Chapter 19
When Josiah had vanished ten years before, Gabriel had kept a hyper-awareness of his Hounds' presences through the bond for a long while. Over the years, he had relaxed his guard again, even going so far as to keep the bond closed while Emle met with Sennet, even though the result of that had been disastrous.
In the two days since Jordan's disappearance and the Daulton house's destruction, he had kept out of Malachi's mind. If he were to trust his Hounds as Emle suggested, then he would have to learn to leave them be. And after his lapse, he knew Malachi needed to heal.
Despite Malachi's distraction--and his short temper--Gabriel had not given in to temptation to find out what was truly wrong. He had already torn the memories of meeting Jordan from Malachi's mind. He did not wish to harm him even further by demanding even more.
When Malachi vanished from the bond, Gabriel wondered if he had been too lax with his trust. Malachi had vanished before, no doubt while passing through a naturally dampened area, like the waterfall. But now, Gabriel had last noticed his presence near the Daulton House. And then he had vanished.
The possibility of some sort of dampening spell from the Council crossed his mind, but why, then, hadn't Malachi conveyed that much through the bond? He had been so irritable of late. With growing unease, he went in search of Emle. He had sent her out to speak with Malachi, hoping she would find some cause to his distress. And he had not spoken to her since.
He found her in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for a stew that simmered on the modern-style stove. It ran on the strange magic of the house, not electricity, which made it quite difficult to work with at times, but Emle's cooking always seemed to come out correctly.
"I spoke to Malachi," she said when Gabriel appeared in the doorway. "Although I don't think I helped him much. He said he was not wounded, and that perhaps his unease was just from the impending end of the Council's binding."
"He is gone," Gabriel said. "Vanished. I can't find him." More emotion trickled through those few words than he intended to allow her to see, but she did not miss the import of this.
"Not--Not like Josiah--"
"No. Not the same, at least. Similiar. And perhaps he wandered into a place in the forest where the bond will not work. They exist, in certain spots. But he has not wandered out again." Which meant that he could be hurt, or worse. Not dead, though; Gabriel doubted that even a dampening spell could block a death from the bond they shared.
"Perhaps he went in search of Sennet on his own," Emle said, but her gaze was full of worry now, as if she suspected something far worse.
"I will send Nathaniel to see if he did," Gabriel said, and did just that. Nathaniel asked no questions and made no protest against the order. But as soon as he left, Gabriel couldn't help but wonder if he, too, would vanish. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for more loss.
"Where did you sense him last?" Emle asked.
"Near the ruins of the Daulton house," Gabriel replied. "I think--I think it is time to dispense with the secrecy. I will go and search that area myself if he is not with Sennet."
"Only if you take one of the Hounds with you," Emle said, and clutched his arm. "If you would vanish--"
"At least then I would know who is stealing my Hounds," Gabriel said. "Don't be afraid for me, Emle." He tried the bond again--nothing. "I will find him if he can be found." But he could not help but wonder if this was a repeat of Josiah's disappearance, and if he would again be thwarted by some unnamed enemy of the Wild Hunt.
Was it Magdalen? Surely by now she would have shown her face or challenged him. He had not known her to be subtle, or patient.
Fifteen minutes later, and over Eri's protests, after Nathaniel found Sennet's house empty and cold, Gabriel left with Zechariah, leaving Seth and Thomas behind to stay with Emle and Eri.
But the ruins of the Daulton House were cold and silent, the smell of decay heavy on the air. Zechariah found Malachi's scent quickly enough, but he lost it right inside the burned ring of grass that surrounded the rubble.
Had Malachi seen something? Gabriel called to Zechariah through the bond, but nothing happened. His Hound ignored him--no. There was a dampening spell around the perimeter of the house.
"Zechariah." At Gabriel's voice, Zechariah raised his head. Gabriel could not hear his question through the bond, but he saw the panic looming in his gaze when he realized what had happened. "Could Malachi have seen something? Could he have gone to investigate and fallen through?" The house had a basement, after all, and he had no doubt it was now filled with water.
There is too much ash, Zechariah said, joining him on the other side and shivering violently. Too much decay.
