Heart's Desire Part 16

Heart's Desire
Book 3

Chapter 1
Ten years later

"Change!" With effortless ease, Eri shifted from a girl into a Hound. "See? It's easy. I can do it--why can't you?"

Malachi shook his head. You don't understand. Our Master-- He never got a chance to finish. Eri reached out, touched his forehead, and Gabriel's bindings melted away.

The stone floor was much colder against human skin than the fur of a Hound. Malachi choked in a breath, his chest tight with terror. How long would it take Gabriel to realize he had shifted shape?

"Malachi?" Eri's voice was uncommonly grave. A blanket--the blanket from her bed--drifted down to cover him, and Malachi glanced up to see Eri's wide blue eyes staring down at him. Her lower lip quivered as she sank down on her knees. "Oh, Malachi--I'm sorry--"

No hue and cry had risen; the bond still rested easily in the back of Malachi's mind. Before Gabriel realized what had happened, Malachi shifted back into the form of a Hound and fled to the sound of Eri's soft sobs.

He did not go far, of course, and he should have realized Gabriel would find out one way or another.

A few minutes later, Malachi heard Gabriel's footsteps in the hall, and then his voice, soft and questioning.

Malachi closed his eyes, shivering from the aftershock of what Eri had so easily removed. He could shift now, without constraints, and escape out the window, perhaps, before his Master discovered what Eri had done, but where would he go?

"My daughter is crying and I cannot console her," Gabriel said from the doorway. "She claims she hurt you."

She did not hurt me, my lord. Malachi tried to keep the fear from his thoughts, but the transformation had shaken him. That she could so easily push the bindings away! But-- There was no easy way to admit what had happened, and he could not keep it a secret. With a heavy heart, dizzy and sick, he shifted shape, kneeling naked in front of his Master.

"She--She took away your bindings, my lord," He spoke softly, his gaze on the floor, unmindful of the cold stone against his naked flesh. "I did not ask her to--I swear--"

"Eri did this?" Before Malachi could think to flinch out of the way, Gabriel had knelt in front of him, one hand on Malachi's forehead and the other cupping his chin. "Hold still."

Malachi froze as the bond flared to life inside his mind. "My lord--"

"Hush. Hold still." Gabriel's voice held no fury at all. "She is only ten years old--she doesn't realize what she has done."

Something shifted inside Malachi's mind--a reorganization of sorts that left him no less shaken, but much less dazed. By the time Gabriel withdrew his hands, Malachi had almost fallen asleep.
Dimly, he realized Gabriel had lifted him up and carried him over to the bed.

"Sleep," Gabriel ordered when Malachi tried to open his eyes. "You may have a headache when you wake up. I'll--I'll speak to Eri."

"My lord--" Malachi struggled out of the depths of darkness and tried to find his Master's presence.

"Sleep," Gabriel said, with only a thread of warning in his voice.

"Don't--Don't punish her--"

Gabriel laughed. "Oh, don't worry about that. I think she's punished herself quite enough."


The past ten years had been--educating. Coping with Josiah's loss and raising a child at the same time had strained Gabriel's nerves to the breaking point time and time again, but in the end, they all had survived to this point, and grown a bit wiser as time passed. His love for both his daughter and his Lady had blossomed, bringing with it a curious guilt when his thoughts turned to his Hounds.

Now, with Emle pregnant again and another daughter due in the coming weeks, his guilt had doubled. His Hounds--His Hounds were not children. But they were part of his family, for want of a better word, and they deserved--they deserved to be rewarded for their loyalty.

He had not--yet--told Emle that they had any other shape than the one she knew them in. Now, thanks to Eri, he truly had no choice.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't know--" Eri's voice trailed away, no doubt when she saw Malachi asleep in the bed. "Did I hurt him badly?"

"Not badly," Gabriel said, turning to face her. "But I put those constraints on my Hounds for a reason, Erianthe. Especially Malachi."

Eri hung her head. "I only wanted--"

"You wanted him to be able to shift, like you," Gabriel said, and wondered if he dared approach Lucas about training his daughter. If she could just wipe away his constraints at ten years of age, what would she be able to do by the time she turned twenty?

Eri nodded. "I didn't know he wasn't allowed. He tried to tell me--"

"I know he did," Gabriel said. "Why don't we let him rest? We can talk in the library."

"I'm--"

Gabriel ruffled Eri's fine hair. "I know you're sorry. Malachi will be fine when he wakes up. I promise you that." He hesitated. "And I won't stop you from apologizing to him, if you wish."

For the first time in almost two hours, Eri managed to smile. "I'm glad," she said. "I never meant to hurt him."

"I know," Gabriel said, and led her across the hall to the library, where they could talk in peace, but Emle was already there, seated in one of the leather-clad chairs, with a book propped on her protruding stomach.

For a second, Gabriel could only stare at her, lost in her beauty.

"If I may have a moment of your time?" She smiled when she saw Eri, but her smile didn't last long when she saw that their daughter's eyes were puffy and red. "What's wrong?"

Gabriel did not miss Eri's desperate glance. "Perhaps it would be best for me to tell you," he said to save his daughter an awkward explanation. "Or show you, in truth. But you needed to speak with me?"

"I'll go outside," Eri said, as if she had picked something up from her mother's mood; something Gabriel could not see. She vanished from his side before he could protest, shifting into the form of a lithe young Hound.

"I didn't ask her to leave," Emle said. "But I did wish to speak with you alone."

She seemed oddly hesitant to speak her question, or whatever she wanted. Was something wrong? "Are you well?" Gabriel asked, thinking that she hadn't mentioned anything that morning.

Emle smiled. "Yes. I am well. And the baby is fine, as far as I can tell. But--Our child is due in two weeks, Gabriel."

"I know. The Council's binding is set to expire in two weeks as well." That had preyed on his mind more than the impending birth of his second child.

"Are you intending to deliver her?" Emle asked, and this time, Gabriel could hear the exasperation in her voice.

"I--" In truth, he had not thought of that. "No, of course not. But--" How would that work? No one knew he was Eri's father--he had not kept them in hiding, but he had taken pains not to make his tiny family a target. Emle had not stepped beyond the wards for many months, and Eri only ventured out in the form of a Hound, where her presence would be least likely to attract any notice.

"Sennet delivered Eri," Emle said, taking pity on him. "I am certain she would not mind aiding me again."

"I had hoped to see this daughter born," Gabriel said, suddenly struck by the sickening feeling that something horrible would happen to prevent that. "I--"

"Sennet is a Healer, and neutral," Emle said.

"She can't come here--" An aeon of distrust rose to encompass his thoughts. He turned away from her, distress clouding his mind. All Magdalen needed was to find out about Emle and Eri's existence--not to mention his unborn daughter--and she would have plenty of leverage to force him to bind himself to her.

Unless she was dead, but he had no way to find out if she had perished in the last century. He had not seen her since the Council's binding had kept him from her grasp.

"I can go to her," Emle offered. "At first, at least--just to request her services. After the Council's binding expires, it won't matter, will it?"

Gabriel had never told her about Magdalen. "I don't know," he said, helpless in the face of her request. "My Hunt--I--have other enemies." He tried to smile. "There is much you do not yet know about my Hunt, milady."

When he glanced at her, Emle's face showed no surprise. "Yes. I know. But I have not pushed you to tell me anything."

And she hadn't. "Perhaps you should have," Gabriel whispered. "I can't allow you to go alone. Not now, when--" He wanted to tell her everything, but now was not the time. "When the Council's binding is so close to expiring."

"I understand that you can't go with me," Emle said. "Not at first. I'd take a Hound, but they're rather--recognizable."

Gabriel froze. "What did you say?" His voice came out harsher than he intended.

Emle stepped back. "I--I said I understood that you--"

"No. After that." Gabriel controlled his temper with an effort. This was not Emle's fault.

"I said I could take a Hound, but--"

Gabriel closed his eyes. Would Malachi-- He pushed that thought out of his head. Could he trust Malachi after what had happened when Josiah vanished? Did he have a choice?

"There is much you don't know about my Hunt, milady." He took a deep breath. This was not the way to tell her, but he couldn't see another way around breaking the news. "You could take a Hound."

He sensed her confusion, even before she spoke. "What do you mean?"

"My Hounds--My Hounds were not born in the shapes they wear," Gabriel said, turning back to the window. It was easier to bear this confession if he didn't have to see her face.

"I know," Emle said. "I've heard the stories." Her voice held no blame; no recriminations for his long-ago sins.

"But you don't know that they need not stay as Hounds," Gabriel said. "Before you returned--ten years ago--I had let them have a bit of freedom. Today, our daughter removed my bindings and allowed one of my Hounds to shift."

He turned just in time to steady Emle as she swayed. "Our daughter did this?" Guilt flashed into her gaze. "I never thought to ask about your Hounds--"

Gabriel held her close. "I did not wish to tell you." Softly, he told her about Josiah's disappearance, and what he had done in response to it. "Perhaps I acted wrongly, but that was the best--the only--thing I could think to do at the time."

He left out Darkbrook, and everything that pertained to a Hound as a student of magic. That could come later. For now, all she had to do was understand.

"And now? One of your Hounds is in human form?" It did not take long for Emle to grasp what had happened. "What will you do with him? Force him back into the form of a Hound?"

Gabriel sighed. "No," he said, and hoped he was making the right decision. "I don't think so. But Malachi will go with you to the Healer's house, or meet her somewhere in the forest, and you can ask her your request. All I ask--All I ask is that you try to keep my name from her knowing, at least for now."

"What if Malachi doesn't want to go?" Emle asked.

That old anger bristled in Gabriel's chest. "He will not have a choice."

Emle stepped out of his arms. "If your Hounds are to be part of this family, then they must have a choice," she said. "If Malachi doesn't want to take me, then don't force him, Gabriel. Please--promise me that."

Gabriel turned his back to her again. "You don't understand," he whispered. "They have no choice."

"They won't have a choice if you don't give it to them," Emle said gently. "Where is he?"

"In the bedroom, down the hall," Gabriel said, struck by the truth of her words. Was it that simple? "Asleep."

"I will wait until he wakens," Emle said. "And then I will ask him."

She was gone before he could respond to that; and the room darkened in her absence. After a moment, Gabriel followed her into the bedroom, almost dreading the look on her face when she saw Malachi in human form.

He had not mistreated his Hounds in the past ten years. He had not beaten them, or forced them to do much of anything at all. But he was still their Master, and sometimes, that seemed worse than any beating ever did.

Emle stood for a moment, staring at Malachi's pale face. "He'll need clothes," she said, her voice stiff and formal.

"I will find him clothes," Gabriel whispered. "And I will cut his hair." And before she could lose her temper, he fled, leaving them alone in the room.

Trusting that Malachi wouldn't do anything stupid. Hoping that Malachi wouldn't betray such trust again.


