Shadow Hunt

Then Scarlett called Dashiell to explain the situation, and Jesse insisted on checking Owen’s wound before the kid got it wet in the shower. When he untied the bandage, he let out a low whistle: it was a nasty-looking scrape on top of a deep bruise, but it didn’t look like it would need stitches. “It’s not as bad as it looks,” Owen said, though he was wincing. “I just didn’t want to leave a blood trail for them to follow.”

“How did you get it?” Jesse asked.

“Getting off the cage rock,” Owen said, as though that would explain everything.

Jesse shook his head. “Never mind. Get yourself cleaned up and you can tell us the whole story.”

He left Owen in the bathroom, hearing the shower go on almost immediately. Scarlett wasn’t talking in the living room anymore, but he found her in the backyard, sluicing muddy water off the bargest with a garden hose. A sponge and a bottle of dog shampoo sat beside her.

“I know it’s cold,” Scarlett was saying, “but we both know what would have happened if I let you use the bathtub again.”

Shadow’s lips drew open in a terrifying doggy grin. “What would have happened?” Jesse asked as he walked over.

“She would have shaken muddy water all over the inside of the house. Again.” Scarlett gave the bargest an exaggerated glare, but Shadow was unrepentant, dancing around in the spray of water, pleased as hell with herself. Jesse couldn’t blame her. She was a hero.

“I can help,” he offered. While Scarlett ran the hose, Jesse bent slightly so he could rub dog shampoo into the bargest’s furry parts, gently cleaning her pebbled skin with the sponge.

“What did Dashiell say?” he asked as they worked.

“He accepts postponing the meeting. He wants us to talk to the kid and get the whole story, then call Hayne. We are provisionally allowed to wake Dashiell during the day, if it’s an absolute emergency.”

“Whoa.” Jesse had some idea of how seriously Dashiell took his security. The one time Scarlett had woken him up during the day, he’d slapped her across the face. Jesse still ground his teeth a little at the memory.

“We are not, however,” Scarlett went on, “to take Owen to the mansion. In case this is all a trap.”

“Huh.” It had occurred to Jesse that Owen’s sudden arrival could be a ploy, of course, but he hadn’t thought the possibility through that far. If Owen was with the Luparii, playing nice with them wasn’t a bad plan. It could potentially get him into Dashiell’s mansion during the day with a null in tow—pretty much the only way the cardinal vampire could be killed, short of an army.

Then again, in that scenario, Shadow would kind of have to be in on the betrayal, which made the whole idea laughable.

“Should we be worried that the kid will run?” Scarlett asked him.

Jesse shook his head. “I don’t think he’s going anywhere. He was limping when he walked into the bathroom, and he’s scared out of his mind. Besides, where can he go on foot that Shadow here couldn’t track him?”

Shadow licked the air near Jesse’s face appreciatively. “What do you think, Shadow?” Scarlett asked the bargest. “Can we trust Owen?”

Shadow’s head tilted sideways for a second, a perfect mimicking of “Let me think about it.” Then she licked the air again and sort of pawed the ground in front of Scarlett.

“She thinks so,” Scarlett translated to Jesse.

She rinsed the bargest one more time and then turned off the hose faucet. “I know you’re gonna shake the water off,” she said in a warning tone, mock-glaring at Shadow. “But if you wait until Jesse and I get back inside, I will give you one of those three-foot ostrich bones I’ve been saving.”

Shadow’s club tail waved, but there was something mischievous about it. Scarlett dropped the nozzle and grinned at Jesse. “Run!”

They dashed around the side of the house, Scarlett laughing breathlessly as they narrowly avoided an exploding grenade of water. For a creature only half-covered in fur, Shadow could really shake off water with the best of them.

Scarlett paused at the front door, leaning against the wall for support. She was still grinning, and her joy was infectious.

“I got her back,” she said, her breathing finally slowing down. There were tears of happiness in her eyes. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with the”—she gestured at her stomach—“or the Luparii or whatever, but I got her back.” Her face broke into a joyous smile. “I got you both back.”

Without thinking about it, Jesse took two quick steps forward so he was inches away from her. Scarlett’s grin faded, but she didn’t move away. For once, she didn’t even make a joke. She just gazed up at him seriously. When he slid his hands around her hips underneath the bulletproof vest, she reached up with both hands and entwined them around his neck—

And then Shadow came rampaging around the corner of the cottage, nosing her way between them in a total dog move. Jesse instinctively stepped back, but not before catching the look of relief on Scarlett’s face. She was glad the bargest had interrupted them.

Shadow pawed at the doorknob, and Scarlett twisted it so she could barrel in.

“Let’s . . . um . . .” Scarlett mumbled, and then she ducked past him into the house.

Jesse cursed himself. What the hell had he been thinking, trying to kiss her? This was Molly’s fault, he decided. She’d gotten into his head. But if Scarlett could compartmentalize, so could he.

The shower was off when he went back inside. A moment later Owen emerged in a pair of Scarlett’s baggiest sweatpants and a too-big Hair of the Dog tee shirt that had probably belonged to Eli. Owen was a bit older than Jesse had first thought, probably twenty or so, with light brown skin that nearly matched Jesse’s own. His eyes were gray blue, same as his grandfather. He looked scared and a little scrawny, and Jesse wondered whether the Luparii had been feeding him. Scarlett must have had the same thought, because she ushered them into the kitchen and started making peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches. “Is there someone you need to call?” Jesse asked the kid. “Someone who’s worried about you?”

Owen tilted his head, thinking it over for a moment. “Yes and no. My dad’s not in the picture, and Mom died three years ago. I’ve got lots of cousins—you saw the picture—but they’re all at least an hour away. I was living with Grandpa until last year, when I finally started college at Cal State Long Beach.”

He didn’t so much trail off as nod off, and Jesse realized the kid was past exhaustion. “Owen?” he said.

The boy’s eyes snapped open. “Right. Um, I’m in the dorms, but . . . I don’t think it’s safe to go back.” He looked down at his hands, which bore a number of small scrapes and bruises. “They got my wallet, with my student ID card. That’s the first place they’ll look for me.”

“Yeah, well, this is probably the second,” Jesse said, looking at Scarlett. She handed him a sandwich and gave one to Owen. “We should move.”

“You’re not wrong,” she said, “but to where?”

Jesse thought it over as they ate, standing around the kitchen or perched on stools. She was right; it was a problem. “If they’ve been watching us for a couple of months, they know all about Will and Dashiell and Kirsten. It’d be too easy to find us there.”

“And Shadow is too memorable for an anonymous hotel,” Scarlett added, giving the bargest a fond look. “If one guest takes a picture of her in the lobby and posts it to social media, we’re screwed.”

“True.” The blinds in the kitchen were closed, but Jesse still had that itchy feeling, like someone was targeting them. “We still need to get out of here, though.”

Owen was listening to the conversation with a kind of detached interest, like a kid whose divorced parents were determining where he would stay that weekend.

“What about Hair of the Dog?” Scarlett suggested. “I still have a key, for emergencies, and no one will be there for hours yet.”

Jesse nodded and grabbed an extra sandwich for the road. “Let’s go.” He glanced at Owen. “You can explain on the way.”