I gulped and nodded, grateful for the umpteenth time that this creature was on my side.
“Maybe it will be better if your mom doesn’t let you join the Enforcers,” Sadie told me, and Roberta crunched her brow in displeasure at her.
“Ya sayin’ my babies don’t deserve ta be avenged?” The question vibrated with the threat of retribution.
Sadie didn’t even flinch, unintimidated by the bunny in a way I envied. That’s what it looked like to be a badass Enforcer like Sadie, caressing her short swords like she couldn’t wait to slice off some heads.
She tsked impatiently. “Seriously, Roberta? It’s like you don’t know me at all.”
Roberta actually looked a bit sheepish—or as sheepish as she’d ever look, which was to say not overly much. “Ya’re right,” she told Sadie. “I do know ya. And that’s why I wanna fight at yer side when ya do all the killin’ ya gonna do. ‘Cuz I got killin’ of my own to get after, and someone like ya will have my back like I need ya to.”
Sadie simply nodded as if they’d discussed this before, like it was a given, and returned her attention to me. “Joining the Enforcers is no joke.”
I scowled bloody murder at her around Why’s horn. “Really, Sadie? What, I’m gone for a few months and suddenly you think I’m some wuss who doesn’t understand the stakes? Do you remember what I’ve been through since I started attending the academy? Or maybe you have a faint memory of what my friends have been through too? I know what we’re dealing with here. I’ve been kidnapped, not once but twice. I’ve nearly lost both of my legs. And I’ve ended in not one but two motherfucking magical situations that have robbed months of my life. I’ve watched my friends get killed. I think I fucking get it, don’t you?”
I waited for Sadie to look sheepish as Roberta had. She didn’t. She stared at me steadily, and finally nodded curtly. “Fair enough, fair enough. It’s just…” She looked away for a moment before staring straight at my eyes. “It’s just that what we’re heading into, it’s gonna be bad. I can feel it in my bones.”
Roberta nodded, her one floppy ear bouncing with the movement. “Me too. It’s been keepin’ me up at night. It’s like an ache, telling me shit’s about ta get real.”
“You only just got back,” Sadie said, talking to me.” Then she shrugged, like that explained it all.
And it kind of did. They’d believed me dead after all this time, and she didn’t want to accept that I was putting myself right back into danger so soon.
“More people are gonna die…” Sadie continued.
“I get it,” I said, unsure whether to feel touched that she cared about me so much, or annoyed that she wanted to coddle me. I already had one mother to show up all mothers, and I was leaning toward annoyance. “No one’s gonna talk me out of it. Not my mom, not you guys, not anyone.”
Sadie studied me; so did Roberta. Finally, Sadie nodded. She didn’t look disappointed, and I wanted to think that’s because she couldn’t have possibly believed she’d manage to talk me out of it. My shifter animal might be a skunk, but I was no pushover.
“Damon,” Sadie called out. “Time to go. Jas is determined to come with, and her mom’s on the way.”
The tall Enforcer walked over to us. Orangesicle glared at him and ran to catch up, the pygmy troll’s package bouncing beneath his loincloth as he went, making me want to spear my eyes out for a quick second. I just needed to get back in the habit of seeing so much mostly naked pygmy troll; I was out of practice.
At the mention of my mom coming to the academy, the color faded from Damon’s face, which was a challenge for sure, since his skin was a creamy, rich brown, and he met Sadie’s waiting stare. “Let’s move,” he said in that deep, calming voice of his. I’d never seen him speak when it wasn’t absolutely necessary.
The Daughters of Doom returned to their posts surrounding the gate. It looked like Sadie might actually be beaming with a tinge of pride at my intentions and my stubborn will to carry them out.
“I’m ready,” Orangesicle added.
Sadie turned to him and tilted her gaze down. She opened her mouth.
“Don’t even try it,” the pygmy troll all but growled. “If you think I’m gonna let my woman go into battle without me at your side, then there aren’t as many smarts behind that pretty face of yours as I thought.”
Pygmy trolls: adept at lobbing insults and compliments all at once. They also could never be accused of having tact—or caring one lick that they didn’t.
I waited for Sadie to try to talk him out of joining us as she had me. She didn’t. Instead, she hmmphed—whatever that meant—and turned to Roberta.
“You gonna let Jas and her creatures in without checking?”
But Roberta was already shaking her head. “I’d love ta, but nah. Won’t take no risks anymo’. The costs be bein’ too high.”
As Roberta whipped out the Sanguinator and Deliberator from some pockets on her combat suit I hadn’t noticed before, I didn’t have it in me to complain. She was right. With magic involved, impostors were a real possibility.
“What about my pendant?” I asked. “Will it interfere again? I mean, I wasn’t allowed through the mountain again, so maybe the pendant’s still interfering even though its magic is dead.”
I stopped petting Val to remove it from the pocket of my shorts. I held it out, gimpy-like thanks to Egg, for their inspection.
“Are you sure its magic is gone?” Sadie asked. “Like a hundred percent?”
“More like ninety percent,” I said. “I’m the one who did it, obvi, and I felt it. I’m pretty sure.”
“Pretty sure ain’t gonna cut it,” Roberta said. “Fling that thing ta the ground while we do this.” She waved around the Sanguinator, which resembled a glass straw.
I huffed. Much as I detested what the pendant had done to me and the chain reactions it’d set in motion, I still didn’t want to just … throw it away. It was still pretty, sparkly, and mine.
When I registered my thoughts, I shook them away, literally, and gave myself a mental bitchslap. What the hell was wrong with me? I should throw it into a volcano or some crazy extreme shit.
“Don’t beat yourself up about your attachment to it,” Sadie said, clearly observing far too much. “It’s probably part of its magic.”
“That’d make sense,” Roberta chimed in. “It wouldn’t want someone ta be done with it easy-like. It prob’ly hooks inta yer soul like a leech or a tick or a—”
“I got the picture, thanks,” I snapped. “But that’s not it. I don’t give a shit about the thing. I’ll be happy if I never see it again.”
Of course it was a lie. But hopefully they didn’t realize that.
Squeezing the pendant in my hand, I prepared to toss it onto the ground.
And I hesitated.
“The jewel’s probably valuable, and now that it doesn’t have any magic in it, I could keep it just for the bling.”
“We might have to interfere physically,” Damon said, and though I really liked the chill Enforcer, that pissed me right the fuck off. I whirled on him, having to tilt my head up to glare at him. He was more than a foot taller than me, which was totally unfair. He looked strong and imposing without even trying.