Ilona Andrews - On the Edge

Declan nodded. “Casshorn passed the examinations at fifteen. Did spectacularly well, in fact. All that remained was the period of service. Casshorn attempted the Airforce, because it is considered the most cerebral of all military occupations.”

“Airforce like planes?” Lee Stearns asked.

“Airforce like flying beasts,” Declan said. “Wyverns, man ticores, and so on. Within a year Casshorn was booted from the Airforce Academy for plotting to kill one of his instructors. That effectively barred him from any military branch except for the Red Legion, who will take anyone. Whether you’re a wanted criminal or a certified lunatic—they don’t care. They can take an average person and in two years turn him or her into a mass murderer. Just deploying them often causes panic in the enemy. The Red Legion discharged Casshorn in six months, deeming him completely unsuited to military service.”

“To screw up like that takes talent.” Tom Buckwell shook his head. “He must be special.”

Declan grimaced. “He certainly thinks so. With the military crossed off his list, Casshorn attempted the civil service. He was fired from Elizabethian University for plagiarism, having served a little over twenty months. Two days later, someone set the campus on fire. Then Casshorn took a sabbatical for three years. Then he attempted manufacturing research. To make a long story short, in the meantime Casshorn’s younger brother, Ortes, finished his seven years, serving in the Andrianglian Navy with distinction, and Casshorn hadn’t even managed to pass a half mark. Their test scores were tied. Because they were siblings, Ortes had the option of signing a waiver to give his brother five years to complete the service requirement. A peer title can’t remain vacant for long. All peers have duties, and someone has to fulfill them.”

“So what happened?” Rose asked.

“Ortes was willing to sign the waiver, if his father wished to give Casshorn another chance. The Duke decided he needed to think some more on the matter and invited his sons to Yule Dinner at the ducal manor. Most of the nobles and their families were present at the celebration. I was eight, and I remember it vividly. Casshorn’s demeanor was bizarre. He seemed not to know where he was. Midway through the evening he stood up and started talking. He ranted like a lunatic and attacked Ortes’s wife, calling her a whore and blaming her for a number of odd and illogical things. Apparently, years earlier, when Ortes and Jane were affianced, Casshorn had made some advances toward her and she turned him down, but to hear him tell it, the incident had happened earlier in the evening, not nearly a decade ago. Obviously, no waiver was signed, and Ortes became Duke shortly after his father retired. Casshorn later claimed that someone had added a narcotic to his drink, but by then it was too late, and he seemed to accept it. Apparently, he found a new way of obtaining the power he always wanted.”

Jeremiah frowned. “Why the Edge? Why our small neck of the woods?”

Declan rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. “The Edge has no strong police or military force. Any resistance he encounters will be fragmented, since nobody but Edgers care what happens between the worlds. As to what his purpose is, I don’t know. I think he may have started with some idea of conquering the Edge, building up an army of hounds, and avenging himself on all the people who wronged him in Adrianglia. However, whatever he has done to earn immunity from the hounds is changing him. I’m not sure how much of his humanity remains.”

“I think his conquering plans bit the dust,” Rose said. “He simply wants to absorb magic and eat us now. He kept his face hidden, but his hands looked like paws. He has claws instead of nails. If he conquers the Edge, it will be so he can feed.”

“He can’t be reasoned with,” Tom Buckwell said.

Lee turned to him. “How do you know?”

Tom’s bushy beard moved around a bit. His face looked sour. “Fred Simoen sent Brad Dillon up to him with gifts.”

“He what?” Grandma drew from the table in shock.

“I told him not to do it,” Tom growled. “I said from the get-go that it was a lousy idea and it wouldn’t end well, but there was no reasoning with him. Fred thinks he can buy the world.”

Rose thought of Casshorn raving on about the delicious man he had received as a gift. Nausea squirmed through her. “Casshorn ate Brad, didn’t he?”

“He sure did,” Tom said. “At least that’s what Fred said, before he and the whole clan peeled out of the Edge like their arses were on fire.”

Rose rubbed her face. Brad was slime, but to die like this . . . Nobody deserved that. She thought of the boys being eaten and had to clench her hands under the table.

Declan’s large hand settled on her fist. He rubbed her hand with his dry warm fingers. “So you do know where Casshorn is?”

Silence fell around the table.

“He’s in Moss Ravine,” Adele said. “The Wood started dying there about six days ago.”

Lee threw his hands in the air. “And he needs to know that why?”

“It’s his mess,” Emily creaked. “Let him clean it up.”

“That’s a real good point.” Lee swung to Declan. “Why aren’t more of you fellows here taking care of this problem? Why is it you’re here by your lonesome? It’s your mess.”

“Technically, the Duke has no jurisdiction in the Edge,” Declan said. “So it’s your mess at the moment.”

“But they did send you,” Jeremiah said.

“Oh, come on.” Tom Buckwell slapped the table with his big hands. “He’s covert ops, if I ever saw one. They ain’t gonna send a battalion to help us out, because that would mean they’d have to admit that Duke’s psycho brother made off with their supersecret apocalypse machine, which they weren’t supposed to have in the first place. They sent one guy, a killer, and if he fails, they’re gonna deny they ever knew anything about the whole deal.”

“Not quite,” Declan said. His hand still stroked Rose’s under the table. “I have a time limit. If in a fortnight I don’t inform His Grace that Casshorn is dead and the device is destroyed, the Duke will take further measures.”

“The Red Legion,” Grandma said softly.

Declan nodded.

“What does that mean?” Lee Stearns asked.

Grandma’s mouth flattened into a severe line. “When the Red Legion comes through, nothing remains.”

“You may hide in the Broken,” Declan said, “but they’ll purge East Laporte. It will be like you were never here.”

Lee glared. “They have no right!”

“Think,” Tom Buckwell said. “Fifty fellows just like him. They’ll come and wipe the place out, so we have nothing to come back to. That’s what the U.S. did in Korea. They don’t want us sitting in East Laporte spreading rumors of their doom machine. And he”—Tom stabbed his finger in Declan’s direction—“he’s the one who’s gonna carry the responsibility for us getting wiped off the map on his soul. It will be his call. Nobody wants to make a call like that.”

“Why are you here?” Adele asked softly. “Why did you choose to be the one?”

“I have my reasons,” Declan said.

This wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “There is a changeling,” Rose said, ignoring Declan’s sharp glance. His hand abruptly left hers. “Casshorn has some sort of hold over him. His name’s William.”

“Is he the one who hung Emerson on Dead Horse Oak?” Emily Paw asked.

Rose nodded. “Declan and William were friends, and he wants to save him.”

“An army buddy, I bet.” Tom Buckwell nodded. “Figures. It’s good for us. Makes it nice and personal, so you’ll fight harder. You got a plan?”