Hounded

cleanup lasted maybe another, so I should be paid up for ten hours already. Speaking of blood, I put the scrap of paper with Radomila’s blood on it inside an old collection of stories about the Fianna and locked it away in the glass bookcase in my study.
    To be safe, I camouflaged my herbs in the backyard so it looked like I had nothing along my fence but empty shelves. No telling what the cops would think about all the plant life back there; they’d probably assume some of it must be illegal and confiscate the lot of it to have it analyzed, and I’m sure it would come back to me half dead or worse. Fagles would do it just to get back at me for staring him down.
    While it was a load of inconvenience, I couldn’t get myself too angry with them. They were only doing their jobs, and, after all, I really was the bad guy in this case—or, at least, Oberon was.
    Satisfied that I had hidden what needed hiding, I put in a call to Hal on his cell phone and explained my extraordinary needs for a Sunday. If Jimenez could get a warrant on Sunday, then I could get a lawyer. Hal said he’d send over a junior associate to guard the castle.
    » Is he a pack member? « I asked.
    » Yes. Does that matter? «
    » Just tell him to keep a sharp ear and nose out. If one of my pantheon is behind this, then there might be some magical skulduggery going on. The police might bring someone along who isn’t entirely human, for example. «
    » They probably won’t show up at all. I’ve never heard of a search warrant for a dog. You may be the most paranoid man I’ve ever met. «
    » I’m certainly the longest lived you’ve ever met. «
    » Point taken. I’ll tell him. «
    I showered and dressed, cast camouflage back on Oberon, and slung Fragarach across my back. I was anxious to visit the widow’s house and make sure she was okay.
    Nothing looked amiss from the street. The blood had washed away or soaked into the asphalt sufficiently. Going around to the back, I saw nothing, not so much as a disturbed patch of ground. With a shudder, I considered the likelihood that the Morrigan had eaten him. Shaking my head to clear the grisly image, I walked back to the front, Oberon panting softly behind me. I knocked on the widow’s front door and she answered after a minute, looking spry and chipper.
    » Ah, me dear boy Atticus, ’tis a pleasure to see ye again and that’s no lie. Have ye killed any more Brits for me? «
    » Good morning, Mrs. MacDonagh. No, I haven’t killed any more Brits. I hope you won’t be talking about that with anyone. «
    » Tish, d’ye think I’m daft? I’m not there yet, thank the Lord. It’s all due to clean livin’ and good Irish whiskey. Would y’be havin’ some with me? Come on in. « She opened the screen door and beckoned.
    » No, thank you, Mrs. MacDonagh, it’s not yet ten in the morning, and it’s Sunday. «
    » An’ don’t I know it? I have to be goin’ to Mass soon enough at the Newman Center. But the father can drone on at times, and he keeps preaching to the youngsters what go there, all those ASU kids, y’know, who have those merry sins of the flesh to worry about, so I find a finger or two o’ the Irish helps me bear it with patience. «
    » Wait. You go to church drunk? «
    » Mellow is the word I’d be usin’, if y’please. «
    » You don’t drive there, uh, mellow, do you? «
    » Of course not! « She looked affronted. » I get a ride from that nice Murphy family what lives down the street. «
    » Oh. Well, that’s fine, then. I just wanted to make sure you were all right, Mrs. MacDonagh. I have to go to work now, so you can go, uh, get mellow, and enjoy your day. Peace be with you. «
    » And also with you, m’boy. Are y’sure I can’t convince ye to get baptized? «
    » Quite sure, « I said. » But thank you again for the offer. Bye now. «
    › Um, Atticus? ‹ Oberon said as he trotted behind my bike, once we were safely on the way to the store, › What’s baptized mean? ‹
    It means a priest dunks you in some water and when you come out you’re reborn .
    › Really? So if I got baptized I’d be a puppy again? ‹
    No, you’re not literally reborn in the physical sense. It’s a symbolic thing. Your spirit is supposed to be reborn because you’re washed clean of sins .
    Oberon took twenty yards or so to consider this, his nails clicking on the sidewalk as we turned right on University Drive. › But the water just gets your skin and fur wet, right? How can