“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.”
“Well, but what if Vonhausel attacks Brighton? Or even Newport? At least, that’s what I’d do,” said Miguel. “It’s an obvious tactic, isn’t it? He’ll have a huge numerical advantage over us no matter what, if he’s been making zombie black dogs. If he makes enough of them, he won’t need the shifters, will he? And that’ll free him from the moon. He can attack one town after another and wait for you to come after him, and you’ll have to, won’t you? Because otherwise he’ll get a new war, a war between black dogs and humans, and in a hurry, too, because now everybody knows black dogs exist. And the humans, they’ll find out a whole lot more about black dogs real fast if they decide they need to, won’t they? I mean, now the blood kin aren’t messing with people’s minds to stop them perceiving supernatural stuff, there’s nothing to stop them coming after us just as hard as they went after the last of the vampires. That’s obvious, right? It won’t be Dimilioc that wins that war, will it?”
Ezekiel tilted his head, gazing curiously at Miguel. “And yet, he hasn’t done anything of the sort.”
“Well,” said Miguel, as though this, too, was obvious, “I’m sure he still wants to kill Natividad, or at least take her away from Dimilioc, so there’s that. He’s probably resting in Lewis tonight, making zombies. But I don’t think he’ll come here tomorrow. I bet he’ll take his black dogs and his esclavos and go hunting and wait for you to come after him, and he’ll make sure the ground is of his choosing and not yours. He’ll have the advantage, not you. He’ll kill you all. Then he can come after Natividad at his leisure.” The boy looked from one of them to the next, ending with the Master. “Don’t you see? That’s exactly what he’ll do.”
“I hardly think that likely,” said Keziah, sounding faintly amused. “Of course a human boy will not understand. But no black dog ambitious to rule and to be free of the constraints of law would ever turn aside from the personal destruction of Dimilioc. Malvern Vonhausel will come here. I expect he would be here now, except he cannot drive his black dogs so hard. So, we see his control of his… minions… is not so complete, whether he finds or makes or compels them. He will come here, and here we shall destroy him at last, as,” she finished with a definite edge of irony, “he so clearly deserves.”
Miguel began to protest. Grayson lifted a hand, checking the boy. “Ezekiel?”
Ezekiel gave Miguel a thoughtful look. “Miguel’s suggestion is interesting. But I believe Keziah is correct. I can’t imagine Malvern Vonhausel will turn away from Dimilioc now, no matter how easy the hunting would be in a human town. He needs to be in on the kill himself. Any black dog would need that.”