Kurt shook his head. "What good would that do? Odds are, any we got back, we'd end up having to kill anyway. The taste of 'freedom' they've gotten has probably ruined them for any decent work. Besides, do we really want to risk the lives of our own young men to get them back? The goal of this attack is to teach them a lesson, and to punish them."

  'And to kill your wife.' Harris thought to himself.

  "I think it would be worthwhile to bring back any females we caught," Ray said. "We could use them to help replace our losses as breeding stock."

  "Good point," Harris agreed as everyone around the table nodded. "So, who are we going to send up there?"

  "All of our young and single men, and say, two-thirds of the married men," Garrett said. "That'll give us over a hundred and twenty or so. The rest can stay back here to make sure the Vestibulum don't get any ideas. I can go over all the details of the plan right now if you like?"

  Harris nodded. "Sure, show us what you've got."

  Garrett and Kurt got up and went to the front of the room as someone turned on the projector. For the next thirty minutes, they went over a very well-thought-out and detailed PowerPoint presentation.

  When they'd fielded the last of the questions and returned to their seats, Harris leaned back in his chair and nodded. He liked it. It didn't have a lot of risk, but it should kill a large number of lycans and but a crimp in their operations. Then they could decide on what they wanted to do next. Hopefully they'd be able to get the National leaders involved.

  "I'll want to see the final plans before I give my final approval," Harris told them all. "Does anybody have any issues they think Kurt or Garrett have overlooked?"

  Everyone at the table shook their heads.

  "Great, Kurt, Garrett, get the ball rolling on this, and keep me informed of any changes. We'll meet again tomorrow to check on everybody's progress. Until then, meeting adjourned."

  Harris looked over his notes while everyone filed out of the room, then looked over at Kurt, who was looking thoughtful.

  "Problems, Kurt?"

  Kurt shook his head. "Actually, I think I have them under control now. Did you hear that Stewart laid into me the other day?"

  Harris blinked, surprised. "Stewart?"

  "Yeah, when I gave him that toy fox girl I'd been promising him, I killed off that older lycan he'd bought." Kurt chuckled, surprising Harris again. "Oh, was he mad! He yelled at me! First time in his life he ever raised his voice at me. 'How dare you destroy my property!'" Kurt grinned. "I'm waiting to see if he hands me a bill for her or not."

  "You're not mad at him?" Harris asked a little carefully.

  "Oh, I'm going through the motions of being upset with his disrespect, but honestly, it's nice to see that my youngest actually has a pair. Do you know he got rid of the body himself?"

  That really surprised Harris. "You're kidding me!"

  "Nope, I guess dealing with the bodies and what happened in Reno hardened him, made a man out of him. Then again, he surprised the hell out of all of us by going out and buying his own slave on the black market, didn't he?"

  Harris chuckled at that. "Yeah, who knew your son had connections? My own son Ben was all shades of jealous. That young man of yours sure has some depth to him, Kurt."

  Kurt smiled and nodded, then stood up. "You going to come with us on this one?"

  Harris shook his head. "I think I'm going to stay here and hold down the fort. If those Vestibulum types try anything, I want to be here to stop it."

  "You'd think those cowards would be leading the charge to go up there, wouldn't you?" Kurt fumed.

  Harris had to agree, "Yeah, it seems the only leading they ever do is from behind."

  Just then, Harris' secretary, Mary, stepped into the room, looking a little nervous.

  "Yes, Mary?" Harris asked.

  "A Mr. Steve Conners is here, from the Council of Vestibulum. He wants to talk to you, and he says it's extremely important."

  Harris looked at Kurt, who looked back at him in surprise.

  "Isn't Conners one of their sitting council members?" Kurt asked.

  "Yes, yes he is. Grab a seat, Kurt, let's see what he wants. Mary, show him in please."

  A minute later Mary led Steve Conners into the room. Harris and Kurt stood up and shook hands with him.

  "George, Kurt," Steve said to the two of them as they shook.

  "Have a seat, Steve," Harris said, gesturing to one of the open chairs at the table. "I have to say, I'm rather surprised to see you here."

