.

Then she knew why. It was because she was afraid Keziah would someday rival Ezekiel’s speed and strength and control. And she was afraid of what Keziah might do, what she might
want
to do. She didn’t want the black dog girl to be able to challenge Ezekiel.

But she didn’t want Keziah to see any of that. She slipped her hands into her pockets and softened her stance, trying to look harmless without looking scared.

Keziah tossed back her hair, still neatly braided despite her partial change to her black dog form and back again. She straightened her shoulders. She looked around the suite, one swift summing glance, and then quickly at Justin and away again, and then, finally, glared at Natividad. She said, her tone biting, “One might have expected
you
at least would know better. Out on your own! Any number of strays might be hunting through this town tonight!”

Natividad, still recovering from the sharp surprise of realizing Grayson had sent Keziah after them rather than Ezekiel, was not immediately able to answer her. Then, to her astonishment, Justin picked up the platter than still held half the chicken and some of the ham, held it out in invitation, and said mildly, “I expect you’re hungry. There’s plenty left.”

Keziah flicked another glance at him and immediately looked away again, and Natividad realized suddenly that the other girl was deeply uncomfortable as well as angry. She immediately tried to put her more at ease, dropping down to sit once more on the floor, leaning an elbow on the table, trying to look relaxed. She also found that she no longer felt she needed Ezekiel’s knife. Recognizing Keziah’s discomfort made Natividad feel a lot more in control and a lot less like a five-year-old called to account. She said, “It’s important not to lock people up, if you don’t want them to try to run away.”

It was plain Keziah didn’t know how to answer her. The black dog girl ran her hand over her hair—an unnecessary gesture, as she looked, as always, flawless. It was uncharacteristic, too, as usually Keziah made it very plain she knew exactly how flawless she looked. Her elegance was muted now, though, even though she was wearing a really beautiful bronze-colored blouse and these fabulous hoop earrings of twisted gold. She really looked just like she should be perched in an ornate boat with a dragon prow, modeling Cleopatra, with a hundred men to row her down the Nile. Unless it was the Norse who had carved dragons on their boats? Either way, despite her beauty, Keziah looked, to Natividad, less certain of herself than usual. Maybe even . . . a little bit lost.

“You should have supper,” Justin said. “And then, if you want, maybe you can guard us while Natividad shows me how to draw crosses along the foundation of this house. I mean,” he added, raising his voice just a little when Keziah made to answer him, “We’re all exhausted, aren’t we, so we can surely leave off arguing till tomorrow? There’s a little ham left, if you don’t like chicken. Unless you don’t eat pork.”

Keziah gave him a scornful stare. “I eat anything, Pure boy. Usually after hunting it down and tearing it to pieces.”

“I’m sure that’s one way to work up an appetite.” Justin continued to hold out the platter. Natividad had no idea what he was thinking, but he didn’t seem especially worried. He had forgotten about looking down. But Keziah did not seem angry.

“I didn't think Grayson would send you,” Natividad said, since someone had to say something. “And I didn’t think anyone would find us, not so fast. I didn’t forget about strays, you know. I thought I’d taken care of that. I didn’t think—how did you track us?”

Keziah gave a strange little shiver, jerking her attention away from Justin to glare at Natividad. “You think your Ezekiel is the only black wolf who knows how to hunt?”

Natividad wanted to say,
You’re the only black dog here, so why don’t you just relax and sit down and have some chicken?
But she knew saying anything like that would be a mistake. She said instead, making sure her tone was meek, “I just want to understand. If any ordinary black dog stray could track us here, that wouldn’t be good, right?”

Keziah shrugged disdainfully. “There is always danger, fool. Any stray might happen across you here and pick up your scent. But tracking? I should not think a stray would know to turn toward the confused path, or to go the way she does not wish to go.”

“. . . right,” said Natividad. She hadn’t thought of any black dog figuring out how to track her directly along a confounded trail. Turning deliberately toward a confused path . . . that must take a special kind of awareness and endurance. She looked at Keziah with respect.

Keziah did not seem to notice. She curled herself down onto the couch, taking the platter at last and inspecting the half-chicken that was left. Her lip curled. “Boring American food. Americans do not know how to cook. Not even lemon!”

“Or chilies and
queso
,” Natividad agreed. “But it’s not bad, for boring American chicken. Listen, though, I think probably we should do the crosses and things soon, except if we’re not staying except for just one night, maybe it is not important anyway.” She glanced up at Keizah from under her lashes. “I guess Ezekiel’s on his way and we should wait? Or maybe we are going on tomorrow and he’ll catch us up?” Or maybe he had gone on ahead? That seemed likely as soon as she’d thought of it: Grayson had probably sent Ezekiel straight on to El Paso. That explained why he’d sent Keziah after them instead of Ezekiel. She relaxed a little, glad to have sorted that out.

Keziah, halfway through devouring the bland chicken, looked up, nostrils flaring. “We are not
going on
,” she said, her diction precise. “What is this nonsense of
going on
? We are
going back
. I am sure you understand this. I believe I am quite capable of escorting you both back to Dimilioc even without the incomparable Ezekiel to assist.”

“Right. And now, what if I say I’m not going back to Dimilioc?” demanded Justin, looking at Keziah with open challenge. “Then what?”

Keziah gave him a white, white smile. “You think you have the nerve to defy me, Pure boy?”

“Oh, I have the
nerve
.” Justin looked at Natividad. “Is she allowed to touch me?”

