Mounting Timp, I crossed the settlement, which was eerily quiet. I understood. Mutt’s people had no reason to be comfortable around my kind, let alone tolerant. And these were shapeshifting skinwalkers. “Freaks” to the outside world. If anybody ever learned the truth of their nature, they’d be hunted, hanged, crucified, and whatever other torture mankind could dream up.

  Same as if they were werewolves. Same as if they were demons.

  Same as if they were me.

  I overheard arguing in their native language as I approached. None of it sounded overwhelmingly positive. A host of elders and warriors waited, Mukwooru at their center. Others waited in dog form, baring their teeth.

  Ahusaka leaned against Huupi Sokobi, eyes rolled back into his head. A screech far above drew my attention to a hawk flying circles around the tallest boughs.

  I cautiously trotted Timp up to Mukwooru.

  “I knew you would not flee,” she said without looking back to confirm it was me.

  An elder spoke. Again, nothing I could understand, but his glare at me spoke volumes.

  “It is already done,” she replied to him. Then to me, “Come, James Crowley. Answer to your God.”

  I hopped off Timp and walked her closer, following Mukwooru past tents until we were on a low ridge overlooking the waterfall guarding the Garden’s secret entrance. Just outside, a pale man in a white duster and Stetson was on his knees in the shallow water at the edge of the pool. When I say white, I mean like freshly fallen snow. Must have just bought it from some high falootin’ fashion shop.

  His hair hung like golden tassels, covering his down-turned face, shrouding all details in shadow. Two native warriors held him on his knees. His hands were tied behind his back, mouth stuffed with a dirty cloth. One more warrior had an arrow aimed at the back of his skull, joining at least a dozen others on points of vantage around the rocky escarpment rising around the entrance.

  “Let him speak,” Mukwooru ordered.

  There was only the slightest hesitation before the natives removed the gag. The man spat a big glob into their sacred waters. Then he looked up, wearing that famous smirk, and all my fears came to fruition. Eyes like glass, with the menace of a country storm. Wicked eyes. Murderous eyes.

  Ace’s eyes.

  “Well, I’ll be fucked by spurs,” he said with a chuckle. “If it isn’t the renegade himself. Wasn’t enough to betray me. Had to stab the White Throne in their holy backsides too.”

  It stung hearing him use that term so cavalierly. How could they choose a savage like him? A response raged in my head but never came. I wanted to rip him to pieces.

  Ace glanced at one of the warriors holding him down. “Would you mind letting me stand, redskin? I feel like a damn toddler talking from down here.” The warrior ignored him, and I knew he could rise without any permission or allowance. Ace was playing games, as he always did.

  His gaze flitted toward Mukwooru and the elders. “Anyone? This how you treat a respectful visitor? No wonder we done slaughtered most of you animals.”

  “Keep him right where he is,” I said.

  Thing is, Mukwooru was a woman of honor. Despite his words, she waved her hand, and the warriors heaved him to his feet. Muddy water trickled down as he rose, making his formerly stark white pants look like he’d shit himself.

  He cackled. “As commanding as ever, Crowley.”

  I didn’t let my frustration show. “I ain’t their boss.”

  “Clearly. You’ve got a knack for making strange friends. Or maybe you just fancy putting others in my way. Just like Little Davey. Just like your dear Rosa.”

  “Keep her name out of your fucking mouth!” I pulled both Peacemakers and drew a target on his throat. He was new to this Black Badge game, and they were loaded with silver. Wouldn’t kill him, but it would hurt like a son of a bitch.

  He didn’t flinch. His grin only widened as he looked around the grotto, then sighed.

  “Throwing in with a bunch of shapeshifting injuns. ‘Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?’”

  “Oh, and now you think you’re righteous, quoting scripture?” I scoffed.

  “From darkness to light, Crowley. From darkness to marvelous fucking light.”

  I always uttered something similar in Latin when I Divined, and for a second, I wondered if he was trying to tell me something. However, I realized he was just the same old manipulative bucket of piss he’d always been.

