Jane turned her head. “That’s just it. The sound isn’t coming from just one place. It’s coming from…everywhere.”

The buzzing grew louder.

Jane spun around. “They sound like—”

“Drones!” Rodland pointed behind her, where dozens of small drone helicopters roared over the hillside, silhouetted by the twilight sky.

The ground exploded in front of them!

“They’re dropping bombs!” Jane tightened her grip on the reins as her horse, Jocko, grew agitated and started bucking.

Waves of fire leaped into the sky, illuminating the drones as they swooped down and dropped another round of explosive charges.

“Move!” Rodland said. “Now!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Jane and Rodland turned their horses and raced across the grassy field, desperately trying to outrun the wave of explosions roaring toward them.

“Faster!” Rodland shouted.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Jane felt heat from the blasts on her back. She turned toward Rodland. “We have to get to the castle!”

“We’ll never make it.”

“We have to!”

Another swarm of drones appeared in front of them. Jane braced herself for more explosions, but the drones banked left and sped into the darkness.

“Oh, my God,” Jane said. “They’re headed for the castle and the main residences. We have to warn them!”

“Way ahead of you.” Rodland’s phone was in his hand. “But I can’t get a signal. Those drones must be jamming us. We need to get clear of those things.”

Jane tugged the reins. “First we need to get there and help those people.”

“MacDuff already has a small army there, Jane.”

“They’re under attack because of me.”

“Because of Caleb.”

“Exactly!” She snapped the reins and took off toward the castle. “Same thing.”

“Jane!”

But she wasn’t listening. Rodland followed Jane as their horses galloped across the pasture, the animals’ muscle memory enabling them to navigate every depression and jump every gully even in almost total darkness.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

The explosions were coming from up ahead.

At the castle, Jane realized. The second wave of drones had found their target.

Dammit.

They rode to the hilltop and saw that the residences and surrounding grounds were ablaze.

In a matter of minutes, this beautiful retreat had become a fiery hellscape.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

More bombs from the sky, destroying the once magnificent gardens. Another blast laid waste to the automotive garage and MacDuff’s classic car collection.

The staff had emerged from their burning residences and were running across the grounds in a panic.

The buzzing sound returned. More drones, all around them.

RAT-AT-AT-AT-AT!

“Guns!” Jane shouted.

The latest drone wave was equipped with automatic rifles, firing at the already panicked staff. The gun drones swooped low and zeroed in on their targets.

RAT-AT-AT-AT!

Two mechanics went down, followed by a housekeeper. Blood spurted from their wounds.

Jane raced down on her horse, yelling to the others, “Take cover! Now!”

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!