If he had fallen through, he might have hurt himself. Gabriel did not think he was dead--his absence was, in fact, similar to Josiah's absence from the bond.
Similar enough, even, to be suspicious.
"You could hear my voice, inside the spell?" What would happen if he stepped inside the dampening spell and tried to use the bond?
Zechariah nodded. Yes. Just as clear as you're speaking to me now.
"But you cannot communicate with me," Gabriel said. "I give you leave to shift."
My lord-- Zechariah glanced around at the forest. Are you certain?
"If that is the only way," Gabriel said, "Then yes."
After a moment's more hesitation, Zechariah shifted shape. "Do you want me to call for him?"
"He may not be able to answer," Gabriel said. "But look for him. And be careful. I will look for him as well." He realized, then, that the dampening spell meant Zechariah--and Malachi--could defy him. They would be, essentially, not under his control.
That only gave him a moment's pause. He had no indication that Malachi had vanished into the dampening spell on his own, or if he was even in the area. But he had to search.
Right before he stepped into the spell's influence, he realized that it could well be a trap. He was usually more cautious when it came to magic--especially magic whose origins he did not know.
"Gabriel?"
For a moment, he did not recognize the Healer's voice. But when he turned and saw her standing behind him--with no car to herald her arrival--he remembered the sound of her voice. Her presence was a boon he could not repay.
But Nathaniel still waited at her house for her to return. As he instructed his Hound to stay put, just in case Malachi wasn't trapped in a watery grave, he said, "I sent Nathaniel to your house an hour ago."
"I was with Lucas," Sennet said. "Is something wrong?" She saw Zechariah, who was still in human form, and glanced at Gabriel. "Are you still looking for Jordan? Lucas asked if I would try one more time to sense his--his body, but--"
"No. I'm looking for Malachi," Gabriel said. "He vanished earlier. I had rather hoped he was with you." It was easy enough to tell her this, but any explanation would strain Gabriel's reticence. But if she had any clues at all of his whereabouts, that was a burden Gabriel would have to bear.
"He vanished?" Sennet repeated. "From your--your bond?"
"Yes," Gabriel said. "There is a dampening spell around this house, and I fear he may have come to harm."
"Healers can usually sense a life in pain--if that is the case--but I sense nothing beyond the spell you speak of. I can't even sense your--" She hesitated then, as if not wanting to name Zechariah a Hound without cause.
"His name is Zechariah," Gabriel said. "He is one of my Hounds. But we cannot communicate through the bond when he passes through the dampening spell, so I allowed him to shift into human form." He hesitated. "I--I would rather not be absent from the bond if one of my other Hounds had to get in touch with me." That was a better excuse than thinking this dampening spell might be some sort of a trap.
"When Malachi came to me the other night--" Sennet stopped again, as if debating whether or not to tell him anything at all.
"He came with my permission," Gabriel said, just in case she had not realized that.
Sennet nodded. "I know. But he was hurt. It looked to me like he had been bitten, but I sensed nothing when I helped him heal."
"Bitten?" For a moment, Gabriel could only stare at her. Malachi had not mentioned anything happening on his way to Sennet's house. He had been anxious, and short with everyone, but he had not seemed fearful or even act as if he was trying to hide something from his Master.
"I thought--perhaps--that he had been punished for something, but he assured me that was not true." Sennet waited, as if expecting Gabriel to reply to that, but he remained silent. "And he also told me that he did not know how the wounds had happened."
"How could he just forget something like that?" Gabriel asked.
"He did question that as well. He said you wouldn't punish him and then make him forget the reason for the punishment," Sennet said. "But I do wonder if his disappearance has something to do with his wounds."
"He did not mention anything to me," Gabriel said, even though it pained him to admit that he had missed something so important from one of his Hounds. "But I had--I had recently torn something from his mind, so I let him be. I did not wish to harm him again so soon after the first time."
"Let me see what I can find," Sennet said, her voice passing no judgement on his actions. "I feel nothing at the moment, not even your Hound. But that would be the dampening spell, I expect." She hesitated again. "I will say one thing: This spell was not here yesterday morning when I met Emle and Malachi. Because I sensed Emle's presence just fine."