As soon as Gabriel left, Emle pulled up a chair beside the bed. Her hands shook; something she had taken pains not to allow Gabriel to see, but the first wash of panic had fled, leaving her drained and wondering what else he had never told her.

"I didn't mean to hurt him," Eri whispered from the doorway.

Without speaking, Emle held out her arms. Eri curled up on what little lap Emle had left and rested her head on her mother's breast.

"Did you know he could shift?" Emle asked, keeping all blame from her voice.

"No." Eri sighed. "Yes. I could feel that he wanted to, but I didn't know why he couldn't." She bit her lip. "He isn't going to be happy with me."

Emle remembered Gabriel's talk of choices, and wondered if Malachi would even consider daring to say no to anything his Master ordered him to do. "Perhaps things will change, now that we know. Gabriel said he wouldn't force Malachi to stay a Hound."

Malachi's eyes twitched open, then closed again, almost as if he didn't want to face whatever would come next. Emle watched as he curled one hand into a fist, then carefully explored the blanket that covered him.

Eri stiffened and slid off her lap. Before Emle could stop her, she had touched Malachi's hand.

His breath caught in his throat. It wasn't quite a growl, and he must have realized their presence before it actually left his lips, because he turned his head away and opened his eyes.

"Gabriel went to find you some clothes," Emle said, just in case that would help.

Malachi shivered. "Clothes?"

"And he said he would cut your hair, too."

A tear ran down the side of Malachi's face. He closed his eyes again, still shivering, and curled up in the bed.

"I'm sorry, Malachi," Eri whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt you." She touched his hand again, and this time, he did not flinch away.

"You--You didn't hurt me." He opened his eyes again, and wiped away the tears, glancing once at Emle with a bit of panic in his gaze.

"Gabriel told me what Eri did," Emle said, hoping to reassure him. "And I have a question for you, but it can wait until you've rested a bit."

"You can ask it, milady." The honorific sounded strange coming from Malachi's lips. He shifted in bed and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

There were scars across his skin, testament to a Hound's hard life, but nothing new; nothing fresh. And the look in his gaze spoke more of wariness than fear, but Emle had a feeling that would change when Gabriel returned.

"No. It can wait." She smiled at him, hoping to receive a smile back, but perhaps it was too soon. "Are you well? Is there anything you need?"

Malachi blinked, considering her question. "You said--You said he wouldn't force me to stay a Hound."

"That what he told me, yes." Emle expected him to be happy, or at least relieved, but he only seemed confused.

"My lord, I do not understand." Malachi's voice dropped to a whisper.

Emle knew about the Hunt's bond, and she knew that Eri could hear a portion of what they said through it. She envied her daughter for that; and envied the Hounds as well, because her interaction with Gabriel had to be verbal.

"The Council's binding ends in two weeks," Gabriel said from the doorway. He held a small pile of clothes and a pair of scissors in his hands. "And I did intend to keep my promise."

Emle glanced at Malachi, whose eyes were filled with tears. He started to speak, choked on his words, and turned away from them again, his shoulders shaking.

"He didn't believe you," Eri said somberly.

"Yes. I know." Gabriel's voice held no anger, but Malachi did not relax.

"Perhaps Eri and I should go," Emle offered, glancing at Gabriel for his reaction. "We can come back later--"

"No, please--" The pillow muffled Malachi's voice. "Don't go. I apologize--I--"

Gabriel moved from the doorway too quickly for Emle to track. He set the clothes and the scissors down on the bed, and knelt on the other side, gently touching the back of Malachi's head. "I told you that you might have a headache when you woke up."

"You did not say my head would feel as if has been torn in two," Malachi whispered, and even Gabriel smiled at that.

"It will pass; I promise you that," he said. "Food will help--I'm sure Eri would be happy to bring you something."

As far as Emle had ever seen, the Hounds scrounged for their own food in the forest. That meant Malachi was accustomed to whatever he could catch, not the stores of food they kept in the pantry.

"Tea?" Malachi whispered.

"And perhaps some of the soup I made last night," Emle suggested.

As soon as Eri had left on her errand, Malachi raised his head. "What of the others, my lord?"

Gabriel sighed. "They will be allowed to shift as well, I suppose. But let me cut your hair before Eri returns."

Malachi slid out of bed, taking the blanket with him, and stood in front of Gabriel, his back straight. His hair had a reddish tinge--almost mahogany, Emle thought; a beautiful color.

Malachi only quivered once when Gabriel approached with the scissors, as if he expected punishment instead of a simple haircut.

"Hold still," Gabriel said.

"Yes, my lord," Malachi whispered, but he flinched back as the scissors flashed.

"I said hold still," Gabriel repeated, a thread of irritation running through his voice.

"Yes, my lord."

Emle watched as the tangled mats of hair fell away, leaving Malachi looking a bit more civilized. There was no finesse to this haircut; the slightly ragged line fell just below Malachi's ears.

He turned as soon as Gabriel was finished. "You--You had a question to ask of me, milady?"

Gabriel had caught him with the scissors, right below his left eye, but he made no move to wipe away the trickle of blood.

"I am in need of an escort to the Healer Sennet's house," Emle said. "Gabriel said you might be willing--"

"Of course!" Malachi said. He wiped the blood from his cheek and frowned down at it.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to go," Gabriel said. "I would hold you responsible for Emle's safety, and the safety of our unborn daughter."

Malachi stiffened. "I know." He glanced back at Gabriel, almost wildly, and clutched the blanket around his shoulders. "I will bring her back unharmed, my lord. You can--You can trust me. I will not betray you."

From his tone of voice, Emle suspected that he had betrayed his Master before. But when? She put one hand on her stomach and felt the baby kick. "No one knows that I live here," she said, hoping to defuse the tension. "I could go alone."

"No." Malachi and Gabriel spoke as one.

"No," Gabriel continued as Malachi glanced down at his feet. "And you cannot be seen around Sennet's house, either. Malachi can ask her to accompany him to a neutral location."

"Is there a neutral location in the forest, my lord?" Malachi accepted the tea when Eri handed it to him, but had to sit down to drink it, lest he lose his blanket.

"I have to warm up the soup," Eri said. "I didn't think you would want it cold."

Malachi glanced at his Master before he spoke. "Thank you."

"There is a house in the forest that would do for our purposes," Gabriel said after a moment of watching Malachi drink. "The Council owns it, but no one lives there."

Malachi almost choked on his tea. "The Daulton house, my lord?"

"Sennet can meet Emle there," Gabriel said. "It is near the road, but far enough away from Council involvement so as not to raise their suspicions."

"I would--" The mug shook in Malachi's hand. "I would have to leave her alone, then, for a little while."

"I know."

Malachi closed his eyes and bowed his head over the mug in his hands. "If that is the only way--" he hesitated, then, as if struck by a thought. "Could someone else not come with us, my lord?" He rushed on in the face of Gabriel's silence. "That way I wouldn't have to leave her alone."

Emle wasn't sure Gabriel was open enough to the idea of the Hounds in human form to allow someone else to shift just yet. "I'll be fine," she said. "This is just a small meeting, nothing more. All I want to do is ask for Sennet's aid and make sure everything is--on schedule."

"I could go with you, Mama," Eri said with the innocence of a child.

"No!" Gabriel's eyes silvered--a true indication of his distress. "No," he said, and Emle could tell he struggled to keep his temper. "There is--very little chance that anything will happen."

Emle stroked her daughter's fine hair. "We'll be fine. And unless Sennet can't see me right away, we won't be gone for long."

"The soup will be ready by now," Eri said, glancing at her father, as if she expected him to punish her.

"I'm not hungry," Malachi said, then stared at her, stricken, when Eri's face crumpled into tears.

Gabriel sighed. "Malachi, eat." Without waiting for Malachi's reply, he gathered Eri into his arms. "It's getting late, and this has not been an easy evening for anyone. I did not intend for you to leave right away--you can wait until daylight, at least."

"Yes, my lord." Malachi stood, struggling to keep his blanket in place.

"You--ah--you can't go far wearing a blanket," Emle said.

Eri's tears turned to laughter in an instant. For a moment, Emle thought Malachi would laugh as well; his breath caught in his throat and he ducked his head down again, his hair falling to cover the expression on his face.

But when he spoke, his voice was soft and serious. "That is true, milady."

"Get dressed. Eat. And rest until it's time for you to go," Gabriel said. "It is far past Eri's bedtime as it is."

Emle thought Eri would protest, but she left with her father willingly enough, only glancing back once at Malachi.

"I will dish you out some soup," Emle said.

"Thank you," Malachi whispered, his head still bowed. He turned, then, to gather up the clothes, and the blanket slipped down from his shoulders, baring his scars to her view once again.

"Did Gabriel do that to you?" Emle asked, half-dreading his reply.

The look in his gaze told her everything she wanted to know, and more. Sickened, she closed her eyes and tried to regain her sense of place. He had not mistreated them in her sight, at least. And the scars were old. Surely they were from before the Council's binding. Surely.

"We are his Hounds," Malachi said, as if that was an answer.

She could have argued with him; or tried to see his point of view, but it was late. And she had discovered enough about the Hunt for one short evening. "I will dish you out some soup," she said, and fled into the kitchen, where at least almost everything was within her understanding.



Malachi sat on the bed for a long moment after Emle left. It was difficult to think past the pounding in his head, muchless hold a conversation, and he relished the silence that surrounded him now, soothing his ragged emotions.

Gabriel had even dampened the bond between them, leaving him alone--up to a point, at least--with his thoughts.

He had not expected any of this. Not Eri's show of power; not Gabriel's acquiescence to the agreement they had made so long ago.

After a while, it had been easier just to forget about having a human form. And after a longer while, he had not--truly--missed it. Being human changed things. As a Hound, he did not have to pay attention to the vagaries of human emotion. The only person who actually meant something--other than Eri and Emle, of course--was his Master, and his word was law. He didn't have to think about anything at all, or consider an argument, or pretend to be anything else than what he was--a Hound.

It had been, in a way, refreshing.

You are alive, Nathaniel said through the bond.

"Yes." Malachi didn't bother to look around. He knew the others had been listening; it was hard not to.

And unhurt? The quiet click of Nathaniel's toenails was the only sound for a moment as Nathaniel approached the bed.

"My head is pounding," Malachi said. "But I will live. I had--I had gotten used to being a Hound." He shivered, realizing that he sat on the bed half-naked with a pile of clothes beside him. Without looking at Nathaniel, he pulled on a shirt.

You are to stay human, then? Zechariah's voice this time, with a thread of anger running through it.

"I did not ask for this," Malachi reminded him. "And if you were listening, you would have heard our Master say that he would hold up his end of our bargain."

That he had dared to do something so bold as to bargain with Gabriel still shocked him. That Gabriel had agreed to anything was a miracle unto itself. That he intended to keep his end of the bargain even more unlikely, but if Malachi couldn't trust their Master, then who was left to trust?

