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Rimush swore the same oath. I accepted it and pulled my magical protection back on. The show was over.
“Your father would not approve,” Jushur told me.
“He never does.” I turned to Conlan. “Jushur and Rimush are our people. If something happens to your father and me during this battle, it’s your responsibility to safely get them out of danger. Jushur is an older man, and he might need your help.”
Jushur and Rimush bowed their heads.
Conlan blinked and bowed back.
“Do you understand?” I asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.”
Uncertainty flared in Conlan’s eyes. Up until now he hadn’t considered the possibility that his father and I might not make it. It was a lot for an eight-year-old.
“Where would I go?”
“You would go to your sister and your grandmother. Jushur knows the way.”
“What about Darin?” he asked.
Darin had volunteered to join our party, and Curran had let him. His merman side gave Darin faster reflexes and enhanced regeneration, and like his father and uncle, he was really good with a bow. But more importantly, Darin wanted desperately to fit in, and he had decided he belonged with us and the Wilmington Pack. Curran and I were fighting for the lives of Penderton and our future home; Keelan, Da-Eun, and the other shapeshifters were fighting for the future of the new Pack; and Darin was fighting for himself.
“If there is a chance to save Darin, I’ll make sure he is safe,” Rimush said.
On the street, in front of the gates, the shapeshifters and archers formed up behind Curran. He looked up at me. Our gazes met. It was time.
“Your father is waiting.” I nodded in Curran’s direction.
Conlan took off down the stairs.
Jushur and I’d had a conversation this morning. He and Rimush carried Roland’s water necklaces. When broken, the necklaces would teleport them and whomever they were touching to the original source of the water. Teleportation was risky and dangerous. It was the last of last resorts, but if Curran and I both died, they would get Conlan out of there. They would grab Darin too, if they could get to him, and take the boys to California. Erra and Julie would take it from there.
Of course, for that to happen, the forest would have to kill me and Curran first. Conlan had guessed correctly. We were both angry.
“Sharratum,” Jushur said softly.
Getting him to call me Kate in private was harder than convincing my father that democracy was a valid form of government.
“It’s not too late to change the plan,” the older man said. “Nobody, in my memory, has ever attempted what you are trying to do. The magic drain may be beyond what even your body can endure.”
“There are some things that I won’t tolerate,” I told him. “I won’t lose another civilian to the forest. They are done killing these people. It ends today.”
He bowed his head.
I followed Conlan down the stairs and took my place next to Curran at the head of our little formation. We’d arranged our forces into a column. Curran and I were in the lead. Owen was directly behind us, carrying the big tent we borrowed from Penderton and two gallons of undead blood, which I would need for my blood armor. Behind Owen were Conlan, Darin, and Jushur, followed by Heather and her archers, two per row.
The shapeshifters formed a loose protective envelope around the column, starting with Keelan behind Curran to his left, and Rimush, who technically wasn’t a shapeshifter, behind me and on my right. The rest of the Wilmington Pack formed up behind those two, on the flanks, keeping the archers and the kids between them. Da-Eun, Jynx, and Andre brought up the rear. With those three, nothing would surprise us from behind.
Ned came up to us, with Mayor Gene trailing him. They’d been chatting off to the side, and judging by their body language, neither man felt uneasy. They must’ve patched things up.
“This is it then,” Ned said.
“Yes,” Curran said.
“I won’t say goodbye,” Ned said. “I will say, see you soon.”
“See you soon, Ned,” I told him.
“Good luck!” Mayor Gene told us. He looked past the shapeshifters to the archers. “Penderton is proud of you! All of us are proud of you! Don’t take stupid chances. Come back in one piece.”
The gates swung open, and we started across the killing field toward the green flag. All the things that had to be said had been said.
We crossed the grass to the flag. The sun hadn’t broken above the horizon yet, although the sunrise wasn’t far off, and in the early light, the flag looked more gray than green. Gray was the Pack color. I decided to take it as a good omen.
The beginning of NC-53 stretched in front of us, the asphalt crumbled at the edges and crowded by trees, but still solid.
I stepped forward and gathered my magic. It strummed inside me, like a heartbeat reverberating through my entire body. I plunged Sarrat into the ground.