  Steve nodded and sat down, and Harris noticed he looked tired. Very tired.

  "Last night we got hit by that lion up in Reno. He cleaned us out."

  "What?" Kurt said, looking shocked.

  "One hundred and fifty-six lycans, a hundred and thirty of which are trained fighters," Steve said, shaking his head.

  "How in the hell did that happen?" Kurt swore.

  Harris waved at Kurt, who quieted down immediately.

  "What exactly happened?" Harris asked.

  "We had launched a raid on Sapientia, and well, apparently they found out about it somehow, ambushed our forces, and took them prisoner. Then they hit us and got the ones who had stayed behind."

  "You launched an attack on Sapientia?" Harris said, surprised. "Why'd you do that?"

  Steve sighed and shook his head. "Sapientia is obviously siding with that lion, and we suspect Eruditio may be as well. We figured if we took them out, that would make it harder for that lion up in Reno to do to us what he did to you.

  "Unfortunately, we misjudged."

  Kurt laughed then. "I can't believe you guys went after Sapientia! That took balls! And I can't say I fault your logic either."

  Harris shook his head and smiled. "Yeah, that definitely took some balls. Just like your coming here. Do I have to remind you what Morgan did to our people in Reno?"

  "Morgan was a maniac. Tobias had some words with Al Summers, the man who replaced him. Morgan seemed to feel he was on some 'holy crusade' or something. National sent him two hundred lycans and six combat mages, and he got all of them killed. He sent them out there without enough of his own people backing them up, and it was a bloodbath."

  "Wait, how many lycans does that kid have up there?" Harris asked and looked at Kurt, who looked back at him, equally worried.

  "We think he's got three to four hundred, and most of them are probably combat trained."

  "Shit," Kurt swore, and Harris had to agree with that sentiment.

  "And if we don't move soon, as in tonight, he'll be able to add the hundred and fifty he got from us last night to those numbers."

  "We?" Harris said, looking at Steve Conners in surprise.

  Steve nodded. "With your assassination of Morgan, we're hoping that, for the good of all of us, you'll put aside any retaliations until after this has been handled. Tobias has sent someone over to talk to the people at Gradatim, as well as my coming here. This is our way of life that's on the line here. If we don't put aside our grievances long enough to deal with this, this problem, well…" Steve shrugged. "I don't think any of us want to see Sapientia in the driver's seat again. Nor do any of us want to be forced into going along with this new rule of theirs. The lycans were put here for us to use as we see fit. They're meant to be our property."

  Steepling his fingers before him, Harris nodded and thought about that.

  "So, what are you proposing?"

  "Tobias wants to get everyone together, all of us from our council, your council, Gradatim, and any of the local minor councils that are willing, and go up there and slaughter as many of them as possible. Put a dent in their numbers, cull them back."

  Steve shrugged. "After that, we'll have to see. But no lycans, just us magic users. Between the three of us, we should easily be able to put together a large enough force to cut them down to size, if not outright exterminate all of them."

  "We were planning on going up there tomorrow night," Harris said.

  Steve's eyes widened. "You were?"

  "Of course we were!" Kurt told him. "We aren't blind to the threat. We've been planning this for several days now."

  "That, that's great!" Steve said, surprising the two of them with his enthusiasm. "If you already have a plan, that saves us all a lot of trouble trying to figure out what to do! Would you be willing to let our people go with you?"

  "You'd let us lead you?" Harris asked, not showing the shock he felt. If the Vestibulum was willing to do this, they must be scared. Very scared.

  "I'd have to clear it with Tobias, but honestly? I don't see him refusing. Every day they grow stronger, and we grow weaker. Those were his exact words."

  Harris turned to Kurt. "Do you think you could put this together to go," Harris looked at the clock, it was almost noon, "by midnight? That would put us up there around two AM."

  Kurt was grinning like a kid in a candy store. "Are you kidding me? For the chance to lead this many people, and to wipe that punk kid off the face of the Earth? Hell yeah, I can do this!"

