say for the rest of yours — you are an old man — but I have the feeling that when I am dead and buried, you will be here, looking over those who come next.'
Martinez nodded. There was nothing to say. He slipped out into the main room, and Snake watched him go. Then he stepped through with Jake and they headed for the yard in back, and the fire.
~* ~
Donovan waited out front by the bikes. When Martinez stepped outside, he climbed the single step to the porch.
'We have to talk,' Donovan said.
'There isn't much time,'Martinez replied. 'They will be calling for me shortly.'
'You're right to say there isn't much time. We found out some things about Anya's ritual. She isn't finished, but she's close. If she manages to complete the binding again — to complete that ritual, it might be all that it takes to seal the spirits she's summoning into their hosts. If that happens…'
'I am aware of the consequences,' Martinez said softly. 'That is why I am doing everything in my power to prevent it.'
'With the Dragons?'
Martinez hesitated, but didn't answer at first. Then he nodded, as if making some very difficult decision.
'Yes,' he said at last. 'Of course with the Dragons.'
'Fighting the type of power Anya Cabrera is trying to unleash with another uncontrolled power is not a solution. You know that.'
'I must do what I can,' Martinez said. 'I don't have the same resources available to me that you do — or that others do — but I have lived a very long life. There are things that I do know, and those are what I count on in times of danger. The boy has a gift — a gift that I discovered and nurtured. This is his time. It would be wrong to stop what I have started before it has run its course. There is danger in disruption, as well.'
'One more ritual, and Anya will command an army of dark warriors. Can your artist paint so many so fast? Can he arm all of these and keep them safe?'
Donovan waved his arm in a wide arc that took in the clubhouse and all the bikes, the streets beyond and the Barrio, filled with innocent people uninvolved in the conflict raging in their streets. Martinez followed the motion of Donovan's arm, and then shook his head.
'You don't understand,' he said. 'There is not time for me to explain, but you must trust me when I tell you that the answer is yes. If he is allowed to, Salvatore will protect them all.'
'And if you're wrong?' Donovan asked. 'Or if he isn't given that chance? What's your fallback plan? Martinez, you came to me offering peace, but you walked in and out of my home without sharing the truth. Why did you need that formula, and the crystals? What are you planning to do with that paint?'
'I can't answer that,' Martinez said. 'I don't fully know. If I told you what I think, you might agree and help me, and you might try to stop me. If you chose the latter, we'd both end up losers because Anya would certainly have her way with the Barrio, and possibly the city itself if the two of us were out of the picture.
'I have my plans, and you have yours. I trust that you will do all that you can to stop Anya from completing her ritual. I intend to make sure that, should you fail, we aren't without protection.'
'If you lose control,' Donovan said, 'who will protect us from you?'
They stood and stared at one another. For just a second, it seemed as if Martinez might look away, as if he might speak. Then the front door of the clubhouse opened, and Jake stood in silhouetted in the light from the room beyond.
'Snake wants you out there,' the big man said softly.
'Tell him I'll be right there,' Martinez said. He turned back to Donovan.
'You must do what you can,' he said, ' and I will do the same. We seek the same thing, I believe, but we follow different roads to our goals.'
'When this is over,' Donovan said, 'if we are both standing… we will talk. If we cannot do that, there will be new problems.'
Martinez held his gaze, and then nodded. 'It is long overdue,' he said. 'Perhaps…you would like to meet my son…'
Without another word, or waiting to see that Donovan would answer, the old man turned and entered the Dragons' clubhouse. Donovan watched him go, cursed softly under his breath, and then turned away. He needed to find Amethyst, and they needed to get moving, or all of what they'd learned and done would be a waste of time.
~* ~
Martinez walked slowly into the center of the yard, where Snake stood beside the fire pit. All around them faces stared out from shadows. They watched him approach with a combination of fear and awe. He knew they didn't understand him, or trust him. He also knew that they were frightened. Snake stood tall and silent, waiting. Jake had returned to stand beside him.
'I'm ready,' Snake said, not wasting any time or words on preliminaries. 'Bring your boy — your artist — to me. Bring his paints, and his magic. Bring him to me, and we will put an end to all of this once and for all.'
Whispers sounded around the clearing. Words were spoken too low to be heard. Hushed questions were stilled by nervous coughs. No one dared to voice opposition, or to question what Snake said. The time for debate had apparently passed.
'I will return within the hour,' Martinez said.
Snake nodded, held his gaze for a moment, and then turned his back, staring off across the fence sealing them from the world. As solid as the wood seemed, the darkness encroached, and though the fire flickered and blazed, it seemed lost and empty in that greater void.
Martinez turned, and returned the way he'd come.
Snake turned to Jake and spoke softly.
'You'd better be right,' he said. 'For all our sakes…you'd better be fucking right.'
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Donovan was halfway down the dark tunnel toward home when a shadow flickered across the floor. He froze. He'd never encountered another living thing in the tunnels. There might be things trapped inside. There might be others with the knowledge and power to walk those hidden roads. He hadn't survived by ignoring danger, and he had no time for confrontation. When a soft growl that rose to an almost inquisitive yowl floated from the shadows he could only stare in amazement. He hurried forward.
'Cleo?'
The cat stepped from the shadows, hunkered low, and then leaped. Donovan caught her and held her up, staring in consternation. The two were connected in ways that sometimes amazed him, but he hadn't dreamed that she could walk the portals.
'What is it?' he asked. 'What are you doing out?'
Cleo emitted another low yowling sound. Donovan closed his eyes, concentrated on releasing his thoughts, and sought the link. If Cleo had something to tell him, they wouldn't be chatting about it. If she'd found her way out of his home and into this dark place to find him, something was very, very wrong.
His mind blanked, just for a moment, and then filled with a series of images that were hard to follow. He concentrated and made the shift from human to feline perception. Everything was larger, and his line of sight was very low to the ground. The world was a chiaroscuro wash of gray-scales and shadow. He gritted his teeth and focused.
After a moment, he recognized the Barrio, but not any of the areas they'd visited recently. This was a park on the far side of Anya Cabrera's shop, several streets over and nearer to the city proper. He saw shadows moving, and at first thought it was just traffic on the street. It was difficult to interface with Cleo's thoughts. The world shifted, and he nearly broke the connection as she leaped to a fence, changing the perspective with sickening swiftness.
Donovan felt Cleo's anger grow, felt a shiver as the hairs on her back rose, and the world shimmered back
