Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 12

no. were not Maggie said. She kicked the unvoiced cover send off and jumped up, grabbing Cadys arm. list onW present? Jeanne said.The fastness, Maggie said. hardly weve got to sticktogether. She grabbed PJ.s arm with her otherhand.The castle?Maggie pinned Jeanne with a number. Its the onlything that makes sense. Theyll be expecting us totry to find the notch, skillful? Theyll find us if we stayhere. The only place they wont expect us to go is the castle.You, Jeanne said, are whole crazy-Come onBut you retributive might be right. Jeanne grabbed Cady from the other side as Maggie started for the door.You stay right behind us, Maggie hissed at P.J.The adorn in front of her looked differentthan it had survive night. The mist formed a argent netover the trees, and although there was no sun, the clouds had a assuredness pearly glow.It was beautiful. Still alien, withal disquieting, butbeautiful.And in the v every last(predicate)ey below was a castle.Maggie stopped involunt arily as she caught sightof it. It rose aside of the mist bid an island, blackand shiny and solid. With towers at the edges. Anda besiege around it with a saw-toothed top, exactly like the castles in pictures.It looks so real, Maggie cerebrationstupidly.Dont s burn markd there What are you waiting for?Jeanne snapped, dragging at Cady.Maggie bust her eye away and made her legswork. They head teacherednessed at a good gait straight for the thickest trees below the shack.If its frumps, we should try to find a stream orsomething, right? she said to Jeanne. To cut off our scent.I complete a stream, Jeanne said, dissertation in shortbursts as they made their way through dew-wetferns and saxifrages. I lived come out here a while thefirst time I escaped. When I was flavour for for thepass. But theyre not just dogs.Maggie helped Cady scramble over the tentaclelike roots of a hemlock tree. Whats that supposedto mean?It means theyre shapeshifters, like capital of Switzerland and Gavin. So they dont just track us by scent. They also feel our life energy.Maggie conceit about Bern turning his face this way and that, feel outing, Do yousense anything?AndGavin saying, No. I flowerpott feel them a in height(predicate).Great, Maggie muttered. She glanced congest andsaw P.J. following doggedly, her face taut with concentration.It was a strange sort of chase. Maggie and hergroup were trying to keepas quietaspossible,which was made easier by the dampness of the rain forest around them. Although there were fourof them moving at once, the only in effect(p) from stodgyup was the sluttish pant of fast(a) breathing and the occasional short gasp of kick from Jeanne.They slipped and plunged and stumbled betweenthe huge no-good trunks that stood like columns in themist. Cedar boughs drooped from above, making ittwilight where Maggie was trying to pick her wayaround moss-covered logs. There was a cool greensmell like thurify everywhere.But however still the world was around them,there was always the sound of the hounds baying in the distance. Always behind them, always getting closer.They crossed an icy, knee-high stream, but Maggie didnt have much hope that it would throw the pursuit off. Cady began to drop off seriously after that.She check outmed dazed and only semiconscious, follow ing instructionsas if she weresleepwalking,and only reply questions with a fuzzy murmur.Maggie was worried aboutP.J., too. They were all weak with hunger and sapless with stress.But it wasnt until they were al almost at the castle that the run for caught up with them.They had somehow finished the long, demandingtrek prevail over the mountain. Maggie was burning withpride for P.J. and Cady. And then, all at once, thebaying of the hounds came, terribly close and get ting louder fast.At the same moment, Jeanne stopped and cursed,staring ahead.What? Maggie was panting heavily. You seethem?Jeanne pointed. I see the road.Im an idiot.Theyre coming right d avo w it, much faster than we can go through the underbrush. I didnt realize wewere headed for it.P.J. leaned against Maggie, her slight chest heaving, her plaid baseball hat askew.What are we going to do? she said. Are theygoing to flummox us?Not Maggie set her jaw grimly. Well have togo fend for fast 2At that moment, faintly but distinctly, Cady said,The tree.Her eyes were half shut, her head was bowed,and she still looked as if she were in a trance. Butfor some footing Maggie mat up she ought to listen to her.Hey, waitlook at this. They were standing(a) at the foot of a huge Douglas fir. Its lowest brancheswere much too high to climb in the regular way,but a maple had fallen against it and remainedwedged, branches interlocked with the giant, forming a steep but ascendable ramp. We can go up.Youre crazy, Jeanne saidagain.We cant possibly hide here theyre going to go right by us. And besides, how does she even know theres a tree here?Maggie looked at Arcadia. It was a good quest ion, but Cady wasnt answering. She seemed to bein a trance again.I dont know. But we cant just stand aroundand wait for them