He pulled on underthings and pants, then stood on shaky legs to face the others. Thomas was the only one absent--and he was stuck on guard duty in the cave outside the door.

For a moment, he thought that Zechariah would not let him pass. But he moved aside, finally, and Malachi walked down the hallway to the kitchen with the other Hounds trailing behind him.
It was much colder now, even with clothes. His bare feet cringed from contact with the stone floor, but he managed to make it to the table without stumbling over anything, and eat the soup Emle had left for him.

Human food tasted so strange after a decade of meat and the occasional apple. But his taste buds remembered tea, and his body gloried in the warmth. Slowly, the pounding in his head began to fade.

You look a bit better now, Seth said from the doorway.

"I feel a bit better now," Malachi said, but he couldn't help his reaction when Gabriel loomed behind Seth. His heartbeat quickened; he clenched his hands around the mug of tea and shrank back in his chair. Seth vanished; moving too quickly for Malachi to follow.

Gabriel considered him for a long moment. "I am not angry with you, Malachi."

Malachi forced his hands to loosen around the mug. "I know." That didn't help the tension; in truth, his Master's words made it worse.

"May I sit with you?" Gabriel's voice was so neutral that Malachi almost smiled.

"Of course," he said. As if he could stop his Master from sitting anywhere he wanted.

Gabriel sat across from him, a looming presence. "You ate?"

"Yes." He tipped the bowl up to show his Master. "I ate. And I drank. And my head doesn't hurt much anymore."

"Good."

"I truly didn't ask her to--"

Gabriel reached across the table and touched Malachi's bare arm. "I know. Stop apologizing. I will not punish you for this."

Malachi had to bite back another apology. "Yes, my lord."

"You need to rest," Gabriel continued. "Rest, and then bring my lady back unharmed. And then we will talk about the future."

He left then, his presence fading as he walked down the hall.

Malachi wiped tears from his cheeks, gathered up his dishes, and placed them in the sink. When he walked into the living room, Seth was asleep on the hearth, his head nestled on his paws.

You could sleep as a Hound, Nathaniel suggested, walking in from the garden.

"I could," Malachi whispered. "But part of me wants to stay human for as long as I can. Just in case--" He swallowed fear. "Just in case he changes his mind." But if he spent his night human and could not enjoy it, then what was the point?

With a sigh, he shifted shape and padded out into the garden. At least dirt would be softer than stone, and he wouldn't have to find a blanket, as a Hound.

He didn't have to do a lot as a Hound. It was as a human that everything was so complicated.



Next Update: July 6th

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Heart's Desire, Part 13

Chapter 13

Lucas was used to interruptions, especially late at night. Emergencies seemed to want to wait until he was ready to go to bed before erupting, and tonight was no exception. He had fielded two calls about students missing from their beds--one was Josiah, and Lucas thought he knew where Josiah would be on such a night. The other had resolved itself within an hour.

But now--now what?

His wards had not stirred to alert him of his visitor, which meant that he or she had visited before without incident. Still, it was after midnight. Who would come calling now?

Lucas opened his front door. At first, he did not believe what he saw sitting on his porch, almost glowing in the moonlight.

After all, he had never seen one of Gabriel's Hounds up close without their Master. At least not in the form of a Hound. For a moment, he thought the Hound was Josiah, but--and this despite the fact that he had not seen Josiah in Hound form--this one seemed different, somehow. More frightened, for certain. Its eyes--His eyes--were rimmed with white.

"Is something wrong?" Could they understand human speech? Lucas had studied the Hunt, yes, but even after a lifetime of studying, he knew next to nothing about the Hounds. He took a step forward and the Hound flinched back, closing its eyes. "I mean you no harm--"

And then, in the blink of an eye, Lucas knew exactly how his Uncle Peter had felt when the Hound had shifted in front of him so long ago. And it was that quick. The Hound's form shimmered and melted away, replaced by a red-haired young man who crouched on the porch floor, trembling, his eyes squeezed shut.

Lucas stared at him in shock. He knew what he wanted to say--what he wanted to demand, in truth, because he doubted Gabriel had condoned this, and that meant there was something very wrong--but his voice was locked inside his throat until the young man--hardly more than a boy, really--braced himself and slowly stood.

"My Master does not know I am here," he whispered, his gaze firmly fixed on the floor. "When he discovers what I have done, my life is forfeit." He said this as if his life did not matter, a disposable thing and easily tossed aside. "But I--" He closed his eyes again, and a shiver ran across his face. "Did you steal Josiah?" He glanced up, his gaze challenging now, despite his obvious fear.

His question shocked Lucas out of his daze. "Did I what?"

"Josiah is gone. Kidnapped."

Lucas stepped back. "Kidnapped? By whom?" He could not comprehend such a crime. Not here. Not in Beth-Hill, where the Council's headquarters lay. Not so near to Darkbrook!

The Hound flinched. "My Master--My Master thinks the Council might have taken him. To remove Josiah from his influence."

In all honesty, the thought had never crossed Lucas' mind. And perhaps even without replying to the charge, the Hound sensed something--smelled something, perhaps--in his scent, for he closed his eyes again and sank back against the porch railing.

"I thought not." His voice barely reached Lucas' ears.

"How could he think such a thing?" Lucas asked, but it was a rhetorical question. Of course Gabriel would think such a thing. Lucas would be his first suspect if one of the Hounds--especially Josiah--went missing. "I knew he wasn't at Darkbrook, but I thought he was with your Master. I--I don't know what to say, other than the Council had nothing to do with this. I can swear to that."

The Hound nodded and turned, as if to go. But his feet tangled and he fell against the railing, sliding down the rough wood until he sat on the first step and buried his head in his hands.

"I imagine you've searched for him?" Lucas asked. "If you tell me where you lost his trail, I'll search with all the power at my disposal."

"Yes, we searched," the Hound whispered. "But our Master called us back. He--You are the only one who knew Josiah's secret."

"I understand why he would suspect me," Lucas said, refusing to allow himself to get angry at the Hound. "But he is welcome to search every inch of my house, Darkbrook, and wherever else he wishes to search. Josiah is not here, although at the moment, I rather wish he was."

"So do I," the Hound whispered, his voice catching in his throat. He pulled himself to his feet and stumbled down the rest of the steps. Only then did Lucas realize what he had said when he had first shifted shape.

"Wait! You said your life was forfeit?" He stepped over the threshold and onto the porch. "What will Gabriel--What will your Master do to you if he finds out you were here?"

The Hound glanced back at him. "He will kill me. I disobeyed." He said this calmly, but Lucas saw naked fear in his gaze. And resignment as well, as if he had already given up any hope of convincing his Master otherwise.

"I can't let him do that," Lucas said automatically, his mind already reaching for a solution. He wouldn't dare attempt to remove Gabriel's hold over his Hound--that would cast him as the villain in Gabriel's eyes. But perhaps he could use the binding's influence to force him to see reason--

"You can't stop him," the Hound whispered. "I am his Hound."

"Do you have a name?" Lucas asked, curious now. What would happen if he summoned Gabriel to his house with the Hound still in human form? If the Master of the Hunt truly lost his temper, could Lucas control him?

And then, a horrible thought: If Gabriel lost his temper enough, would he be able to break the binding? He had tried once before, but never at full strength.

"I can summon your Master here and ask him not to kill you," Lucas offered. "I could order him not to kill you, but that would destroy everything I've worked towards with him, if my efforts have not already been destroyed."

The Hound did not seem to hear. He stared out at the forest that surrounded Lucas' house, stiff with tension. And then--with agonizing slowness, he sank to his knees.

"Please, my--" He only managed those two words before something--or someone, Lucas thought--locked the words in his throat.

Lucas knew that Gabriel had some sort of bond that linked him to his Hounds. And, conceivably, linked his Hounds together as well. Without even considering the consequences--or the fact that the Hound could very well be forced to turn on him--Lucas hurried down the stairs and gently touched the Hound's bowed back with the tip of his cane. And then, that connection established, he summoned Gabriel through the binding.

The Hound collapsed, half-conscious, his eyes dazed, the glittering tracks of tears running down both sides of his face. He tried to speak but choked instead, and then vomited up both blood and bile, presumably in reaction to whatever his Master had done to him.

Sickened, Lucas held out his hand. "Let me help you stand."

He had known they could shift shape. Should he have done something about it before now? Looked into their welfare, at least?

The Hound stared at him through the veil of his hair, then wiped one hand across his mouth. He had bitten his lip--even now blood trickled down his chin--but he didn't seem to notice.

"I--" His shoulders slumped. "I did what I came for. Let me go."

"So your Master can murder you?" Lucas asked, shaking his head. "I don't want that to happen. Not because of this." He hesitated, then dropped his hand. "I will not hold you here. But at least let me try to sway him."

The Hound slowly straightened, holding onto the porch railing post for support. "You would let me leave? If I--If I walked away from here--"

"It would be suicide, but yes," Lucas said, hoping he did not leave and test his word. He truly didn't want to see his careful relationship with Gabriel in ashes, especially if something had happened to Josiah. "But please, at least let me try. I don't think he'll kill you in front of me." He would have to intervene, then.

The Hound did not look convinced. "He--He is furious. I betrayed him."

"What is your name?" Lucas asked.

"His name is Malachi." As always, Gabriel's voice was perfectly civilized, but Lucas could not miss his fury. The Master of the Hunt appeared out of the forest like an avenging angel, his anger so great that Lucas half-expected a black cloud to blot out the moon.

Very slowly, Malachi turned around to face his Master. "My lord--"

"Go home," Gabriel said, and even Lucas knew his words to be an order.

"He said his life was forfeit for coming here." Lucas tried to keep his own voice calm, but the wards around his house were buzzing in the face of Gabriel's anger. "Do I have to order you not to kill him?"

Malachi had taken a step forward; now he froze again, his fists clenched. Lucas could not see his face, but he thought, perhaps, that he had started to cry again.

Gabriel started to speak, glanced at his Hound, then briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them, some of the fury had receded. "If I ask you to answer me honestly that you know nothing about Josiah's disappearance and that the Council was not involved, would you?"

"Yes," Lucas said without hesitation. "If I had wanted to take Josiah away from you, don't you think I would have acted by now? I told your Hound--I told Malachi that you were welcome to search my house, the Council's house, and all of Darkbrook if you don't believe me. I did not lie--and I hold no secrets. Josiah is not here."

"Then where is he?" Gabriel asked, but it seemed to be a rhetorical question, because he did not wait for a reply. "You don't understand. I have--" He shook his head, as if he couldn't quite believe that he had decided to be so forthcoming to a member of the Council. "I have a bond with my Hounds. If I wish it, I can see through their eyes and read their thoughts."

