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Authors: Diana Pharaoh Francis
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strapped her flat-bladed knives to her forearms and had two more sheathed in her boots. Another was stuck into her waistband. She’d donned a long drover’s coat made of oiled canvas, and beneath it, over her shoulder, she’d slung a sawed-off shotgun. It hung down at her hip. A bandolier of shells slanted across her chest. If she had to do insane-mob control, she was ready.
She had also buckled a sword to her other hip. There was nothing like a yard of steel to make magical creatures stop and think. They did not like iron.
Tyler sauntered in a minute later, his knife spinning around his fingers.
“The boy?” Max asked.
“He woke up enough to eat.” His beast was still raging inside him. His face was shuttered and bland, but he was seething. “He lost it when he started remembering what happened. Judith made him sleep.”
“We’ll make the fucker pay,” Max promised.
Tyler’s expression turned brutal. “Damned right we will.”
“All right, everyone. This is what we’re going to do. We need information on this preacher. We’re going to break into three teams of three. Flint, Steel, and Tyler, you take Rattlesnake Canyon and Rose Park and the university district. Oak, Ivy, and Jody, you’ve got south of Highway Twelve across to the university. Simon, Nami, and I will take the central and west sides. Don’t call attention to yourselves. Find out everything you can about how the local politics have evolved and who this fellow is. Be back here by sunrise. The snow’s coming down hard now—that will work in our favor. One more thing—”
“Max.”
Giselle stood in the doorway. She motioned Max over to join her. “I got a call from Frank Bryce. He’s one of the farmers we’re working with out on O’Brien Creek Road. He says something’s moved in up in the hills south of his place. He’s found dead bears, elk, and deer. Says they’ve been ripped to shreds. He’s afraid for his stock. Our deal with him says we’ll protect him in exchange for lambs in the spring. It takes priority.”
Lambs over a psychopath burning people at the stake? Was she serious? “You can send the Sunspears in the morning to help him. We have to find out what’s going on with this preacher witch. Who knows when he’ll attack us again.”
“I agree, but I promised Frank and I can’t have any of our few farmer allies thinking we won’t respond when they need help.” She made a chopping motion with her hand when Max started to respond. “No arguments. No matter what happens with this preacher witch, we are going to need those lambs to survive the long term.”
Max’s mouth twisted, but she only nodded before turning back to her Blades. “You heard her. Let’s go save some animals.”
LEADING THE WAY TO THE NEAREST EXIT, MAX TOOK HER team out on the north side of the mountain fortress, facing the river. She didn’t pause but leaped down the slope and broke into a loping run. She didn’t bother with vehicles. It was faster to go as the crow flew, rather than back out around the highway and up to Missoula and west again.
The snow continued to fall in a thick, heavy blanket, making it difficult to see. She angled across the valley and northwest. Tyler flanked her on the left, and the others trailed in a long V. The ridges were steep, with sharp spines and towers of rock. Secreted within the folds were pocket valleys, cold mountain lakes, and swift-flowing rivers. Max was well used to traversing the terrain. The harsh edges and jagged contours of the Montana Rockies had been her home for thirty years.
As she ran, she let her Prime rise and flow outward. Her senses heightened, and her humanity flattened. Her predator instincts took over. She smelled the musky scents of animals and the pungency of plants. Beneath them, the stone and dirt were a cool metallic flavor. Birds chirped, and a bear sow growled a warning to something. A moose bellowed, and chipmunks chattered merrily. Woven through it all were the scents
She had also buckled a sword to her other hip. There was nothing like a yard of steel to make magical creatures stop and think. They did not like iron.
Tyler sauntered in a minute later, his knife spinning around his fingers.
“The boy?” Max asked.
“He woke up enough to eat.” His beast was still raging inside him. His face was shuttered and bland, but he was seething. “He lost it when he started remembering what happened. Judith made him sleep.”
“We’ll make the fucker pay,” Max promised.
Tyler’s expression turned brutal. “Damned right we will.”
“All right, everyone. This is what we’re going to do. We need information on this preacher. We’re going to break into three teams of three. Flint, Steel, and Tyler, you take Rattlesnake Canyon and Rose Park and the university district. Oak, Ivy, and Jody, you’ve got south of Highway Twelve across to the university. Simon, Nami, and I will take the central and west sides. Don’t call attention to yourselves. Find out everything you can about how the local politics have evolved and who this fellow is. Be back here by sunrise. The snow’s coming down hard now—that will work in our favor. One more thing—”
“Max.”
Giselle stood in the doorway. She motioned Max over to join her. “I got a call from Frank Bryce. He’s one of the farmers we’re working with out on O’Brien Creek Road. He says something’s moved in up in the hills south of his place. He’s found dead bears, elk, and deer. Says they’ve been ripped to shreds. He’s afraid for his stock. Our deal with him says we’ll protect him in exchange for lambs in the spring. It takes priority.”
Lambs over a psychopath burning people at the stake? Was she serious? “You can send the Sunspears in the morning to help him. We have to find out what’s going on with this preacher witch. Who knows when he’ll attack us again.”
“I agree, but I promised Frank and I can’t have any of our few farmer allies thinking we won’t respond when they need help.” She made a chopping motion with her hand when Max started to respond. “No arguments. No matter what happens with this preacher witch, we are going to need those lambs to survive the long term.”
Max’s mouth twisted, but she only nodded before turning back to her Blades. “You heard her. Let’s go save some animals.”
LEADING THE WAY TO THE NEAREST EXIT, MAX TOOK HER team out on the north side of the mountain fortress, facing the river. She didn’t pause but leaped down the slope and broke into a loping run. She didn’t bother with vehicles. It was faster to go as the crow flew, rather than back out around the highway and up to Missoula and west again.
The snow continued to fall in a thick, heavy blanket, making it difficult to see. She angled across the valley and northwest. Tyler flanked her on the left, and the others trailed in a long V. The ridges were steep, with sharp spines and towers of rock. Secreted within the folds were pocket valleys, cold mountain lakes, and swift-flowing rivers. Max was well used to traversing the terrain. The harsh edges and jagged contours of the Montana Rockies had been her home for thirty years.
As she ran, she let her Prime rise and flow outward. Her senses heightened, and her humanity flattened. Her predator instincts took over. She smelled the musky scents of animals and the pungency of plants. Beneath them, the stone and dirt were a cool metallic flavor. Birds chirped, and a bear sow growled a warning to something. A moose bellowed, and chipmunks chattered merrily. Woven through it all were the scents
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