“Make up your mind,” Hugh said. “Because I’ll splinter every bone in his body. He’ll be soft like a rag doll by the time I’m done.”
I couldn’t let Ascanio die. It wasn’t in me.
It felt like the words cut my mouth on their way out. “Heal him and I’ll open the cage.”
“This is a mistake,” Robert said.
Hugh smiled.
I held up the keys. “You have my word. Heal the boy and I’ll open the cage.”
Hugh turned to Ascanio and raised his hand. Magic built around him like a wave about to break. A steady blue glow slowly flared around his body.
The magic plunged onto Ascanio’s body in a deluge. He cried out.
Ted struggled to say something. His big body shook. The tough old bastard refused to die.
Hugh ignored him, his magic streaming from him into Ascanio.
Ted’s voice was a hoarse rattle, as if an anvil rested on his chest and he couldn’t draw enough air. “Your . . . mission . . .”
Ascanio’s rib cage expanded back, the bones moving slowly back into his chest.
“. . . is . . .”
Ted gasped. Blood poured from his mouth. “Aborted.”
What?
“Effective immediately.”
Ted’s legs convulsed. He gripped the edge of the desk, holding himself upright by sheer will. “Central, acknowledge.”
“Acknowledged,” Maxine’s voice said in my head. Robert looked around, startled. Hugh stopped and raised his head. Everyone in the room must’ve heard it. “Knight-crusader Nikolas Feldman, you are hereby ordered to return to regular duties.”
I knew only one Feldman. Greg, my deceased guardian.
Ted’s hand slipped. He sagged to the ground. Blood gushed out of his mouth.
Nick stepped forward. The twin thorn vines shot out of his body and punched Hugh in the chest, sweeping him off his feet. The preceptor of the Order of Iron Dogs flew and crashed to the floor outside the room. Nick ripped a green shield off the wall, revealing a switch and punching it. A metal portcullis slid in place, separating Hugh from the rest of us.
They had a portcullis! I almost choked. Okay, so I didn’t know it was there; the other knights may not have known either. But Ted knew. He could’ve locked Hugh out at any time.
Hugh rolled to his feet and screamed, a howl of pure fury.
Uath ran down the stairs. “We have to go.”
Hugh stabbed at the portcullis with his hand. “I want this broken.”
“There’s no time,” she said.
He spun to her, his face contorted.
Uath shrank back. “A National Guard platoon is incoming. They’re less than a mile out.”
“How many?”
“Two squads. Eighteen soldiers and a mage unit. We can wipe them out but it will take too much time. By the time we’re done, half of the city will be on us.”
Hugh looked at the ceiling.
“Sir,” Uath said. “Should I take up a defensive position?”
Hugh’s anger imploded. His face slid into icy calm. “No. Move our people out.”
Uath ran back up the stairs.
Hugh pointed through the bars at Nick. “Well played. You and I aren’t done.” He turned to me. “At noon, I’ll be coming for you.”
He turned and walked up the stairs.
I thrust my hand between the bars and unlocked the cage.
Nick walked over to Ted, crouched, and touched his neck. His voice shook with suppressed rage.
“Well, here we are. You’re dead, you fucking dumb bastard. Two years of my life undercover. Do you have any idea what sort of shit I’ve seen? Do you know the things I had to do? The things they did to me? Two years of gathering information, waiting for a chance to make a difference. And you burned me. You threw it all away so you could have a witness to your holy war.” Nick rose and kicked Ted in the head. “And now you’re dead, you fucker, and I have to live with all of it.”
I swung the door open and ran to Ascanio. He was breathing. The gashes were still open, but his chest was no longer a misshapen mess. I turned to Mauro and felt for a pulse. Please. Please, please, please . . .
No shiver. Not a hint. Mauro was dead. He was dead. How would I ever explain it to his wife? How . . . ? Who would look after all the dogs he raised . . . ? He was just alive, just a minute ago. He would never go home. He was just dead. I felt so hollow, so ragged, as if my soul had been shredded to pieces. It hurt. It just hurt so much.
When the National Guardsmen came to pry us out of the vault, I was sitting by Mauro’s body, Robert was trying to call to the Pack from the Order’s phone, and Nick was kicking Ted Moynohan’s corpse and growling like a rabid animal.
10
ONCE THE MSDU took over the scene, they found the Order’s petition and released us. The last I saw of Nick Feldman, he was surrounded by soldiers. There was no getting to him. We had convinced the National Guard to give us a lift to one of the Pack offices. From there Robert and I had loaded Desandra, Derek, and Ascanio into a Pack vehicle and driven to the Keep. None of the three moved. They were still breathing, but we needed to get them to Doolittle.
I walked into the Keep two hours before dawn, covered in drying blood and limping. My face must’ve been terrible, because people moved out of my way.
The Keep was crowded. Every shapeshifter in the city who didn’t evacuate had traveled here.
Barabas came running down the stairs.
“Curran?”
“No word yet.”
“Julie?”
“Should be in Virginia by now.”
I turned around. The Keep had gone quiet around me. People stood in the hallways and on the stairs, waiting. I was the Consort. I was their alpha.
My voice rang out in the sudden silence. “Bring me Dorie Davis! Bring her to me alive!”
Everyone moved. People dashed in all directions, some human, some furry. The Keep sprang to life.
Behind me Robert roared, “We need a medic!”
Jim appeared as if by magic.
“I need to tell you some things. Come upstairs.”
I marched upstairs into one of the conference rooms and landed in a chair. Some time ago I had gone to a place where pain didn’t matter, but now it was coming back again, gnawing at me. Everything hurt. Jim followed me.
Thirty minutes later I finished talking.
Jim leaned forward and flashed his teeth. “Hugh fucked up.”
“Yes. He’d had the advantage, what with us being the guilty party, and he pissed it away by attacking the Order. He’ll still bring the People here, but now the city won’t help him.”
“We can use this,” Jim said. I could almost see the wheels in his head spinning.
“We need Dorie Davis.”
“I’ll find her,” Jim promised. “We can work with this, Kate. The MSDU and PAD were staying neutral, but this just changed the game.”
“Maxine called Nick the crusader Nikolas Feldman,” I said.
“Interesting last name,” Jim said.
“Is he related to Greg Feldman?”
“I don’t know,” Jim said.
“Nick showed up right after Greg was killed, he involved himself in the investigation, and he has the same last name. When this is over, I need you to find out if Greg Feldman had a younger brother or a son.” Because that would just be the cherry on the bloody sundae of the past twenty-four hours.
“Likely a brother. Greg was about forty when he died,” Jim said.
“No, Greg looked about forty. He looked like that for the last fifteen years I knew him. Who did you send to North Carolina?”