Page 73 of Nightshade

Didn’t matter really. I could see him from where I lay, still standing in that window, watching the whole thing. What kind of person could stand by and watch something like that go down without intervening?

“I’m not really sure what this means,” I said, pushing up to my elbows.

“Me, neither. The dogs have never actually liked a visitor. Until now.”

“Well, that’s something, I guess.”

Cerberus laid down beside me, resting his head on his paws, and let out a small whine. Confused, I took it as a cue and lifted my hand to pet him. Hesitant at first, but when my fingers made contact with the back of his neck, he offered a lick to my now exposed thigh.

“Oh, my. This is something indeed. A miracle, if I’ve ever seen one!” Anya made an excited sound in her throat that seemed unfitting for a woman who came off so proper and serious all the time. “Miss Ravenshaw, welcome to your new job. Caretaker.”

“What?”

“It’s clear they’re smitten with you. There isn’t a soul in Blackwater they’ve shown so much … affection toward, aside from Master Van Croix. You must stay now.”

“Don’t you have to clear it with him first?”

“If he wishes to have his dogs cared for and fed, he has no choice. Wait here. I’ll have a quick chat with him about it. If you’re still interested in staying, that is.”

Was I? Had I lost my mind to stay in a place where they allowed dogs to maul suspected murderers?

“I guess I am.”

23

Jericho

“I’ve admittedly never seen anything like that before, Master. You can’t deny that it wasn’t just a bit strange yourself?”

I stood at my office window, staring down at the young woman, who laughed and played with the dogs on the front yard as if they were a litter of puppies, and not the dogs I’d trained to attack on sight.

Yes, I could admit, it was strange.

The only other being, besides myself, who could command the dogs without risk of attack, was Solomon, the caretaker from years ago, who was killed on his way back from town. Still, the dogs had never played, and except for the brief time when they’d been rambunctious and unruly puppies, I hadn’t thought them capable of such a thing. They’d been bred for one purpose alone, and watching them wag their tails, prancing around the woman like a bunch of poodles, sent waves of alarm through me.

They looked ridiculous.

“It’d be foolish to send her off at this point,” Anya added.

“I’d like to think you didn’t just call me a fool.” I twisted around, stamping my cigarette out into the ashtray there. Smoking was only an occasional vice—reserved for times when something gnawed at me.

Like the strange woman.

“Of course not. But perhaps you might consider letting her stay?”

Letting her stay. As if the decision were that easy.

Closing my eyes gave momentary reprieve to the way she looked in that dress, capering about the yard like some kind of winter nymph. Except, in the refuge of my thoughts, I imagined stealing away with her at night. Sweat. Moans. Exhilaration.

Distraction.

“Have you so easily overlooked the fact that I do not take in strays? Or have you forgotten?”

“I know quite well, Master. And under any other circumstances, I’d tuck my tail for having defied your orders. But she is different. Clearly.”

She was. I could smell it on the air, the sweet perfumed scent which separated her from every other female in the place.

“Regardless, I’m not interested in watching my dogs prance around like show ponies.”