Black Dog(129)

Shots cracked out, one-two-three and then two more in quick succession, and Vonhausel staggered, fell, rolled, and was up on his feet again at once, and rushing now at Natividad. Alejandro lunged, crashed into him, bore him to the ground with weight and speed. He slashed, trying to tear out Vonhausel’s throat – surely that would at least slow him down – but his fangs only raked his enemy’s shoulder, and Vonhausel was both stronger and faster. His jaws closed on Alejandro’s foreleg, crushing as well as tearing, and his claws ripped across Alejandro’s side and flank. Now Alejandro only wanted to get away, get clear – his shadow, furious, wanted to press the attack but did not dare. Under the pressure of that conflict, all Alejandro’s rage and fear was transmuted to a furious desire for murder and destruction. Alejandro fought to break away from Vonhausel, but he also had to fight his own shadow, and knew all the time that he was losing both battles.

Then Keziah dropped from above as though she had simply appeared out of air and darkness. She pounced like a great cat on Vonhausel, ripping with fangs and claws at his neck and face and shoulders. He whirled, trying to shake her loose, but she had her claws set fast and did not lose her grip. She had leaped down from the remnants of the church; Alejandro understood that after the first instant. He could not imagine how she had got around all the enemy black dogs and up onto the jumbled timbers and stones, but he was desperately glad for her appearance. He had forgotten that she would be here, hidden; that she must have come here before Natividad had even arrived; that she could call Dimilioc with the phone he himself had given her. Though he was still astonished Grayson had brought his wolves against Vonhausel.

Natividad, ducking low, darted from the relative safety of her pentagram to throw her arms around his neck. Straightening into human form, half blind and nearly wordless from the cambio, he put his arm around his sister’s shoulders and let her guide him, as quickly as he could move, back toward the pentagram. His arm ached even after the change, so he knew the bone had been badly broken; no guessing how long the limb would be weak. His side hurt, too, where Vonhausel’s claws had torn at him.

Once safe – safer – in Natividad’s pentagram, it was possible to understand a little more of the ongoing battle. Like any black dog, Alejandro loved to fight and kill – but not in a battle like this one, against creatures that weren’t exactly black dogs and couldn’t be killed. All the Dimilioc wolves were battling such creatures.

Grayson Lanning fought the dead corpse of his brother, but could neither injure him nor force down the shadow possessing the corpse. But he held his own, and at least he faced no other immediate enemies. This was not the case for Ezekiel, fighting the shadow-creature who had been Zachariah. The verdugo was hard pressed by several other black dogs also, including another of the undead creatures who could not be wounded.

Ezekiel flickered back and forth between human and black dog forms with his usual fluidity. If facing his dead uncle horrified him, the horror didn’t translate to any loss of speed or deadliness: as Alejandro watched, the verdugo ducked his head and chopped sideways, catching and crushing his opponent’s foot in his powerful jaws and nearly wrenching off the whole limb with a powerful shake of his head. Not even the shadow-possessed Zachariah could ignore so serious an injury, withdrawing step by lame step. But there were more of Vonhausel’s black dogs to prevent Ezekiel from pressing his advantage against Zachariah or attacking Vonhausel.

Ethan hurtled out of the dark to slash left and right at Ezekiel’s living enemies, then fell back to defend the verdugo’s left flank from a shadow-possessed black dog who had not, thankfully, ever been a Dimilioc wolf. But even with that support Ezekiel could press forward only slowly toward his target – clearly he was trying to reach Vonhausel and just as clearly, embattled as he was, he was not going to be able to close with the master of the shadow pack unless Vonhausel allowed it. Which he was not going to.

Vonhausel had thrown Keziah from his back and stalked her, now; Keziah evaded his attack by retreating toward Ezekiel, then whirled to face black dogs pressing the verdugo from the right – at least those seemed to be ordinary black dogs who could be killed. Alejandro hadn’t seen Amira anywhere near when Keziah had struck at Vonhausel, but the little female black dog was with Keziah now, and no enemy seemed able to get through their defense. For the first time, it seemed possible that Ezekiel might reach Vonhausel – but Vonhausel was not staying to meet him, but racing away, back up onto the tumbled wreckage of the church.