  “You ain’t half the man any of these folks are,” I said.

  “Crowley…” He laughed. “I didn’t even have to hex them to get in. They’re so naive. This is where you choose to stand? It’s like I taught you nothing.”

  “Oh, you taught me plenty.”

  “That ain’t the insult you think it—”

  “Why are you here, Ace!”

  “My, my. Who sucked your prick with teeth? You know why I’m here.”

  “I know that there ain’t an angel on high that can imagine what’s in your sick head. So here I am, asking you man-to-man.”

  “Except we ain’t just men.” He shook his head. “Not anymore.”

  “You answer me, Ace. What do you want?”

  “To offer a simple trade to these kind folks, and then I’ll be on my merry way.”

  He sucked at his teeth, as if he had anything stuck there. Just a man of old habits acting like he held all the cards.

  “Spit it out,” I said.

  “You never were one for showmanship. Fine. They hand you and the girl over or they face the wrath of God Almighty. I got an army of werewolves in the hills, and boy, let me tell you, they are ravenous.”

  The elders murmured behind me. I couldn’t understand, but knew most of them would be more than happy with that exchange.

  “Rosa ain’t here, Ace,” I said. “It’s just you and me. Leave these people out of it.”

  He let out a great big guffaw. “You expect me to believe that?”

  “Don’t matter if you do. She’s long gone.”

  “Oh, Crowley. I know love-struck when I see it, you poor old fool. There ain’t a world where you’d let her out of your sight ever again. So just make this simple. She’s my quarry. You’re my prize.”

  I lowered my guns. “Then take me. Have your revenge and leave these good people alone.”

  “Vengeance is the Lord’s. Besides, I ain’t letting you be a martyr. No, siree. If she really ain’t here, then you’ll bring me to her. No matter what, I ain’t leaving here without the two of you.”

  “You expect me to believe you care about what the White Throne wants?”

  “I’m a reformed man, Crowley.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “I saw the truth, and the truth set me free.”

  “Let me see if I can shuck this down to the cob. You don’t care one bit about the White Throne. You’ve got no idea what they’re thinking, but they gave you a second chance, and you think if you play their game long enough, you’ll be free again. That sound about right?”

  “What can I say? White looks good on me.” He gestured to his outfit with a smug look on his face.

  “They’re just using you to get to me.”

  “Your point?”

  “They’re gonna toss you out the moment you’re done being useful.”

  He shook his head. “Tsk tsk, Crowley. I take redemption seriously. I’d cross my heart right now if these savages would untie me.”

  I was about to curse him when Mukwooru cut me off, her matronly voice filling the grotto, “Speak of us that way again, and you will speak no more.”

  He exhaled. “So sensitive. Alright, alright, I’ll tell you what, Crowley. You and Rosa come along willingly, and I won’t gut your precious fucking horse like a fish.” The grin left his lips, replaced only with menace as his gaze met mine.

  Stolen story; please report.

  I saw him then and knew. He didn’t come here to make a trade. He came for chaos, buoyed by the fact that God was behind him now. He’d slaughter all these people and call it righteous work. The White Throne had unleashed a monstrous wild card just to get me… No, not me. Rosa.

  What the hell was she?

  “You’re not gonna touch a soul here, Ace,” I said. “Let’s end this, just you and me.”

  He laughed. “A duel?”

  “Unless you’re too chickenshit.”

  “You see a saloon around here? What the hell is the point of two immortals shooting each other to ribbons? Besides, you and me both know I’ve got the faster hand.”

  “Then prove it.” I flipped one of my Peacemakers—Big Davey’s Peacemaker—and held it by the barrel, presenting it to him. “One shot each. Head or heart takes it. You win, you do whatever you want with me and Rosa. I win, you walk away and refuse Heaven’s calling.”