When she stepped across the edge of the dampening spell, she sucked in her breath sharply. "Hmm."
"What do you feel?" Gabriel asked.
Without replying, Sennet walked across the debris, carefully picking her way to the back of the house--where the kitchen had once been, and the basement's warren of rooms. Gabriel walked along the edge of the dampening spell, pacing her, until he stood only ten feet away at the most, in clear view of a series of gaping holes in what was once the floor--perhaps where the appliances had fallen through during the fire.
"You'll need to send a Hound for Lucas," she said, turning to face him.
"Is Malachi--" Gabriel hesitated on the edge of the dampening spell.
Zechariah inched his way across the destruction to where Sennet stood. She caught his arm as he started forward, and he flinched away from her.
"I sense someone down below," Sennet said. "And it's not Jordan. There's too much residual magic from the dampening spell for me to tell exactly who it is, but--"
"It--It smells like Malachi, my lord." Zechariah shivered. "Malachi's blood." He bent down and scraped at something on the edge of a jagged section of burned wood. "I will go to Lucas' house."
"You could try to come inside the dampening spell and contact him through the bond, but I'm not sure it will work," Sennet said. "Whoever fashioned this spell knew what they were doing." She knelt down at the edge of one hole and peered down into the darkness.
As soon as Zechariah stepped outside, Gabriel stepped inside the dampening spell for the first time and tried to open the bond.
Nothing happened. He tried again, redoubling his effort, and felt something--something intangible--shift.
It was like trying to access the bond through glue. But even a faint connection was enough to assure Malachi's unconscious mind that he was no longer alone, and ensure he was not going to die before Lucas arrived to magic him out of the basement. Provided Lucas could be persuaded to do just that.
But even then, Gabriel noticed there was something wrong. Malachi's mind was in turmoil, a single name repeated in an endless loop over and over again, as if he had tried his best not to forget it.
Stefan. His name is Stefan. Stefan.
Gabriel had not heard Stefan's name for a hundred years. An entire century with no word, no evidence that he had survived.
Would he have survived on his own?
That in itself was doubtful. Stefan had been a member of the Council, and therefore a wizard, but he had not impressed Gabriel with his knowledge or his ability to adapt to his unique situation. If he was alive, then that probably meant Magdalen had taken him under her wing, so to speak, and that Malachi's fall had not been an accident at all.
But if that were the truth, then why had he not remembered? It was almost as if something had blocked the memories from his mind, as Sennet had said of Malachi's reaction to his wounds.
"Gabriel, whatever you're doing is hurting him." Sennet's voice broke through Gabriel's thoughts. "I can feel his pain."
"No. It is not me," Gabriel said, realizing it had to be a spell. "Malachi has a talent for slipping through spells. If there is a spell blocking his memory, his subconscious won't stop fighting it unless he accepts it, and he's unlikely to do that." He closed his eyes and pushed through the interference of the dampening spell again, attempting to soothe Malachi's mind. "He has no control over this talent. He won't even admit it exists." He hesitated. "To me, at least."
It was an effort to step outside the dampening spell and leave Malachi alone again, but he wanted to put the others on guard, just in case Stefan or Magdalen--or whoever was behind all of this--had planned this to attack. But if it was Magdalen, Gabriel doubted she would make her move until much later. The Council's binding wasn't set to expire for a week and a half. Why attack now?
He sent Nathaniel back to the house to help guard Emle and Eri. Three Hounds would have to be enough. That with the steadfast power of Josiah's wards--But what if Josiah's wards were compromised? Did Malachi know what they planned to do?
Tearing the spell from his mind would cause more harm than good. Gabriel knew that without even making the attempt, but it was still a tempting solution to his problem. If Josiah's wards were breached, he could lose his entire Hunt, as well as Emle, Eri, and his unborn daughter. And then he would have no choice but to give Magdalen her dearest wish, if she was responsible for this.
And that was looking more and more likely.
"Gabriel? Any word on Lucas?"
