On the Edge te-1

by Ilona Andrews

  Declan brought the horse to an abrupt halt and dismounted in front of the house. “Hey, Will.”

  William inhaled deeply. “Declan. How did you know?” “The boy called me.”

  She whipped about and saw George’s face go white in the window when he saw her expression. Little fool.

  Declan unbuckled his sheath and leaned it and the sword against a shrub. William pulled out a large bowie knife and thrust it into the porch. “You’re good?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  William blurred. He struck so fast, she failed to see it. Declan dodged and rammed his elbow into William’s ribs. William spun, snapping a kick. Declan jerked back, and they broke apart.

  They clashed in a whirl of kicks and punches, too fast to follow, dancing across the grass, lethal and quick. William hammered a savage jab into Declan’s ribs. Declan grunted and smashed his elbow into William’s face.

  Whatever it was between them apparently couldn’t be resolved with words.

  Behind Rose, the screen door opened and closed carefully. Jack and George came over and sat next to her.

  On the lawn, William knocked Declan to the ground. Declan rolled up, and William sank punches into his face, one, two, three. Declan dropped to the ground, coughing, and kicked out, swiping William’s legs from under him. William crashed like a log, and they both leapt to their feet.

  “Why are they fighting?” Jack asked.

  William jabbed his fingers at Declan’s side.

  “They’re close friends,” she said. “Like brothers. It’s easier than talking things out.”

  Declan caught William’s arm.

  “Oh.” Jack nodded. “Like me and George.”

  “Like that,” she said.

  William hammered his elbow into Declan’s stomach and broke free.

  Rose put her arms around her brothers, and the three of them watched, cringing and making sucking noises when something crunched. What else was there to do?

  Declan kicked William in the head. William staggered, shook his head, and launched a whirlwind of lightning-quick jabs. Declan blocked, and William sank a sharp punch into Declan’s midsection. The blueblood grunted and rammed his head into William’s face. Blood poured. They staggered away from each other, out of breath.

  Declan bent over, shielding his side with his arm. William rubbed his face and raised his bloody fingers as if to say something. His knees gave out, and he dropped into the grass.

  Declan sank down.

  “That was awesome,” George said.

  Jack offered no commentary, apparently too overcome with the coolness of the fight.

  “Are you done?” Rose called out.

  Declan glanced up. “Will?”

  William waved his bloody hand.

  “Yes, we’re done,” Declan said.

  “Good,” she said, getting up. “Jack, help William inside the house to wash the blood off his face.”

  She crossed the grass to Declan. “How are you?”

  “Perfectly fine,” he said.

  “Are your ribs broken?”

  “Probably not. Cracked at most. We fought very carefully.”

  “Did this settle anything?”

  “It made me feel better,” he said, sitting up. “Did you see me kick him in the kidneys?”

  “I saw.”

  Declan gave her a sharp predatory smile. “He’ll feel it tomorrow morning.”

  JACK watched William wash his face in the sink. The water ran red. The scent of blood, sharp and salty, was everywhere in the room. Jack didn’t care for human blood. It made him jumpy. The skin under his bracelet itched. He scratched at his wrist and fought the prickling pain of his claws wanting to come out. He couldn’t help it. William was bigger and stronger and bloody. He was a threat. A very nasty threat.

  That fight was the best thing he had ever witnessed in his whole entire life.

  “You got a towel?” William said.

  Jack pulled a towel from the kitchen chair and brought it over to him. William pulled it from his fingers, wiped his face, and glanced at him. William’s eyes flared with gold. Wolf, shot through Jack’s head. He’d known William was some kind of changeling because he saw his eyes glow while he and George watched William talk to Rose, but he didn’t know what kind. Now he knew.

  William lunged at him. Jack jerked back, but William caught him and dragged him up to his face.

  Jack jerked, but William’s hands held him like big iron pinchers.

  William stared into his eyes, his face completely white. “Show me your teeth.”

  Jack hissed.

  “You’re like me,” William whispered. He looked like someone had hit him in the gut.