That explained Malachi's fear. The historian in Lucas was busy writing down notes, but the rest of his mind tried to imagine how it would feel to have someone like Gabriel watching his every thought and move--for the rest of eternity.

All at once, he thought he understood Josiah's shyness and quiet demeanor, and how he always seemed to think before he responded to any question. He had been so careful not to give his origins away. What had happened?

"Is he dead?" Lucas asked, stricken at the thought.

"No." Gabriel did not elaborate, but his tone of voice left no room for explanation.

Lucas did not press him. Now was not the time. "I will exhaust everything at my disposal to find him," he said. "When a student vanishes from Darkbrook, everyone gets involved."

Gabriel frowned. "This has happened before?"

"Occasionally--the elves have been known to conveniently 'forget' that we have an agreement. However, I can't see them kidnapping one of your Hounds, even if he was in human form." Lucas glanced at Malachi, who still had not moved. "Gabriel, Malachi did the right thing in coming here. Were you intending to tell me anything at all?"

Gabriel's silence spoke volumes.

And suddenly, Lucas was angry. At himself, for ignoring the plight of the Hounds for so long; at Gabriel for his ever-present distrust. "I have kept your secret for too many years," he said quietly. "I thought I had gained at least an ounce of your trust. I have treated you with the respect I believed you deserve, and I have not made unwarranted demands on your time. I have not interfered in your business, but I could have. I could have made your last years under the Council's binding a misery. I have not ordered you to do something in all the time I've been a member of the Council. Don't force me to start now."

Gabriel took his time to reply. "I did not wish to suspect you, Lucas. But who else knew that Josiah was a Hound?"

"Perhaps this has nothing to do with Josiah being a Hound," Lucas said without much hope. "He may have wandered through a portal, or come upon grief another way. The forest is full of dangers, even for a Hound."

"You don't understand," Gabriel whispered. "He is--He is gone from the bond I share with my Hunt. Not dead, but gone. Something is blocking me from reaching him. And you wonder why I suspected the Council's involvement?"

In truth, if their roles were reversed, Lucas thought that he would not believe blanket statements of the Council's innocence. Gabriel's suspicions had good merit, even if they were aimed in the wrong direction.

"If he were dead, the bond between us would be broken. I would not have control of my Hounds." It cost Gabriel a lot to admit that; but Lucas saw only resignation in his gaze now. His fury, even at Malachi, was well-hidden. Or gone, now, replaced by worry and frustration.

"I don't blame you for suspecting the Council," Lucas said. "I would, if I were you. But my offer remains. If you wish to search my house--"

"That won't be necessary," Gabriel whispered. "You have never betrayed my trust before."

Malachi flinched at the word 'betrayed', but his Master did not deign to notice.

"And your Hound?" Lucas pressed, but gently.

"Will remain a Hound," Gabriel said. His masks were back in place now, blocking all thoughts from his gaze and his manner. "You needn't fear for his life, Lucas. I've already lost one Hound. I have no intention of losing another."

Lucas thought Malachi would be relieved, perhaps, at that declaration, but he fell to his knees at his Master's feet.

"Please, my lord. Don't do this. The others--"

The others. Of course. Even after seeing Malachi, Lucas had not considered that the others would be able to shift as well. "Gabriel--"

The Master of the Hunt glanced up at Lucas. "I have no choice in this," he whispered. "You know, but the rest of the Council will find out if this farce continues. I should never have--" He broke off and shook his head. "I can assure you that my Hounds will endure no violence from my hands, Lucas. But they are my Hounds." He reached out to Malachi and touched his tousled hair.
Malachi's murmured pleas stopped abruptly. He glanced up at his Master, his eyes wide, and then--even before Lucas could blink--he was a Hound.

"Gabriel--" Lucas stepped away from the porch. "I will do everything in my power to find Josiah. But the others--"

Malachi whined and staggered a few feet, obviously fighting against something. Perhaps he was trying to shift shape, or beg his Master for mercy one last time.

"I am sorry, Malachi," Gabriel whispered, ignoring Lucas. "But I cannot risk losing any more of my Hounds."

"We may still find him," Lucas protested, for Malachi's sake.

"If he could be found, I would have found him already."

It wasn't a boast. Gabriel was only stating a fact, which made Lucas realize that uncovering what had happened to Josiah might be more difficult than he had expected. "I will still do my best."

Gabriel nodded. "Go home," he said to Malachi again, his voice soft and hopeless.

This time, Malachi did not hesitate. Without a single glance back, he loped into the trees and vanished from Lucas' view, leaving his Master alone.

"What will you do now?" Lucas asked. Something had changed between them, and it wasn't just the thorn of Josiah's disappearance. For the first time since he'd begun his interest in the Hunt, he found himself sympathizing with Gabriel. And not only sympathizing; it was quite obvious that the Master of the Hunt had not expected this at all.

Neither had Lucas, for that matter. If students just up and vanished, every single parent who had sent their child to Darkbrook would reconsider their decision. Despite Gabriel's disbelief that he would find anything, Lucas knew he had to exhaust every avenue before giving Josiah up for lost.

"I will search for him," Gabriel whispered.

"And your Hounds?"

"Will remain Hounds." Gabriel hesitated. "Lucas, we will not speak of them again." He waited then, as if expecting Lucas to protest.

And Lucas almost did. But something--some sense of how close Gabriel was to the edge of fury again--made him choose another path. There were battles to be chosen, and this was not one of them.

"Very well," Lucas said, with only a twinge of guilt at leaving Malachi to his fate. "But--"

"I have promised you that their lives are not in danger," Gabriel said. "That is as far as I am willing to go." For a moment, he let his masks slip, showing Lucas just how much Josiah's disappearance had affected him. "I realize you could insist. But I hope you will not."

And it was just that, a hope. Lucas had every right to pursue this, and Gabriel would not be able to resist, thanks to the binding. But Lucas had not spent the last forty-odd years building up a fragile sense of trust with the Master of the Hunt, only to shatter it by forcing him to do something he did not want to do.

"Very well," he said. "If you trust me, then I should trust you as well. You've given me no reason not to."

"Thank you," Gabriel said.

Lucas could not remember hearing those words from his lips before. "You're welcome. I will contact you if I discover anything, no matter how damning it might be."

Gabriel nodded.

"Josiah was a pleasure to work with," Lucas said, as if Gabriel needed reassurance of his Hound's good qualities. "As far as I know he had no enemies at Darkbrook. He was--He is--an exemplary student."

"And yet that did not save him," Gabriel said, and walked away before Lucas could reply.

Chapter 14

Gabriel did not want to return home just yet to face his Hounds' silence or the look in Malachi's gaze when he realized that he would not be able to shift this time. Forcing them to regain their Hound forms had torn something loose inside Gabriel's mind and left him shaken and mourning their loss, even though they were not truly gone.

It was bad enough that Malachi had gone to Lucas, and even worse that Lucas had felt it necessary to plead for the life of a Hound. What would the next decade bring? The end of the Council's binding had never looked so far away.

Gabriel walked for a half an hour before he reached the spot where Josiah had vanished. As his Hounds had discovered, there was no trace of a trail past the river. If he had fallen in--

The rocky ground impeded his journey to the bottom of the waterfall. There was no path, in truth; the thornbushes that grew up through the stones tried their best to snag his clothing and scratch his skin. At the bottom of the hill, the pool of water beyond the rocks and debris that had fallen free of the waterfall's face only gave him his reflection when he peered into the water.

If Josiah's body had been pinned beneath the pounding water--but no. That made no sense. The water would not act as a permanent barrier for the bond, or prevent him from finding his Hound. Someone had stolen Josiah. That was the only explanation.

A face that was not his own appeared in the pool, supplanting his reflection in the light of the moon. For a moment, the two faces were one, and then the water-fae rose out of the pool and shook her head, sending droplets flying from the tips of her ropelike hair.

Gabriel was surprised she had shown herself to him. It had been years since the Hunt had hunted the wild faerie folk who had taken up residence in the forest around Beth-Hill, but old memories lingered. And no one trusted the Hunt.

She waited for a moment, staring at him, her eyes full of moonlight. "Your Hounds were here, earlier, Master of the Hunt."

"They were searching for someone I've lost," Gabriel said, seeing no reason not to be civil.

She blinked at him, considering. "Your swan? She swam in my waters not long ago."

Now it was Gabriel's turn to blink and consider her words. He had not sensed Emle's return to the forest, but he had, in truth, not expected her to return. "They were not searching for Emle," he said, trying to quench the rise of emotion that accompanied her name. "But you say she is here?"

"Not for many days," the water-fae said. "She is close to her time."

"Time?" Gabriel stared at her. "What time?"

The water fae leaned forward on her elbows, her green-tinged breasts bobbing up out of the water. "She found no sign of her kin. That I have heard on the breeze. And she returned here for a reason, Master of the Hunt. But I have not seen her for many days."

"Why would she return here and not show herself to me?" Gabriel asked. He truly didn't expect the water-fae to answer, but she did, taking pity on him.

"Her time is near," she said again. And then, when he did not reply to that, she asked, "But if you were not searching for your swan, who were you searching for?"

Gabriel considered her question carefully. Did she know about Josiah? There was no question, really, that his Hounds had been seen in the forest and in human form. But would someone have wanted to use that information to cripple the Hunt? Would they even realize how valuable such information would be?

"Josiah," Gabriel said. "One of my Hounds."

Something in his voice must have warned her, for she raised her hands and backed away, treading water as only a water-fae could do.

"I had not realized he was yours," she said. "I knew he was someone's, but he gave no indication that he was yours."

"You knew of him?" Gabriel heard his voice sharpen and tried to ignore the little flutter of hope that would not go away. "Did you see him tonight? We lost his trail near the waterfall."

"No. Not tonight." The water-fae frowned. "But I might know someone who did." When Gabriel would have spoken--demanding, perhaps, to see this person--she shook her head. "This person will not speak to you."

"Can you ask them, then?" Gabriel asked, hating to be in her debt but seeing no other way to find out if anyone had seen Josiah. "I would be in your debt."

She had to know how much it cost him to say that, but she did not remark upon it.

"I will see what I can do," she said. "But I cannot promise anything. He may not speak to me, either."

Gabriel nodded. "I will await your response then. And thank you, even if you discover nothing. Not many of your kind would do such a thing for one such as I."

"Not many of my kind have ever been owed a favor from the Master of the Hunt," she said, and smiled at him. "I will send word. And you will owe me nothing. Josiah was kind to me."

She was gone before he could reply, sinking out of sight into the deep pool as quickly as she had come and leaving Gabriel alone again, bereft anew at the thought of Josiah's disappearance.
He could not avoid facing his Hounds forever. With a heavy heart, he turned away from the pool, towards home.


A month passed before the water-faerie sent word, and her messenger waited outside Josiah's wards for an hour before the Hounds alerted Gabriel of her presence.

