Chapter Four

Chapter Four

NATE GARRETT

City of Solomon, Realm of Shadow Falls

After Astrid had been born and my father had been murdered in Asgard, Selene and I had settled in Shadow Falls, agreeing it was the safest place to live. We took turns going on missions, because neither of us wanted to sit around all day, but that meant not spending much time as a family. It had been a hard year, although the last few months had been easier with the appearance of Eos, Selene's sister.

Eos had moved into our home. Her children had moved to Shadow Falls, too, because it was safer for them. Arthur wasn't above going after the families of people who had helped us. I'd come back from a mission to discover Eos firmly ensconced. We'd discussed it before I'd gone, but I hadn't realized I'd be coming back to a done deal.

If anyone ever told you that having someone who was essentially your sister-in-law living with you full-time was weird, they were right. It was really weird, but either way, Eos was wonderful with Astrid. She knew she wasn't a warrior, although she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and her days as an assassin were long behind her. Now, she just wanted to protect her family.

Eos walked down the stairs as Selene and I sat on the large comfortable sofa, Astrid in front of us playing with one of the approximately five million toy cars that had seemingly appeared in the house over the course of our living here.

"So how bad was it?" Selene asked me.

I gave a rundown of what had happened, culminating with me being told about the mission in DC.

"We're going to DC?" Selene asked. "I've never been there."

"How?" Eos asked. "You're thousands of years old, and you've never been there?"

"You've never been to Ireland," Selene countered.

"Touché," Eos said, taking a seat nearby. "Have you heard from Father?"

Hyperion was in Helheim helping to resettle the hundreds of thousands of people who had been displaced by Avalon before their eventual defeat. It had turned out he was good at the job, although being one of the most powerful beings ever born probably went some way toward others treating him with respect.

"When this is all over, we'll go to Helheim," Selene said. "I think Hel is missing the place."

"I think Mordred would be happy for the break away from being king," I said. "He's still not exactly used to it."

"I don't think he ever will be," Eos said.

"Speaking of you Horsemen," Selene said, "have you seen Judgement?"

Astrid threw a green car at me and laughed when I picked it out of the air with magic and dropped it back in her lap. There was a time when using magic in Shadow Falls had been unpredictable and wild, but over the years, as I'd increased in power, I'd learned to control it better. "She's in the forest to the north," I said. "She doesn't do well around crowds of people."

"She'll come with us to DC," Selene told me. "You should ask her."

"She does like hitting people," I said thoughtfully. "And I think the higher the rank, the more she enjoys it."

"We really going to drag the president of America out of the White House to be arrested?" Selene asked. "That doesn't sound like something we can do easily."

"Honestly, I'm not sure what's going to happen," I said. "Gawain is there, so I definitely want the chance to have a long, slow conversation with him about the error in being a ... bad man," I finished after remembering Astrid was in the room. Sometimes being a parent was hard. Harder still when you really wanted to swear and couldn't. I didn't want to be known as the parent whose kid ran around telling people to fuck off. Although, thinking about it, I could always blame Remy's influence.

Astrid motioned for me to pick her up. "No, you can walk to me," I told her.

She stared at me for several seconds before getting to her feet and toddling over to me. I picked her up and sat her on my knee. "You're going to be a good girl for Eos?" I asked her.

Astrid looked over at Eos and waved. "Good girl," she said enthusiastically.

"How did you two ever make a kid that cute?" Eos asked.

"She got all of Selene's ... everything," I said.

"Wait until she's a teenager and she turns into a mini-Daddy," Selene said. "Burning down houses, throwing bolts of lightning at everyone."

"I think by the time she's a teenager, I'll have concocted an elaborate escape plan for me to live underground," I said, giving Selene a kiss.

"Oh, not without me, you don't," Selene said.

"You two sicken me," Eos told us, picking up Astrid. "I'm going to go take this one for a walk, if no one has any objections."

"Thank you," Selene said.

Once Selene and I were alone, we went to bed, predominantly to get some sleep. Eventually, anyway.

I'd had a good extra hour when I woke up to the sound of the front door being rhythmically beaten.

"If that's Mordred, give him a bottle of vodka and tell him to relax," Selene said as I left the bedroom. I went downstairs to find Hel and Mordred at the front door.

"Nate," Mordred said. "You wanna get dressed?"

I looked down, realizing I was wearing only a pair of shorts. "No," I said. "I want to go back to sleep."

"Sorry, but the team is ready for your incursion into Washington," Hel said.

"Well, it was nice while it lasted," Selene said as she walked down the stairs, pulling on a T-shirt.