  “No,” Jack told him to make him feel better. “You’re a wolf, and I’m a cat. We’re different.”

  William swallowed. “You live here?”

  Something was wrong with him, Jack decided. Of course he lived here. But William was a big wolf, and it wasn’t wise to make him mad. He simply nodded.

  “Do you have a room?”

  Jack nodded.

  “Where?”

  Jack pointed with his head. His arms were still clamped to his sides by William’s hands.

  William strode through the house, carrying him, stepped into his room, and sagged against the door. All the strength must have gone out of his arms, because they let go, and Jack squirmed out and landed on the floor.

  William stared at his room. Jack looked, too, just in case there was something surprising there that William saw and he didn’t. It was a regular room. Two beds, one for him, one for George. Rose had made them both blankets with a crochet hook. His was blue and black, and George’s was red and black. He liked the blankets because even after you washed them, they still smelled like Rose.

  He looked past the beds to the windowsill, where the seven-inch plastic Batman duked it out with Superman. In the corner, a beat-up shelf held some matchbox cars, books, and more figures. Jack went over to the shelf and pointed out the guys. “This is He-Man,” he said. “He’s my favorite. Rose bought him at a flea market, because I liked him.”

  William just watched him. His eyes looked huge, and they were glowing.

  “This guy, I don’t know what he is, but I like his armor. I think he might be like a knight. Only I don’t have a sword that fits into his hand, so he has a gun. So he’s a gun-knight, I think.”

  Jack made He-Man and Gun-Knight fight a bit and looked at William. William didn’t look any better.

  “I think you might be not right,” Jack said. “That’s okay. I get like that sometimes. When I’m real scared and I just want to hurt something. It’s okay. The important thing is don’t panic.”

  He came over and took William’s hand. Rose was better at this than he was, because he never had to do it for anybody else, but he remembered what she did. “You’re safe,” he said. “You’re in a good place. Nobody can hurt you here. You don’t have to be afraid.” He hesitated. “There is some mushy love stuff that goes here, but it probably won’t work for you. The important thing is, this is a good place. It’s safe and warm, and there is water and food. And you don’t have to be scared, because there are ward stones and they keep bad people away. And Rose won’t let anybody hurt you.”

  William looked like he might be sick. This called for emergency measures. “Stay here,” Jack told him, ran over to the fridge, and brought him a chocolate bar. “Eat this,” he said. “Rose gives me one when I get not right. It makes you feel better.”

  William’s hand shook.

  “I’ll get Rose,” Jack said.

  “No.” William’s voice sounded like he had eaten some rocks. “I’m good. I’ve got it.”

  He got up to his feet and handed him the chocolate. “You eat it,” he said and walked out onto the porch.

  Jack looked at the chocolate bar. It smelled so good. But chocolate was for emergencies. He sighed and went to put it back into the fridge.

  When he came outs
ide, William was leaning against the porch next to Declan, who sat in the grass. Rose was chewing George out for something. Jack went over to Declan and sat by him.

  “How long have you known?” William said.

  “I came across them my second day here. Casshorn’s hounds attacked him, but he hadn’t turned, so I wasn’t sure at first.”

  “It hurts to change shape here,” William said. “You go into a fit.”

  “That’s what I gathered.”

  The muscles along William’s jaw went tight. “Are you sending him to Hawk’s?”

  Declan shook his head. “If she comes with me—and she hasn’t said she would—he’s staying with us. No Hawk Academy, no special schools, no empty rooms. His childhood will be as normal as is in my power to make it.”

  William didn’t look like he believed him.

  “He’s lived with them all his life,” Declan said. “You think she’d let me send him off?”

  They both looked at Rose.

  “You got me for this fight,” William said. “For the boy. After that, I’m gone.”

  Declan nodded.

  “You have a plan?”

  Rose came up to them. Jack tensed, but no chewing-out seemed to be forthcoming.