Or perhaps they had not seen her--the girl was no taller than the brownie who had gifted the Hunt with a clean house. Or, perhaps, and this was probably true--they did not wish to court his wrath for such a little thing. Gabriel knew his temper had flared far too often since Josiah vanished, but he could not seem to help himself. It was as if the entire Hunt had fallen into a morass of despair.

If he had never allowed them their human forms, then he wouldn't grieve for Josiah so badly.

He realized this logic was flawed, but it was the only coherent explanation he could come up with and not hate himself for punishing his Hounds. It was as if his subconscious mind was trying--with all its might--to forget that they had ever been human at all.

But despite his efforts, he could not forget.

When he stepped through the wards to face the girl, she actually curtsied, as if to a lord. She seemed a child, this girl, dressed in browns and greens, but her eyes were old.

"Maya sent me to tell you that her source did not see Josiah that night. And she has no reason not to trust his word."

"Tell Maya that I thank her for her kindness," Gabriel said, and the last thread of hope that Josiah would be found snapped inside his chest. It was a painful reminder of what he had lost.
Would it have been better, then, not to allow them their human forms in the first place? If that would mean Josiah would never have vanished--

Gabriel closed his eyes and struggled against the urge to lash out at something--or someone. This little faerie girl had done nothing wrong.

"She also asked for me to give you this," the girl said.

When Gabriel opened his eyes, he saw that she held out a white feather--a swan feather--and that her hand shook just a little bit, as if she had sensed some of his fury.

"She said your swan has been living with the Healer, Sennet."

"What do I care--" But he did care. Just as he cared about his Hounds, despite appearances. He took the feather from her grasp. Had something happened to Emle to cause her to go into the Healer's care? "Thank you."

"You can use that to find her," the girl said.

And then, perhaps, she would stop haunting him. Gabriel nodded. "Thank you," he said again. "I know where--I know where Sennet resides."

She nodded quickly and darted away into the forest, her job complete.

Gabriel stood for a moment and stared at the feather in his hand. He had two choices now: return to the house and listen to Malachi's silent struggles against the bindings that kept him a Hound, or use the feather as the fairy girl had suggested, and find Emle.

He could not face more of Malachi's despair. With a heavy heart, he dampened the bond between himself and his Hounds, and walked into the forest.

Chapter 15.

The very first time Erianthe changed from a human shaped baby into a white puppy, Emle knew she couldn't avoid Gabriel forever. She had stayed in Sennet's house, helping out with chores as her arm grew stronger, but she couldn't stay there forever, either.

And now, as she watched her daughter the puppy sleeping in her lap, she knew she could not delay.

"Can I help?" Sennet asked from the doorway. "I don't mean to intrude, but I can feel your thoughts."

"I think I made a mistake, leaving him," Emle said. "But will he take me back?"

The Healer had not commented on her daughter's sudden change, or the fact that she was, in essence, a baby Hound.

"There's only one way to find out," Sennet said gently. "And you know what way that is."

Emle smiled, although she didn't feel much like smiling. "Sometimes it's easier to wonder and not to act, but yes. I know what way it is." She stroked her daughter's soft fur, and then her soft skin as she shifted shape in her sleep.

Could his Hounds shift like this as well? Surely not; she would have noticed something during her time with them.

Or would she have noticed?

"Would you--" Emle glanced up at Sennet, knowing the Healer wouldn't refuse, but hesitating to ask her to babysit nonetheless. "Would you mind watching Eri if I do decide to go?" Before Sennet could reply, she rushed to fill in the silence. "Just in case. I--I am not afraid of her father, but I do not know how he will react."

Sennet's gaze sharpened. "And he will not harm you?"

Emle shook her head. "He will not harm me. He never did. But I do not think he ever considered the possibility of a--of a child."

Eri would change everything.

"Do you want to go now?" Sennet glanced out the window, where darkness reigned among the trees that surrounded her home. "It might be best to wait until morning. And what if you don't come back?"

"I'll come back," Emle said, and bent to kiss her daughter. "You needn't worry about that. By dawn, I hope--if all goes well."

The Healer did not look convinced, but Emle also knew that Sennet wouldn't try to stop her. This was the right thing to do, after all. Gabriel deserved to know. What he did with that information--whether he drove her out or welcomed her--and Eri--with open arms--was up to him.

"Be careful, then," Sennet said. "Your arm isn't fully healed yet. If you break it again--" But she backed her words with a smile. "Just be careful."

"Thank you, Sennet," Emle whispered in reply, and let herself out the front door.


Gabriel saw her emerge from the Healer's house, her arm in a sling but her manner more anxious than anything. She glanced back at the house as she vanished into the forest, as if she had left something behind, but she did not stop for it. Instead, she continued on her way, heading straight towards the Hunt's lair, as if she held a map of the forest in her head.

She seemed different, somehow; her skin almost glowing in the darkness, but he couldn't pinpoint the change. Was it just that he hadn't seen her in months?

It is near to her time, he heard the water fae--Maya--say in his mind. But what time was that? Would he find her again, only to lose her to sickness? Just the enchantment of her presence awoke both longing and regret, and they warred with each other as he followed her silently through the forest.

He remembered how it felt to hold her in his arms, and how that empty spot inside his heart had filled to bursting just with the beauty of her presence.

Gabriel followed her to the edge of the garden, where Josiah's wards still held true, despite his disappearance. He watched from the shadows as she hesitated, obviously waiting for someone to see her, and then, fearful that she would vanish again, he forced himself to speak.

"The wards are not closed to you, milady."

Emle did not jump or scream. Her good hand rose briefly to her mouth, as if to hold back a gasp, but she spoke steadily enough. "You followed me. I thought--I thought I sensed someone, but I wasn't certain."

"Did you find your kin?" That seemed to be a safe enough subject, perhaps; he truly did not know what else to say. He could not fall down on his knees and beg her to return--well, he could, but--

"No. I found no sign of them." Her smile brimmed with tears. "I am alone, just as I had feared."
"I am sorry to hear that," Gabriel said truthfully. "No one--No one should be alone unless they chose it. And you--you needn't be if you do not choose it, milady."

"But I left you," Emle whispered. "I--"

Gabriel shook his head. "That matters not, if you wish to return. I--ah--" Should he tell her about Josiah? "This has been a difficult time for me and my Hunt. Your presence would bring us joy." A piece of his mind--quite a large piece, in fact--could not believe he was speaking to her so calmly. "Perhaps I should have asked you to stay."

Tears spilled down Emle's cheeks and she raised her good hand to wipe them away. "I am sorry for leaving," she whispered. "I am so sorry."

He wanted to gather her into his arms, but he didn't know how she would react. He would be little more than a cad if he stood there and watched her cry, however, so he pushed aside his reservations and enveloped her into his embrace.

She pressed her head against her chest. "You are not angry?"

"Of course not," Gabriel whispered into her hair. "But I--I truly do not wish to lose you again." He would have never said such a thing before Josiah's disappearance, but now--what did dignity matter? He had lost a Hound to some unknown enemy, and with that, lost his desire to navigate through the intricacies of human speech.

Emle grew very still inside the shelter of his arms. For a moment, Gabriel thought he had said too much; that she would leave him bereft again, but when he stepped away from her, she did not flee.

"There is--more," she whispered.

Gabriel frowned. "Did someone harm you to bring you to the Healer?"

"No--not on purpose, at least. I was caught in a trap, but I do not think it was set for me." Emle hesitated. "When I left you--" She sighed. "There is no easy way to say this."

"Just tell me," Gabriel said. "I will not hate you for it; I promise you that."

Emle's eyes glistened with tears. "When I left you, I was pregnant, Gabriel. I did not know, at first, and by the time Sennet found me--"

For a long moment, Gabriel could only stare at her, stunned. He had not expected this. Not in a thousand years.

"By the time Sennet found me, it was very near to my time."

She is near to her time. The words reverbrated through Gabriel's skull. Maya had known. And he had been too thick-headed; too distraught to comprehend her words.

"And--" He had dto swallow twice before he could continue. "And the child?"

"A daughter," Emle said.

"Alive?" Gabriel discarded almost every word that tried to leave his lips. None of them could describe the terror--the exhilaration; the adrenalin--that coursed through his veins at her simple declaration.

Emle gasped. "Oh, yes! Of course! I asked Sennet to watch her. She is alive, and beautiful, and--" Another hesitation. "And very much the daughter of the Master of the Wild Hunt."

Daughter. Gabriel couldn't have been more shocked if Josiah had appeared at that very moment. He had never--quite--felt like this before.

What did you do with a baby? Would she be safe, here with the Hounds? Perhaps a child's presence would mollify Malachi a bit, or at least turn his despair into something else.

He realized, then, that he was standing there, silent, while Emle waited for his response. "I am--I am shocked." Shocked wasn't strong enough for the emotion he felt, but it would do for now. "When--Can I see her?"

"Of course!" Emle's smile banished her tears. "I told Sennet I would return by dawn. Eri was asleep."

"Eri--that is our daughter's name?"

"Erianthe--I've been calling her Eri for short," Emle said. "I hope you don't mind--"

"No, not at all," Gabriel said. "It is a lovely name, befit the--the daughter of the Master of the Wild Hunt." He smiled, and quite suddenly, Josiah's disappearance did not seem quite so--so final. Oh, he would still search for him--and never give up--and perhaps the rest of the Council or even Magdalen would discover the Hunt's secret, but there was a more important secret now.
"This Sennet--does she know?"

Emle did not seem surprised or confused about this question. "Does she know that you are Eri's father? No. Of course not. But she is a Healer."

And Healers were neutral. But even then, this was the kind of secret that couldn't be shared. "No one must know," Gabriel said. "At least not until after the Council's binding is broken--and perhaps even beyond that. My Hunt is not without enemies." And what would those enemies do if they knew Gabriel had fathered a child?

"I understand," Emle said, but Gabriel wondered if she truly did.

"Just by existing our daughter is in danger," Gabriel said. It was almost an apology.

"I know," Emle whispered. "But that doesn't change the fact that she exists."

"I will keep you safe," Gabriel promised, although he knew he could not promise that, since he had failed Josiah so badly. "Both of you."

Emle smiled. "You cannot promise me that. But that does not change my mind, if you'll have me--us--"

"Of course," Gabriel whispered, and gathered her into his arms again. "Of course."

He would worry about everything else after he held his daughter in his arms.


Late the next night, after he had marveled over his daughter's tiny fingers and toes, and coaxed a smile from her lips; after he had fashioned a room for Emle to sleep and a makeshift crib for Eri; after he had checked every inch of Josiah's wards and found them whole, he summoned Malachi to the library.

Malachi's anger and frustration was an ever-present hum in the back of Gabriel's mind. Even now, he struggled against the bindings Gabriel had placed on his ability to shift. He was useless in this frame of mind, no better than the dog he resembled.