  He stared, but the thoughts breezing through his brain were clear as day. Never was one to refuse a gamble. Plus, he wasn’t wrong. Ace Ryker was the best shot I’d ever known. You don’t become a leader of a band of outlaws like the Scuttlers unless you can handle your metal. But I’d had practice against things far worse than men since then. I’d battled demons and Nephilim. Honed my skills.

  More than that, I wouldn’t leave things to chance. I had learned from him. Learned how to be ruthless when it needed doing. And with Rosa’s very existence in the balance, that was what I’d planned to be. Ace was new to this game. Didn’t know all the drawbacks and benefits of our numbness. Didn’t know the full effects of silver on undead things. This was no game to me.

  “Always did have balls; I’ll give you that,” Ace said.

  “What’s it gonna be, Ace?”

  “Mukwooru, I searched the hills from above!” Ahusaka said as he ran up to the group from behind, breathing heavily. He spoke in English. Either he hadn’t learned their language well enough to speak it or they wouldn’t allow it. Either way, I understood him. “Even with eyes of hawk, I didn’t see any—” He paused as his eyes locked on Ace. Ace, who had helped push him and his only family into madness.

  “Thank you, Ahusaka,” Mukwooru said. “You may go.”

  He didn’t acknowledge her. “Him? You let that monster here?”

  “I said, you may go.”

  “This doesn’t concern you, mind-drifter.” One of the elders gripped his wrist.

  “You let this snake in!” Ahusaka hissed. “I’ll kill him!” He pulled free and another elder tried to restrain him, but Ahusaka punched him across the face. Before I could do a thing, the boy ran across the grotto toward Ace. One of the archers fired an arrow at his feet in his path, but it didn’t stop him. Then another.

  The two warriors relinquished their grips on Ace’s arm to move to halt Ahusaka as well, but once he was close enough, Ahusaka took a move out of his adoptive mother’s repertoire and threw a hatchet. The blade burrowed deep into Ace’s chest.

  Ace toppled over onto his side as more natives ran in to stop Ahusaka. Water sloshed as he thrashed and kicked like a mule.

  I tried to join the fray, but Mukwooru held out her arm.

  “This does not concern you,” she said.

  “Like hell, it doesn’t!” I pushed by her and was promptly seized by a few of the elders. I could have killed them all if I wanted to, but didn’t. They dragged me backward while others went for Timp. She reared up, kicking at one with her front hooves.

  “No, Timp!” I warned. In response, she dropped to all fours and whinnied. “Please, Mukwooru. I know the position I put you in, but listen! Ace is like me, Mukwooru! He’s like me!” She must have heard me, because her eyes went wide.

  It was too late.

  Blood sprayed from the legs of two warriors holding Ahusaka, drawn by the kid’s second hatchet. As more bodies fell and the chaos cleared a bit, I saw that Ace had rolled over to get the hatchet free, then used it to cut his bonds. He crouched there in the midst of it all, licking the blood from his lips.

  Arrows from the ridges all above let loose, stabbing through him like a fleshy pincushion. His immortal body absorbed it all. He cut down another warrior who stood beside Ahusaka, then brought the blade around to slash at the boy’s neck. In one swift motion, Ace had drawn a thick gash straight down the kid, gutting him neck to navel.

  In the madness, I was able to break free and rush to Timp. Ace forced Ahusaka down to his knees, blood gushing out to mix with the water. More arrows stabbed Ace all over, to no avail. Then Ahusaka’s eyes rolled back, and his body went limp. At the same time, a far off hawk screeched.

  “It’s like I always taught you, Crowley!” Ace barked. “You want a big score, you take out the biggest target first, and that ain’t you. Ain’t no magic bird gonna save y’all this time!”

  I fired silver, but Ace used the kid as a meat shield while he received more arrows.

  Goddammit, every time I thought I knew him, Ace reaches into his bag of tricks and says “abracadabra.” He was never gonna barter. He remembered the Piasa that Ahusaka had summoned and concocted this whole show to kill him first.

  It wasn’t about me. Not yet.

