“You know why,” Jim said. “You’ve taken the People. Are we at war?”

Oh my God, you moron.

Dali elbowed Jim in the ribs. “What he meant to say was he is sorry that duties of his office and his own paranoid nature caused him to overreact.”

Jim looked like someone had hit him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. “Yes.”

“And he knows that both of you have been his friends, of which he doesn’t have many, for years. He is aware that you would never do anything to harm us or the Pack and that you have protected us on several occasions and have been injured as a result several times.”

“Yes,” Jim said.

Dali looked at him. Clearly, there was more.

Jim turned to me. “I apologize.”

“Not a problem,” I told him.

Jim faced Curran. “And I would be honored to still be best man at your wedding.”

Jim was who he was. This was the best we were going to get, and we wouldn’t even have gotten that without Dali.

Curran smiled. It was a bright, infectious smile, the kind that could change the mood of an entire hall of shapeshifters. I had seen it in action before. It signaled that all was forgiven. The tension in Jim’s body eased. But I knew Curran better than Jim did. Curran would never forget this.

“Who else would be my best man?” Curran said.

The mood in the room lightened.

Curran leaned back. “You burned Roland’s castle. He will retaliate the morning after the next magic wave hits.”

“We’ll be there to defend you because you are within our borders,” I said.

“We’re coming either way, Jim,” Curran said. “Without Kate’s protection, he will shatter the Keep with magic.”

Jim looked at me. “Can you stop him?”

“I can stop his actions against the land itself. I can’t stop him from physically riding onto the battlefield and sniping people with his magic.”

“Roland will bring an overwhelming force,” Curran said. “It’s a show of strength. And he’s angry. He wants to crush you.”

“He will breach the walls at the very least,” Jim said.

“You should let him,” Curran said.

Jim thought about it. “Yes. I should.”

Curran got up and got a piece of paper. I reached for the phone.

“Who are you calling?” Jim asked.

“Ghastek and then Roman. If we’re going to plan, they should be in on it.”

•   •   •

FIVE DAYS LATER I stood on top of the Keep’s main tower. The sun rose above the horizon, its first rays banishing the twilight. Clear, crystalline blue sky spread above me. The woods around the Keep stood still. Birds sang. It was so peaceful.