He had not realized that he had been pacing back and forth on the very edge of the dampening spell, lost in his thoughts again. Without replying, he opened the bond just as Zechariah reached Lucas' house. "He only just arrived." Would it take Lucas that long to return? Tell him this is treachery, he said through the bond. Tell him Stefan is involved. He would leave Magdalen's name out of this until he knew for certain if she was involved as well.
Zechariah hesitated with his hand raised to knock on the door. Stefan, my lord?
Lucas will know that name. Gabriel stepped into the dampening spell again and crossed to where Sennet waited at the edge of the hole. "Can you see him at all?"
"No." Sennet rose and wiped her hands off on her pants. "If I were a wizard, I could cast a light down there, but I'm not." She ran one hand through her short hair, leaving it stuck up in tufts. "I'm sorry."
"You are here, and you found him," Gabriel said. "You have nothing to be sorry for." He stared down at the black water below, and tried not to give in to despair. Malachi was alive. Malachi would still be alive by the time Lucas arrived. Until then, all he could do was wait.
Chapter 20
It was, Lucas thought, like seeing Malachi for the first time, only this time, the Hound was not afraid for his life.
He had sent Sennet on her--admittedly useless--errand less than an hour ago. When he opened the front door, he had not expected to see an unfamiliar face, much less a Hound.
"My Master bids you come, if you will," the Hound said, wary but unafraid. "He says that Malachi has fallen prey to treachery, and that Stefan is involved."
"Stefan?" That was a name Lucas had not expected to hear. He had come across Stefan's name in his research, of course, but there had been no sign of him for a century, at least as far as Lucas knew. And then, because he knew he had to ask, "Is Malachi alive?"
"He--" The Hound hesitated. "It was made to look as if he had fallen into the basement of the house that burned," he said. "But if Stefan was involved, I think he did not fall."
"That basement is probably full of water," Lucas said. "What was he doing there?"
The Hound shook his head, as if unwilling to speculate. "Will you come?" He cocked his head and closed his eyes, as if listening to someone--someone like his Master. "Sennet is already present, but she cannot help him if she cannot reach him."
"Of course I'll come." Lucas grabbed his car keys from the kitchen counter. "But I'm not traipsing through the forest with you. I'll drive; it's quicker on the road from here anyway." He hesitated. "If your Master allows, you are welcome to come with me."
Shock briefly widened the Hound's hazel eyes. He started to speak, then stopped, listening again. "There is a dampening spell around the house. My Master doesn't know who put it there, but Sennet says it wasn't there yesterday morning."
Lucas paused with his hand on the door. "That's interesting--as far as I know, it's not a Council spell. Are you coming with me?"
"I--" The Hound stared at him, his eyes wide.
"What does your Master say?" Lucas asked. "And what is your name? It doesn't seem right just to call you 'Hound'."
"Zechariah. My name is Zechariah." He hesitated, but Lucas did not get the impression that he was contacting Gabriel for permission. "I will come with you. If it's quicker."
"Where is your Master?" Lucas asked, locking his front door behind him. "Is there something else I need to know?"
"The dampening spell--" Zechariah backed away as Lucas approached. "It--It also dampens the bond between us. My Master could not feel Malachi until he stood inside of it."
"Which means you cannot contact your Master at the moment," Lucas said, and wondered if that was the only reason for Zechariah's sudden fear. "Have you ever ridden in a car before?"
"No."
"You have nothing to be afraid of," Lucas said, trying to sound reassuring.
Zechariah nodded, still unhappy. But he followed Lucas to the car willingly enough, and did not hesitate when Lucas opened the passenger side door for him and motioned him inside.
He did jump when Lucas started the car. But Lucas made no mention of his fear.
Five long minutes later, Lucas pulled into the overgrown driveway that led to the Daulton House. Zechariah was out of the car almost before Lucas put it into park, but there was no real reason for him to stay behind. Gabriel's whereabouts were obvious enough, and Sennet stood beside him, peering down into the hole that now led to the flooded basement.
And it was flooded. Lucas smelled the musty stink of brackish water as soon as he got out of the car. "What happened?"
The dampening spell was--interesting. Lucas only had his connection with the Council to worry about, and even it could not withstand the power of the spell.
With that thought came another one--would the binding be muffled as well?
