On the Edge

Chapter 24

ROSE jogged at a brisk trot down the road. Her body ached. There was clearly wisdom in all that running Declan did in the mornings. If she ever hoped to keep up with him, she'd have to take up running, even though she hated it with a passion. She walked a lot, but there was a world of difference between walking a few miles down the road and running for your life. And cleaning offices for ten hours a day didn't exactly improve her athletic ability. She'd have to ride better, too. She did well enough at slow speed, but a canter would have her hanging on for dear life, and the gallop was right out.
She recalled Declan being all indignant about the boys not being able to ride a horse. Like everyone had a damn horse in the Edge. The only reason she knew how to ride was because Grandpa had insisted on keeping his half-blind old mare, Lovely. She remembered riding her as a child. Lovely died a few years back, and Grandpa had never replaced her.
She wondered if Grandpa Cletus would've approved of Declan.
Rose rounded the turn and glimpsed the house. She braced herself. There would be angry yelling and tears. She'd get her way in the end, but it would take some harsh words.
A tall, dark-haired man stepped into the road from between the shrubs. He wore jeans and a black leather jacket over a faded T-shirt. Wild eyes looked at her, glowing like two pieces of amber.
William.
Rose halted.
He made no move to approach her. His face was grim, his mouth a severe line. "The kids are safe," he said. "I've watched over them."
Fear trickled down her neck. She reminded herself that she could fry him with her flash at any moment. "Why are you here, William?"
He shook his head. "I don't know."
She searched his face and saw a blank uncertainty tinted with wariness. That's exactly what Jack looked like when he blundered into the unfamiliar territory of human emotions and clenched up, not knowing what to say or do next. If Jack was any indication, William was stretched to his limit. He could snap and lash out at any moment.
"Come sit with me," she said, keeping her voice calm. "We'll talk."
He followed her to the house. She removed the ward stones, letting him in, and pointed to the porch chairs. He sat on the steps instead, and she sat on the other side, keeping enough distance between them. She glanced at the kitchen window and saw two faces. They ducked, but not before she hit them with a first-rate scowl.
Rose looked back to William. He was at an emotional cliff, and one wrong word or look could push him over. She'd talked Jack from this same edge more than once. Of course, an eight-year-old boy and a trained killer approaching his thirties were two different things. She'd have to tread very carefully. Honesty was paramount. Jack instinctually sensed her lies, and William would probably do the same. It was best to stay away from subjects that might agitate him.
"I saw you with Declan," he said. "Are the two of you . . . ?"
There went the careful treading. "I love him," she said.
"Huh." He dragged his hand through his hair. "Does he love you?"
"I don't know. We didn't discuss it, so he doesn't know how I feel."
"Why him? Why not me?"
He had delivered the questions in a perfectly neutral tone, but she glimpsed the emotion behind it - a lifetime of rejection. He deserved an honest answer, and she took a moment to think about it.
"It's difficult to explain. We're alike in many ways. You wouldn't think it, but we are. He makes me feel wanted and safe, and he makes me laugh . . . He also irritates the daylights out of me. I almost flashed at him at one point." She paused. "It's very hard to break love down to explainable pieces, William. It's a force, a feeling. You know when you feel it and you know when you don't."
"So you feel nothing for me?" The question was delivered in a flat, neutral voice.
"That's not quite right," she said. "I don't know you well, but there are things I like about you. I like that you're honest. I like that you're patient and kind to the boys and that you've watched over them. I didn't like that you hung Emerson upside down on the tree and then scared me half to death."
"I was frustrated," he said. "You weren't happy."
He had made her a present and didn't understand why she wasn't thrilled. Just like Jack. "I appreciate the thought behind it. I still wish you hadn't done it."
William gave her a suspicious look.
"Once George and an older boy got into a fight. The older boy hit George in the mouth and knocked him off his feet. Jack decided to jump in. He beat the older boy very badly. Broke his nose and knocked out a tooth. He thought he was a hero. I grounded him for a week. If he had punched the boy and left it at that, I would've let it go. But he had done too much. Hanging Emerson off the tree was too much." She sighed. "Believe it or not, Declan and I had this same discussion. I don't want anyone to fight my battles for me. It's my business, and I'd like to handle it myself."
He considered it. "Fair enough."
"I do have feelings for you," she said. "Gratitude for trying to watch out for the boys and for checking on me when I'd lost my job. But they aren't the same feelings as I have for Declan. When Declan's gone, I miss him very badly. It's like something isn't quite right with the world."
"I get it," he said. "But what does that make you and me then?"
