“Hush,” she told him. Then she glanced at Van Sloane. “Neeko’s sixteen. Brenda and Tonk are fifteen. They scaled a tree, jumped over the wall and captured the only fucking guard you left to defend the rear wall of this town. Seriously? Did you think that bad guys only break in one door at a time? No, don’t answer. Clearly you’re just not that smart.”

“Watch your mouth,” snapped Van Sloane, but although she bridled with indignation it was clear to everyone that her outrage had no power behind it. And nowhere to go.

“We could have taken over the whole damn town and killed you all in your sleep if we wanted to,” continued Dahlia. “Hell, a couple of halfwit hamsters could have—”

Church touched her arm. “Stop showing off,” he said mildly. “It’s unseemly and inefficient. Clock is ticking.”

The whistles were getting louder, emphasizing his point. People were coming from all over the town—many of them—and as they approached, the members of the Pack moved among them in pairs, one pointing a weapon, and the other taking any weapons held by the townies. It was a process that should not have been easy, and Dahlia had expected violent resistance, but the clockwork efficiency of the Pack, the confusion, and the obvious lack of training on the part of the townsfolk made the process a rinse-and-repeat. There were only a few instances of townies resisting, but the Pack members won every tussle. There were a few bruises and one smashed nose among Van Sloane’s people, but that was all. It was very nearly a bloodless takeover.

That was not a comfort to Dahlia, though. The Rovers were coming and she had no idea how many of them there were. Or how well-armed they were.

Dahlia nodded and addressed Van Sloane in a calmer voice. “Listen, Mayor Van Sloane, those whistles are the Rovers. That’s not a joke. I think the reason they’re making so much noise, and the reason they aren’t already climbing over the walls, is that they’re playing a game. They’re drawing your attention here. It worked, too, because you pulled most of your guards away from the rest of the walls. It’s a magic trick. They make a big show of letting you see how empty their hands are, but they already have a bunch of stuff hidden in little pockets. Bunnies and scarves and stuff. Point is, you fell for it. They’re going to hit you hard right here at the main gate and as soon as they’re sure they have your complete attention, they’ll hit you from behind.”

“You can’t know that,” said Van Sloane, but there was no confidence in her tone.

“Sure we can,” said Dahlia. “Nothing else makes sense. The Rovers want this place. They don’t want to destroy it to take it, so distraction and infiltration makes perfect sense.”