  “Several locals are cursing Casshorn into sleep as we speak,” Declan said. “Once he’s out, we’re going to send an electric current through a local lake. The current should be strong enough to weaken the hounds. Rose and I will wait for them on the dock in the middle of the lake. We’ll flash a few times to pull them to us and kill the survivors. Once the main body of the hounds is gone, we go after Casshorn.”

  William squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

  “If you have a better plan, be my guest, don’t keep it to yourself,” Declan invited.

  William leaned back and stayed quiet for a few minutes. “Flashing won’t be enough. You need to draw as many hounds as you can to you.”

  “You want to run it?” Declan asked.

  “Who else? You’re too slow.”

  “What do you mean?” Rose asked.

  “He means that he’ll turn into a wolf and draw the hounds to us,” Declan said.

  “That’s suicide,” she said flatly.

  William grimaced. “This is coming from a woman who’s willing to crawl onto a dock in an electrocuted pond.”

  “How do you even know what ‘electrocuted’ means?” Rose asked.

  William glanced at Declan. “You didn’t tell her?”

  Declan shrugged. “It didn’t come up.”

  “We had training in industrial sabotage,” William said. “In case of a conflict between the Broken and the Weird, the Legion will send soldiers into the Broken and they will cripple the industrial centers.”

  “The Broken runs on electric power,” Declan said. “Destroy the power plants, and everything stops. No power equals no water, no communications, no logistics, nothing. Even fuel is pumped by electric pumps. Take away electricity, and you’ll have anarchy.”

  “The Weird has a lot less people than the Broken,” William said. “If it comes to war, destroying their infrastructure is our only option.”

  “You’re scaring me,” Rose said.

  “Don’t worry,” Declan told her. “The probability of an actual conflict between the two dimensions is rather low.”

  “It’s mostly a precautionary measure,” William said.

  “You have to be prepared for what your enemy could do rather than what they might do,” Declan said.

  William nodded.

  Rose didn’t look convinced.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  ÉLÉONORE sensed the approaching steps a moment before a careful knock on the door broke the silence. She put down her pestle and went to get the door. Technically Emily should be the one to do it, given that she was the youngest, but Emily was cooking a dead cat over the stove and had to keep stirring it. It smelled ghastly enough as it was. No need to add burned stench to it.

  Éléonore opened the door and looked at a familiar-looking young woman. Ruby, she remembered. One of Adele’s great-grandchildren.

  “There is a man here to see you,” the girl said.

  A man? In Wood House? How in the world did he get past the wards? “Me or your great-grandma?”

  The girl bobbed her dark head. “You, Mrs. Drayton.”

  Éléonore wiped her hands on her apron and stepped out.

  A man waited in the yard. Dark-haired, tall, about Declan’s age. He looked up, and his eyes shone with wild amber. Alarm shot through Éléonore. Like looking into the eyes of a feral beast. “You would be William, then,” she said.

  He nodded.

  “Are you here for yourself or for Casshorn?”

  “For Jack,” he said.

  “I see.” She didn’t, but that seemed like the right thing to say.

  William sat into the grass. “Tell me when the curse is ready. I’ll draw the hounds to the lake.”

  Éléonore nodded and went inside. Something had happened. She would have to ask Rose about it, but not now. Now they had old magic to court.

  Two hours later, she staggered out onto the porch, pale and exhausted. He sat in the same spot. “It’s done,” she gasped. It had taken all of their strength, too. “Go fast. The curse won’t hold him for long.”

  William pulled off his shirt, then his boots. His pants followed, and he stood naked on the grass.

  His body twisted, muscle and bone stretching, flowing like molten wax. His spine bent, his legs jerked, and he crashed into the grass. A violent tremor shook his limbs. His fingers clawed the air. Newly formed bone, wet with lymph and blood, thrust through the muscle. Éléonore fought a shudder.

  Flesh churned and flowed, encasing the new skeleton. Dense black fur sprouted and sheathed the skin. A huge wolf rolled onto his feet.

  “Open the gate!” Éléonore called. Some young one slid the wooden beam aside and wrenched the gate open.