Gabriel stopped at the very edge of the spell. "What do you know?"
"Zechariah told me that Malachi was pushed into the basement, and that Stefan was somehow involved," Lucas said. "He also told me about the dampening spell, but I would have known that as soon as I arrived. This is not a Council-created spell."
"I didn't think it was," Gabriel said. "I would have expected an aversion spell, perhaps. Not this."
"Where is he?" They could stand and debate the origin of the spell for hours, and Malachi would still be at the bottom of the hole. "Is he conscious?"
Gabriel hesitated. "No. There's a spell involved--the bond between us is difficult to reach even when I stand inside this spell. He doesn't remember anything that happened, save for Stefan's name. And I--" For the first time, Gabriel looked genuinely distressed. "I hesitate to tear it from his mind for fear of harming him further."
"I'll see what I can do," Lucas said, promising nothing. He walked across the debris with care, stepping over chunks of burned wood and blackened stone, until he reached Sennet's side. When he glanced down into the hole--and saw the black water reflecting nothing--he called up a light and sent it into the basement before either Sennet or Gabriel could ask.
At first, all he saw were lumps of unidentifiable things. A bottle bobbed in the water, miraculously unbroken. Jagged chunks of wood, already slimy with mold and rot. A rat swam past, panicked by the light. And then--
”There," Gabriel said. Lucas barely heard him speak.
A hand. White and cold, its fingers curled and stained with blood. It glowed in Lucas' light, illuminating the ledge Malachi had managed to find--the top of a bookcase, or something, almost covered in water.
His eyes were closed and sunken, his face scratched and pinched. There was a--a wound in his shoulder that glistened in the light, and another one on his leg. He held his right arm close against his body. Was it broken?
His lips were blue. And he was shivering, despite the heat.
Lucas cast a sidelong glance at Gabriel, whose gaze had not left his Hound. "I can lift him out of there with a spell, but you'll have to be ready to catch him," he said. "These spells never last long."
"I'll catch him," Gabriel said in a voice that brooked no chance of failure.
"I will do my best to be gentle," Lucas murmured, forming the spell in his mind. "But I may hurt him. I don't know how badly he is wounded."
Very carefully, he mimed tucking his hands under Malachi's shoulders and legs, then lifting up. Below, Malachi's body slowly rose, awkwardly at first, by inches, skating across the top of the water to reach the largest part of the hole--and freedom.
His head lolled back. Lucas tried to adjust his grip, but he did not want to drop him with Gabriel watching; the Master of the Hunt was tense enough, even now.
"If you can keep him unconscious, please do so," he said, deliberately keeping his voice low. "If he wakes up and tries to move--" He didn't elaborate on what would happen. Gabriel would understand.
"I will do my best," Gabriel said.
Malachi's body jerked once as it rose, as if he had almost awakened, or realized he was slowly rising through the air. But his eyes remained closed the entire time. By the time Lucas had lifted him high enough for Gabriel to reach, his skin had dulled to an ashen gray.
"He's in shock," Sennet said, reaching for him even as Gabriel gathered him into his arms.
"I think his arm is broken," Gabriel said. There was anger in his voice now--not directed at his Hound, of course, but at Stefan.
Lucas sighed. Stefan. Missing for a century, and suddenly appearing now? "Have you any sign of Stefan in the past century? The last mention of him in the Council's journals was right after the binding."
"That is the last time I saw him as well," Gabriel replied. "The same night your ancestor saw Malachi shift shape." He held Malachi close, unmindful of the filth or the blood. "I had thought he was dead."
"As did the Council," Lucas said. "He'll be difficult to track, if he's been hiding that long."
Malachi moaned. His eyes flickered open, dazed and unaware, and he tried to push himself out of Gabriel's arms. And then, he seemed to realize where he was, or, perhaps, recognize the feel of Sennet's power coursing through his veins, because he blinked, and whispered, "My lord?"
"You are safe now," Gabriel said. His tone of voice gave no such assurance, but Malachi took his words to heart and sobbed against his Master's chest, curled up like a little child.