"We could be friends," she said. "Friends make the world bearable. It's an honor of sorts. Of all the people that a person knows, they pick you to be their friend, and you try to be worthy of that friendship. Or at least I try. I don't really know you, but I feel we could become friends if we had more time."
William's face darkened.
"You can tell a lot about the person by the company they keep," Rose said. "For example, you have a friend - Declan. You must be a glutton for punishment."
William said nothing.
"He's been trying very hard to find you," she said. "That time when you were on the phone with me and I wouldn't give it to him, he almost bit my head off."
No response.
"What's the deal with you and Declan?" she asked gently.
"We were in the Legion together," he said. "Did he tell you that part?"
She nodded.
"It's easy to be in the Legion." His voice went dull and toneless. "They tell you when to get up, when to sleep, when to eat. What to wear. Who to kill. All you have to do is be where they tell you when they tell you and don't ask questions. We were in for a long time. Most people don't survive that long. He kept to himself, I kept to myself. We'd talk once in a while. Never said much, but he had my back and I had his. He dragged me out of a burning ship once and swam through the night until a cutter picked us up. I was out of it, a dead weight. I asked him why he did it, and he said because I'd do it for him. I thought he was like me, you see? A damaged twisted sonovabitch with no place to go."
He looked up. His eyes were full of fury.
"Do you know he has a family? His parents love him. He has a mother, and she loves him. His father thinks the sun rises and sets on Declan's word. They're proud of him. He has a sister, and she loves him, too! I went to see them when I became a noble, and she hugged him. He stood there, and in my head I saw all the blood we spilled dripping from him, and I knew that they wouldn't care. All this time I was thinking he was fucked up and alone like me, just hid it better. But no. The bastard could've left the Legion anytime and they would take him back and love him anyway. You tell me, what kind of a sonovabitch walks away from a family like that?"
She didn't know what to say. "It isn't his fault that he has a family, William," she said finally.
"No. But I can't forgive him for it. I have nothing. The clothes on my back? I stole them. What you see is everything I own. The Legion was everything I had, until they took it away from me. Even that Declan threw away."
Rage emanated from him. William would kill Declan if he got his hands on him; she was sure of it. She had to steer him away from violence. "Declan didn't want to leave the Legion. He doesn't care for being a noble. He doesn't want the responsibility. He did it to help you."
"I didn't ask him to do it," William snarled.
"But he did it anyway," Rose said. "I didn't ask you to attack Emerson, but you did it anyway."
"It's not the same."
"It is. Sometimes people try to help us even when we don't want the help. What would you have done in his place, William?"
"I would've broken him out," William said.
"And some people would've died in the process, you would be wanted criminals, and then Declan would be pissed off at you."
William leaned back. A long growl reverberated in his throat.
"Why did you follow Casshorn out here?" she asked. "Because you knew Declan would come and you'd get a chance to fight him?"
"No. Once Casshorn 'adopted' me, he started hinting that he wanted Declan out of the way. I told him no. The thing between me and Declan would happen on my terms. It didn't sit well with him. He gave me a house on the edge of some woods, made sure food was delivered to me, but other than that, he let me be. Then three weeks ago he invited me to come with him 'on a little adventure.' I declined. He smelled . . . odd. After he left, I went to his place and broke into his study. He had papers prepared blaming me for this entire mess in case things went sour. So I tracked him down, but he had too many hounds by the time I found him. He tried to hunt me, and I went into the Broken."
"So you're here for revenge?"
William shook his head. "No. What he's doing is treason. I swore to protect the realm." He looked at her. "There are rules I will never break. They're in me too deep. Treason is unthinkable."
"Declan's here to enforce the rules as well. If the two of you murder each other now, Casshorn will win."
William growled again, a purely animal sound of warning and contained aggression. Every hair on the back of her neck stood up.
Rose forced herself to sound calm. "Casshorn's gone insane. He wants to eat the boys. I don't want my brothers to die. I don't want to die either. Is there any way you and Declan can act like adults and postpone your reckoning until we kill him?"
William gave her a wary look. His eyes had cooled to an almost normal light brown.
"You've waited this long. Surely you could wait a little longer. Please?"
He leaned back and sucked in the air through his nose. "All right."
"Thank you." Rose smiled.
William's head snapped up. He bared his teeth, his eyes flashing amber.
A moment later she heard it, too, a thudding of horse's hooves. A rider burst from around the curve: Declan atop Jeremiah's dark horse.
Rose stared, speechless. He just had to show up right this second.
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 outside, 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.