Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,136
but it’s bloody well how it’s working.”
I placed my hand on Mordred’s shoulder. “You did good.”
“You killed him.”
“Yeah, but all of this is because of you, not me. You motivated; you gave them something to look up to. I hit people really hard.”
“And you’re good at it,” Mordred said. “I assume you won’t be taking the job.”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I need to talk to Selene. I need to figure out what’s best for all of us.”
I spotted Judgement across the reflecting pool, sitting with several workers, all enjoying a beer and, judging from the occasional amber glow, a little smoke of something else.
“We need to bury our friends first,” I said. “Help clean up. Help make sure that humans and us don’t try to kill one another again. Hunt down the KOA. Hunt down Arthur’s friends. And basically save the world and make it a better place for everyone.”
“You want to hold hands and sing a song too?” Mordred asked me.
“Maybe later,” I said, and we both laughed.
“We did a good thing today, Nate. Not just today but every day since Arthur appeared. I just wish we could have done it without all the death and destruction. The new president survived Arthur’s attack; she’s hurt but okay, so that’s something.” He paused. “You think the humans will forgive us?”
I shrugged. “I hope so. We can only try, Mordred. We can only be the best we can be. We saved a lot of human lives, but there will always be some who don’t see it that way. You can’t please everyone all the time, so don’t bother trying. Just do the best you can and hope it’s enough.”
Mordred stared at me for several seconds. “I’m glad you killed me, Nathan Garrett. Thank you for that.”
“Anytime,” I said with a chuckle.
I clapped him on the back as people spotted him and began to make their way over to us. “Go be the king, Mordred.”
I watched him walk off to do his duty and knew with a hundred percent certainty that the world was a better place because people like Mordred were in it.
Epilogue
NATE GARRETT
New York City, New York, United States, Earth Realm
Six Months Later
I sat on top of the roof of a building in downtown Manhattan and looked over it to the street below. I’d been hunting my prey for two months now and had bribed, threatened, or promised an awful lot to more people than I’d expected.
The prey had become a hard man to find. He’d moved around a lot. He’d wanted to stay hidden, but he was a man of refined tastes, and refined tastes meant he could only stay away from the finer things in life for so long.
“So how’s Nidavellir?” Tommy asked. He was sitting beside me; he wore a Star Wars T-shirt with a picture of Princess Leia on it that Kase had given him. He was pretty much back to normal at this point, although the knowledge that the blood curse marks on him couldn’t be removed was something he’d have to learn to live with.
“Cold,” I said. “It’s winter.”
“We’ll have to come visit,” he said.
“I’ve been telling you to,” I told him.
“I know, but we’re all so damn busy at the moment. Kase is working with Layla, as is Harry. Chloe and Piper are, too, although the latter is having some counseling to help her get over what happened to her. Olivia is now working for Mordred, and I’m teaching Daniel the ways of the Force.”
I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.
“We watch a lot of Star Wars,” he said.
“You not working yourself?” I asked him.
“I want to be sure that the marks can’t change back,” he said. “Zamek’s mum is a doctor, or whatever the dwarven-rune equivalent is. She’s told me to leave it another six months and I should be fine.”
One of the few good things to come out of what had happened in Atlantis was that Zamek had found his parents. Both had been hurt, but they were alive. I’d been told that his dad had not dealt well with being told he wasn’t going back to being king, but that was just tough. Orfeda was in charge, and the elders who had been gone for so long could either deal with it or leave. Most dealt with it.
I moved the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare AWC rifle and looked through the scope again. No sign yet.