Black dawn (19 page)
The only discordant note was the heavy brace on his left arm.
Maggie stared at him, her heart numb.
He was after them. It was just as Jeanne had
said He was hunting them down with dogs. And
he'd probably told Sylvia that he hadn't really killed
two of the slaves.
Almost inaudibly, Jeanne breathed, "You see?"
Maggie couldn't look at her.
Then she saw another rider below and froze in
bewilderment.
It was
He looked exactly the way he had in
memories. A tall man, with blood-red hair and a
cold, handsome face. Maggie couldn't see his eyes
at this distance, but she knew that they were a
fierce and brilliant yellow.
The old king.
But he was
dead
Maggie was too
agitated to be cautious.
"Who is that? The red-haired man," she murmured urgently to Jeanne.
Jeanne answered almost without a sound.
"Hunter
Redfern
."
"It's not the king?"
Jeanne shook her head minutely. Then, when
Maggie kept staring at her, she breathed. "He's
about it later."
Maggie nodded. And the next instant it was
swept out of her head as
P.J.'s
hand clutched at her and she felt a wave of adrenaline.
The party below was stopping.
The hounds turned and circled first, forming a
hesitant clump not twenty feet down the road.
When the people pulled up their horses they were
almost directly below Maggie's tree.
"What is it?" the tall man said, the one Jeanne
had called Hunter
Redfern
.
And then one of the hounds changed. Maggie
caught the movement out of the corner of her eye
and looked quickly, or she would have missed it.
The lean, wiry animal reared up, like a dog trying
to look over a fence. But when it reached its full
height it didn't wobble or go back down. It stead
ied, and its entire dusty-tan body rippled.
Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the
world, its shoulders went back and its arms thick
ened. Its spine straightened and it seemed to gain
more height. Its tail pulled in and disappeared. And
its hound face melted and
re-formed,
the ears and
muzzle shrinking, the chin growing. In maybe
twenty seconds the dog had become a boy, a boy
who still wore patches of tan fur here and there,
but definitely human-looking.
And he's got pants on, Maggie thought distract
edly, even though her heart was pounding in her
throat. I wonder how they manage
that?
The boy turned his head toward the riders. Mag
gie could see the ribs in his bare chest move with
his breathing.
"Something's wrong here," he said. "I can't follow
their life force anymore."
Hunter
Redfern
looked around.
"Are they blocking it?"
Gavin spoke up from beside Sylvia's stirrup.
"
"Isn't that impossible?"
from the very back of the group, where he was
expertly
holding
his
nervous,
dancing
horse
in
check.
"If they're only humans?"
Hunter didn't move or blink an eye, but Maggie
saw a glance pass between
.
Sylvia and Gavin.
She
herself twisted her head slightly, just enough to
look at the other girls in the tree.
She wanted to see if Jeanne understood what
they were talking about, but it was Cady who
caught her eye. Cady's eyes were shut, her head
leaning against the dark furrowed trunk of the tree.
Her lips were moving, although Maggie couldn't
hear any sound.
And Jeanne was watching her with narrowed
eyes and an expression of grim suspicion.
"Human vermin are full of surprises," Hunter
Redfern
was saying easily down below. "It doesn't matter. We'll get them eventually."
"They may be heading for the castle," Sylvia said.
"We'd better put extra guards at the gate."
Maggie noticed how
And so did Hunter
Redfern
, even though he was
looking the other way. He said calmly, "What do
you think of that, Prince Delos?"
"Yes. Do it." But he said it to a lean, bearded man beside him, who bowed his head in a quick jerk.
And he did something that made Maggie's heart
go cold.
He looked up at her.
The other people in his party, including the hounds, were looking up and down the road, or
sideways into the forest at their own level.
straight ahead. But now he tilted his chin and
turned an expressionless face toward the cluster of
branches where Maggie was sitting.
And met her gaze directly.
She saw the blaze of his yellow eyes, even at this
distance. He was looking coolly and steadily-at
her.
Maggie jerked back and barely caught herself
from falling. Her heart was pounding so hard it
was choking her. But she didn't seem to be able to
do anything but cling to her branch.
We're dead, she thought dizzily, pinned into im
mobility by those golden eyes. He's stronger than
the rest of them; he's a Wild Power. And he could
sense us all along.
Now all they have to do is surround the tree. We
can try to fight-but we don't have weapons. They'll
beat us in no time....
Go away.
The voice gave her a new shock. It was
clear and unemotional-and it was in Maggie's
head.
she
thought, staring into that burning gaze.
You
can-?
His expression didn't change.
I
told you before,
but you wouldn't listen. What do I have to do to make you understand?
Maggie's heart picked up more speed.
ten to me. I don't want
I'm warning you,
he said, and his mental voice
was like ice.
Don't come to the castle. If you do, I
won't protect you again.
Maggie felt cold to her bones, too numb to even
form words to answer him.
I mean it,
he said.
Stay away from the castle if you want to stay alive.
Then he turned away and Maggie felt the contact
between them broken off cleanly. Where his pres
ence had been she could feel emptiness.
"Let's go," he said in a short, hard voice, and spurred his horse forward.
And then they were all moving, heading on down
the path, leaving Maggie trying to keep her
trembling from shaking the tree.
When the last horse was out of sight, P.J. let out
her breath, sagging. "I thought they had us," she
whispered.
Maggie swallowed.
"Me, too.
But Cady was right.
They went on by." She turned. "Just what was that stuff about us blocking them?"