“Where’s Rebecca?” I demanded as Rhys entered the dining room.

“She’s having a shower. I’ve got a few people guarding her.”

“Guarding her from what?” I asked, indicating he should sit down.

“From anyone that still wants to pay her back for betraying us,” he replied, sitting at my side.

“Were my orders not clear?” I snapped, growing increasingly pissed. “Do they want to fuck with me?”

Rhys, once cool, calm, and collected, was pasty and sweating. He licked his lips nervously. “Not at all. I’ve probably overstated the threat. I took it upon myself to protect her, just in case.”

Understanding his motives, I relaxed a little. “Ok. Good man. How about the rest of the thirteen?”

“They’re all enroute. I made up some story about the sacrifice going awry. Melinda played along and convinced them it was genuine before I locked her up.”

“Melinda?”

“One of the thirteen, wearing the red robes. She wants to pledge herself to you, as do Henry and Queenie. They’ve seen true power today. Will you grant them an audience?”

“Not a chance,” I snorted. “They made their pact. You’ve got a long way to go to undo your evil. That’s if you even want to?”

“Of course I do, Mark.” He licked his lips, playing back the demon’s rise in his head. “You were right before. I thought it was all a game. Those things actually exist…”

I nodded. “And they’re hungry for souls. How long until the CID team arrive?”

He gulped audibly, imagining the feel of Sar’Ozan’s fangs. “Erm, the last communication we had with them puts it at a quarter to ten. About twenty-five minutes.”

“Road or air?”

“They said by air. Do you want me to send them away? I can make up a reason to throw them off.”

“No, I want you to take them once they’ve landed.”

He gulped. “Take them? How?”

“Get five of your people around our size. Tie their hands and put hoods on them. Once they’ve landed, do what you need to put them at ease. When they drop their guard, spring the trap. A hundred machine guns should keep them in line.” I wasn’t convinced of the last part, and nor was Rhys.

“What if they don’t comply?”

My glare was answer enough.

“Ok, I’ll see it’s done.” Rhys wasn’t quite finished, but he looked at me fearfully. “You do know General Milley will rain down fire on us for this?”

“You think I fear a man when I control gods?” I snapped. Bloody hell, I was starting to sound like the worst type of arrogant, villainous arsehole. It was just an act, though a tiny part of me enjoyed the power. I’d need to be mindful of that little tumour lest it grow.

Rhys held up his hands to placate me. “Of course not, it’s just…”

“You’re my advisor now. Speak up for fuck’s sake.”

“It’s just that we don’t control anything like that. We’ll get massacred when he realises what’s happened.”

“Your souls are already forfeit, Rhys. Are you a bit regretful now? Can you feel that approaching heat?”

“I… I…” he stammered.

He was ready to crumble. Their entire operation had been one big charade, and now Rhys faced an eternity of being ripped apart by things like Sar’Ozan. They had played the big bad satanist, and I wasn’t about to let them off the hook that easily. I remembered one of favourite movies and leaned in close to his ear. “If you do die before you can earn back your soul, He’s waiting for you. He has such sights to show you.” I couldn’t resist throwing in a Hellraiser quote, but I stopped short of clacking my teeth like The Chatterer. He looked about to cry, and I had to say it. “No tears, please. It’s a waste of good suffering.”

His mouth bobbed wordlessly.

“Oh, calm down you dickhead. I’m giving you a chance to avoid the hot place. Self-sacrifice is the noblest of all callings. You’re going to have a lot of opportunities to prove yourself, I can assure you of that.”

A little colour returned to his face.

“And remember, that’s if Milley doesn’t already know,” said Cris, bringing the conversation back, pointing to the ceiling.

“Shit!” I’d forgotten about the satellites again. Could they really be the all-seeing, omnipotent agency that was presented in fiction on our world? Watching us reading a paper on a park bench, their technology capable of reading the tiny text along with us. If recent news was anything to go by, they were as useless as the governments they worked for. I shrugged. “If he does, we’ll find out soon enough.”

“How?” asked Jessop.

“We’ll be a smoking crater,” I explained, and he turned a similar shade to my newly elected confidante.

“You don’t seem too concerned,” said Rhys.

I wasn’t about to share the fact we were immortals, but I couldn’t resist another dig. They were murderous gangsters, and I had to remember that. “My life has been dedicated to helping people. I’m happy to stand and be judged.”

“Judged…” he mumbled, trembling.

“There’s nothing we can do about it anyway,” continued Cris with a shrug.

She was right. If he was, we wouldn’t even hear the missiles coming. I had a sudden thought. “Is there a map of the city around here? And a pen?”

Cue a frenzy of doors and drawers opening and closing as my new gang searched high and low in the property. An excited yell from down the hallway preceded a man running in to us as if he’d just discovered the cure for cancer. It felt beyond weird to have hardened criminals feting over my every word. “Thanks,” I said as he handed the items over.

He bowed, and I almost admonished the gesture, but sent him away with a flick of my hand instead. I slid the objects toward Rhys. “Now mark up your territory. An outline will do.”

He started to study the street names closely.

“A basic outline,” I added.

Popping the marker lid, he started to draw a crude line resembling a half moon around the eastern portion of the city.

“And there are no police stations in your territory?”

“Plenty of them,” he replied. “And they’re well paid to keep out of our business. They won’t give you any trouble.”

“Do they actively comply if Ripper or the thirteen give an order? I mean, are they in your pocket to the point you can call on them?”

“We do have a decent number who do extra jobs to earn a little cash. Moving packages, falsifying evidence, that kind of thing.”

