Natividad was deeply grateful that phone call hadn’t come two minutes earlier. She was pretty sure that would have been the exact straw that broke Grayson’s patience. As it was...the Master didn’t seem too upset.
Colonel Herrod’s politely patient expression didn’t change. “My hip. One can fit a larger device in a hip than in a tooth. Though they are getting smaller, these days. I have them upgraded for my people every time there is a significant advance in the technology. Also, blessed by a priest before installation. I don’t know whether that improves efficacy, but it seems worth the effort.”
“I see.” Grayson glanced at Natividad.
Tracking device or not, blessed by a priest or not, she was also puzzled about how Herrod’s people had found him. A blessing surely wouldn’t do anything to interfere with Pure magic, so that couldn’t be it. She wanted to talk to Miguel about it, but since the Master obviously wanted an answer now, she tried to think. She would have sworn that all the layers of circles and spirals and look-away spells and everything laid down by generations of Pure women around this Dimilioc territory ought to have kept any kind of tracking device from working.
Miguel would have been able to figure this out. She tried to think about the problem like her twin.
“Oh!” she said. “I mean, I think I get it. I think after we left the helicopter, maybe the colonel’s tracker got easier for his people to find. I mean, I didn’t try to make such a strong look-away maraña after that. I didn’t think...I mean, I should have thought of it, but I didn’t. And then we just drove straight here. So I guess it wouldn’t have been too hard—”
“To extrapolate the colonel’s direction. Indeed.” The Master’s tone was completely neutral, but Natividad was willing to bet he was pretty irritated. She had to admit he had every right to be. She should have thought of that possibility. Actually, she was kind of surprised Miguel hadn’t thought of it. Then she wondered if maybe he had, and had actually wanted Herrod’s people to track him down.
She hoped Grayson didn’t think of that.
“I should have—” began Ezekiel
Grayson lifted a hand. “You were all tired. Fortunately the situation does not appear irrecoverable.” He looked thoughtfully at Colonel Herrod.
Herrod said quietly, “I’m sure with a modicum of good will on both sides, it’s very recoverable. May I speak to Ms. Raichlen?”
Grayson considered him. Then he offered the colonel his phone.
Herrod stepped forward, took it with a nod, unmuted it, and said, calmly, “Good afternoon, Hannah. Your timing is very nearly impeccable. I believe the Master of Dimilioc and I were about to reach a practicable understanding regarding our best approach to the continuing problem posed by these witches and their demon. Whom did you leave in charge of our people at the Albuquerque base?...No, that will do admirably, I believe. Raymond is certainly capable of, shall we say, forceful diplomacy when that is required. I have every confidence in his ability to handle the...repercussions of recent events. Is Lieutenant Santibañez with you? Excellent. I imagine you would prefer some reasonable guarantee of amicability before you bring our people any nearer the house? Yes. I will endeavor to meet you. Send Lieutenant Santibañez up to the house now, please.” He touched the button to hang up the phone, set it gently on the edge of the desk, folded his hands, and looked at Grayson.
Then he bowed his head and waited. Natividad knew he couldn’t possibly mean the submission he implied, but she was impressed he was willing to bend his head to Grayson.
After a moment, Grayson said in a level tone, “Well. What is it you propose?”
The colonel straightened and met Grayson’s eyes. Then looked slightly aside. “I’m aware the trust between us has been strained. Through my fault, but not through my intention. If we’re to work together, we must each be able to exercise a modicum of trust. If you’re skeptical now, I can’t blame you. I propose you accept one of my men as a liaison—”
“A hostage.”
“Frankly, a hostage, yes. Santibañez is a steady young man; one of my steadiest. Also, his uncle is a United States senator. Depending on circumstances, that may offer certain advantages. However, as we agree that the fault for the situation in Albuquerque was mine, I will ask you not to punish him for anything that took place there.”
“Is that what you ask? It does not constitute a guarantee regarding the young man’s safety.”
“The wellbeing of a hostage is contingent. I understand that.”
