Traitor's Son: The Raven Duet Book #2 (16 page)

Most of the houses looked more ragged from the back, but that may have been because that side faced the beach, and salt spray took a toll even on modern paint.

Jase was halfway down the street, when he saw the Lab mix who’d snarled trotting toward him.

One dog escaping to chase him was coincidence. Two dogs escaping . . . Jase took to his heels and ran. He’d cut back to his grandparents’ house, and break the front window if he had to!

But when he reached an unfenced passage between the alley and the street, the poodle was there. It began to bark, but Jase no longer needed subtle clues. He ran down the alley, heading for the path that followed the base of the rocky bluffs that lined the beach opposite the sea. He’d scrambled up those bluffs as a child, while Gima dug up edible stuff in the tidal flats, and there were places no dog could climb after him.

He’d forgotten how far those places were. Jase looked back. Four dogs loped behind him now, the poodle, the Lab mix, something that looked mostly husky, and a ridiculous beagle scurrying behind the others.

It should have looked comical, but something about the way they paced themselves, keeping the beagle with them, told Jase this was a
pack.

Dog packs were some of the most deadly predators on the planet, no matter how motley their breeds.

Jase was still several hundred yards from the nearest bluff when the dogs flattened out and began to run—he’d thought they were moving fast before, but they’d just been jogging!

He would never reach the bluff in time. Looking around frantically, Jase spotted a dead pine at the edge of the forest. It had probably been killed by lightning, but enough low branches remained for him to climb it.

Jase raced for the tree, faster than he’d ever run in his life. Those branches were higher than they’d looked from a distance, but he jumped and caught the lowest. His slick-soled chauffeur shoes scrabbled for purchase on the smooth trunk and caught just enough for him to haul himself into the tree as the dogs dashed up below him.

The husky took a running leap and grabbed one shoe, pulling it from his foot, and Jase found himself three branches higher before he even thought about moving.

The dogs stared up at him with conscienceless eyes. The husky dropped his shoe and sat, clearly prepared to wait. The beagle was panting hard, but its gaze was no less determined than the others’.

No matter what they wanted, they couldn’t reach him. Clinging to the trunk with both arms, Jase finally had time to think.

His heart was trying to pound its way out of his rib cage, and his legs still shook with the effort of the chase. His hands were shaking too, from terror and adrenaline, as he pulled out his com pod and thumbed it on. The screen remained dark.

That battery was supposed to be good for five years!

Jase tried to breathe more slowly, and then tried the pod again. No power. No low battery alerts over the last few weeks to warn him to replace it, either. Could the battery have shifted out of contact during the chase?

Mindful of the attentive dogs below, Jase took off his blazer, carefully maintaining his hold on the tree, which made it tricky. But the battery was small; he didn’t dare risk dropping it.

Jase opened the pod’s case and pulled the circuitry card that held the battery—still snapped neatly into its socket. He turned the plastic wafer over his jacket and flexed it gently till the battery popped out. Examining the slim silver disk, Jase couldn’t see any leakage or corrosion. He snapped it back into the card and checked the wafer itself. Nothing appeared to be broken. The other wafer held the small screen, and Jase looked it over too, but saw nothing broken there either. All the receptor points looked clean. So why wasn’t it working?

He snapped the pod back together and tried to turn it on, but the screen remained blank. “Carp.”

He looked down at the dogs. Three of them were sitting by the base of the tree—only the poodle prowled restlessly.

The tree Jase had chosen was on a rise, and the lowering sun cast the dogs’ shadows onto the beach below, tall and distorted. Something about the poodle’s shadow caught Jase’s eye. The long thin legs seemed to stretch forever, but its body looked bulkier than it should . . . and instead of flopping down, like the dog’s ears did, the shadow had pointed triangular ears.

Jase rubbed his eyes and looked again, but even though the poodle’s ears fell past its narrow jaw, the shadow’s ears were small, upright, and pricked. One of the shadow ears twitched as he watched, and both the poodle and its shadow turned, seeking the source of some sound he hadn’t heard.

Now that he was looking, the Lab’s shadow had angular pricked ears as well—even the beagle, with its short coat and stubby legs, cast the shadow of a wolf.