  “I wouldn’t waste your rounds, Crowley!” he yelled. “I’m just the opening act.”

  One of the archers above the falls toppled off, a dozen tiny stab wounds in his back. In his place, I spotted a tiny, plump imp I recognized instantly. The one from Crescent City who’d guarded Tourmaline’s secret club for supernatural beings. He wore a devilish grin that put Ace’s to shame, then leaped off into the water. I thought I saw a flicker of something in his wake.

  I shouted, “Get Mukwooru out of here—”

  The cave through the waterfall—the only way in and out of this secreted haven—exploded. A big old load of TNT, no doubt. The kind needed to break open a quarry, only there was no mining to be done here.

  A shockwave threw back all the warriors near Ace. Chunks of rock battered others. Archers fell as the entire ridge was blasted wide open along with the cavernous passage.

  Undead or not, being near a blast like that still made my ears ring. Timp careened through a hardened clay structure to our left. She fell, kicking and mewling, all her weight landing on top of me.

  “Get off me, girl!” I groaned, but she was in full panic. Dust was everywhere. Metal clanged. Natives shrieked.

  “There you are, Crowley,” Ace said. He appeared as a ghost in the fog of war, stepping leisurely toward me with each spur jostling. “On your ass, where you belong.”

  A warrior came out of nowhere, driving a hatchet into Ace with a strike that would have killed a normal man. Thing is, normal wasn’t what we were dealing with. Ace turned slightly, and pulled the hatchet free. The warrior froze, confused. It was only for a second, but it was enough. Ace turned the blade and gutted his unwitting foe.

  “Timp!”

  Her head thrashed as she tried to get up. I don’t know if it was the daze from the explosion or her muscles being too damn old. Probably both. They spasmed and kept her rooted to the earth.

  “I came offering an olive branch, and these savages spit on my hand!”

  A skinwalker in dog form bit his ankle.

  “You can always trust savages to act like the animals they are.” Ace growled as he ground his spur back into the dog’s foreleg. It yelped before he silenced it with the hatchet. “I do God’s work here. Don’t worry, I’ll bring these heathens to heel.”

  A few more arrows pierced Ace’s body as he continued his path toward me. I tried again to shift Timp off me when he placed his boot on her neck and pinned us in place. Timperina whinnied in terror as he stooped over her, looking down at me with eyes shining cobalt from their blood-soaked lids.

  “Look where we find ourselves once again, Crowley.”

  “You fucking bastard!” I yelled. “I’ll kill you right this time!”

  He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “I reckon not. Maybe you shoot some of that silver through your horse, but I doubt it. You’re too soft for the West, Crowley. Always was.”

  I got one of my hands free, gun still gripped tight. He sliced down as I went to aim, causing my shot to fire astray. I tried again, only nothing happened. I hadn’t felt it at all, but he’d cleaved right through my wrist, severing hand from arm.

  “Now, where were we?” he asked. “Right. You’ve come to the end of the line again, and this time, I can honestly swear to God you ain’t coming back. But first…”

  He lined the bloody blade of the hatchet along Timp’s neck, holding her legs down to keep it steady. Then he locked eyes with me as he raised the weapon.

  I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was desperate. No words could contain my rage.

  As he swung, a hawk screeched, causing him to only nick her with a flesh wound before the blade sank into dirt.

  Ahusaka. The kid must have mind-drifted into the bird before his human body was killed.

  Talons raked across the side of Ace’s face, drawing only dust. The force of its full-speed dive-bomb knocked him back. They fell together, hawk-Ahusaka pecking and scratching long enough for me to scramble.

  “You freaks won’t take this from me!” Unfazed by all the damage it was causing, Ace’s hand jutted out and snatched Ahusaka out of midair. Then, holding the bird by the neck, he started to tear a wing off.

  Fury filled my ageless muscles beyond mortal constraints, enough to pry my hips free of Timp’s considerable weight and roll out from under her. I bolted to my feet and unloaded the last round of silver I had from the pistol in my remaining hand, making sure not to miss. A gut-shot.

