The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron Page B

Spiritualist fell tumbling to the ground with a sickening thud.
    The giant hound sprang forward with a terrifying roar, landing in a protective crouch above his motionless mistress. “Monster!” he roared, his patterns whirling through the thick cloud of dust and grit. “What did you do?”
    “I’m sure we don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eli said, dusting himself off. “We were the ones attacked by a mon—”
    Gin didn’t give the thief a chance to finish. He leaped forward, almost too fast to see, his claws going straight for Nico’s throat. He would have struck true if Josef’s blade hadn’t been there. The swordsman parried the hound’s swipe at the last second, but the impact took them both to the ground. Josef rolled and came up sword first. The hound pushed off the grass in a shower of dirt and wheeled around, narrowly dodging the swordsman’s counterswipe with a well-timed leap.
    “Stand aside, human,” Gin snarled, his hackles bristling as he circled for another charge. “It’s not you I want now. Rest assured, I’ll eat you later for what you did to my mistress.”
    “Growl all you want, pup.” Josef flipped his swords with a toothy grin, and pointed both tips at the ghosthound’s nose. “I’m no wizard, so if you have something to tell me, you’ll have to say it in a language I understand.”
    The ghosthound clawed the ground and launched forward, teeth snapping in readiness to crush the swordsman’s skull, but before he had gone more than a few feet, something extraordinary happened. On either side of the charging hound, enormous roots burst out of the ground. They flew like spears, shooting out of the dirt and over the ghosthound in a tall arc. Then, with a whip crack, they slammed down hard, pinning the dog beneath them. Howling, Gin clawed and tore at the ground, foam flicking from his mouth as he fought to get free, but it was no use. The roots were young and strong, and, as much as he struggled, they would not let him go.
    Josef stared in confusion for a moment and then glanced over at Eli, who looked to be in deep conversationwith the stand of oaks on the far side of the clearing, and his face fell.
    “Powers, Eli, did you have to?” He slammed his swords back into their sheaths. “Things were finally getting interesting.”
    Eli finished thanking the trees and turned to scowl at his companion. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll still want to kill you later, but we don’t have time for this right now. You were the one who said we should be early.”
    Josef grunted and turned away. “Nico,” he called, “grab the king.”
    Nico nodded and reached down. The king shied away from her with a terrified squeak. On her next grab, she didn’t give him the chance to dodge. She took hold of his collar and dragged him up. Then, as easily as a thresher lifts a bag of chaff, she roped her arm around his middle and hoisted him onto her shoulders. She looked at Josef, who nodded, and they began to walk slowly in the direction they had been going before the disturbance.
    Eli didn’t follow immediately. Instead, he walked over to the struggling ghosthound and knelt just out of claw range, so that he was eye to enormous eye with the beast.
    “I asked the trees to hold you until nightfall,” he said, watching in amusement as the hound tried to snap at him. “You’re no servant spirit, are you? I’ve never heard of a Spiritualist keeping a ghosthound in a ring, and no member of the Spirit Court would enslave a spirit against its will. So, I’m curious, why do you follow her? Did she save your life? Pull a thorn out of your paw?”
    “Come a little closer,” the hound growled, “and I’ll tell you.”
    “Maybe later.” Eli stood, brushing the dirt off hisknees. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find us easily enough when you do get out, but I would suggest you look to your mistress first.” He glanced over at the Spiritualist’s crumpled body. “We humans are so