“What was the response?” I said.
Grand frowned. “Huh? Response to what?”
“The National Guard. Did they say they were coming?”
His face started going red. “Well… they… well, they said they’d get back to me, but I know for a fact this is precisely what they are used for. They’ll be here.”
“Sheriff,” Sinthy said. “The government wants this to end. They know this fight is the only way that will happen. They aren’t sending anyone. One way or another, they want this done.”
The sheriff laughed, but I could tell it was forced. He looked more panicked by the second.
“You expect me to believe that the US Government wants a fucking bloody battle to take place on United States soil?”
“Pragmatism, Sheriff,” Sinthy said with a shrug. “It’s what governments are good at.”
As a distant rumble became audible, all three of us looked down the road. It was the sound of dozens of cars, trucks, and vans headed straight toward us. The sheriff looked like he wanted to puke.
“This isn’t your fight, Sheriff,” I said. “Go on. This is for us to take care of.”
He glanced at us, then back down the road and back again before taking his hat off and slapping it on his thigh.
“Goddamn it.” He pointed at me as he left. “Don’t say I didn’t try.”
He and the other deputies got into their cars and sped down the road. I watched as they passed the lead car. It was, of course,a shiny black limo. Of course, Viola would ride in style—even to war.
Above us, new helicopters and possibly military choppers hovered into view. Sinthy raised her hands, and a new ward descended over us. The aircraft vanished from view, but the sunlight still streamed in as though nothing had changed.
“Did you make them disappear?” I asked, looking up in wonder.
“No. We can’t see them, and they can’t see us. As you said, this is our fight. No one else needs to see this.”
I nodded in approval and looked at the cars pulling in. I should have been surprised at the sheer number of anti-shifter activists that had hooked themselves to Viola’s train, but I wasn’t. Part of me pitied them. Many were probably deluded by fear that had been instilled in them since they were children. As much as I wanted to spare those who had been led down the wrong path, it wouldn’t be possible. My family, my pack, and my friends’ lives were at stake. These people had been given plenty of time and information to make a better decision. They’d come here with blood on their mind. Unfortunately, they would reap what they sowed.
The limo came to a stop in front of the other cars. The driver stepped out and opened the back door. Viola slid gracefully out of the backseat. She wouldn’t participate in the fight. The woman was too selfish to ever put herself in harm’s way. She’d dressed the part, at least—not in the silly military fatigues she’d worn in some of her propaganda videos. No, instead, she wore a bright blood-red business suit. At least she wore flat shoes, though I wouldn’t have been surprised had she walked toward me in stiletto heels.
From behind me, my entire fighting force growled at the sight of her. The anti-shifter army had begun to pile out of their vehicles, and it was a broad spectrum of people. There werehillbillies with stained jeans and red trucker hats, but there were also people who looked like they would be at home in a law office or accounting firm. There were women who appeared to have probably dropped their kids off at daycare before coming to kill shifters, and everything in between.
Viola’s force glared at us with disgust and revulsion but also surprise. There were several looks of anxiety and fear in her group. They obviously hadn’t thought this many shifters would be present at the battle. Viola pulled her dark sunglasses away, and behind her stoic calm, I picked up on the hesitant worry in her eyes as she, too, took in the army at my back. She’d probably been anticipating several wolf packs, but seeing so many different species together as one force obviously threw her off her stride.
Sensing the fear in the crowd, a huge number of my army shifted into their animal forms. Lions, bears, panthers, alligators, wolves, and a half dozen others snarled, snapped, roared, and hissed at them. Even I was intimidated by the sound. It was not surprising when several of the humans, facing a force far bigger and more terrifying than they’d expected, turned and ran. A few dozen at most, but it was good to see. The rest of Viola’s force looked even more nervous as some of their allies sprinted up the road rather than face near-certain death.
“I warned you,” I called out to Viola. “I told you this wouldn’t end the way you wanted it to end.”
Viola’s lips peeled back in a sneer of disgust. “It doesn’t matter. You can have all the filthy animals you want at your back, but God, nature, and humanity know that I will come out victorious. Where is my son?”
I glanced behind me, and fifty yards away on the porch of my house, the young man stood, arms at his sides, as he looked over the battlefield, ready to protect the women inside.
Viola saw him, then turned and snapped her fingers at her driver. The big, beefy man opened the back door, and two younger children climbed out. Their eyes were wide as saucers as they took in the scene around them.
Viola grinned at me. “Have my son come down here. Right now.”
“Unfortunately, that won’t be possible. He has his own duties to attend to,” I said.
Viola’s smile grew as brittle as glass. “Excuse me? What duties would a prisoner have?”
I crossed my own arms. “I never said he was a prisoner. He’s chosen to stay with us. It was his choice.”
If Viola had been a cartoon, steam would have spurted out of her ears. The look of shock, rage, and disbelief was so evident that it was almost comical.