"The White House has turned into somewhat of a battleground," Hel said. "The humans went to arrest several senators who were there, hoping to get distance between them and the president, and it all kicked off. There are a lot of Avalon personnel in that building, and now quite a few dead Secret Service and FBI agents."

"How long ago?" I asked.

"An hour," Mordred said. "We only just got word, as our people there have been trying to stop Avalon insurgents from killing innocent people."

"It gets worse," Hel said.

"Of course it does," I said.

"Looks like the president isn't involved with Avalon," Mordred said. "At least not how we thought. Gawain threatened to execute him if anyone tries to get into the White House."

"So the president is one of the good guys?" I asked. "That's not the impression we got from Poseidon."

"Yeah, it's all a little confusing," Mordred said. "But right now, the president and his family are in the White House, and they're hostages. Along with several dozen workers and members of Congress."

"Yeah, that's pretty bad," I admitted. I ran upstairs and put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt before we left the house, and all of us made our way to the temple realm gate, where Leonardo and Antonio were waiting, along with several dozen others. Antonio hugged me and Selene in turn.

"Good to see you both," he said. "I'm pretty sure I now live in this temple, considering the amount of time I've spent here. Leonardo wants to make it even bigger. He thinks there's a way to move whole armies through the gates."

"And you think?"

"I think he's always trying to push the boundaries of what's possible, and sometimes he doesn't stop to think what's safe."

I smiled. "That sounds a lot like Leonardo."

"I love him, but he can be hard work," Antonio said, with a warm smile of his own.

"So we're really going to send a group this big?" I asked Hades.

"The Knights of Avalon have been running skirmishes against a lot of the humans there. The army has been drafted in, but even with guns it's hard to kill people who can throw fireballs at your face before you've even raised the weapon."

"They're going to start a war in the middle of the city," Selene said from beside me.

"Yes," Leonardo said. "Several from here have already gone through the realm gate. Nate, I just want to say that something feels off about this. From what I've been told, these KOA were attacking the human forces not long after the White House went into lockdown. It feels like this was planned."

"Great," I said. "So where does this realm gate go?"

"Ah, we changed the address," Leonardo said. "It goes to a realm gate under the Lincoln Memorial."

"There's no realm gate under the Lincoln Memorial," I said. "I know, because I've been there several times."

"There wasn't until three months ago," Zamek said as he joined us. "Jinayca and the dwarves we met in Valhalla worked together to get one working. They found one under Valhalla—it's what destroyed a big part of it—and while that didn't work properly, this one does. They built six new realm gates; DC was one of them."

"So these gates ... they're safe?" I asked.

"Completely," Zamek said. "They're dead gates until linked to another gate. And seeing how very few people can change the realm gate destinations, we didn't need to worry too much about them being used for evil purposes. Besides, we made sure there are guards and the like."

"You ready?" Antonio asked.

I nodded. "Keep safe out there," I said. "And Leonardo, check to see if you can find anything about a gate in Atlantis."

"Mordred already told me," Leonardo said. "We're looking into it from here."

"It will be everything he does for however long it takes," Antonio said with one of his usual warm smiles.

"Keep him out of trouble," I whispered to Antonio.

"I'm not bloody deaf," Leonardo snapped.

I stepped through the realm gate and found myself in a dimly lit basement the size of a football field. There were dozens of people from the resistance alongside me, with many more making their way up the stairs toward what I presumed was the exit.

Jinayca walked over. She was a dwarf who had seen her people taken almost to the brink of extinction, only to lead those who remained to survive for centuries. A second dwarf stood beside her, a young female whom I'd met a few times. She was Zamek's sister, Queen Orfeda. When Orfeda and her people had learned that Zamek was alive, they'd tried to get him to take the throne. It had not gone as they'd planned. Zamek had no interest in being a king and was happy to let his sister lead the dwarves.

"Your Majesty," I said to Queen Orfeda.

"Just Orfeda will do," she said. "You are not one of my subjects, and considering your friendship with my brother, I think we can dispense with formal speech. Unless you want me to call you Horseman Death all the time?"

"I'd rather you didn't," I said.

"So just how bad is it up there?" Selene asked.

"The White House is completely inaccessible," Jinayca said. "The human law enforcement have set up a camp in Lafayette Square, but the White House has snipers on the roof and enough firepower inside to stop anyone from a full frontal assault. The Secret Service are all human, from the best we've figured out, but Gawain is in there with some of the BOA, Blade of Avalon, and that's bad."

"And the incoming forces?" I asked as we joined the exiting group and made our way up the stairs to the outside, where the darkness of the nighttime would hopefully make our job a little easier.

"Four thousand KOA and roughly an equal number of BOA," Orfeda said. "The first group of Avalon forces are only three thousand strong, coming over the Rochambeau Memorial Bridge and Potomac River by boat. They've already engaged several groups of FBI and Secret Service, and both sides have taken heavy casualties. There are several Special Forces units being sent to help, but it's not looking great."

