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Carrying a case, Lucienne stepped out of BL7 with Vladimir at her side and walked straight toward the king and queen. The nine guards shielded the royal family in a half circle, while his army moved to surround Lucienne and her warriors.

Flipping two handguns—including an Armatix Pistol—in his hands, Vladimir gestured for the guards to step back so that Lucienne could approach the king. Lucienne read the king’s conflicting thoughts—if he ordered an attack, could he get the upper hand? He had witnessed the manifestation of the outsiders’ gunpowder. But if he lost this battle, the outsiders would slay him. The queen whispered to the king, and with a grim expression, he waved for the guards to back down.

As the guards fell back, Vladimir, tense and on alert, stayed put. Lucienne stood in front of the king. “We meet again, King and Queen,” she greeted with a cozy smile, “as I promised.”

“I don’t want war, either,” the queen said in Spanish.

You know you can’t win.“Then we’re on the same page,” Lucienne replied in Spanish.

“Is it gold you want?” the queen asked. “We’ll offer you a load of gold for you and your men to leave in peace.”

“I have more gold than you can imagine. I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.” Lucienne laughed.

The king gritted his teeth.

“Then why have you entered our kingdom and risked your life?” the queen asked. “We’ve allowed you to conduct your affairs in Hell Gate, and that should be it.”

“Unfortunately, we haven’t found the source of the abnormal climate change. Meanwhile, our world is suffering from global warming,” Lucienne said. “We need to locate Ashburn Fury first. Something must have happened before he disappeared.”

“The cripple is gone forever,” the king said. “No one has ever survived once they’ve crossed the Hell Gate.”

“Ashburn Fury’s fate is in the hands of the gods and is not for you or me to decide,” Lucienne said. “But first, you need to open your eyes.” She pulled a laptop computer from her case.

The king and queen jumped back at the sight of the laptop.

“It won’t bite.” Lucienne switched on the computer.

The guards stepped toward her. In the blink of an eye, Vladimir was at her side, his Armatix trained on the guards. “One step closer, and I’ll blow your brains out!” he warned viciously.

The bulky guard who almost stomped the farm couple to death in Hell Gate had bloodlust in his eyes. Lucienne read his savage thoughts. He believed they could outnumber her warriors. If he killed this outsider queen, the king’s army would prevail. Without warning, he threw a two-blade dagger at Lucienne in an attempt to behead her.

Vladimir’s sanjiegun instantly lashed out, smashing the flying dagger. Before the dagger even hit the ground, the guard dropped, his body riddled with bullet holes.

“Stop!” Lucienne raised a hand, and the sound of the ear-piercing gunfire ceased.

The first blood had been drawn, and Lucienne wanted to be sure this didn’t turn into a blood bath. Just when she was about to order aretreat, three black wolf-dogs bolted toward her and Vladimir. Someone had unleashed the war mutts.

Lucienne slid her whip from around her wrist and pitched it in the air. The uncoiled whip stretched to seven feet, hissing, but didn’t even have the chance to draw second blood. The beast at the forefront bellied up amid the sickening sound of its neck snapping. Cam the giant tossed its corpse aside. The last two mutts collapsed with a yelp ten yards before they reached Lucienne. Vladimir’s Armatix killed one of them. Orlando’s rifle gunned down the other.

Lucienne turned to the king and queen with a blank expression. “Are you ready to conduct business now? Or do you have more variety?”

Vladimir trained his gun on the king, aiming for the space between his eyes. “You won’t get the chance again, dick!” His finger tightened on the trigger, ready to pull.

“Don’t shoot!” the queen called, then urged her husband. “King Henry!”

The king raised a finger in the air and called to his army. “Enough!” He frantically waved off his guards, and they dropped back again, carrying their leader’s body with them.

Ignoring the tension, Lucienne let her fingers dance on the touch-screen keyboard. “We’ve wasted enough time.”

A streaming video appeared on the screen—clips from war documentaries and violent movies with high-fidelity sound. She turned the screen toward the king and the queen.

“Moving pictures on glass?” the queen asked in puzzlement.

“These are real wars and real deaths on this glass,” Lucienne said.

The king and queen stared at the screen—air strikes, dismembered human bodies piled up, buildings collapsing into ruins. Fire and smoke and bones.

The king turned his ashen face away, not at all shocked by the images, but full of fear that his kingdom, too, would be reduced toashes. The queen, who had less stomach for blood and gore, doubled over and vomited.