“Ok, that’s interesting. How many actual members do you have in the Disciples? I want an exact number.”

“Nineteen thousand, give or take a handful. Double that as prospects and street runners.”

“How many here?” I asked, a plan beginning to form.

“In The Pit? Four hundred.”

I scowled at him. “You call this place The Pit?”

“Ripper did. I always thought…”

“It’s fine. I don’t give two shits about the name. How many of that four hundred are vets?”

“Military?” he asked.

“No, the ones that care for animals, you tit,” I replied, witheringly. His weak simpering was starting to grate on me. “Listen, Rhys. Get your head in the game, because we’re going to need that brain of yours for what’s coming. I’m a man who controls monsters, so deal with it and man the fuck up! Where’s the self-assured hardcase that picked us up from the CID building?”

He straightened his tie and sat up. “I’m here.”

“Good. Now, how many vets?”

“I’d say a quarter of our total number. They make good crew runners, so we keep them well paid and in top positions. In The Pit, I think we’ve got about sixty who served. You can still count on the others in a pinch. They know what you are and where they’re going if it goes to shit. They wouldn’t dare run.”

“I hope so, because we’re about to get pinched harder than you could ever imagine. Have the vets be the ones to lead when the CID arrive. They’ll know best how to surround them and take them without a fuss.”

“What if they bring T-4s as backup again?” asked Cody.

“Good point.” I turned back to the ex-lawyer. “Rhys, you got any heavy artillery here?”

“The heaviest,” he replied.

“Good. Make sure it’s ready for when they arrive. If they do bring the attack choppers, they’ll probably keep them airborne as cover. Once we make our move, engage them.”

Sun was smiling at me proudly.

“What?”

“You’ve come a long way, Mark. Remember what you were like when we first met?”

It wasn’t that long ago. I could still feel the tight restraints as they cut off my circulation. “Yeah! I was tied to a chair, about to have my toes pulped by Rendel.”

“Did they get pulped, though?”

“Well, no, because you refused to follow his order.”

“Then stop whining,” she said, smiling maternally. “A little pain never hurt anyone.”

I realised I had changed somewhat. There wasn’t as much of the hesitation and self-doubt. I still feared that my decisions might go awry, but at least they were now being made with more determination. I checked the clock, and we had passed the fifteen minute mark of the CID arrival. “Get everything set up and find us a safe place to watch. If things go to hell, we’ll step in and create some mayhem to take the heat off you.”

“You’ll bring out your slave?” he asked, barely suppressing a shudder.

“If I need to,” I lied. Sar’Ozan was safely locked away for another twenty-three and a half hours.

Rhys pushed himself away from the table. “I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Come and fetch us when they’re five minutes away.”

He left the room at a rate of knots, firing off orders to the subordinates who, in turn, barked out their own.

“What’s the plan if they do surrender?” asked Cody.

“Ask them nicely about our good friend Milley. I know your base was attached to his, but do you have any idea of the layout? Guard patrols? Codes? Locks? Underground bunkers?”

“I’ve driven past the gate a few times,” he offered.

“I’m sure that’ll come in handy if we ever try to just walk in.”

“We’re really going to go after Milley on his own turf?” asked Cris.

“I bloody hope not, but I’m fresh out of ideas. We’ve got an army of sorts now, so at least we have the option.”

“An attack on Milley will bring every branch of the Osterland military down on us, even though we’re doing it for the right reasons,” said Cody.

I slumped back in my chair and attacked another strawberry. Our army was only partially manned by actual warriors, and that meant in spite of Rhys’s promise, the likelihood of the others doing an orc and fleeing at the first sign of trouble was all but assured. I also had no doubt their weaponry would far outmatch our own, tipping the scales even further in Milley’s favour. The one thing I was absolutely certain of is that we didn’t really have any other options. I could task the entire nineteen thousand Disciples to scour the city and surrounding countryside, and they would still likely miss any sign of Lake.

“You ok?” asked Cris. “You went away there.”

“I was just wondering how easy it would be to pick up nineteen thousand torches from one of the local shops.”

She was taken aback at my remark. “Torches? Like battery torches?”

I nodded.

“What for?”

“So we can send the Disciples out knocking doors and checking down alleys. Maybe even start searching the nature reserve for Lake or his air blowers. They can take sticks like you see in the movies when the locals search for a missing person. Rummage through the bushes. Turn over stones. It’s no more insane than going after Milley.”

“We have a plan,” declared Sun. “What comes after will come regardless. You’re thinking too far ahead.”

“So much for me changing, eh? I’m still overwhelmed.”

“Yes, but before, you were overwhelmed and indecisive. You’ve conquered one of your weaknesses at least.”

“Go me!” I mock celebrated.

“She’s right,” agreed Cris. “I’d be in exactly the same position. We’re not meant to find an easy way to our goal, but we are meant to get there. It’ll happen even if we didn’t want it to.”

“So you don’t fancy spending the next twenty years hiding in a government bunker with me while dinosaurs try to tear the door down?”

“Life finds a way,” she said, repeating the line. “We’re not the type to hide.”

“Speak for yourselves!” blurted Jessop, trying his best to stay with the conversation.

“Professor, you said yourself you would’ve gone into the jungle instead of Liza. I don’t think you’re the hiding type either.”

“Perhaps not,” he replied. “But if what you say is really true, we’ll all be hiding soon enough. It’ll be that or be devoured.”

I couldn’t argue with his logic.

The countdown ticked away.