The hair on Jase’s arms stood up as goose flesh popped out on most of his body.

The enemy had found him.

He didn’t have time to wait for his grandmother to come home, realize that Jase hadn’t gone back to take a room at the resort, and then organize anyone who hadn’t been bewitched. Now he knew what,
who,
had been stirring up the villagers!

But whatever search party his grandmother raised, it wouldn’t get here before his enemies did. And he’d be here when Otter Woman and the football players arrived. The dogs, with their wolf shadows, would see to that.

Despite the urgency of the moment, wonder washed over Jase. This wasn’t invisible healing on some invisible ley. This was real magic, in the real, daylight world.

Magic that might kill him, if he couldn’t escape.

Why hadn’t he figured out some way to contact Raven! But even if he had her com code, it wouldn’t help him now. When her enemies showed up, Jase should hand over the pouch just to serve her right for being so shortsighted!

He didn’t want to hand it over.

That old woman, Otter Woman, had upset his grandmother laying this trap. And she’d made Jase’s grandfather, the whole village, more angry with his father—just on the chance that he’d come here and she could capture him. But how could he—

A scratching sound drew his eyes to the foot of the tree. The poodle was digging again, this time at the base of the trunk, and a chill ran over Jase’s skin as he saw how this looser dirt flew from under its busy paws.

The husky, whose shadow almost matched its form, got up and started digging too, and then the Lab and the beagle joined in.

How much was left of the roots that held this tree upright? It felt sturdy, but the lack of bark told him it had died a long time ago.

They can’t kill you themselves,
Raven had said.
But they’re a lot more adept at using human tools than I thought they’d be.

Maybe the plan wasn’t to use the dogs to keep him pinned till they could come for him. Maybe it was to take the pouch off his mangled corpse after the dogs—tools of this world—had done the job for them. If Jase understood the setup correctly, their fracking rules would allow that just fine.

He had to get out of here. But how? He had a pouch of magical healing dust hanging around his neck. Could it break spells, as well as heal leys?

Jase pulled out his com pod and tried to connect with it, with its essence, as he had in the taiga. He wasn’t attached to his pod like he was to the Tesla, but machines did feel . . . there to him. He reached out to that feeling of presence, and took a tight grip on the tree trunk. If the power surge he’d felt in the taiga knocked him off his branch, he was done for. Fumbling, because he had to use the arm that was wrapped around the trunk to hold the pod, he pulled out the pouch and extracted a pinch of dust.

“Work,” he whispered, and scattered the dust over the com pod.

No power slammed through him this time, but hope still flickered as he pressed the on button. Nothing.

Frack.

He tried the dogs next, climbing down to the lowest branch and dumping a small handful of dust on the beagle’s back—he wasn’t about to descend and try to bond with them!

The beagle, busily deepening the hole at the base of the tree, didn’t even look up. Its wolf shadow never wavered.

The poodle had stopped digging to watch him descend. Now it leaped up, higher than the husky had, and Jase kicked it away.

It yelped and fell, but Jase was now watching the shadows as warily as he watched the dogs, and as the poodle landed its shadow changed to that of a curly-haired dog with floppy ears.

It shook itself, whining in confusion, and that other shadow flowed over the true one. But sudden pain had shocked it out of the spell, at least for a moment. And they could be hurt.

Was it his imagination that the tree felt less sturdy now than when he’d climbed it? Jase hated the idea of hurting some helpless enchanted dog—but not as much as he hated the idea of the four of them ripping him apart.

He climbed carefully back up the tree and broke off the biggest branch he could manage. It might be just that he was moving pretty wildly, in a higher part of the tree, but it wobbled in a way that told him he didn’t have much time.

Jase buttoned his blazer, for whatever protection it might provide, and descended to the lowest branch.

“OK, dog. Want to jump again?”

Poodles were supposed to be smart, and this one lived up to the rep. It looked up at him for a moment and then went back to digging.

The tree was definitely wobbling now. Jase gripped the branch with both legs and one hand, leaned down as far as he dared, and swung his improvised club.

It struck the Lab’s shoulder, knocking it into a yelping roll. But it lunged to its feet, snarling, and leaped at Jase where he dangled from the tree.