Lucas averted his gaze, uncomfortable with this display of emotion. He had done his duty--perhaps he should leave Gabriel alone with his Hound and allow Sennet to do her work. He felt as if he were intruding on a private conversation, almost, or a meeting between two lovers.
"Do you wish me to leave?" he asked. "I can cast a spell around the house that will turn the curious away--"
"The spell may be a good idea," Gabriel said. "I'd hate to see what would happen if a human fell through that hole." He made no mention of Lucas' offer to leave.
"My lord--" Malachi's voice cracked. "What happened?"
"Do you remember Stefan?" Gabriel asked, very gently.
Malachi tensed again and twisted out of his Master's arms. He would have fallen, but Gabriel caught him, and Sennet kept her hold on his hand, feeding her power through his body. But even her efforts did not soothe Malachi's anxiety.
"This is not the right place for this," Lucas said softly. "My house isn't far from here--do you want to take him there?" He glanced at Zechariah, who stood on the outskirts of the dampening spell, watching everything with a worried gaze. "It's five minutes by car, Gabriel. Sennet's house may well be closer--"
"No--" Malachi seemed to see Lucas for the first time. He stiffened, then closed his eyes. "I--I just want to go home."
He sagged, then, his head nodding down on his chest, that desperate tension suddenly gone from his body.
"I'll take him home," Gabriel said, almost as a question, as if he did not expect Lucas to allow him to take his Hound home.
"Yes," Lucas said. "Perhaps you should. But--" He had never come right out and asked the Master of the Hunt where he lived. "Is your home safe? What if Stefan comes back?"
Without speaking, Gabriel left Malachi to Sennet's care and stepped out of the dampening spell. Lucas followed him, curious now, and couldn't help but notice that Zechariah stepped inside the spell as soon as Gabriel stepped out of it. It was almost as if Gabriel didn't want Malachi to be alone. Ever.
And that, as nothing else had, told him a bit of Gabriel's mood.
"You have never asked where we live," the Master of the Hunt said, staring out at the forest. "Your Council has never asked."
"Perhaps we never needed to know," Lucas said. It was entirely up to Gabriel whether or not to give Lucas his trust. He knew that, and he also knew that the Hunt's trust was a very special thing. "And I am not saying that I need to know. But is it safe?"
"You have always been honorable," Gabriel said. His voice held no clues to his state of mind; Lucas could not begin to tell where this conversation was headed. "Does your Council intend to free us--me--on Midsummer's Eve?"
"You have served us well," Lucas said. "We have no reason to prolong the binding, whatever you may think. If it helps at all, I hold your binding, not the entire Council. I don't think I've ever told you that." When Gabriel did not reply, he rushed to fill the silence. "I'm sorry. I should have told you."
"I see," Gabriel said, a faint thread of amusement now running through his voice.
"My uncle thought that having one person in control of the binding made the most sense."
"I had wondered why you were the only one who ever called me," Gabriel finally said. "But I did not think to ask." He hesitated. "You have never given me any reason not to trust you--"
"And I hope you never have a reason not to trust me," Lucas said.
"My Hunt has a house in Faerie," Gabriel said abruptly. "Josiah created the wards that protect us, but I have reason to believe they may be compromised. There are--" He sighed, then, and turned to face Lucas. "If you would accompany us to my house, I will explain there."
Lucas had never expected this. He stared at Gabriel, quite at loss for words.
"There are things about my Hunt--and other things--you do not know," Gabriel whispered, and the ghost of a smile drifted across his lips.
"I imagine so," Lucas said. "But--"
"Please." For the first time, Gabriel seemed uneasy. "This is not a topic for conversation here. The--The person who created that spell could well be listening to us speak, and I would rather she not know what I would tell you."
She? Lucas thought, but decided not to mention it just yet. "Very well. I'll come with you. But what I decide will not change, Gabriel. You have served us well."
Gabriel nodded, but did not reply. And when he entered the dampening spell again--and Zechariah stepped out of it--to gather Malachi into his arms, Lucas couldn't help but wonder what else he had hidden all these years. Was the Hunt's ability to shift shape only the tip of the iceberg?
It seemed, at long last, that Lucas was about to find out.
(Next Update: October 4th)
House St. Clair Home
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