  Kurt turned to Steve. "If Tobias is willing to follow our plan, we're in. I need to know how many are coming and how many vehicles you'll be bringing. I'll have to rework the maps; we want to make sure we come at them from several directions at once." Kurt thought for a moment. "Better yet, send over whoever is in charge of planning your operations. Make sure Gradatim sends their man as well, and I'll go over all of it with them, so they can tell everyone what's expected."

  "Excellent!" Steve stood up and shook hands them. "I'll tell Tobias immediately. I can't see him refusing any of this. Thank you both!"

  Steve left the room then; Mary had been waiting just outside the door, and she escorted him out.

  "Do you think we can trust them?" Kurt said after the door had closed and he was sure Steve was gone.

  Harris nodded slowly. "Actually, yes. I think we can. Gradatim might try to pull something afterwards, assuming we're successful, but these are the actions of a desperate man, Kurt. I don't think Tobias cares what happens after we win.

  "I think the only thing he cares about right now is winning. He sees his world about to crumble around him, and he's afraid. He's very afraid."

  Garth's Office

  "Garth!" Daelyn said, coming into his office. "Got those parts I ordered?"

  "Daelyn!" Garth said, looking up from behind the large desk he was working at. "Sure do!" Getting up from his seat, Garth pointed over to a large box sitting on one of the empty drafting tables. "It's all over there. What's it for?"

  "Special project," Daelyn said, coming over and giving Garth a hug as he came out from behind his desk. "How's Leissa and the kids?"

  "They're doing fine, all of them. What's this I hear from your father, you're working on one of your own?"

  Daelyn laughed. "Yeah, we are. Gonna be weird being a mom and all, but that's still months away, so I guess I got time to get used to the idea."

  "Well, congratulations! Leissa was the happiest I've seen her in years when your uncle told her. You really should come by to visit, with your Sean and all the rest."

  Daelyn nodded. "Don't worry, we will. Just waiting for things to slow down, at least a little bit. By the by, Garth, can you tell me what kind of metal this is?"

  Daelyn fished out one of the converted pieces of silver, one of the coins that they'd used.

  "Don't you know?" Garth chuckled.

  "Metallurgy was never my strong suit." Daelyn chuckled. "I know the more common ones. I think it's supposed to be rhodium."

  "Rhodium? That's plenty rare. Let me take a look at it."

  "How expensive is 'plenty'?"

  "Well, let me see if that's what it is first, then I'll look it up," Garth said and going back behind his desk he pulled out a scale, a jeweler's loupe, and a few other things Daelyn wasn't familiar with. Garth weighted it, looked it over closely, then prodded it with a few small rods Daelyn guessed must have had some sort of magical properties. Then he finished off by opening a small bottle with an eyedropper in it and putting a drop on it.

  "It's rhodium, alright," Garth said, looking up at her.

  "Oh. Well, is it worth anything?"

  Garth shook his head. "Nah, not really, just a tad over a thousand dollars or so an ounce. Course I haven't looked at the prices recently."

  Daelyn felt her jaw drop. "Did you say one thousand dollars? An ounce?"

  Garth grinned at her. "Yeah, about that, but I'd have to check the current price. Course I'd offer you less than spot. Dwarf's gotta make a living, after all."

  "How much less?" Daelyn asked, eyeing him.

  "Six hundred."

  "Six hundred! Sixty percent? You'd do that to your own kin? Your own pregnant kin?"

  "Okay, okay, six hundred and sixty!"

  "Thirty-three percent commission! You trying to make me lose the baby?" Daelyn said, putting the back of her hand to her head. "Really Garth, to take advantage of a gal in my condition! Twenty percent! And only because you're family!"

  "Daelyn, darlin'! It's just a single coin! It'll take me weeks, maybe more, to sell it."

  Daelyn grinned at him. "I have twenty pounds of it in my car."

  "Earth and stone!" Garth sat up straight and looked at her. "Done!"

  Daelyn leaned over the desk and shook hands with Garth.

  "Where in the world did you get twenty pounds of this?" Garth asked looking at her.

  "Oh, from the much larger pile of it I've got back at home."

  "You've got a pile of this stuff? But, how?"

  "That amulet of Sean's? The one that changes silver?"