This time Jase was ready, and swung the branch as hard as he could. In sheer self-preservation he aimed for the dog’s head, but wielding the heavy branch one-handed, he hit its nose instead.

It fell to the ground with a sharp cry of pain . . . and the pricked ears vanished from its shadow.

The Lab licked its nose, whimpering, then dropped into a crouch and scuttled away.

He could break the spell! And if he didn’t, they’d kill him. Jase leaned down, aiming for the poodle next, but he’d underestimated the pack.

The husky jumped up and locked its teeth on Jase’s sleeve, its whole weight dangling from his right arm. Jase gripped the branch with all the strength of his desire to survive . . . and the tree began to tip.

Slowly at first, slowly enough for Jase to swing the growling husky against the tree’s trunk hard enough to make the dog let go. Slowly enough for Jase to release the branch with his legs, swing down to land on his feet, and scramble out of the dogs’ hole.

He smacked the beagle hard on its muddy snout as he darted past, and it yipped, but Jase was too busy racing out of the path of the falling giant to check its shadow.

He ran to the nearest tree, a live one, and put his back against the trunk before the echoes of the crash had faded. Only the husky and the poodle stalked him now. The husky circling aggressively, waiting for a chance to spring, the poodle prancing out of reach of the stick, watching him with bright, intent eyes.

Jase went for the husky since it was closest. This time he was aiming for the dog’s nose, so of course he missed and struck its head. The dog sank to the ground, its eyes half closed. Hopefully he’d only stunned it—but better for it to die than him!

Jase stepped away from the tree and went after the poodle, quickly, hoping to take it out before the others’ wolf shadows returned.

“Come on. You want me?” He was shouting now, not sure if he hoped to drive it off or force it to attack. The poodle backed up, but its predatory gaze never shifted.

A roar shattered the stillness, and the poodle flinched.

Jase stumbled back to the tree, club raised, as a grizzly erupted from the forest and roared again.

The dogs fled, the husky stumbling behind the other three. Jase didn’t have any attention to spare for their shadows now. He’d have run with them, but running wouldn’t save him.

If the grizzly was determined to kill him, nothing Jase could do would stop it, but the experts said it was better to fight than to do nothing.

Jase gripped his club and waited. Maybe it would ignore him. Maybe it would go away. He was trying not to breathe when a rush of wings hurtled down through the branches.

The raven lit on the tip of his club, heavier than he’d expected. Then it dropped to the ground, bulged, and grew into a slender naked girl.

Who stood between him and the bear.

“Get behind me,” Jase hissed, even as he prayed she had some magic to deal with this.

She glanced back over her shoulder and flashed him a smile, then turned to the great beast, who’d settled on its haunches.

“You see what I mean?” she said. “If this isn’t ‘direct interference,’ I don’t know what is.”

“We tol’ them they can’t attack your human themselvez. For this, they’re uzing the toolz of this world. Azzz allowed.” The bear’s mouth didn’t handle English very well, and goose flesh broke out on Jase’s arms once more—though a shapeshifter, even one speaking English in animal form, was a lot less scary than a grizzly bear. Jase kept the branch, just in case.

“They may be using the tools of this world,” Raven said, “but they’ve also used a lot of ley power, both in setting up this trap and springing it. If they can draw power from the ley then I’ll have to do it too. And I don’t want to weaken the leys more than they already are.”

“True.” The bear looked thoughtful. “Unnaseptable. We’ll deal with them. They’ll spen’ no more power in this world. Not an erg more.”

“You speak for the neutrals?” Raven asked hopefully.

“It will be our edic’.”

The bear nodded its massive head, rose, and lumbered back into the woods. Jase lowered the branch. His fingers were so stiff, it felt like he had to peel them away from the rough surface.

Raven turned, her face alight with joy.

“You did it!”

“Why can’t you ever be naked when I’m in shape to appreciate it,” Jase grumbled. He’d given her his blazer so her nudity would stop distracting him—it didn’t seem to bother her. She walked down the trail beside him as if the rocks didn’t hurt her bare feet at all. It had taken Jase five minutes to locate the shoe the husky had stolen, in the wreckage of the tree.