Page 25 of Sanctuary

Fulton rolled his eyes again.

“Don’t let that fool you,” Wayne said. “He’s very good at what he does. His crew is one of the best. They have taken down people with a hell of a lot more power than you or the priest have. Once they get started, they will tear this whole place apart, and I won’t be able to help you.”

Well, at least he wasn’t lying. Once Fulton got going, stopping him would require brute force. He gave off that thorough, scorched-earth vibe.

“I know you care what happens to these critters.” Wayne dangled the melalo by his wing. “Or you wouldn’t be out here on that porch. You’ve heard people say that a man has to do what a man has to do. Right now, you are that man. You can save everyone, Finn. All you have to do is go inside, grab your dog, and walk across this yard to us. That’s all. Simple. Do that and nobody else dies today. I give you my word.”

Finn swallowed. He seemed resigned.

“Take the deal, kid,” Fulton said.

“I give up,” Finn said.

Wayne shook his head. “Don’t look at it that way. You’re not giving up. You’re doing the smart thing. The noble thing.”

Something was brewing inside Finn. The shepherd puppy rose from her haunches and slunk to the front door.

Finn squeezed the staff. Klyuv’s eyes bulged.

“Come on down.” Wayne waved him over. “You can do this.”

Finn opened his mouth. “Drop the melalo and set the antidote on the ground.”

The two mercenaries stared at him.

“I don’t want to write this big check.”

Fulton looked at Wayne. “What the fuck is he talking about?”

“Who knows?”

“Do it now,” Finn said.

“That’s it,” Fulton snapped. “Playtime is over. Now we’re doing it my way.”

“Remember, alive,” Wayne said. “Him and the dog.”

“On me!” Fulton stepped forward. “Arrowhead formation in three…”

Six soldiers stepped forward, taking positions behind Fulton in a rough triangle, like a flock of geese orienting behind the leader.

On the porch, Finn gripped the staff with both hands and planted it in front of him.

“…Two…”

The wall of the ward anchored to the nithing poles turned visible, a translucent barrier of pale silver. Fulton thrust his hands forward, and drew them apart, as if opening curtains. A gap formed directly in front of him.

A blinding white clump of magic accreted inside Finn, a storm pressurized into a tiny, hyper-dense point in his chest. The mercenaries didn’t feel it behind their ward.

Fulton smiled. “…One.”

Golden chains made of light snapped to Fulton from the six mages, funneling power into him. He opened his mouth, his eyes burning with magic. Flames sheathed his arms.

“I accept,” Finn whispered, his voice unnaturally loud. “Help me, Morena!”

The shepherd howled, her wail an eerie primal song filled with bloodlust.

The melalo clamped his beak onto Wayne’s fingers. The mercenary flung him aside. The creature took off into the woods faster than Roman had ever seen him move before.

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