Book Seven: Chapter 4

“Cal, can you go play with Aunt Que for a moment?” Mike watched as Quetzalli escorted Callisto over to the monkey bars, then turned back to Ingrid. “So let’s cut the bullshit. You’re here for my land and intend to either buy it from me or take it.”

Ingrid nodded. “I think you understand the situation rather well.”

“Well, for reasons I can’t go into, I’m not going to sell it. And you can’t really take it, either.” He held up his hands defensively as her lackey folded his coat back to reveal a knife in his belt. “This isn’t a tough guy thing, I promise. It’s complicated.”

“Explain it to me.” Ingrid’s eyes were suddenly hard.

“Magically complicated. If I could, I would.” This was only partially true, but they were outsiders and didn’t need to know his life story. “But what I can tell you is that I have a duty to the land and whatever resides there. So instead of all this talk about the stick and carrot, how about secret option three? I go out there and help you