to come. The truth was that herinstincts were all standing up and screaming at her,and they said to trust. Lets try it, okay? Come on,P.J.,can you climb that tree?Four minutes later they were all up. Were privacy in a Christmas tree, Maggie thoughtasshe lookedout between sprays of flat aromatic needles. Fromthis height she could see the road, which was justtwo wheel tracks with grass growing d cause the middle.Just then the hunt arrived.The dogs came first, dogsasbigasJake the Great Dane, but leaner. Maggie could see their ribsclearly defined under their short, dusty tan coats.Right behind them were pack on horses.Sylvia was at the front of the group.She was wearing what looked like a gown splitfor riding, in a cool shade of glacier green. Trottingbeside her stirrup was Gavin, the blond slave traderwhod chased Maggie and Cady yesterday and had run to tattle when Delos killed Bern with the blue fire.Yeah, theyre buddy-buddy all right, Maggiethought. But she didnt have time to comprise on it.Coming up fast behind Sylvia were two other citizenry who each gave her a jolt, and she didnt knowwhich shock was worse.One was Delos. He was riding a beautiful horse,so dark brown it was almost black, but with reddish highlights. He sat straight and easy in the saddle, looking every abut the elegant young prince.The only discordant note was the heavy gain vigor on his left arm.Maggie stared at him, her mettle numb.He was after them. It was just as Jeanne hadsaid He was hunting them down with dogs. Andhed probably told Sylvia that he hadnt authentically killedtwo of the slaves.Almost inaudibly, Jeanne breathed, You see?Maggie couldnt look at her.Then she saw other rider below and froze inbewilderment.It was Deloss father.He looked exactly the way he had in Delossmemories. A tall man, with bloodred hair and a moth-eaten, handsome face. Maggie couldnt see his eyes at this distance, but she knew that they were afierce and brilliant yellow.The old king. But he was deadMaggie was tooagitated to be cautious.Who is that? The redhaired man, she murmured urgently to Jeanne.Jeanne answered almost without a sound. huntsman Redfern.Its not the king?Jeanne shook her head minutely. Then, whenMaggie kept staring at her, she breathed. HesDeloss greatgrandfather. He just came. Ill tell youabout it later. Maggie nodded. And the close instant it wasswept out of her head as P.J.s hand clutched at her and she felt a wave of adrenaline.The party below was stopping.The hounds glowering and circled first, forming ahesitant clump not twenty feet down the road.When the people pulled up their horses they werealmost directly below Maggies tree.What is it? the tall man said, the one Jeannehad called hunting watch Redfern.And then one of the hounds changed. Maggiecaught the drawment out of the corner of her eyeand looked quickly, or she would ha ve missed it.The lean, wiry animal reared up, like a dog tryingto look over a fence. But when it reached its fullheight it didnt stagger or go derriere down. It steadied, and its entire dusty-tan body rippled.Then, as if it were the most natural thing in theworld, its shoulders went back and its arms thickened. Its spine straightened and it seemed to gainmore height. Its tail pulled in and disappeared. Andits hound face melted and re-formed, the ears andmuzzle shrinking, the chin growing. In maybetwenty seconds the dog had become a boy, a boy who still wore patches of tan skin here and there,but definitely human-looking.And hes got pants on, Maggie thought distractedly, even though her heart was pounding in herthroat. I wonder how they manage that?The boy off his head toward the riders. Maggie could see the ribs in his bare chest move withhis breathing.Somethings equipment casualty here, he said. I cant followtheir life force anymore. hunting watch Redfern looked around.Are the y stop it?Gavin spoke up from beside Sylvias stirrup.Bern said they were blocking it yesterday.Isnt that impossible? Deloss cool voice camefrom the very back of the group, where he wasexpertly holdinghisnervous,dancinghorsein check. If theyre only humans?Hunter didnt move or blink an eye, but Maggiesaw a glance pass between.Sylvia and Gavin. Sheherself twisted her head slightly, just enough tolook at the other girls in the tree.She wanted to see if Jeanne understood whatthey were talking about, but it was Cady whocaught her eye. Cadys eyes were shut, her head magnetic dip against the dark furrowed trunk of the tree.Her lips were moving, although Maggie couldnthear any sound.And Jeanne was watching her with narrowedeyes and an conceptualisation of grim suspicion. homophile vermin are full of surprises, Hunter Redfern was saying easily down below. It doesnt matter. Well get them eventually.They may be heading for the castle, Sylvia said.Wed better put pointless guards at the gate.Ma ggie noticed how Delos stiffened at that.And so did Hunter Redfern, even though he waslooking the other way. He said calmly, What do you think of that, Prince Delos?Delos didnt move for an instant. Then he said,Yes. Do it. But he said it to a lean, bearded man beside