The Last Sun by K. D. Edwards

Author:K. D. Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prometheus Books

THE WESTLANDS

In a gesture that short-circuited my sense of context—like coming home to find the mailman cleaning your pool, or your dentist burning leaves in your backyard—the Tower decided to personally drive us to the Boundary.

We left the Pac Bell via a mile-long underground tunnel just before dawn, in an SUV limo that was shielded with so many defensive spells that the buzz of them practically lifted my ass off the seat. Lord Tower and Addam were in the front, and Brand and I had taken the back. I hadn’t even tried to suggest that Brand not accompany us as far as the Boundary. It had been messy enough saying goodbye to Queenie, who cried; and Max, who stared at me like the last bit of safety in the world was sinking out of sight. It occurred to me that my maybe going off and dying was one more thing he wasn’t prepared to handle, not after losing everything in his life just days ago. I tried to tell him that Brand would remember to feed him if I didn’t come back. It hadn’t been my funniest moment.

The Tower had suggested that Addam and I cross the Boundary in the city’s northwest corner, and that’s where we headed. In the graying light, the downtown skyline slowly collapsed into the weathered, two-story buildings of a fishing port. The neighborhood had been settled by the last original Nantucket residents, one of the few human holdout communities left. Magic was scarce there, which worked in our favor. It eliminated some of the means by which we might have been tracked.

The Tower pulled into an alley between a fish-and-chips shack and a hand-knitted sweater store. He made us sit still while he studied a monitor built into the middle of the steering wheel. When he was confident that we were unobserved, he nodded and pulled out a cell phone. “Addam, I’m calling you now, so you’ll have this number saved. It’s a private line I share with Rune. You’ll be unlikely to have service in the Westlands, but one never knows.” Addam’s phone rang once. The Tower glanced in the back seat and said, “Brandon, I should send it to you as well.”

He began dialing. Brand’s eyes went wide. He blurted, “Rune already gave it to—” just as his phone began to breathe like Darth Vader.

Lord Tower gave Brand another long look. Brand had the good manners to look almost contrite.

We all got out of the limo, left the alley, and stared at the Boundary.

Stretching from the north to south shores, it was a ten-foot wall inlaid with coral and obsidian rods. Fresh coal dust was scattered along the base—another substance that did well against supernatural threat. There were no guards. Why would there be? If anything was strong enough to overpower the Arcana-level defenses built into the wall, there wasn’t much a guard could do except die messily.

Lord Tower and Addam moved away from us to say their goodbyes. I went up to Brand and whispered, “I’ll be okay.

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