  Ace’s flesh sizzled, and he dropped the now-wingless hawk. With a fit of rage-fueled agony, he collapsed to his knees.

  I remember the first time I dealt with silver. Dropped a round and wasn’t wise enough yet to wear gloves. The shock of feeling real, burning pain after being numb so long floored me.

  Ace, on the other hand, started to cackle as he clutched the steaming wound in his belly. “Woo, that feels nice! I forgot about pain.” He purposefully pounded on his stomach with a balled fist. “Makes me feel alive again!”

  I kept my Peacemaker aimed at him, even though the chamber was empty. I couldn’t risk taking the time to reload with only one hand attached, and couldn’t be sure if he’d been paying attention enough to count the rounds I’d expended. Of course, he was the infamous Ace Ryker. It took quite the attention to detail to be as ruthless as him.

  “C’mon, girl,” I whispered to Timp, keeping my aim while lifting under her front quarters with my stump to help her get the leverage to stand. Hearing her sounds of struggle and alarm put a knot in my soul.

  “Go on, then,” Ace goaded. “Show me how big a man you are.”

  “Not another word—”

  Next up in Ace’s mad raid on a peaceful people came a howling I was all too familiar with. With the ridge blown wide, a pack of werewolves came barreling in, tearing the wounded natives in their path to pieces. Mutt’s people pounded on drums all throughout the settlement, signaling an attack from their ancient rivals.

  “Feast, my friends!” the largest one in the group roared. “Butcher them all and claim our new home.” Lumpy scars coruscated up the side of its face, cutting through a pale, dead eye.

  Though this was no normal werewolf. The loup-garou were abominations of their kind, having the ability to transform at will, any night, regardless of the moon’s cycle. This one was hunched over, but stood erect. He wore a garish mustard-colored suit that stretched to the point of popping stitches.

  And I knew him well.

  Rougarou, thrown in with Ace. Of course.

  “Imps. Werewolves. The White Throne will never abide this!” I said.

  “Oh, they ain’t here to help me,” he said with a mingled air of fun and arrogance. “You destroyed their home. Their special little club. They’re the ones here for revenge, Crowley. To ravage everything you care about. I just pointed the way.”

  Skinwalkers in dog form swarmed Rougarou from all directions. He tossed them off like he was swatting flies. This tribe was used to the more wild, mangier breed of werewolves up north. Though there were plenty of them too. A mixed pack all united under Rougarou.

  “Find the girl. Alive!” Rougarou ordered, his voice throaty. More of his kind flooded into the settlement, bounding from building to building, tearing down tents as they went.

  Ace’s renowned grin returned. “You leave things to chance, James. You gotta play to win the hand.” His gaze listed off toward my severed hand, gun still caught in the seized grip. “Or you cut it off at the wrist.”

  I looked around from Ace to Rougarou and his posse and back again.

  “What are you waiting for, Crowley!” Ace yelled. “Me or them? You got the upper hand now.” He chuckled. “Sorry, I just can’t help myself.”

  The angry buzz of fighting and death filled my ears. Buildings caught fire from fallen torches, and smoke swirled—a cacophony of chaos unleashed by this devil agent of Heaven. I could charge him one-handed with my silver knife and see where that went or I could fold and live to the next draw.

  “I don’t need to destroy you, Ace,” I said. “I just need to outlast you.” I looked to the sky. “Until they realize how much worse you are than me.”

  His smile dimmed. I’d struck a chord.

  Backing up slow, I scooped up my severed hand and stowed it in Timp’s saddlebag. Then I pulled myself up onto her back and gave her a soft kick to get her moving. She snorted and refused. I clutched her mane tight to reassure her I had her. The next kick, she took off, away from the fight, deeper into the town toward Rosa and Mutt.

  “I’ll see you awful soon, Crowley!” Ace hollered. “Our dance ain’t over yet.”