evening, not nearly a decade ago. Obviously, no waiver was signed, and Ortes became Duke shortly after his father retired. Casshorn later claimed that someone had added a narcotic to his drink, but by then it was too late, and he seemed to accept it. Apparently, he found a new way of obtaining the power he always wanted.”
Jeremiah frowned. “Why the Edge? Why our small neck of the woods?”
Declan rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. “The Edge has no strong police or military force. Any resistance he encounters will be fragmented, since nobody but Edgers care what happens between the worlds. As to what his purpose is, I don’t know. I think he may have started with some idea of conquering the Edge, building up an army of hounds, and avenging himself on all the people who wronged him in Adrianglia. However, whatever he has done to earn immunity from the hounds is changing him. I’m not sure how much of his humanity remains.”
“I think his conquering plans bit the dust,” Rose said. “He simply wants to absorb magic and eat us now. He kept his face hidden, but his hands looked like paws. He has claws instead of nails. If he conquers the Edge, it will be so he can feed.”
“He can’t be reasoned with,” Tom Buckwell said.
Lee turned to him. “How do you know?”
Tom’s bushy beard moved around a bit. His face looked sour. “Fred Simoen sent Brad Dillon up to him with gifts.”
“He what?” Grandma drew from the table in shock.
“I told him not to do it,” Tom growled. “I said from the get-go that it was a lousy idea and it wouldn’t end well, but there was no reasoning with him. Fred thinks he can buy the world.”
Rose thought of Casshorn raving on about the delicious man he had received as a gift. Nausea squirmed through her. “Casshorn ate Brad, didn’t he?”
“He sure did,” Tom said. “At least that’s what Fred said, before he and the whole clan peeled out of the Edge like their arses were on fire.”
Rose rubbed her face. Brad was slime, but to die like this . . . Nobody deserved that. She thought of the boys being eaten and had to clench her hands under the table.
Declan’s large hand settled on her fist. He rubbed her hand with his dry warm fingers. “So you do know where Casshorn is?”
Silence fell around the table.
“He’s in Moss Ravine,” Adele said. “The Wood started dying there about six days ago.”
Lee threw his hands in the air. “And he needs to know that why?”
“It’s his mess,” Emily creaked. “Let him clean it up.”
“That’s a real good point.” Lee swung to Declan. “Why aren’t more of you fellows here taking care of this problem? Why is it you’re here by your lonesome? It’s your mess.”
“Technically, the Duke has no jurisdiction in the Edge,” Declan said. “So it’s your mess at the moment.”
“But they did send you,” Jeremiah said.
“Oh, come on.” Tom Buckwell slapped the table with his big hands. “He’s covert ops, if I ever saw one. They ain’t gonna send a battalion to help us out, because that would mean they’d have to admit that Duke’s psycho brother made off with their supersecret apocalypse machine, which they weren’t supposed to have in the first place. They sent one guy, a killer, and if he fails, they’re gonna deny they ever knew anything about the whole deal.”
“Not quite,” Declan said. His hand still stroked Rose’s under the table. “I have a time limit. If in a fortnight I don’t inform His Grace that Casshorn is dead and the device is destroyed, the Duke will take further measures.”
“The Red Legion,” Grandma said softly.
Declan nodded.
“What does that mean?” Lee Stearns asked.
Grandma’s mouth flattened into a severe line. “When the Red Legion comes through, nothing remains.”
“You may hide in the Broken,” Declan said, “but they’ll purge East Laporte. It will be like you were never here.”
Lee glared. “They have no right!”
“Think,” Tom Buckwell said. “Fifty fellows just like him. They’ll come and wipe the place out, so we have nothing to come back to. That’s what the U.S. did in Korea. They don’t want us sitting in East Laporte spreading rumors of their doom machine. And he”—Tom stabbed his finger in Declan’s direction—“he’s the one who’s gonna carry the responsibility for us getting wiped off the map on his soul. It will be his call. Nobody wants to make a call like that.”
“Why are you here?” Adele asked softly. “Why did you choose to be the one?”
“I have my reasons,” Declan said.
This wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “There is a changeling,” Rose said, ignoring Declan’s sharp glance. His hand abruptly left hers. “Casshorn has some sort of hold over him. His name’s William.”
“Is he the one who hung Emerson on Dead Horse Oak?” Emily Paw asked.
Rose nodded. “Declan and William were friends, and he wants to save him.”
“An army buddy, I bet.” Tom Buckwell nodded. “Figures. It’s good for us. Makes it nice and personal, so you’ll fight harder. You got a plan?”
“I can take Casshorn in a one-on-one physical fight,” Declan said. “But he knows this. I need to separate him from the hounds. Since the device produces the hounds continuously, one at a time, the only way to get Casshorn alone is to rapidly destroy a large number of his beasts. Unfortunately, he seems to be directing their actions. He may not be fully human, but he would recognize a trap. I would know more if I could survey his position and see what sort of odds we were facing.”
Jeremiah rose. “I think we’ve heard enough. We need to confer. Let’s let the young ones get some air.”
AS the wooden door shut behind her and Declan, Rose blinked against the sunlight and sank on the porch. “Well, that went as well as it could.”
“You told them about William,” he said.
“Yes, I did. Words like ‘duty’ don’t mean much to them. They understand friendship and family. They wouldn’t touch you because you’re powerful and they’re afraid of retribution from the Weird. They can’t hurt the hounds, because they absorb magic. But they could hurt William. With things the way they are, if they saw a strange changeling, they might act first and ask questions later. They’re all cursers, Declan. You saw what Jeremiah did to that bird, and you know what my grandmother tried to do to you.”
She faced the weighty look in his eyes. “I know it’s a private thing between you and him. But it was best they knew. They might not hurt him now.”
“Why the sudden love for William?”
“Are you jealous?” She narrowed her eyes.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I worry about William, because he’s important to you,” she said. “Because I feel that until the two of you settle things between yourselves, it will eat at you. And if William’s truly helping Casshorn . . . You’ll have to kill him, won’t you?”
“Yes,” Declan said.
He would have to kill his best friend. Rose looked away, at the trees, at the grass, at her hands. Her stomach churned. It had all gone so wrong somehow, and so fast, and fixing it seemed impossible. Two weeks ago, life was a normal drudgery, and seemingly overnight, her stable world became the place where demonic creatures hunted small boys so they could eat them and the man she loved had to pick between his survival and the life of his best friend.
She was caught in an ugly dream and couldn’t wake up, and the fear that clung to her every second was worst of all. She was scared for the boys and Grandma and terribly frightened for Declan, so badly it hurt inside, as if her bones ached. If she let herself dream just a little, she glimpsed a hint of fragile happiness that might even be hers, if not forever, then for a little while, and it was about to be ripped away from her. She was so sick of being scared. “You said you were a Marshal. Is this what you do?” she asked. “This is what your job is like?”
Declan nodded.
“And it’s always like this?”