"This isn't a spur-of-the-moment reaction," I said. "This was planned."

"Agreed," Orfeda said. "They may have had to move up the timetable of taking the White House—Gawain certainly didn't seem happy about it—but the number of forces heading toward the capital suggest this has been on the cards for a while."

"And the rest of the enemy?" I asked. "Where are they heading in from?"

"The majority of them are coming from the northwest through Rock Creek Park," Orfeda said. "There are maybe five thousand there. The remainder were already in the city; they have been running battles with the local law enforcement, starting fires, causing problems, keeping everyone busy. They're KOA, mostly human supporters of Arthur and Avalon."

"Where have you put the defenses?" Selene asked.

"Everything within a six-block radius of the White House is completely locked down," Jinayca said. "It's where most of the resistance members are."

"Anyone in charge at the park who we can trust?" I asked.

"A few people," Jinayca said. "Loki is there, as are Layla and her team. They've been patrolling the exclusion zone and have managed to stop several incursion attempts by the KOA. Judgement is there too. She's ... eager to involve herself."

"I'll head off," I said. "You guys keep safe."

"The rest of your team are already heading to the exclusion zone," Orfeda said. "Good luck."

"You too," Selene said as we set off at a run toward the edge of the park.

We continued on toward Lafayette Square, making sure to stay far enough back from the White House, although it was always in our field of vision. No one was out on the street, despite it only being midnight, although there were plenty of lights on in the buildings around us. I wondered if their occupants were going to be moved away from danger or whether the city was going to be put into complete lockdown while we figured out a way to stop the streets from becoming a battleground. It had been a few hundred years since the last time Washington had been home to war, and I would rather it not happen again, considering the number of civilians who lived in the city was exponentially larger than it had been back then.

We reached Lafayette Square, where several large, heavily armed FBI agents barred our way.

"It's okay; they're with us," Loki shouted, and the guards parted before us.

A large wall had been erected across the park between the rebellion forces and the White House, and several armed agents stood behind the metal structure.

"You having a problem with snipers?" I asked Loki.

"We were," he said. "They've stopped now, but occasionally they take a shot at the wall there and see what happens."

There were maybe a hundred personnel in the park. Several tents had been put up, and Loki took us both into the nearest one, where the few dozen people inside wore bulletproof vests with various acronyms on them. The FBI seemed to be in the majority, although there were more than a few Secret Service members there too.

I recognized a man at the end of the map-covered table and smiled. "Roberto Cortez?" I asked. "Is that you?"

Roberto shook my hand. He was a little under six feet tall and appeared to be in his early fifties, although in truth he was hundreds of years older than that. Roberto was a shape-shifter and had been placed in Washington for a long time. Every now and again, he'd modify his appearance slightly and change jobs. He'd been put here to keep an eye on those in charge, although like everyone else, I doubted he'd expected Arthur to return and become a tyrant.

"It's been a while, Nate," Roberto said.

I introduced him to Selene, who looked up from one of the maps at the table and shook his hand. "You worked with Nate when he was at Avalon?" she asked.

"I don't think anyone really worked with Nate," Roberto said. "He wasn't exactly someone who toed the company line, so to speak."

"I'm shocked," Selene said, giving me a mocking grin.

"Come with me; we need to talk," Roberto said, suddenly serious.

"Who is everyone in there?" I asked when we left the tent.

"Members of the military, several senators, high-ranking members of the FBI, Secret Service, and the CIA director. The shit has well and truly hit the fan."

"And what is the press doing?" Selene asked.

"Well, the press are divided between trying to give information, keep ratings, and in a few cases kissing Avalon ass because they're hedging their bets. We're keeping the ones we trust informed, and the ones we don't trust will just make shit up no matter what we tell them. We do a citywide broadcast to tell people to stay inside and quiet. We've got people going door to door to make sure that civilians are safe, but it's a hard job."

I looked up at the full moon. The cold was creeping in, and I wondered if it might start to snow soon. That wouldn't help matters at all.

"Nate," Roberto said.

"I'm listening," I said, looking back at him. I followed him into a large tent, where two dozen men and women stood around a large table.

"The president and his family—wife, three kids—are hostages," a stern-looking man in a blue uniform said. "They are our main priority for extraction."

"And everyone else?" I asked.

"The president first," the man said.

"Yeah, we're going to at least try to get everyone out," I told him. "There's no ifs, ands, or buts here. Gawain is in there with highly trained members of Avalon and several of your own people. If we get the president out and leave the others, it'll be a bloodbath. We go in, get everyone, shut this shit down, and leave."

