Page 96 of Shadow Blind

As they advanced on the closet, Samuel called for One Bird through the Neealaho. Since his Caetanee wasn’t bleeding, the request must have been on Wolf’s behalf. Ironically, he’d pushed the injury so far from his mind, he’d forgotten about it. It didn’t even burn anymore. But when he glanced down, he found the fabric covering the wound soaked and dripping.

They took position on the left side of the door, Wolf in front, Samuel behind. Wolf jerked the door open.

An explosion of ferocious barking greeted them, but the dog didn’t attack. It didn’t show itself at all. But the row of dresses and coats dangling from the wooden rod shivered. And then the dog’s barking snapped off with a squeal.

“Hush, Muffin. Hush. They’ll hear you,” a thick Australian accent said from behind the curtain of dresses. Although the words were more sobbed than spoken.

Judging by the dog’s previous barking, and the woman’s heavy, sobby breathing, the gas had never reached back here. It was likely inert now, anyway. Which meant their gas masks were unnecessary. He removed his helmet and took his mask off. He waited a couple of seconds for any ill effects. When he felt no dizziness, he tossed it to the side and pulled his helmet back on. He’d stow the gas mask in his pack after their targets were secure.

The woman’s sobs gained strength. She was crying so hard, the clothes surrounding her trembled. The dog, on the other hand, had dropped from barking to whining.

Wolf stifled a sigh. “We know you’re in there.” Of course they did. Her escalating sobs were a dead giveaway. “Leash your dog and come out. You will not be harmed.”

The sobs shifted to shrieks, and the dog started barking like a banshee again. “I have…I have a gun…I know how to use it.”

Wolf barely heard her. Were the two competing for who could cause the worst headache?

“As do we.” He waited. No movement from inside. Even the clothes were still. “Your provider is bound. He cannot rescue you. Toss your weapon out. You will not be harmed.”

The shrieks turned into screams, the barks into one long, shrill howl. Wolf winced. A miniature gun with a gold handle came flying out. Apparently, Kuznetsov’s mistress hadn’t been lying about that, if one could call this toy a gun.

“I’m…I’m not wearing…any…any clothes,” the woman said between sobbing shrieks.

Wolf shook his head, frowning at the rack of clothes above the disembodied voice. “Lady, there’s an entire closet of clothes above your head.”

Benioko’s contact hadn’t been lying about the woman’s mental acuity.

“Ho'cee,” One Bird said from behind him. “Allow me to attend to your arm.”

Knowing Samuel could handle the woman and dog, Wolf turned to greet Aggress One’s spirit healer. Aggress Two had their own healer…which reminded him. “Those shots from earlier, how bad?”

One Bird shook his head. His square face placid, he followed Wolf over to the bed. “Those who required it have received the Hee-Hee-Thae.”

Wolf frowned. “How many?”

“Two.” One Bird glanced over at Kuznetsov, who was still unconscious. “Roberto was thigh shot. He recovers.”

Wolf frowned. They had their mark, but the battle was far from over. A healer’s energy was limited. His wound was minor. Best to save the Hee-Hee-Thae blessing for the flight home, when the risk of additional wounds was in the past.

“Stitch it for now.” Wolf sat on the bed, facing their captive.

Samuel escorted Kuznetsov’s woman from the closet as One Bird finished stitching Wolf’s arm. She’d pulled on a blue, clingy, thigh length dress. Tight arms, with red-tipped fingernails, clutched a mop of white against her impressive breasts. The mop bared a set of small fangs at him. A low growl vibrated out of its open mouth. How did it know where to look? Its eyes were completely covered by fluffy white fleece.

The Australian wobbled toward him on impractical, six-inch stilettos. Even someone with the brains of a wild turnip should know better than wearing shoes she could not run in. The woman stopped dead at the sight of Kuznetsov’s naked body on the bed. Her shrieks, which had subsided, rose again.

“Oh, fuck! Fuck! You killed him!” The dog emphasized her accusation with a round of barking so rabid its forehead fleece bounced along with its cries. Round, dark eyes were periodically revealed, only to disappear again.

The shrillness of the dog’s barking along with the woman’s shrieking pierced Wolf’s head like a poker of fire. One Bird’s, too, as witnessed by his wince. Kuznetsov even responded by shifting on the bed.

“Enough!” Wolf bellowed. “Sit down, shut up, and keep that dog quiet, or one of us will quiet it for you.”

Not that he’d kill a dog because of its instinctive urge to bark. But Kuznetsov’s mistress didn’t know that, as proven by the ashen tone that edged out the white in her face and the way she urgently shushed and jiggled the dog. Her movement stopped the animal’s barking, but a queasy look settled over its furry face, like the woman’s relentless rocking was making it seasick.

Since the woman had forgotten how to move, Samuel dragged her across the floor and shoved her against the wall without bothering to secure her arms or legs. “Sit.”

The very curtness of Samuel’s order told Wolf his Caetanee had lost patience with the woman and her pet.

Kuznetsov lifted his head, his muddy brown eyes muddier. He used his cuffed hands to push himself up, only to collapse back on the mattress. The Russian was still too out of it to interrogate.

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