LOT'S MOUNTAIN

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Barrows

To find the Huntsman, I need to wait for people to dream of wolves. Dammit. I don't know if we have that long.

I should have thrown the Glass Man's medallion in Esther's face. But I didn't. I need the damn thing. I don't want to but I do. The smart thing to do would be to put it on and go invisible. But right now ... I just can't wear it, not after what happened at Belle Lake.

After walking for about five minutes toward the Shermans' place, I hear footsteps. Large ones. It sounds like a big dog. And just when I thought my night couldn't get any worse. The last thing I need is some fanged, hairy company.

Yeah, I'm regretting being all holier-than-thou and not wearing that necklace.

Right on cue, a Stone Hound steps out of the shadows in front of me. Right now, it looks like it's alone. That's a plus, but a big minus is the fact that it's Shard, you know the biggest member of the Make Dylan Caid's Life Hell Fan Club.

"The Stone Men will want to know that you sneak out at night and that you were at Belle Lake tonight," Shard says. "There are many things we can tell them."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"They will be angry," Shard adds, its lips curling up. There are still thin streaks of blood and meat stuck to its teeth.

"They'll be angry? Well, hell, that's nothing new." And then I start walking again. After a few steps, there's a rush of cold air as a shadow passes over me. Shard's in front of me again.

"There will be punishment," Shard replies.

"Again. Nothing new." Crossing my arms over my chest, I get a little more stupid. "Isn't there a cat somewhere you could be chasing?"

It snarls and then sneers, "Next we go to Grief's Dawn. Loomis can stand against a few of us, but not all of us that have now gathered."

That shuts me up.

Then Shard says something that's totally out of left field. "The places where the cemetery hounds dwell will be open to you tonight, but only for tonight. Come with me and Grief's Dawn will be spared."

"You're kidding, right?"

It head lowers even more, its teeth practically in my face. "Follow."

I think that deserves a HELL NO!

While I'm still thinking about the best way to tell Shard to go screw itself, Shard starts digging. Its matted black paws tear into the ground, throwing chunks of weeds and flowers all over the place. Soon, its claws screech against something. When Shard steps back, I see a piece of gray-white granite.

"To hear what I have to say, you must go into our barrows. What we tell you none must overhear, for our interests and for yours."

Man, this is the most Shard has ever said to me without trying to beat the shit out of me. I don't know if I'm flattered or just weirded out. "Barrows?"

One end of the hound's mouth itches up, revealing one of its yellow incisors. It then throws itself downward, claws slice through the stone, cutting a deep gouge in it. Cracks ripple across the top of the granite until the whole thing crumbles inward.

Shard's eye glows even brighter as it stares down into the blackness, beyond the broken stone. "Walk with me, or Grief's Dawn will fall to the reign of Stone. And then we will return to your precious Belle Lake."

With that, Shard squeezes through the hole that it tore into the ground. But I hang back. I'm supposed to be up in my room, hanging out with Nameless. Instead, I'm here, getting ready to run after a creature that could use me as a piece of beef jerky.