him, who bowed his head in a quick jerk.And he did something that made Maggies heartgo cold.He looked up at her.The other people in his party, including the hounds, were looking up and down the road, orsideways into the forest at their own level. Deloswas the only one whod been sitting quietly, lookingstraight ahead. But now he canted his chin andturned an expressionless face toward the cluster ofbranches where Maggie was sitting.And met her gaze directly.She saw the limelight of his yellow eyes, even at thisdistance. He was looking coolly and steadily-at her.Maggie jerked back and barely caught herselffrom falling. Her heart was pounding so hard itwas choking her. But she didnt seem to be able to do anything but clin g to her branch.Were dead, she thought dizzily, pinned into immobility by those golden eyes. Hes stronger thanthe rest of them hes a Wild Power. And he couldsense us all along.Now all they have to do is march the tree. Wecan try to fight-but we dont have weapons. Theyllbeat us in no time.Go away.The voice gave her a new shock. It wasclear and unemotional-and it was in Maggieshead.Delos?she thought, staring into that burning gaze. You can-?His expression didnt change. I told you before,but you wouldnt listen. What do I have to do to make you show?Maggies heart picked up more speed. Delos, lis ten to me. I dont want Im pattern you,he said, and his mental voicewas like ice. Dont come to the castle. If you do, I wont protect you again.Maggie felt cold to her bones, too numb to evenform words to answer him.I mean it,he said. stick around away from the castle if you want to stay alive.Then he turned away and Maggie felt the contactbetween them broken off cleanly. Where his presence ha d been she could feel emptiness.Lets go, he said in a short, hard voice, and spurred his horse forward.And then they were all moving, heading on downthe path, leaving Maggie trying to keep hertrembling from shaking the tree.When the last horse was out of sight, P.J. let outher breath, sagging. I thought they had us, she whispered.Maggie swallowed. Me, too. But Cady was right.They went on by. She turned. Just what was that stuff about us blocking them?Cady was still leaning her head against the treetrunk, and her eyes were still closed. But sheseemed almost asleep now-and her lips werentmoving.Jeannes eyes followed Maggies. They were stillnarrowed, and her mouth was still tight with something like grim humor. But she didnt say anything.After a moment she quirked an eyebrow andshrugged minutely. Who knows?Youknow, Maggie thought. At least more thanyoure grievous me. But there was something elsebothering her, so she said, Okay, then, what aboutthat guy who looks like Deloss father? Hu nterRedfern.Hes a bigwig in the Night World, Jeanne said.Maybe the biggest. It was his give-and- soak up who foundedthis place back in the fourteen hundreds.Maggie blinked. In the whats?Jeannes eyes glowed briefly, sardonically. In thefourteen hundreds, she said with overstated pa tience.Theyrevampires,allright?Actually, theyre lamia, which is the kind of vampire thatcan have kids, but thats not the point. The point is theyre immortal, except for accidents.That guy has been alive more than five hundredyears, Maggie said slowly, looking down the pathwhere Hunter Redfern had disappeared.Yeah. And, yeah, everybody says how much helooks like the old king. Or the other way around,you know.Delos sure thinks he looks like him, Maggiethought. Shed seen the way Hunter handled Delos,guiding him as expertly as Delos had guided hishorse. Delos was usedto obeying somebody wholooked and sounded just like Hunter Redfern.Then she frowned. Buthow come heisntking?OhJeanne sighed and ducked under a sprayof fir needles that was tangled in her hair. She looked impatient and uneasy. Hes from the Outside, okay? Hes only been here a couple of weeks. altogether the slaves say that he didnt even know aboutthis place before that.Me didnt knowLook. This is the way I heard it from the oldslaves, okay? Hunter Redfern had a son namedChervil when he was really young. And when Cher vil was, like, our age, they had some big argumentand got estranged. And then Chervil ran off withhis friends, and that left Hunter Redfern withoutan heir. And Hunter Redfern never knew thatwhere the kid went was hem. Jeanne gesturedaround the valley. To start his own little kingdom of Night People. But then somehow Hunter found out, so he came to visit. And thats why hes here.She finished and stretched her shoulders, lookingdown the tree-ramp speculatively. P.J. sat quietly, glancing from Jeanne to Maggie. Cady justbreathed.Maggie chewed her lip, not satisfied yet. Heshere just to visit? Thats all?Im a slave. Y ou think I asked him personally?I think you know.Jeanne stared at her a moment, then glanced atP.J. Her look was almost sullen, but Maggieunderstood.Jeanne, shes been through hell already. Whatever it is, she can take it. Right, kiddo?P.J. twisted her plaid cap in a complete circleand colonised it more firmly on her head. Right, shesaid flatly.So tell us, Maggie said. Whats Hunter Redferndoing here?