Everyone started yelling—mostly at me—which I ignored as I looked over at Roberto. "You know we can do this," I said.

Roberto nodded as everyone quieted down.

"As good as your people are," I said to the various officials in the tent, "those people in there have powers. You need powers to face them. Guns won't be enough."

My team and I left the tent with Roberto walking beside us.

"There are at least four snipers on the roof," Roberto told us, pointing to where the snipers looked to be situated. "They'd already killed six agents before we put up those shields. At least twenty Secret Service inside are working for Avalon. Maybe a hundred personnel overall."

Roberto went on. "They've executed two senators and a member of Congress since they took control. And that was after killing a dozen police officers who tried to intervene."

"This doesn't bode well for getting all of those hostages out alive," I said.

"No," Roberto said. "No, it doesn't. It might help to know that the security feed inside the White House was shut down by several members of staff as the building was taken. They got word to us; it makes entry a little easier without them having eyes all over the place, but we lost two good people getting it done. Gawain contacted us directly to let us hear them die."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"What's a good guess for the number of hostages to make it out in one piece?" Selene asked.

"A front assault is zero," Roberto said. "A stealth assault, maybe half. There's no good end to this, Nate."

I looked beyond the trees and wall to the White House. "How about an army of one?" I asked.

"You're going to go in alone?" Roberto asked me.

I shrugged. "Thinking about it."

"That's insane," he said. Someone from the tent waved him over, and Roberto left Selene and me alone.

"You're not really thinking about doing that, are you?" Selene asked me with a frown.

I shook my head. "People are going to die here, no matter what we do."

"Yes," Selene said. "It looks unavoidable."

"We need intel as to what's happening in the White House," I said. "Or at least above it. You think you can scout it without anyone shooting at you?"

Selene transformed into her dragon-kin form. Her massive silver wings beat once, and she took high to the skies at a speed I could barely track. Her vision thousands of feet in the sky was better than a hawk's. Only it was Avalon members who were the tiny mice scurrying for safety.

"Nate Garrett," a voice said from behind me.

I turned and saw Layla Cassidy. Her blue-and-green hair was up in a ponytail, and she'd lost one arm just below the elbow in a battle a few years back. Thankfully she was able to manipulate metal, so she'd made herself a new arm. I smiled. It had been a while since I'd first seen her as a new umbra, a woman with no idea of the power she possessed. Now, several years later, Layla was a formidable warrior capable of great power.

She hugged me and stepped back. "So you're here to make things go boom?"

"Well, you all seem to suck at it, so they brought in an expert," I said. "Nice wall, by the way."

"We can't all be sorcerers," Layla said. "Some of us have to work to get our power."

I laughed.

"So I guess my team and I are going to be making sure no one starts a war in the blocks around here," Layla said. "I get the feeling it's going to be a full-time job."

"There's a large force coming from the north, so I hear," I said. "I would imagine they've sent several smaller groups into the city. But you look geared up already."

Layla wore black leather armor that was rune scribed to stop magic, or at least slow it down. A sword sat in the scabbard at her back, and a large saber-tooth panther covered in armor padded over beside her. Tego was the size of a small horse and was inseparable from Layla. She did let me scratch her behind the ear, though.

"She likes you," Layla said.

"She likes being scratched," I told her.

Tego snorted. She was able to understand us, but no one was quite sure just how smart she really was. All anyone needed to know was that human-level intelligence in an animal that could tear apart an adult elephant was probably not something you'd want to piss off.

"You think we can all get through this in one piece?" Layla asked.

I nodded. "I have to; otherwise I'd just curl up in a ball. Astrid needs a better future for when she's older. Arthur needs to be stopped. People need to be able to live their lives without fear of persecution. And Gawain needs to die, because he's a massive asshole."

"Can't dis—" Layla started just as an explosion somewhere in the blocks surrounding us caused everyone to stop and look over.

"Be careful," Layla said.

"You too," I said as she ran off. "Keep her safe, Tego," I told the panther, who licked my hand and chased after Layla.

Selene landed beside me, making me jump a little. "There's fighting further out. It's getting bad. The National Guard are out there, but they're humans fighting against giants and werewolves; it's not going to end well."

I looked over at the White House. "How bad is it?"

"Four snipers, four spotters. One took a shot at me, but I was too high, and it was an easy avoid. There are rockets up there, too, and from my thermal vision, it looks like a lot of people moving around inside. Can't see too deep through; the walls are too thick."

I sighed. "It's going to be a long night."

"Yes, it is," Selene said, taking my hand in hers. "But we'll get through it."

I kissed her. "I'm going to kill Gawain and anyone supporting him, even if I have to tear down the entire building to do it."