Grayson studied the colonel for a moment. Then he glanced at Étienne. “The alarms we set in place seem to lack efficacy.”
Étienne shrugged, a more elegant gesture from him than from anybody else Natividad knew. He glanced down, cautious of the Master’s displeasure, but said merely, “Perhaps these military persons remain outside our perimeter. Or perhaps they have disabled one or more of the sensors. They are more than usually competent, I presume. Also, we had in mind a different manner of threat.”
“Make a note: we should broaden our perimeter as we create—or as Natividad creates—a less vulnerable warning system. We wouldn’t wish to allow another enemy to approach so near this house without warning.”
Like Kristoff, maybe. That was what Grayson meant. It had not occurred to Natividad till this moment that the witch might. She flinched at the idea, but she should have thought of it herself. Of course Kristoff had Absolon Lumondière under his control. All he had to do was ask the right questions and Absolon might lead him right here.
That was truly an appalling idea. Though obviously Grayson and Étienne had thought of it too, and taken precautions. So they should be safe. Mostly safe. Anyway, Kristoff would be a fool to come within reach of so many black dogs. He couldn’t possibly take control of so many. Surely he couldn’t. Natividad tried to relax.
Grayson had turned to James. “For the moment, as we are evidently about to have guests, you had better disable the system, unless our...allies...have already done so. You may meet Lieutenant Santibañez, confirm he is alone, and escort him here.”
James smiled, got lazily to his feet, and strolled out. Natividad didn’t imagine Lieutenant Santibañez would find him a very reassuring escort. She didn’t quite dare ask how the lieutenant was going to feel about his colonel handing him over to the Master of Dimilioc as a hostage. Surely Colonel Herrod would be pretty upset if Grayson actually did anything bad to Lieutenant Santibañez. Surely Grayson wouldn’t. Though he hadn’t actually responded to Colonel Herrod’s request. Probably the colonel had noticed that too, though he wasn’t saying anything about it.
It wouldn’t be good for anyone to do anything that would start a real war between the Special Forces and Dimilioc. Right? Especially not now, when things looked like they were actually going pretty well. Everyone surely understood that. Surely they did.
The Master stated, just as calm and controlled as ever, “I gather you and I were about to reach a practicable understanding about our best approach to the continuing problem posed by Kristoff. And the demon.”
Herrod inclined his head. “That was my hope, certainly. I feel—” He broke off as James returned, escorting, yes, Lieutenant Santibañez. With Miguel trailing along, trying to be unobtrusive but way too interested not to try to crash the party. And Alejandro behind Miguel, because naturally when Natividad’s twin started pushing black dog patience, their older brother started hovering protectively. Of course he did. She was a little surprised not to see absolutely everyone else crowding along too, just to get in on whatever happened.
Well, not Théo Callot. Of course he didn’t care about anything right now except Stéphanie. She really had to go see how Stéphanie was doing.
A black dog girl Natividad didn’t know followed Alejandro, a little closer than her brother would normally have let another black dog come to him. And he let her behind him. Obviously her brother must like this girl. Natividad looked at her again. She was thin in a way Natividad recognized. Freed from the witches...yes, she reme
mbered the one black dog she hadn’t recognized, the one she’d guessed might be female. Well, it was very good the girl had been freed, but Natividad wasn’t sure she really liked Alejandro letting her at his back.
Carter trailed behind the others, far enough back not to be taken as a threat. That was interesting. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, probably an attempt to look casual and kind of unconcerned. He hadn’t quite pulled it off. The tightness of his jaw and the look in his eyes betrayed his wariness.
Lieutenant Santibañez didn’t seem nervous. But he was a little pale. On him, it showed. Natividad didn’t blame him a bit. Maybe he knew he was going to get to be a hostage. Who wouldn’t be scared if he guessed something like that? His gaze flicked around the room, noticing and cataloging everything and everyone, snagging for an instant on Ezekiel’s face. His expression didn’t change, but that little pause showed that he’d recognized Ezekiel’s lounging pose and slight smile as the danger signals they were.
