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“I didn’t see this attack because I was blinded by the real one. The arrows and fire were just a test of our defenses. The real attack will begin in a few minutes.”

The Magistrate pushes everyone away.

“Hurry. You must defend the ship. Do not let them get the Lux Occisor.”

Daja is out of the door first, but the rest of us are right behind her. The weapons and ammo are all stashed belowdecks, where they’re hard to get at because we weren’t supposed to fucking need them. And even if we could get them and hand them out, how many are left on deck willing and able to get into a firefight right now?

We head on deck and run to the bow of the ship. There are sails in the distance, spread out across the width of the river.

“Fuck me,” says Wanuri. “It’s a whole goddamn army.”

“Technically it’s a navy,” I say.

“Shut up,” says Daja.

“Whatever the fuck they are, we’re not going to fight them off with a few rifles,” says Billy.

“We have to,” Daja says. “Start handing them out.” There’s a moment of hesitation, so she yells, “Now!” and people start moving.

Billy, Johnny, and Frederickson go belowdecks to start getting together the weapons everyone knows will be useless. I don’t. I look back at the flatbed.

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I say, “Billy is right. A few bullets aren’t going to stop—what, a dozen ships? Maybe more?”

“What else are we going to do?” says Daja.

Her hand is bleeding again.

“We put up a scarecrow.”

“What?”

“We scare the shit out of them.”

“How?”

“You want to use the weapon,” says Wanuri.

“Exactly,” I say.

“But it won’t work without the Light Killer,” Daja says.

“Then we make them think we have it.”

“How?”

I pull her and Wanuri in closer so people can’t hear us.

“You heard these winged clowns. I’m as big an Abomination as there is. And Abominations can do tricks. Big ones. I can make these assholes think that your popgun back there works.”

“How?”

I’m starting to get tired of Daja saying that. “Let me show you.”

“What have we got to lose?” says Wanuri. “We give everyone else the guns we know work and let the lunatic try his tricks.”

“Fine,” says Daja. “But if you hurt the weapon I’ll kill you.”