Bite Marks

“Okay. I just wondered how—”

“I called the Agency’s warlock,” he finally admitted. “It was Vayl’s idea.” He frowned as he handed my boss his phone. “By the way, he doesn’t appreciate being called at seven a.m. when he didn’t get to bed until three. I thought he might frogify me through the receiver there for a minute.” Vayl shrugged. “As far as I know Sterling is not on assignment, which means his band probably had a gig last night. Do not worry.He is a decent sort, if somewhat moody.”

“Oh.” Bergman nodded, like that made sense. “Well, Sterling told me to get something that the wall would really be made of and throw it at the fake door while I said—huh. I can’t remember the words now. Anyway, he says it’s only a temporary stopper, but it’ll hold them long enough for us to get away.” Which was when we heard a series of thumps on the other side of the wall. Followed by shouts and cursing. Followed by prayers to Ufran for forgiveness for the cursing.

“Shouldn’t we go?” It was Tabitha, checking her watch and pacing at the top of the steps while Laal and Pajo showered big love on Jack, who withstood the hugs and tugs with his usual good humor.

I started to nod; then I noticed the celebration was missing a partier. “Where’s Cassandra?” As if I didn’t know.

My sverhamin came so close to me that I could feel his breath on my cheeks as he murmured, “I must confess I lied to you earlier. That second tunnel led to the basement of a church. She has taken refuge there until we return for her.”

“WHAT?”

Granny May grinned. Nice acting, Jazzy. Brude is totally convinced.

Vayl kept his voice level, calm, and low enough that only Bergman, he, and I could hear. “She thought it best. And I agreed.”

I shrugged. “Sounds like a plan.” When I felt Brude step back from the conversation I smiled and nodded, said, “Guess we’ll have some good stories to trade next time we get together.”

“Indeed.” Vayl glanced at the door, still blocked despite the loud and continuous onslaught on its opposite side. “We should go.”

“Fine.” I took the stairs two at a time, Astral keeping up nicely despite having passed a couple of grenades recently. I decided I just might get to like the little robot. Jack obviously felt the same. And he’d chosen this moment to bond.

I couldn’t fault his timing. Tabitha had begun to herd the kids toward the Wheezer. The rest of us raced after, leaving him free to demonstrate his affection for the newest member of the family. I caught it all in a single over- the-shoulder glance.

She might’ve had a chance if he’d barked. But he’d remembered their last encounter and decided to approach with wolflike stealth.

Under no orders to do otherwise, Astral sat down in the crackling brown grass and proceeded to groom the gray dust off her exterior, becoming so immersed in the job that he took her completely by surprise.

His jump brought him over the top of her, giving him position to lick her right between the ears before he gently cuffed her with a big front paw. Despite the fact that he was careful, his boot sent her spinning. His this-rocks! grin, an expression I’ve yet to see on another dog, dropped off his muzzle when Astral flipped sideways, snarled in a metallic, my-gears-have-stuck sort of way…

And her head blew off.

It hurtled straight toward Bergman. Vayl dove for him, barely shoving him clear before it rocketed into the side of the building, ricocheted into the fence, and bounced onto the lawn like a renegade croquet ball.

“Holy sh—!” I stopped myself just in time to spare the kids, who’d turned to witness the carnage.

“Cool!” said Laal. “It’s a robot!”

“And it blew up!” yelled Pajo. He tugged on his mother’s skirt. “Do it again! Do it again!” Moment of stunned silence while we watched Astral’s legs jerk and Vayl made a coughing-up-chicken-bones noise that only I knew was his version of barely repressed mirth. I didn’t dare look at him for fear I’d start laughing, and then Bergman, standing beside Vayl, holding on to the crown of his hat with both hands, would never forgive me.

I checked Jack to make sure his yelp had purely been one of surprise. He seemed to know he’d done something bad, because his tail remained between his legs even after I’d reassured him he was okay.

I picked up the body, which stayed stiff as one of those lifelike planters with the hole drilled in the belly for a bunch of geraniums. I risked a glance at Bergman. I couldn’t tell if the deep furrow between his eyes meant he was holding back tears or he wanted to kick some kittybot-killing ass.

Always long on wisdom, Vayl decided to move away from Bergman so he wouldn’t notice the shaking of my boss’s shoulders. He walked toward the Wheezer, and had almost made it to the car when he stopped and said, “The head is over here.”

We joined him, only some of us to gawk. Astral’s head lay on the ground. While smoke still spiraled from the ears and clear fluid leaked from the neck, I didn’t see much in the way of dangling parts.

Jack gave it a sniff and slumped into his I’ve-been-bad position, lying with his tail tucked under his butt, blinking soulfully up at us as if to apologize for our inconvenience.

“Look at him,” I said. “He feels terrible.”

“Aww.” Laal and Pajo knelt by Jack and began rubbing him down, telling him it was okay. Tabitha kept glancing from them to the car and rocking from one foot to the other like she really wanted to make a break for it now that the coast was clear, but she knew it would be rude to run while her rescuers were mourning.

I said, “I’m sorry, Miles. Jack was just playing. He didn’t mean to hurt her.” I retrieved Astral’s head, silently thanking Raoul’s boss that her eyelids had shut.

“I’m really sorry, Miles,” I repeated. Should I try to stick the head back on the body? Would some kind of internal magnet at least pull it back together for the burial? Such wishful thinking. “He was just trying to make friends.”

When my dog started to get up I gave him my don’t-even-go-there glare and he sank back down, dropping his head to his paws. Laal and Pajo began the scratchfest all over again. I said, “I’ll cover