But it was to Herrod he spoke. “Good to see you, sir.” That was all. Then he waited. Patient. Even stolid.
He’d seemed pretty stolid all that time in the Albuquerque base, too. While Senator Connelly and his people took everything over and caused so much trouble and tortured Ezekiel. The sardonic twist to Ezekiel’s mouth as he considered this newcomer was another danger signal He hadn’t said a word about the colonel offering Santibañez as a hostage. Because he agreed with Herrod that the man was steady? Or because Santibañez was exactly the one Ezekiel would like to have at his mercy?
Ezekiel was not exactly known for mercy. Natividad had not been able to avoid hearing some of the stories. Of course part of that was just image. But part of it was real. She knew that. It wasn’t like she didn’t know that.
“Yes, Lieutenant, I’m gratified to see you as well.” Herrod had forgotten all about being polite and deferential. His smile was thin and razor sharp, actually a bit like Ezekiel’s killer’s smile. “A very solid field test of both our equipment and our ingenuity. I suspect the tracker’s signal failed at some point?”
“At every damn point, sir.” A slight pause as Santibañez queried his colonel with a silent widening of his eyes. Natividad read this as You want me to explain about this here, sir?
“Please go on,” Herrod said politely.
“Yes, sir. It wasn’t just the receiver. That cut in and out, but it was mostly our attention, cutting in and out too. We drove around in circles and tried our damned best to triangulate based on objective measures because our intuition was shot to hell.”
The colonel nodded approvingly. “And here you are. Very good.” He glanced at Grayson. “A method that I hope may prove useful again. I understand that the skills of the Pure can manage something of the sort, allowing you to locate enemies.”
“Indeed. You have then become acquainted with the skills of the Pure?”
Neither Grayson nor Colonel Herrod looked at Natividad, but she winced slightly anyway, unable to stop herself from glancing at Miguel, where he leaned casually in the doorway. She and her twin had been pretty open about Pure magic, tossing ideas around during that long drive from the place they had abandoned the helicopter. It had seemed all right at the time. Somehow Natividad had kind of forgotten about the colonel’s presence even though he’d been right there, driving the truck. Miguel probably had not forgotten. It was not the sort of thing he would forget. She guessed her twin had wanted Colonel Herrod to understand more about Pure magic. Now she wanted to ask him what he had been thinking. But maybe not in front of the Master.
“Not in any great depth,” the colonel said smoothly. “In fact, that constitutes nearly the entirety of my understanding of the methods in question. However, I hope Miss Toland’s gifts will prove useful in framing our approach to our common problem. Copper Mountain worries me a good deal. Certainly I am far more concerned about these witches and this demon than I am about your people...Master.”
Lieutenant Santibañez’s breath caught at that use of Grayson’s title. Only a little. But if Natividad noticed, everyone noticed.
“You have a suggestion,” Grayson said to the colonel. “You may offer it now.”
The colonel inclined his head. “The demon appears to be the greatest threat to us all. We need to take Gregor Kristoff alive. He must be induced to divulge some useful means by which the...entity can be destroyed, or at least sent back to wherever it came from, or at the very least gotten under some measure of control. If there are no means by which we can handle the demon, then Kristoff himself must control the creature. Obviously he cannot be allowed to use it in any way.” Herrod paused, then added carefully, “No one can be allowed to use it. Perhaps that goes without saying.”
The colonel had forgotten to look down or suggest things rather than state them straight out. Grayson showed no sign of offense. Natividad wondered whether the colonel had used the Master’s title deliberately, to buy extra tolerance for himself or, maybe more likely, Santibañez. Probably. And look, it was useful right away.
Grayson tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the surface of the desk. “On that, we concur.”
“Good. Very well, then. I’m confident my people will be able to locate Kristoff, eventually. I’m quite certain my people would be able to kill Kristoff; fairly certain they would be able to take him alive. I’m substantially less certain about our ability to find him quickly or hold him safely. If he lies to us, or if he must be allowed to summon or control that demon, I fear we might prove unable to detect incipient betrayal until too late. If your people were to contribute your understanding and resources to this...project, I would feel more confident of a rapid and positive outcome. To this end—”
“You offer me this man as a hostage.”
