Rufus didn’t answer. Below Hugh straightened and spoke to his engineer. Next to him a much smaller figure crawled onto the concrete, straightened, and hopped up and down. Cedric jumped next to her and flopped on his side.

“Who is that?” Rufus asked.

“Deidre. He rescued her, and now she follows him.” She’d run to find him the first chance she got.

Hugh picked Deidre up, carried her to the wall of the moat, and lifted her above his head. A woman in the Iron Dog uniform leaned in from above, grabbed the little girl’s hands, and pulled her up out of the moat. Hugh followed. He headed to the castle gates, and Deidre followed, Cedric trailing them.

“You’re right,” Elara said, “he is up to his neck in death. He’s had all the conquering a man could want and then some. All he wants now is to stay here, live in peace, and wash some of that blood off.”

“I hope you’re right. For all of our sakes.”

“I do too,” she told him and meant it. “So, will you place any orders, Commander?”

He spread his arms and the ‘oh shucks good old boy’ was back. “You’ve convinced me. Let’s haggle?”

Elara glanced one last time at Hugh, as a woman who loved him would, and turned to the table. “I do so love haggling.”

Getting the Red Guards out of the castle proved to be a longer affair than Hugh hoped. At first light, he’d sent Stoyan out with thirty Red Guards to Redhill. They’d made the three-hour round trip and come back. The report was short. Same as the palisade in the woods, except this time seventy people were taken. He’d called to the sheriff’s office himself. Will Armstrong didn’t sound thrilled. A palisade with a few families was one thing. A small settlement like Redhill was a different thing entirely.

They’d spent the rest of the phone call dancing around the fact that Armstrong didn’t have the manpower to handle this and they both knew it. He promised to send a man down to investigate and interview Alex Tong. Hugh thanked him. They made some polite noises and hung up. They were on their own.

They needed to get the moat done. Hugh was chomping at the bit to get back down there, but he had to have lunch and exchange pleasantries. It was almost noon, and still the Red Guards dragged their feet. Finally, Rufus climbed onto his eighteen-hand Belgian draft and prepared to take off.

“It was lovely meeting you folks.” Rufus favored them with a huge grin.

“The pleasure is all ours, Commander,” Elara told him and smiled as if Rufus and she were bosom buddies.

Hugh briefly considered pulling Rufus off his horse and dumping him on the ground on his ass. It was an odd urge. He pondered where it came from.

“Visit any time,” he said and held his hand out.

Rufus gripped it. “We came for the beer, stayed for the company. Love to do it again.”

They shook.

“You two make a lovely couple,” Rufus told them. “Have fun without me, newlyweds!”

“Oh, we will,” Hugh promised him.

“Well, we’re off.” Rufus swung his horse toward the gates. The Red Guards rode out. Hugh caught Elara’s arm and strolled with her to the gates.

The Red Guardsmen rode down the path. The female Guard glanced back at them over her shoulder.

Elara smiled and waved. Hugh slid his arm around her and squeezed her to him. Her smile sharpened.

The moment the woman turned back, Elara tried to stomp on his foot. He was ready, and she missed. Her sandal hit the stone, but she was out of his hands.

“If you’re going to do that, love, you should wear heels.”

She shot him a look of pure venom. “Eat dirt and die.”

Oh good. He leaned closer to her and murmured, “Careful. Your new best friend isn’t quite out of earshot yet.”

“He won’t hear.” She gave him the stink eye, then her eyes brightened. “I rather like him. He came to me very concerned this morning.”

“Why?” More importantly, why didn’t anyone tell him about that?

“He wanted to warn me that you were a butcher.”

“Oh that.”

“I reassured him that I was aware of that.”

“I bet you did.”

“You know,” Elara murmured thoughtfully. “He is kind of handsome. In that older grizzled veteran way.”

“Rufus the Ashes? Sorry to disappoint you, but he’s happily married.”

“Really?”

“For about thirty years now. Marissa likes splitting people with her axe, so I would think twice if I were you.”

“You’re making this up,” she said.

“Go ahead. Test the waters. Just don’t come running to me when she shows up here looking to make you a head shorter.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t run to you if you were the last man on Earth.”

He smiled at her, leaned closer, and murmured, “You did yesterday.”

Elara actually growled. A real growl, under her breath, but still a growl. He almost laughed.

“I see your concrete finally set,” she said.

“Mhm.”

“In that case, you should consider being very nice to me during the next few days.”

“Why?”

“You’ll be needing gasoline for your cement mixer and you’re over your limit. Again.”

Bloody woman. “Are you telling me that with all that beer and all your eyelash fluttering, you couldn’t con that old man out of some money?”

“I don’t con! I conduct business by selling a quality product.”

Johanna emerged from the tower and walked in their direction.

“How much?” he asked.

“We’re going to make about eighty-seven grand after expenses on the Red Guard order,” Elara said. “Another twenty in the next few months if he comes back for seconds. And he will. Oh, and five hundred dollars from him personally.”

“Five hundred bucks? What the hell did he buy?”

Her eyes narrowed into slits. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“So we made sixty-seven thousand five hundred,” he said. “Not bad.”

“How do you figure that?”

“I bought two 50 Cal Gatling Guns from Rufus. Ten K each.”

She stared at him, stunned.

He braced himself. “We need the guns, Elara.”

“And you just made that decision without me?” Her voice was so sharp, he wanted to check himself for cuts.

“A 50 Cal GAU doesn’t sound like a firecracker. It sounds like a jackhammer, because it fires up to 2,000 rounds per minute. It’s belt-fed from the ammo box and it will turn a vampire into hamburger in less than two seconds.”

“Damn it, Hugh.”

“We’re both stronger during magic. The Gatling guns will guarantee that Nez doesn’t attack during tech.”

Johanna reached them and waved. Elara turned to her. “Yes?”

“Boy is awake,” Johanna signed.

Fear flickered across Elara’s face. She blurred and then she was at the tower door, thin tendrils of white magic snaking through the space she had just occupied.

There was something the boy knew she didn’t want Hugh to know. Hugh broke into a run. Ten seconds to the door, another twenty to clear the stairs. He burst into the hallway and sprinted to the room.

The door stood wide open. He heard Elara’s voice, soft yet insistent.

“… never do it again. I understand why you did. I’m not upset with you. But you must promise me to never do it again.”

“I promise,” a young male voice answered.

He’d missed it. Damn it.

Hugh walked through the doorway. The kid lay in bed, still pale from the loss of blood. He let his magic slide over the boy’s body. The vitals looked good, though, for how complicated the patch job was. Elara sat on the edge of his bed. She glanced up at Hugh’s approach.

“You’re making eyes at my wife?” Hugh asked.

The kid went a shade paler. “No, sir.”

“Hugh!” Elara turned to the boy. “He’s joking.”

“Tell me about the village, Alex,” Hugh said.