With Emle's presence and Eri's existence, Gabriel needed his Hounds to be with him, not fighting him. He couldn't truly blame Malachi for his fury? He had always been able to shift, by his own concession. To take that small shred of freedom away--

It was almost surprising that his Hound hadn't tried to kill himself--if such a thing were possible.
When Malachi arrived--quickly enough, but warily--Gabriel released the bindings he had placed on his ability to shift.

"Speak to me." He kept his voice calm, despite the surge of emotion through the bond they shared. Could the others feel that he had shifted? "With no fear of reprisal. I promised Lucas that you would keep your life."

"I would have rather you killed me," Malachi whispered from behind him.

Gabriel turned to face his Hound. "Would you have?"

Malachi knelt on the ground, his muscles shaking, his cheeks wet with tears. When he glanced up at his Master, Gabriel almost retreated from the lost look in his gaze. "Yes." He flinched when he spoke, but did not look away. "My lord, I have given you my life and my loyalty. We all have. But to repay us like this--" His voice broke. "Please, my lord--" He closed his eyes. "You would not force your child to--"

"Someone stole Josiah and hid him so completely that even I cannot find him," Gabriel said, interrupting him before he said something they both would regret. "And you wonder why I did what I did?" He continued on before Malachi could speak, his voice growing colder as his anger increased. "Yes, Lucas knows you can shift shape. Thanks to you, he knows that all of you can shift shape. But if the rest of the Council discovers our secret--if Lucas tells them--then they will never set us free."

"You don't know that for certain," Malachi whispered, and dropped his gaze to the floor, expecting punishment.

Gabriel closed his eyes. It was an effort to remain calm, much less to speak without shouting. Or worse. "No, I don't. But after ninety years of servitude, I am loathe to tip any sense of a scale in their favor. And as for my child--my daughter was born with her shape. You were not. What do you think would happen if the Council found out about her?"

Malachi wrapped his arms around his stomach and bowed his head. "I understand. But that does not make it any easier to bear." He said this last with quiet desperation, his voice laden with unshed tears. "My lord--I would rather die than be forced to wear that shape for the rest of eternity."

When Gabriel did not respond, Malachi's trembling grew even more pronounced. "Please--"

"Why are you so different?" Gabriel asked. "The others seem content to accept my decision--for the most part--and yet you fight me at every turn."

"I don't know," Malachi whispered. He took a deep breath. "I gave you my loyalty, and you still have it. But I wish--"

"The Council's binding only holds for ten more years," Gabriel said. Ten years seemed an eternity now. "Once we are free of it--Once I am free of it, then we won't have to answer to them anymore. We will have nothing to hide." He had not intended to give them back their human forms, in truth. But why not? After the Council's binding expired, what reason did he have to refuse?

Malachi's throat worked. "You--You would allow--" He sighed. "Ten years is a long time, my lord."

"It's shorter than eternity," Gabriel said softly. It was the only compromise he was willing to entertain, despite the fact that Malachi truly had no choice.

Still, Gabriel would rather have Malachi's cooperation, especially in this.

"You could have just ordered me to submit and I would have had to obey." Malachi slowly stood. "Why offer me--us--this?"

"I did order you to submit," Gabriel said, avoiding his question. "And you disobeyed."

"I am sorry, my lord." His apology was automatic, as was his fear.

"Do not lie to me," Gabriel said. "I--Part of me understands your refusal to obey. However, I cannot condone dissent among my Hounds. Not now. Especially not now." He hesitated. "It is for your own safety that I force you to do this. Not because I regret my initial decision."

That wasn't entirely true, but Malachi did not have to know that.

Malachi took a deep breath. "I understand." He was silent for a moment, his eyes closed, his head bowed. "I will not fight you any longer, my lord."

"Thank you," Gabriel said. He was about to dismiss his Hound, but there was obviously something else on Malachi's mind.

"My lord--we won't stop searching for Josiah, will we?"

Gabriel had tried to access Josiah through the bond at least three times per day since his Hound's disappearance, without any luck at all. "No. We won't stop searching."

Malachi nodded. "And--if I may ask, my lord--what about your daughter?"

"What about my daughter?" Gabriel asked. "She will need protection from our enemies--and from the Council."

"I would protect her with my life, my lord," Malachi said without hesitation. And in that moment, any worry Gabriel had harbored about his Hounds and a baby melted away.

"Then I will give that task to you," he said, and watched as Malachi's entire attitude subtly shifted. Was it so easy, then, to just give him a job?

"Thank you." And then, before Gabriel could force him into the form of a Hound again, he shifted shape by himself and waited for his Master to renew the bindings that would ensure he could not shift.

With a heavy heart, Gabriel did so, half-expecting his Hound to protest. But Malachi only shuddered once and shook his head, keeping his end of his promise.

In ten years time, when the Hunt was freed from the Council's binding, Gabriel would have to keep his end of the promise. Until then, his Hounds would be Hounds, nothing more.




This is the end of Book 2. Book 3 will begin on June 29th.

House St. Clair Home

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Heart's Desire, Part 12

8.

In dread, Malachi obeyed his Master's orders to return home. He half-expected his Master to be waiting for them in the living room, ready to force the Hunt to wear the form of a Hound for the rest of eternity, but the others still sat in human form, waiting for their Master's orders.

As soon as Malachi's feet touched the stone floor, he shifted shape and fled into the kitchen, only wanting to be alone with his grief and sorrow on his last night in human form.

He could not see his Master allowing their freedom to remain in place. Not with Josiah gone so completely.

Malachi sat down at the kitchen table and buried his head in his hands. He didn't notice Nathaniel standing in the doorway until the other Hound spoke.

"What's wrong? What did you find?"

"Nothing," Malachi whispered, not glancing up. "Nothing at all. We weren't--permitted to finish our search."

"Perhaps our Master was afraid you, too, would be taken," Nathaniel said diplomatically. "I--"

Malachi raised his head. "He will not allow us our human forms, Nathaniel! Not after this!" He didn't realize how loud he had spoken until the others crowded in the doorway, uncharacteristically grim.

"Do you know this for fact?" Thomas demanded.

Malachi took a deep breath to quell the panic that raged through his body. "He thinks the Council stole Josiah away," he whispered, all-too-aware that their Master could open the bond at any second and punish him for speaking at all.

"Why?" Seth spoke first, his tone of voice disbelieving. "Why would they do such a thing?"

"Lucas knows Josiah is a Hound," Malachi whispered.

"I have never seen Lucas Lane act anything but honorably around our Master," Thomas said, his voice grave.

"But he is the only one who knows!" Malachi closed his eyes. "We are doomed."

"But--But won't our Master ask Lucas? If Lucas already knows Josiah is a Hound?" Zechariah's question was perfectly logical, of course. And in any other instance, Malachi could believe that their Master would do such a thing. But now--

"I wish he would," he said, and wondered how he had come to be the Hunt's spokesperson. "But I am afraid he will not. The Council's binding only holds us for ten more years, after all, and--"

"And if we anger them now--" Thomas spoke the words that Malachi did not want to speak. "I see."

"But what if the Council isn't involved?" Seth pressed. "What if Lucas has nothing to do with Josiah's disappearance?"

"He was a student at Darkbrook," Nathaniel said. "Won't they notice his absence?"

And that would be worse. Inquiries. "We're doomed," Malachi whispered. Should they all resume their Hound forms now and just get it over with?

He had possessed a luxury that the others had not for all these years. But Malachi doubted their Master would allow him his human form--even in secrecy. Unless they could prove the Council was not involved, perhaps, or that their secret that wasn't quite a secret had not been discovered.

Malachi closed his eyes as the damning thoughts raced through his mind. If he--If he dared to approach Lucas and ask for an honest answer about Josiah-- Would Lucas tell the truth?
Better yet, would his Master open the bond, read his thoughts, and kill him before he could make the attempt?

"You've thought of something," Seth said, almost begging his words to be true.

Malachi raised his head and opened his eyes. "Yes. I've thought of something, but I'll be killed if our Master finds out my intentions. That is why I can't tell you--I can't tell any of you what I intend to do."

"Don't risk your life for our sake," Thomas said. "I do not wish to see you dead, Malachi."

"Yes, but this is my fault," Malachi said, standing. His chair scraped across the stone floor. "I started this. Josiah wouldn't have been able to shift if it wasn't for me."

"Malachi, no." Of them all, Nathaniel was the only one who had figured out what Malachi intended. "I can't let you do this."

"You can't stop me, either," Malachi said. "Unless you tell our Master, and then I'll die for nothing."

"He will send us after you," Nathaniel whispered, blocking his way through the door. The others hovered behind him--Seth's face pinched and white, Thomas and Zechariah grim and silent. "And I do not wish to be forced to hunt you down, Malachi. Please don't do this!"

"What is it that you intend to do?" Seth asked. "I know you said you couldn't tell us, but if Nathaniel knows--"

Through the bond between them, Malachi felt Nathaniel share his knowledge with the others. "Damn you," he said helplessly. "Do you want to spend the rest of eternity in the form of a Hound?"

"I'd rather--" Nathaniel began to speak, but Thomas cut him off.

"No. Let him go. It's a good plan. If the Council didn't take Josiah, then our Master has no reason to force us to stay as Hounds."

"You are assuming that he will listen to reason when he finds out what Malachi has done," Nathaniel said stiffly.

"There is that," Zechariah said softly, and faded away from the pack, as if he did not wish to be involved any longer.

Thomas soon followed his lead, leaving Seth behind with Nathaniel.

"Would he kill two of us?" Seth asked, quite seriously. "Because I will go with you if it might mean saving your life."

Almost as one, Thomas and Zechariah stared at Seth in shock. Nathaniel spluttered a curse and turned away; Malachi felt some knot of tension release inside his chest. He couldn't allow Seth to come, but at least he knew that one of the five--one of the four, without Josiah--supported him enough to join him in punishment.

And it was true, more than likely, that their Master would not murder them all. There was always a possibility, of course, but if they banded together--

If they worked together, Gabriel would see it as the ultimate betrayal. If Malachi went by himself, then at least their Master could pretend that the betrayal was Malachi's alone.

"I have to go alone," he said aloud. "If we band together and defy him--"

"It would not go over well," Nathaniel whispered. "Go. Go now, and hurry back. If he--If our Master discovers your absence, he will make us Hunt you, and I don't want to have to do that."

"Be careful," Seth said, and stepped back, his eyes wide.

How long would it take for their Master to feel the tension between the Hounds and wonder what was going on? How long would it take for Gabriel to notice Malachi was missing?
And then, a sobering thought: What would happen if the Council was involved in Josiah's disappearance? And Malachi endangered the others by exposing himself--and his ability to shift--to Lucas? Did he dare take that kind of chance?

Did he dare not?

