Anonoei showed grief and fear on her face. “I can’t leave them.”

“You aren’t with them,” said Loki. “Not as much as they’re with each other.” Loki spoke to Marion and Leslie. “Danny trusts you. He loves you. He has enough of me inside him that I can see how deep it goes. You’re good people, as far as he knows. Is he right? No absurd modesty here—you mean no harm to these children, right?”

“I would never let them come to harm,” said Leslie.

Marion nodded. But he looked worried.

Danny understood. “You can’t watch over the Wild Gate and these boys at the same time.”

“We can watch over anything here on our farm,” said Marion. “But I can foresee a circumstance when the things we have to do to keep other people away from the gate would be the opposite of what we would need to do to keep these boys safe.”

“You have to watch the gate,” said Loki.

“Screw the gate,” said Danny. “Protect the kids.”

“You say that because you don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Loki.

“He says it because he’s a better man than you,” said Anonoei.

“I don’t deny that,” said Loki. “But Danny North doesn’t understand the monster that we’re at war with—not the Families, but Belgod. I would rather see these two boys torn apart by dogs than let Belgod pass through a Great Gate.” Before anyone could do more than gasp or groan at his heartlessness, Loki raised a hand. “If you knew what I know, you’d feel the same. A terrible enemy is poised to rule both worlds with irrevocable power, forever. It would never, never end. Do you understand me? Especially if he ever got control of Danny. To keep that enemy from achieving that kind of mastery, that infinite evil, I would let any of you die. I would die myself, if by dying I could be sure of stopping him.”

He looked so fierce that the others remained silent.

“That’s hypothetical,” Danny finally said. “You want the boys safe, and you want the gate safe. So do we all. But you don’t get to decide what Mom and Dad do, if push comes to shove. They decide. So the question is—are you going to trust them with the boys? Or not?”

Loki put his hand to his forehead. “I can’t expect any of you to understand what I know. How could you believe it, even if you understood?” He rose to his feet. “Anonoei, if I can give my gates to Danny North, you can give your sons to these good people.”

“He took your gates.”

“I did,” said Danny. “But then he gave them to me. I’m not sure how he did it—but they’re obedient to me.”