Alejandro had worried that Thaddeus or DeAnn might make a scene at the airport, their last chance to make trouble where there was a crowd for confusion and protection. But Ezekiel had Alejandro carry the boy and he then tucked DeAnn’s arm through his as though he was her escort. Although their little group got the occasional odd look, they were not, after all, passing through the commercial terminal. Then they climbed into the Dimilioc plane, and that risk, at least, was past.
Alejandro sat in the back of the plane with Thaddeus and his wife. Ezekiel took the boy – Con, his parents called him, but Alejandro did not know whether that stood for Conner or Conrad or what – up to the cockpit with him.
Young Con did not cry or, which was more likely for a black dog pup, try to fight. Alejandro wondered what kind of bedtime stories his father had told him about Dimilioc wolves, but the boy’s rigid quiet came from more than scary stories. Any black dog puppy must feel directly, personally, the dense burning strength of the Dimilioc executioner. Where a human child might have screamed himself hoarse and fought like a fool, a black dog pup naturally flattened down before a strong black dog, hoping to buy tolerance with submission.
There were half a dozen comfortable seats in the back of the plane. Ezekiel left the door between the passenger area and the cockpit open, so Thaddeus and his wife could look forward and see their son in the seat next to Ezekiel, a constant reminder to cooperate.
Thaddeus deliberately placed himself between his wife and Alejandro, exactly as Alejandro would have done if their positions had been reversed and he had needed to protect Natividad. Thaddeus must know that this protective gesture was pointless. Even if he were not bound to his human form by those silver bracelets, the man would realize that with his son in Ezekiel’s hands, he could do nothing but stay quiet. Of course, he must also know that if he did nothing, then later when they landed and put themselves into Dimilioc power, Grayson Lanning could do anything he chose to any of them. The back of Alejandro’s neck prickled with his awareness of the man’s anger and fear and unvoiced despair. It pleased his black dog, but Alejandro did not like it – and DeAnn was also frightened, which he liked even less. But he couldn’t say anything to reassure either of them, partly because he didn’t know what to say but mostly because Ezekiel had made it clear he wasn’t to say anything at all.
“These people are Grayson’s to deal with,” he’d told Alejandro before they boarded the plane. His tone had been flat and uncompromising. “Don’t muddy the water. You can’t make any promises. I don’t want you offering reassurance or threats or so much as a word of advice. Understand?”
Alejandro understood. But it made for an extremely uncomfortable plane flight, and all the more uncomfortable because before they took off, Ezekiel also said, leaning back in his seat to look back into the passenger compartment, “The last word from Dimilioc is to make all possible speed on our return. We will therefore not stop before we arrive at Newport. I believe we have enough fuel to manage. We should reach Dimilioc at roughly seven in the morning. Get some rest if you can, but don’t relax too far. Call me if Williams gives you any trouble. It’s for moments like that they invented the autopilot.”
Alejandro nodded. “At Dimilioc… What…?”
“I don’t know,” Ezekiel snapped. “Everyone is fine right now, the message says. Trust Grayson. He won’t let anything happen to your sister.”
Alejandro heard just the faintest growl vibrating under that assurance. For the first time he realized that it might be a good thing to have Ezekiel Korte interested in Natividad: it had not occurred to him until this moment that Grayson might work hard to keep Natividad alive just to avoid trouble with Ezekiel.
But he said merely, “Yes.”
“Keep an eye on things back here,” Ezekiel added, and stared hard at Thaddeus, who stared back for a heartbeat before he looked down. “Don’t give me any trouble,” he said at last. “Or him, either.” By which he meant Alejandro. “I’m sure I don’t need to point out that trying to kill the pilot of your plane while thousands of feet in the air lacks a certain je ne se quoi. But I will also add that I’m tired and I’m going to get more tired, that the moon’s call will be stronger once we’re in the sky, that this damned cut from your damned knife hurts like a son of a bitch, and that I’m not long on temper at the moment. Is that clear?”
Thaddeus bowed his head low. And, after Ezekiel turned back to the plane’s controls, Thaddeus did nothing more threatening than sit between his wife and Alejandro, his head still down. None of them spoke, Alejandro because of Ezekiel’s warning and Thaddeus probably because he was afraid Alejandro would take offense at something he said and complain to Ezekiel. Or maybe because he was afraid that if he said anything, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from making threats, then from trying to carry them out – he was so angry, and they both knew that he was stronger than Alejandro.