Malachi wrenched his mind away from what could be and tried to concentrate on what he knew he had to do.

"Hurry back," Nathaniel said, as if he could guess what kind of thoughts were spinning through Malachi's mind.

Without speaking, Malachi nodded and hurried out of the kitchen, tensed for a shout from their Master or the opening of the bond.

When nothing happened by the time he reached the mouth of the cave that led into the human world, he thought, perhaps, that his desperate scheme might just succeed. Out of habit, he shifted into the form of a Hound as soon as he stepped away from the cave and raced away across the forest floor, running as if the very Hounds of Hell were snapping at his feet.


Next Update: June 1st

House St. Clair Home

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Heart's Desire, Part 11

(I skipped last week due to Mother's Day.)

7.

For almost two years now, Gabriel had allowed his Hunt their human forms. And as they flourished--and as he learned to trust them--he had relaxed his hold on their minds through the bond they shared. He did not leave them alone, but he trusted them enough not to hover over their every thought and watch their every action.

Perhaps this was why he didn't realize something had happened to Josiah until Malachi appeared in the library doorway, his face white.

"My lord, Josiah is gone."

Gabriel immediately opened the bond and felt--not quite nothing, but as close to nothing as he had sensed since the Council's binding. He rose from his chair before he realized he had moved, and centered his whole awareness on the absence of his youngest Hound.

It should not have been possible for anyone to smother the bond, but he could not push past the spell or whatever it was that hid Josiah from his sight. And even as he tried, something seared across his inner vision and severed any hope he had of finding his Hound again.

For a moment, all he could do was stand there, fearful of falling to his knees. He groped for the table and held on for dear life as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Josiah wasn't--he wasn't dead. No. Gabriel could still feel the others, and the bond would have crumbled under the strain of a death.

"My lord?" Malachi's voice brought him back to the library.

Gabriel opened his eyes. "Where are the others?" His voice came out harsher than he intended, because Malachi flinched back at his tone.

"They are all here, my lord." His voice shook. "What--What happened?"

"I don't know," Gabriel said with a deepening sense of alarm. "I don't know." Did he dare send the others out to search for Josiah? What if-- He shook his head to clear it. "Were you speaking to Josiah when he vanished?"

Malachi flushed. "No. Not--Not exactly. But he was near the waterfall, and then he was gone. Just--Just gone."

"You kept tabs on him?" Gabriel asked, forcing any shred of blame from his voice.

"I--I--Yes." Malachi stared at his feet. "I kept tabs on him, my lord. And he was not aware of it."

"And did you sense anything at all before he vanished? Anything?" The trail--if there was a trail--would grow cold before long. Without waiting for Malachi's reply, Gabriel tried again to find his missing Hound through the bond.

Nothing. Not even a hint of his presence, this time.

"I didn't keep that close of tabs on him," Malachi said, almost defensively. "I didn't intrude on his thoughts. I just saw he was on his way here and I--I left him alone. If I had--" Guilt charged his words.

"No. This is not your fault." Gabriel tried again to push past the barrier to what lay behind it. This time, at least, he felt something--something alien and strange, but something nonetheless. But the backlash almost brought him to his knees.

"Who would have done such a thing?" Malachi whispered.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out," Gabriel said. "I want you to take two of the others and search the banks of the river along the waterfall where you felt him last."

"Perhaps he fell in the river," Malachi said, glancing up at Gabriel to see if this could possibly be true.

Gabriel hesitated before replying. "He would have shouted for help through the bond," he said. "I am sure of that. And I felt nothing. I feel nothing. There is some barrier blocking him from me. And that would take a wizard's--" He stopped as the thought that had been lurking in the back of his mind suddenly bloomed.

It would take a wizard--a powerful wizard--to keep him from his Hound. And the only wizard who knew Josiah was a Hound--

At first, he dismissed it as ludicrous, but it would not go away. But why--Why would Lucas do such a thing?

By the look on Malachi's face, he was not far behind Gabriel's line of thinking. "My lord--No. Josiah would never condone such a thing!"

"I'm not saying that he did," Gabriel said, and felt a strange sense of dislocation shroud his thoughts. Lucas was the only one who knew the Hunt's dearest secret. Had his years of careful plotting finally paid off? Had he been after the Hounds all along?

It had been so long since he had been truly furious that he almost didn't recognize it for what it was. Malachi had not forgotten, however, and Gabriel remembered the fear in his gaze far too well.

"Take two of the others and go," he said, and could not help the harshness in his tone of voice.
Malachi fell to his knees. "My lord--"

"Go."

Gabriel's first inclination was to confront Lucas--to demand the return of his Hound. But he did not want to act rashly. The Council did, after all, hold him bound. And he did not want to anger them with only a handful of years left of his sentence to serve.

But this--they had gone far enough. Surely he had some recourse for retaliation.

"My lord--" Malachi still knelt in the doorway, his gaze on the floor. Trembling, as if he expected to be killed. "My lord, I--I can't see the Council attempting such a thing."

Gabriel almost lashed out at him, but he caught himself at the last second. "Go now," he said, struggling to hold his temper in check. "Go. Now." He backed his words with power, driving his Hound away.

When the door swung shut behind him, it sounded like a death knell, far too final for Gabriel's liking.

What was he supposed to do? Sit and wait for word? Gabriel had little patience for waiting, especially where the Council was concerned. And Josiah was his. How dare they--

He stopped that thought before it could continue. He had no proof, of course. And he could not directly confront the Council without risking their wrath.

The spectre of Magdalen briefly crossed his mind, but in truth, he knew what she wanted. And it did not make sense at all that she might kidnap Josiah and hold him for until the Counci's binding was over and done with. She was not that patient. And he had seen no sign of her since the Hunt was bound.

He couldn't even venture out to search for Josiah himself, just in case someone put two and two together and figured out what the Hunt had been hiding for almost a hundred years.

With a curse, he slammed his fist into the nearest wall. He wanted the wall to be whoever had stolen his Hound, but it was a poor substitute for the real thing.

He did not like this sense of helplessness.

There was a Hound outside the door now, hesitant and wary--Nathaniel. When Gabriel opened the door, he stepped back, raising his arms automatically to protect his face from any blow.

"My lord, what happened?" He spoke quickly, as if he expected Gabriel to punish him for asking such a simple question. "Malachi took Seth and Zechariah with him, but he wouldn't tell us what happened."

"Where is Josiah?" Thomas stepped up behind Nathaniel, his gaze intense.

He did not share Nathaniel's fear of punishment. Perhaps he knew that Gabriel had no intention of punishing his Hounds for this.

"Josiah is gone," Gabriel said. There was no reason not to tell them the truth. "I sent Malachi to attempt to find his trail, but I fear he will not be successful."

"Gone?" Nathaniel repeated, shock--and something else, something as if he had expected something like this--in his gaze.

"Do you know something about this?" Gabriel asked. Had Nathaniel kept tabs on Josiah too? Had he seen something?

"No! I--I--" Nathaniel closed his eyes, tensing for a blow that would not come.

"You thought something like this would happen?" Gabriel guessed. He kept his voice soft. "He did not vanish of his own free will. Whoever has stolen him is blocking the bond."

Malachi and the others had reached the river now. It did not take them long to find Josiah's trail, but the trail abruptly ended near the bank of the river, and no amount of searching found it again.

He is gone, my lord. Malachi's thoughts ran raw with grief and worry.

Keep looking, Gabriel instructed, knowing they would not find any sign of his missing Hound. On a whim--just in case--he had them draw closer to Lucas' house in their search, taking pains not to be seen.

"What would you have us do, my lord?" Nathaniel had straightened up now, and some of the wariness had left his gaze.

If he told his Hounds that he did not know, what would they do? Was the Hunt under attack, or had the target just been Josiah all along? "Stay here." He could think of nothing more to tell them. If the Hunt was under attack, then Malachi and the others would have to return soon as well.

And then he would have to wait and see if the Council--if Lucas--admitted Josiah's absence, and whether or not he had any recourse for any hope of a response.

He closed the door before either Nathaniel or Thomas could respond, and leaned against it. After a moment's hesitation, he ordered Malachi home, ignoring his protests. If he did not obey, Gabriel would force him to return.

His fury had fled, leaving a sickening nausea behind. Where was Josiah?

Just two years ago, he had contemplated retreating; forcing his Hounds to abandon their human forms and living out the rest of his sentence without seeing their human faces again. He had decided against that path, believing he had made the right decision when Josiah--and the others--blossomed under the little freedoms he had allowed them.

He had lost Emle, after all. He did not want to lose his Hounds as well.

Had he made the wrong decision, then? Was it now too late for retreat? His heart ached to make such a drastic decision, but Josiah's disappearance warranted drastic measures.

He would have to ensure Malachi would not be able to shift shape. He had been the instigator of this entire allowance, after all, and he would be the first to protest.

Gabriel did not want to make such a decision, but what choice did he have? How long would it take for Josiah's captors to discover that he was a Hound if they did not already know?

Josiah's disappearance had left him with no choice. Perhaps he had made a mistake. He shouldn't have allowed them their human forms in the first place--and this would not have happened.

At least he could console himself of that.


Next update: May 25th

House St. Clair Home

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Heart's Desire, Part 10

6.

Josiah's room was empty.

Althea stood in the doorway and stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what could have happened. She'd looked up his room on the student listings, which should have been up-to-date, and there hadn't been any mention of the chosen four moving out of Darkbrook for their studies.
But Josiah's room was empty. Almost as if he had sensed her approach, and fled before she could take his place.

Had someone seen her in the forest?

She doubted Magdalen would have been so lax in her wards. Had he run away? She could only hope.

Disappointed, she closed the door and stood in the hallway for a moment, only half-listening to the chatter of students down the hall. They were talking about the chosen ones, of course.

She melted into the shadows before they could see her and held her breath as they passed.

No one had sympathized, of course. There had been some question of Josiah's eligibility, since he wasn't in the right year for advanced studies, but no one had come right out and said that she had been short-shifted.

No one would dare question the Council's decision.

Althea heard something thump in the empty room behind her. She turned and saw a light shining along the bottom of the door--lamplight that had not been there a moment before.
After a short hesitation, she knocked.

Josiah opened the door and blinked at her, clearly surprised.

A pile of boxes teetered behind him, neatly packed and sealed.

"Are you leaving?" Althea asked before she could stop herself.

Josiah glanced back at the boxes. "I thought I might have to," he said, and some sort of strange emotion passed across his face. "But no. I'm not leaving." He hesitated. It was very obvious he didn't recognize her at all. "Do we have class together?"

"No," Althea said a shade too quickly. "I--I wanted to congratulate you, that's all. So congratulations." She had to clench her jaw to force out the words.

Josiah stared at her, puzzled, as if he had sensed some of her anger. "Thank you," he said. "I was surprised. I didn't submit my name at all. I'm not sure who did."

