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“The town of Penderton is very excited about your move to our neck of the woods. But your lovely home is so far from us. We’d like to invite you to move closer.”
He opened the map, presenting us with an aerial view of Wilmington and the surrounding area. The Atlantic Ocean was on the east side, a vast pale blue. The city of Wilmington sat toward the bottom of the map, a little north of where Cape Fear River and the Atlantic finally met. Above Wilmington, the map was green with dense woods, with the narrow lines of the major roads cutting through them.
Just above the northern border of Wilmington, a dotted line marked Pender County, perched like a big mushroom cap on top of the city. Almost the entire county was tinted green, indicating the massive sprawl of Pender Forest. Midway through it, not too far from I-40, a small red circle marked Penderton. And several miles northwest of Penderton, a big square of blue cut through Pender Forest, taking up about a third of the woods.
“Move closer where?” I asked.
“Here.” Ned tapped the blue square with his fingertip.
Conlan soundlessly moved to look at the map over my shoulder.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Your woods.”
What? “I don’t follow.”
“These are the woods that Penderton gifted to you. Our welcome present to our wonderful new neighbors. Eighty-two thousand acres of woodlands, two-thirds of it longleaf pine, prime timber; one third swamp with incredible biodiversity; and the thousand-acre Big Skunk Lake. Best fishing in the county.”
Curran focused on the blue square of the woods as if it were a bloody steak and he’d been starving for a month.
Ned put a photograph on the table. It showed a forest of pines, straight like the masts of the tall ships, rising to dizzying heights from the sun-dappled golden wiregrass.
“Ninja forest,” Conlan breathed.
“We have the prettiest woods,” Ned said. “There are many suitable places to build a keep.”
A keep. Like the Pack Keep. Damn it.
“I always appreciate a man who does his homework,” Curran said. “You think you know who we are. But do you really?”
The flesh of his head split and twisted into a different shape. A new head formed on his shoulders, a massive, nightmarish blend of human and lion. Faint, smoky stripes marked his gray fur. His black lips trembled and opened, flashing fangs the size of my fingers. Curran’s gold eyes locked on Ned and Solina with predatory intensity.
Solina jumped up and took a step back.
Ned swallowed but stayed seated.
“Think very carefully,” Curran said, his voice a deep rumbling growl. “Be sure this is what you want. Because once I take this land, it will be mine.”
“It’s already yours,” Ned said. “You have all rights, minerals, timber, water, access, everything. We have already registered the grant with the county. I have the paperwork.”
“Does the town understand who they are inviting?” Curran asked. Up close, his voice shook you. It reverberated in your bones.
“They understand,” Ned said.
“Even if I look like this? Even if I will bring others like me?”
“People are always more than one thing. The residents of Penderton know who you are. They know about your friends. Should they move here from down south, the town will not oppose it. Nor could it. The land is yours. Do with it what you wish.”
The sky above us was completely clear, but I could’ve sworn I heard thunder.
“We are small town people, but we aren’t bigots, Mr. Lennart,” Ned said. “And we keep our word.”
Accepting this forest meant our quiet lives would be over. This thing reeked of old magic power. Fighting it would be bloody, noisy, and dangerous. If we managed to deal with whatever evil had spawned in that forest and survived that fight, we’d need to defend that land. Sooner or later Curran would build another Keep, and once he did that, shapeshifters would flock to him, and we would be right back where we started.
Territory, base, money, allies, and connections…
My “low profile” was slipping through my fingers.
“Okay,” Curran said. “You have me. But I don’t speak for my wife. Convince her and you have a deal.”
Ned stood up. “Could you open the gates for us?”
Curran glanced at Conlan. Our son jogged to the gates and swung them open. There were two large SUVs in our driveway, both with bloated hoods to accommodate the dual gasoline and enchanted water engines. Solina walked over to them and waved.
Ned invited me toward them with a sweep of his hand.
Okay. I’ll bite.
I got up and crossed the yard to the gates. Curran joined me.
The doors of the SUVs opened, and people started getting out, one after another. Just normal, regular people in normal, regular clothes, some older, some younger. A young man in his upper teens, still a kid, hopped out, and helped a woman in her seventies exit. They lined up in front of us.