  "It turns it into rhodium?"

  "Is that a big deal?" Daelyn asked.

  "Of course it is! Stuff is almost as expensive as gold! Most of the isotopes decay into other metals, so the stable variant like this is rare," Garth said, holding up the coin.

  "Guess I need to send someone out into the fields around the house to pick up all those bullets from the battle last month."

  "I'll send a couple of the kids out, I'll split the cost of their wages with you."

  "Deal," Daelyn agreed.

  "Also, I think I'll send Jocco out with the truck to pick up the rest of it today. Understand that, while I can front you the money for what you've got in the car, the rest'll have to wait until I sell it off."

  "How long will that take?"

  "Weeks." Garth shook his head and sighed. "There's no way I want this much rhodium hitting the market all at once, and especially not all from me. I'll have to set up deals with some of the other dwarven communities, so we can spread it out across the world market, and not hurt the price too much, or bring any prying eyes around."

  Daelyn nodded. "Well, let me go get the rest of what I brought while you count out my money," Daelyn said and grinned. She'd have to warn Roxy's father to hold on to the silver they used, and see about what she'd left over at the Guild.

  She couldn't wait to tell the others about her discovery; Sean had been spending way too much of his free time making stuff to sell to keep their finances out of the red. Now he wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.

  Sean walked into his lawyer's office with Roxy and Cali in tow. It was after lunch; they'd ended up going over a lot of things with Steve, who actually understood the entire process of starting a casino. It was something he'd wanted to do for years now, and he was willing to put up a good chunk of the seed money, as well as use his family's connections for a partnership.

  "Keep this up, and Terri might be getting her cat boy," Roxy had teased him.

  "Sorry, Rox, but Terri wants to see what the leopards look like before she decides," Steve had said, grinning back at her.

  "Traitor!" had been Roxy's response, while Sean and Cali had laughed. But by the time they were done, Sean had a stack of paperwork he needed his lawyer to start working on, for both the cleaning service and the casino. Steve's knowledge of business, and both Nevada's and Reno's laws, had helped immensely.

  All they would need now would be a couple million dollars. Sean figured he'd be very busy enchanting for the next few days.

  "Ah, Sean! Roxy! Cali! Peg!" Anthony said, getting up and coming over to shake hands with all of them. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"

  Sean handed Anthony the thick folder he was holding. "We're starting a cleaning service and opening a casino."

  "A casino? Those take years to get licensed, Sean."

  Sean nodded. "So I was told. But we're not going anywhere, we have a lot of people who need work, and none of this is going to be cheap."

  "We freed a lot of acts in Vegas last week," Roxy said with a smile, "and they all promised to come up here and help us start one. Most of them don't really know any other kind of work."

  Anthony nodded and went back around his desk to sit down.

  "Vegas, huh. I thought that was you. That mess you stirred up at the Mata Hari really had a lot of the locals here pretty happy. Word's getting around about what they did, and what you did to them for it."

  "Well, I hope that's a good thing," Sean said as he and the girls sat down.

  "Good or not, it's a thing now. My lycan clients loved it, as you probably know, and the others," Anthony shrugged, "most of them seemed to think you really had no other choice. Though I haven't heard how any of the councils felt about it; they're not on my client list."

  "What about last month's fight?" Roxy asked. "Any fallout from that we might have to worry about?"

  "Well, the helicopter wasn't yours, so the FAA isn't involved in anything, though your friend Claudia has been fielding a few questions. She hired a local mage who doesn't have issues with lycans to help convince the accident investigator that it was, in fact, a bird strike that brought the helicopter down, and not all of those bullet holes in the engine."

  Sean sighed. "I bet she'll send me his bill."

  Anthony smiled. "Probably. Your old friend Detective Schumer had a few questions last week."

  "I thought they'd closed that case?" Sean said, surprised.

  "They closed the arson case on your mother's house and Sampson's. They're still trying to piece together how and why Sampson was killed. Detective Schumer is a pretty sharp officer. He knows there's more going on here than meets the eye, and he's hinted as much. I think his boss wants to push it into the cold case files, but he's resisting."