That was almost worse. Althea shrugged and shoved her hand into the pocket of her jeans. The heartblood stone soothed her fury, but it did not change what had happened. "Someone seems to think you were a good candidate."

She had tried to think up a plan to get him out of the school and into the forest, but her mind had stubbornly remained blank.

She shrugged again, before her silence became too telling. "Anyway, I just wanted to congratulate you. Good luck."

"Thank you," Josiah said.

He was still standing at the doorway when she walked away.


It took her another day--and some very careful questions to discern that Josiah Hunt had no family, a mysterious sponsor, and that he had already started studying a year ahead of her before he was chosen for the position.

The elf's power was the only thing that consoled her. With it, she cast an invisibility spell that allowed her to follow Josiah around to his classes the next day--not that he attended any at all. He spent the entire day in the library, poring through increasingly obscure texts for some spell Althea couldn't even read.

She slipped away to the attic--aka the junk room--where discarded furniture and forgotten bits and pieces were stored and found a length of thin iron chain that would suit her purposes quite well, if she ever figured out a way to get Josiah out into the forest. When she found him again--after a heart stopping half-hour of searching--he was with Lucas Lane.

Althea didn't trust the elf's power to hold up under a Council member's scrutiny, so she stayed back around the corner and strained to hear a piece of their conversation. Nothing she heard made any sense at all.

By the time Lucas left, the sun had set, and Josiah hurried back to his room. Althea just barely managed to slip inside the door before it closed behind him.

But instead of sitting down at his desk to study, Josiah dumped an armful of books on his desk and pulled a thin length of colorless rope out of a drawer. He opened the window, peered down to the ground, then tossed the rope out the window without tying the other end to anything.
It solidified, somehow, and stretched out, forming a strange sort of slide down to the ground.

Josiah didn't hesitate. He had obviously done this many times before. With one last glance around the room, he pushed himself up onto the window, and then dropped out of sight.

Althea ran to the window and glanced down to see him sliding to the ground on what looked like a bed of air. When he reached the ground, he touched the end of his rope and it fell slack again, coiling on the ground in a pile of a not-quite-seen reflection of the moonlight.

For the first time, Althea wondered if she had chosen the wrong person on the list. Josiah obviously had quite a bit more power than she had anticipated.

But the iron would prevent him from fighting back, and the heartblood stone would hide his presence from anyone else.

With her eyes wide open, Althea used the elf's power to help her float gently to the ground, still invisible. Her feet touched the grass just as Josiah vanished into the trees.

With her newfound power, it wasn't difficult to follow him through the forest, but she had to remember to stay invisible and deaden her footfalls. She did not want him to suspect anything, or have enough time for defense.

She moved ahead of him as he neared the river and its spectacular waterfall, then dropped her spells--save for the wards, of course--and sat on a broad stone ledge overlooking the rushing water.

What if her attempt on his life did not work? She had still not decided whether or not to kill him. Why did this have to be so difficult a task to accomplish? Why couldn't he just disappear on his own?

When he emerged from the trees behind her, she pretended to hear him for the first time and turned around in her seat, feigning surprise. "Oh. It's you."

Josiah stopped and stared at her. "Were you expecting someone else?" he asked, his tone of voice suggesting that she might just be meeting her boyfriend, perhaps, or that she had no place in the forest after dark.

Althea sighed. "No. I wasn't expecting anyone at all. Did you follow me from Darkbrook?"

"No." He denied it quickly enough, but hesitated to explain. "I--I'm on an errand of my own."

"Oh." Pretending to lose interest, Althea turned to face the water again. As she had hoped, Josiah did not continue on his way, but came closer.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm as good as anyone could be after having her life's work swept out from under her feet," Althea said, surprising herself. She had not intended to tell him the truth. "I--I'll be fine, I guess. I just have to decide what to do."

Without waiting for her permission, Josiah sat on the edge of the stone ledge. "Does this have something to do with the Council's decision?"

Althea laughed. "It has everything to do with the Council's decision. Not that I wish to challenge it--I'm sure you're much more talented than me--but I've spent my whole life working towards a position on the Council."

She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He sat stiffly, uncomfortable and embarrassed, but not on guard. So far so good.

He hesitated before replying. "I think--I know why I was chosen," he finally said. "And I'm sorry if I caused you pain. If I could help in any way--"

"Actually, there is something you can do for me," Althea said, turning to face him. "Can you hold this for a moment?"

Automatically, Josiah held out his hand. Althea dropped the heartblood stone into his palm, and his fingers reflexively closed over it.

He frowned. "Where did you get this?"

"From an elf," Althea said, and pulled the length of chain out of her pocket. "I'm sorry, Josiah. I really didn't want this to happen. Shadow take you, give me your light."

He stiffened, his mouth opening as if to protest her spell. Before he could defend himself, she flung the length of chain over his head and twisted it tight around his throat. Then she grabbed the hand that held the heartblood stone and felt the first wash of power flow through their bond.

When he screamed, she slapped her other hand over his mouth, forming a gag from his own power. He struggled against her, clawing at her weakly, but she held him close, staring out at the water as his body convulsed in the throes of the spell.

She had never dared to dream of such power.

"I thought you intended to keep him alive?" Magdalen's presence behind her was not entirely unexpected, but Althea scowled at the interruption.

She turned, pushing Josiah's limp body away and breaking the connection. "I was, but I have no place to keep him and no way to work the spell from a distance." He still clutched the heartblood stone in one hand, but his fingers were blackened and burned, as if someone had tried very hard to find him. Was he truly as alone as she had thought?

"That's why you need this," Magdalen said, and held out a simple drop pendant formed from a heartblood stone. It hung on a thin silver chain, both beautiful and deadly. "With this, you can keep your spell active indefinitely." She glanced down at Josiah's body. "He is not yet dead."

"You interrupted me," Althea said, accepting the pendant. She clasped it around her next and let the heartblood stone fall to rest between her breasts. "What do I have to do?"

"Simply speak the spell again, but not right now," Magdalen said, adding the last when she opened her mouth to say it. "You would kill him, and you don't want that to happen, do you?"

Althea bit her lip, still undecided. "He has a lot of power left," she said. "I wouldn't want to waste it." But how could she live with herself, knowing that Josiah was still alive? Wouldn't it be better just to kill him? She said that aloud, half-expecting Magdalen to tell her what to do.

"Do you want to have to kill someone else in six months' time?" Magdalen asked. "Think about it. How long would it take for the Council to discover your crimes if you had to take someone else twice a year?" She shrugged. "The decision is yours, of course, but this way, there is only one victim, and one person is a lot easier to hide than hundreds over a lifetime."

She noticed Josiah's burned fingers for the first time. "What is this?"

"You said anyone searching for him would not find him if I gave him that stone," Althea said. "But I think someone was trying to find him."

"That quickly?" Magdalen's eyes narrowed as she searched the dark forest for any sign of pursuit. "If he has protection like this, then we must leave this place. Immediately."

"I put up wards," Althea said, puzzled by her insistence. "Surely--"

"Child, you've not enough experience to argue with me. We must leave. Now."

Between one second and the next, the river, waterfall, and the surrounding stone and forest vanished. Althea fell backwards onto a polished floor.

Magdalen moved quickly, pulling curtains shut across impossibly high windows and closing the only door. Althea sat up, dazed, and saw that Josiah lay in a heap nearby, his burned hand empty. The heartblood stone lay a few feet away, sparkling in the light of a single lamp.

"The stone!" She lunged for it and pressed it into his hand, forcing his fingers to close.

"There is a dampening spell that surrounds this entire castle," Magdalen said, unconcerned. "I don't think anyone could find him here."

Althea untied her shoe and pulled out the shoelace. Once she had tied his hand firmly closed around the heartblood stone, she let his hand fall to the floor and stood up. "But I need it for my spell." She stared around at the room, awed by her surroundings. "Is this your house?"

The marble walls and floor glittered in the light of candles when Magdalen waved her arm to light them. "No, child. This is a palace. But not mine as of yet."

Althea could well believe that this was a palace. She tried not to act as if she had never seen such opulence, but it was hard not to stare.

"These are my rooms," Magdalen said. "My suite, if you wish. And I live alone, so no one will hear or know a thing."

"But you can't just leave him lying here," Althea protested. "Someone will see him!"

Magdalen crossed the room to where an ornate mirror hung on the wall. She pressed something in the gilded frame and the glass slid away, exposing a dark space beyond. "We can keep him in here."

She held out her hand and a sickly light responded, illuminating a tiny, windowless room. The seeping stone walls seemed more in line with a dungeon and not a palace, and puddles of brackish water had worn depressions in the stone floor.

A pair of rusty iron shackles hung on the far wall, just high enough for sitting to be uncomfortable. The wall was stained red behind them in streaks of terrible color.

Althea shivered. For a moment, she did not want to consider abandoning Josiah to such a place, but then she remembered what she would gain if he were never found.

"Bring him," Magdalen commanded, as if she sensed Althea's indecision. "Drag him if you wish. He's not awake to protest."

Althea grabbed one of Josiah's feet and pulled him across the slick marble floor. His head bounced on the frame of the mirror when she pulled him inside, but she paid no mind to that. She didn't need him functioning, after all. She just needed his power. His talent. Damn him.
The chains fit snugly around both wrists. "How long--How long can he live like this?"

"A human would die in a year or two," Magdalen said. "But this one isn't human. He'll live."

That explained the strange flavor of his talent, Althea thought. Aloud, she said, "But you will feed him, won't you?"

"I'll take good care of him for you," Magdalen said. "Don't worry." She smiled. "Enjoy your new power, my dear."

Althea's wet shoes left no marks on the marble floors. Not a single footprint led from the mirror to show anyone that it was anything other than a mirror. When Magdalen pushed the button to close it, Althea could almost convince herself that the room beyond the mirror did not exist.

"You should return now, I think," Magdalen said. "Don't go back through the forest. If you can, go directly to your room and stay there until the hue and cry grows too loud for you to ignore."

"I created a portal before," Althea said. "I can create another one. Can I do it from here?"

"But of course," Magdalen said, and indicated an empty wall across the room. "Call me when you're ready to learn real magic, my dear. You've done so well so far."

"Thank you," Althea said, blushing at the praise.

"Conserve your power," Magdalen said. "Don't use the spell for a month, at the least."

Althea nodded, intent on creating the portal to her room. It was more difficult than she expected to get past the protections of the elvish castle, but when her room appeared beyond the portal's face, she stepped through, then turned to face Magdalen.

There was a black Hound beside her now, the very same black Hound she had seen in the forest. She could not look away from the malevolence in its gaze.

"Will I be able to return here?"

"No," Magdalen said, and waved her hand to dismiss the portal. "And you won't need to. I will keep him safe. And no one will ever find him."



Next Update: May 11th



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