Natividad looked quickly at Lieutenant Santibañez, but he didn’t look surprised. Resigned, maybe. Miguel, in the doorway, frowned. She widened her eyes at her twin: Cállate, gemelo. A little to her surprise, Miguel didn’t make any effort to break in.
Colonel Herrod said quietly, “I want him back. Unharmed. It’s very important to me that I get Lieutenant Santibañez back unharmed. I merely wish to demonstrate...” A pause, as he evidently hunted for a way to complete that sentence.
“A commitment to being worthy of trust?” Grayson suggested.
“To promoting a spirit of cooperation and mutual trust, certainly,” the colonel provided smoothly. “I have been assured Dimilioc desires this as well.”
“Have you? Well, perhaps it is true.” Grayson considered Herrod for some time. At last he said in a level tone, “I think you may go out to your people now. You may assure Ms. Raichlen that we are indeed engaged in reaching a practicable understanding regarding our mutual effort to resolve the danger posed to both our peoples by Gregor Kristoff and those of his kind. If you wish, you and she are invited to return to this house in the morning, whereupon we will discuss the details of our approach.”
“Waiting until tomorrow—”
“Will place us at the edge of the full moon, to Dimilioc’s advantage. Also, we must have time to consider our approach. Unless you wish to repeat the methods we have already tried?”
“Not in exact detail, no,” Colonel Herrod conceded. “Something a good deal more decisive and substantially less risky does seem desirable. Very well.” He cleared his throat and added, “Master.” It still sounded awkward, but he said it. Then he went on smoothly, “In the morning, then. Early. Seven?”
“That will do,” Grayson agreed. “James will see you out.”
A tiny hesitation. A small nod to Lieutenant Santibañez, who nodded back and said not a word about being left behind. Then Herrod just turned and walked out, James following. Probably to make sure everything went as it was supposed to and nobody started shooting. If all this was some complicated kind of trap and Santibañez an awful kind of sacrifice, James would probably figure it out. Or Natividad guessed that was James’ immediate role in this escort duty.
The whole thing made her nervous.
It seemed like there was just so much that could go wrong. She almost wanted to suggest just leaving the Special Forces out of everything and dealing with the witches on their own, except that the Special Forces knew about this place now. They’d gotten right past all the defenses generations of Pure women had woven all around the heart of this western sept, they’d avoided triggering whatever other kinds of alarm systems Grayson and Étienne had arranged, and now they were right out there, guns and cars and maybe helicopters, right out of sight.
No wonder Grayson had agreed to take a hostage. He had realized they needed one. They really did. Natividad thought they could trust Herrod now...probably...as long as they didn’t trust him too far or for the wrong things. But, sí, she understood why Grayson had let the colonel give him a hostage. Santibañez was supposed to keep things from going wrong.
Pretty uncomfortable for him, though. She thought he must be pretty brave. Well, Special Forces, it figured he was brave. But she guessed it probably took something else to walk into the main house of Dimilioc’s western sept and not say a word when your boss told you that you were going to be a hostage. Especially with Ezekiel Korte looking at you like he remembered you real well.
She wanted to promise him everything would be all right. But honestly, she didn’t think she had better say a word.
-19-
Santibañez had come into the house unarmed, or nearly. He had a knife in his boot; he might have another one tucked away somewhere. But no guns. Miguel was actually kind of impressed. A gun wouldn’t have made a lot of difference; once a man was in arm’s reach of any black dog, he was toast if a black dog decided to twist off his head. Still, coming in practically unarmed must have taken guts. And amazingly good sense. Or really impressive faith that Herrod had a decent understanding of the situation. Especially if Santibañez had also realized that he was going to get to be a hostage. Most especially if he’d guessed ahead of time that Ezekiel was going to remember him.
Shadow Twin Page 35