  The wolf panted once and dashed into the Wood.

  Éléonore watched him go. A terrible dread claimed her, squeezing her chest with a cold fist, and she sank down into a chair. This wouldn’t end well.

  THE pond lay placid, its silt-muddled waters opaque and green. The afternoon had ripened into early evening, but they still had at least a few hours of sunlight. From her vantage point at the nose of the small inflatable boat, Rose saw the dock very clearly. Layers of ribbed tire rubber sheathed it, covering the wood completely. She might die there. All the times in her life she’d thought of dying, she hadn’t pictured her demise on a dock covered with black rubber. At least the boys were safe. She took them out to the Broken to stay with Amy Haire. They didn’t like it, but they both realized this wasn’t a good time to argue with her.

  Behind her, Buckwell and Declan rowed quietly. The dock grew closer and closer.

  She clenched her hands to keep them from shaking. Ten minutes ago Jeremiah had called her. Her phone finally died, cutting him off in mid-word, but not before she got the message: the curse had been placed. Casshorn was asleep. William took off into the woods as soon as he heard, and now she was in a small boat, heading to a dock that looked more and more like a death trap.

  “It’s not too late to back out,” Declan said.

  She shook her head, stealing a glance at him. A relaxed expression held his face. His body betrayed no tension. She didn’t know if he didn’t feel fear or if he hid it well, but she had to do the same. If she fell apart, she would be a distraction. The whole point of her forcing her way into this situation was to let him save his strength.

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Not a chance.”

  Declan smiled at her.

  “We had a saying in the army,” Tom Buckwell said. “Often wrong, but never in doubt. Once you decide what you need to do and how to go about it, you can’t afford to second-guess yourself. You just do it.”

  The dock loomed before them. Rose got up and caught a wooden support, bringing the boat alongside of the dock. Declan c
aught the edge and pulled himself up. Rose gripped his hand, and he lifted her onto the dock. She stomped her feet in Leanne’s rubber-soled boots. They were a size too big, but she didn’t own any electrical hazard boots and they would have to do. This whole idea seemed amazingly stupid now.

  William was in agreement with her. When they told him of their plan, he’d shut his eyes and shaken his head. The fact that she’d come up with this harebrained scheme only made the whole thing more ironic.

  Buckwell passed Declan his swords. “Don’t touch the water once the power lines come down. We’ll be over there.” He pointed to the shore behind the dock, where the roof of the church cut across the sky. “If any of them make it past you up the road, we’ve got machetes. And I’ve got my chainsaw. I’ve got six people down there, and every one of us should be able to see the beasts.”

  Declan nodded. “Good luck.”

  “Same to you.” Buckwell took off.

  She wanted to jump into his boat. Hell, she wanted to jump into the water and swim ashore.

  “Scared?” Declan asked.

  “Yes.” She saw no point in lying.

  “Good. It will keep you ready.”

  They watched Buckwell land and pull the boat out. Behind him Thad Smith waved his arms. Leanne appeared on the bank, gripping a huge severed cable with rubber gloves. She hurled it into the water. A loud sound popped, like a thunderclap.

  A small fish surfaced by the dock, white belly up.

  “Now we wait,” Declan said.

  Rose shrugged her shoulders, trying to break free of the pressure that clamped her.

  “Remember, stop the moment your vision blurs,” he said. “Pushing any further is asking for trouble. Don’t be stupid.”

  She nodded.

  No wind troubled the greenery around the pond. Somewhere in the distance an Edger warbler sang out a trilling note. Mockingbirds screeched.

  “So, regarding that tidbit about your having a fertile imagination when it came to private activities,” she said, fighting off anxiety. “Was it another lie?”

  “Depends on how you look at it. It’s not exactly a lie, and if you come with me to the Weird, you’ll find that rumors of my ‘creativity’ when it comes to bed games with the opposite sex do exist. I started them myself and managed them very carefully. The trick with rumors is to feed them once in a while, so they don’t die.”