“No,” Natividad said unhappily. “But you’re not making it easier, challenging her like that, plus I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care. And I’m pretty sure Grayson won’t care, either, as long as she brings you back safe.” She looked at Keziah. “But it’s not right to chain people up and make them do things they don’t want to do. I don’t have to tell
you
that, do I?”

Keziah snarled, a low blood-curdling sound.

Justin rolled his eyes. “You really think you can drag people
two thousand miles
against their will, by yourself, and no one will notice? No one will call the cops? You sure you don’t want to think this through?”

Natividad said hastily, “Anyway, look, Keziah, even if Grayson’s ordered you to bring us back, he can’t really
want
to send Ezekiel against that vampire in El Paso all by himself. He’ll need help! You know that’s true. Of course we should go on.” If it
was
a vampire. She hoped it was just some leftover blood kin. That would be horrible enough, and they knew a few of the blood kin had outlived their masters. It was hard to believe Grayson would really send even Ezekiel against a master vampire all by himself. She said, thinking half aloud, “Or is Ezekiel just supposed to collect those Dimilioc black wolves and bring them back? That would make sense, I guess, but don’t you think Grayson would rather have the vampire dead, too? If there is a vampire. After all, we’re already nearly there.”

And she wasn’t the
least bit
disappointed that Grayson hadn’t let Ezekiel come after her—after them.

Then, at last, she realized that both Keziah and Justin were staring at her.

She sighed, and pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. “Right. I guess I didn’t exactly mention El Paso?” She dropped her hands to her lap and looked at Keziah. “And I guess maybe Grayson didn’t explain about that to you, either, right?”

“There is a vampire in El Paso?” Keziah said, her tone blank, just as Justin got suddenly to his feet and demanded, “There’s a
vampire
in El Paso? You said all the vampires were gone! When were you going to mention this, exactly?”

“We weren’t
going
to El Paso!” Natividad reminded him. “We were going to Roswell, so you could go to your grandmamá. We weren’t going anywhere near El Paso!” She leaned back against the couch, lifting her hands in a little shrug. “I thought Grayson would send Ezekiel, and then we—
he and I,
not you, Justin—could go to El Paso and kill that vampire. And then come back to Roswell and see if maybe you wanted to go back to Dimilioc after all.” She looked at Keziah. “But I guess Grayson sent Ezekiel on to El Paso and that means he sent you after us, right? I hope he sent someone else with Ezekiel!”

“Why would I want to go back to Dimilioc?” Justin said, not waiting for Keziah to answer. His tone was angry, but Natividad saw how he didn’t quite look at Keziah.

Natividad hesitated. She didn’t want to say,
Because you would get tired of being afraid all the time. You would get tired of being afraid for your grandmamá and your friends and everyone.
That was the kind of thing that Justin really needed to find out for himself. Before Natividad could think of something else to say, though, Keziah cut in sharply, “There are black dogs of Dimilioc bloodlines in El Paso? Is that what you said?”

Natividad flinched. Of course Keziah wouldn’t like the idea of more Dimilioc black wolves. She would be afraid they would scorn her and her sister because they didn’t have the right bloodline. She said quickly, “Only just a few, from the western sept, you know, the Colorado sept? I guess during the war Dimilioc sent people to hold the city and stop the vampires taking it back. But the vampires killed a lot of Dimilioc’s black dogs and Grayson thought they were all gone, only they weren’t, but they thought Dimilioc was gone, too. Only then they saw Ezekiel on television, you know. So they called to ask for help, only Grayson, he said we couldn’t help them right now. Because of this trouble in Boston, you know? But I . . . I didn’t think we could wait. I figured if I came here, he would send Ezekiel after me. He didn’t tell you about this, seriously?” Because that really didn’t seem to make sense, when Natividad thought about it.

Keziah didn’t answer, but Justin said suddenly to her, “Grayson didn’t send you at all, did he? You’re AWOL. Aren’t you?”

There was a small pause. Though Keziah didn’t look away, a slow flush crept up along her fine cheekbones. Then she tossed the chicken onto a plate and leaned back along the arm of the couch, coolly disdainful. But it was too late. Natividad and Justin had both seen the high color rise up her face. Natividad found herself exchanging a glance with Justin. He didn’t look as surprised as she felt.

Behind the surprise, Natividad discovered, she was upset. And angry, though she tried to argue against that anger. But Grayson hadn’t sent
anyone
after her? Really? Natividad felt . . . not betrayed, exactly, she decided firmly. Because that wasn’t fair. He must have had a good reason not to. She just didn’t know what it was.

“Well?” Keziah said defiantly. “You think
I
should ask Grayson for leave to come and go?
You
make very free with what you do—”

“
I’m
not a black dog—” began Natividad.

“No, of course not,
you
are
Pure
—”

“Shut up!” Justin said, with considerable force.

Natividad closed her mouth and stared at him. She was aware that Keziah was also staring at Justin, looking
desconcertado
. Nonplused. Natividad had to suppress an untimely urge to laugh. She was horrified and scared and mad and it was just stupid to also have to fight to keep from laughing. She was pretty sure laughing right at this moment would be a bad idea.

Justin gave Natividad a long look. “You’ve taught me a lot. I appreciate that. But, let me get this straight: you used me as an excuse to leave Vermont and come down here, so that you could leave me somewhere safe and then go get yourself killed in El Paso trying to rescue a bunch of werewolves from a vampire? Without telling me?” Then he gave Keziah an equally long look. “And
you
ran away from Dimilioc and came after us, because you think I left because of you. So you thought you’d find me and
bring me back
, no matter what I wanted.” He glared at them both. “Neither of you think it’s the least bit important to explain anything to me so I can make my own decisions! I think I have that straight, at least!”