Page 109 of Dead End

The mage patted her pocket. “My deck of cards are at your service, Your Majesty.”

Gun cupped his hands around his mouth. “Speech!”

I waved my hands in objection. “Nobody needs a speech.”

“Of course they do. This is the calm before the storm, Lor. The part where the soldiers need a rousing speech from their fearless leader.”

“I’m far from fearless.” Quite the opposite, in fact. I was chock full of fear.

Kane’s eyes found mine. “He’s right, you know. This isn’t a team accustomed to working together. A few words of encouragement from you would go a long way toward solidifying the bond between them.”

“Well, when you put it like that.”

Gun let loose a shrill whistle. “Everybody outside! Now!”

Bodies jostled for position as everyone rushed out front. I waited for the group to gather in the yard, then took my place on the porch facing them. What words of encouragement could I offer such a ragtag group?

I cleared the anxiety from my throat. “We’re no strangers to loss. Loss of loved ones. Loss of our homes. Loss of our own identities. Soon we’ll have the chance to right those wrongs, and to prevent The Corporation from ever hurting another living soul. Some of us have faced off against gods before, but never like this. We don’t know what to expect, only that their goal is to seize control of the crossroads, and our goal is to stop them. We lose this fight, and we lose everything. No exaggeration.”

“No pressure,” Gun muttered.

“We’re all in this together. Fight hard. Watch each other’s backs. Don’t lose sight of who you are, even in the heat of battle.”

Josie slow clapped. “Great pep talk, Clay. Now let’s go slay some gods.”

A rumble followed her declaration, quickly followed by alightning strike. Every head turned toward Wild Acres, where smoke billowed from the trees. My jaw snapped shut.

At long last, The Corporation had arrived.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

With a shriek and a wail,the Night Mallt summoned the horses of the Wild Hunt. The trusty steeds skirted the house on both sides, converged at the bridge, and filtered through the gate.

Claude tossed weapons from my trunk like he was distributing Halloween candy. I wasn’t even sure when the trunk had been brought down from my bedroom. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve considered it a boundary violation, but we’d strayed very far from normal circumstances, even for us.

“What about me?” Goran asked, glancing at the empty trunk. “I still don’t have a weapon.”

I sheathed another throwing knife. “Actually, you have loads of weapons, but they’re buried on the property.”

“How does that help when they’re in the forest?”

Clapping a hand on his shoulder, I looked him in the eye. “Listen, Goran. I need someone I trust to act as the castellan while I’m gone. If any gods attack the Castle, you already know how to activate the security system.”

Goran gave the group a longing glance. “But everyone else will be fighting. I’ll be here on my own.”

“Chief Garcia and Officer Leo aren’t fighting. They’re heading into town. They’ll send any residents at risk here and it’ll be your job to keep them safe.”

Goran blinked. “I’d be responsible for the people?”

“That’s what a prince is meant to do, isn’t it? Take care of his people?”

“I never got the chance to do that in my homeland,” he said in a quiet voice.

I gave him an encouraging smile. “Consider this your chance.”

With a shaky breath, he nodded. “I won’t let them down. I won’t letyoudown, Lorelei. Good luck.”

Another blast rocked the forest. A blinding white light flashed alongside streaks of gold. Everyone swarmed to the fence for a better view.

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