Marked in Flesh

  “Yes, there is,” Burke agreed. “The only question is which direction it’s coming from, because, right now, there are multiple possibilities.”

  “Captain, the storm you can see isn’t the one that is going to kill your people,” Vlad said.

  “If Jean’s prophecy about Thaisia is correct, Lakeside is one of the human-controlled cities that will survive.” Simon didn’t mention that Meg had seen Lakeside’s future as being undecided. He looked at O’Sullivan. “Hubb NE is another.”

  “Toland?” O’Sullivan asked.

  “Yes, but the light was dim.” He didn’t want to be responsible for humans he didn’t know, but he believed this gesture of friendship would help decide Lakeside’s future, one way or the other. “The police we know and their kin can hide here. We don’t think Namid’s teeth and claws will harm any humans who are with us in the Courtyard.”

  “That’s a generous offer,” Burke said.

  “If there are enemies of the terra indigene among those humans, we may not be able to protect any of you.” Simon looked at Burke, willing him to understand. “Choose carefully.”

  “I’ve been making provisions for families of officers to take refuge at the Chestnut Street station. Being able to send some of them here . . . I appreciate it.” Burke appeared to be thinking hard for a moment. “You think this will happen soon?”

  “As soon as one of the storms hits Lakeside.”

  “I take it I shouldn’t plan to get back to Hubb NE before things happen,” O’Sullivan said.

  Simon shook his head. “I’ll talk to Elliot about letting you work out of the consulate for now. Then you can call Governor Hannigan.”

  O’Sullivan looked at Simon. “He’s already mustering all the manpower he can in the Northeast to respond to the storms. Is there anything in particular he should prepare for?”

  Hatred was now a taste in the water, rage a scent in the air. “He should prepare for a lot of humans dying.”

  • • •

  Sitting in A Little Bite, Monty drank coffee and listened to his mother’s quiet, no-nonsense recitation of the trouble they’d had getting seats on a train. Noting the strain on Sierra’s face, he figured it had been a lot more trouble than Twyla would acknowledge.

  He smiled at his nieces and wished he could seat them at another table—or better yet, scoot them into Howling Good Reads and out of earshot so that he could really talk to his mother and sister. “You all had quite an adventure.”

  Catching some movement, he turned his head and watched Captain Burke and Agent O’Sullivan approach their table.

  “Ladies.” Burke tipped his head slightly. “I am very pleased you’re here.”

  “Would you be needing a word with Crispin?” Twyla asked.

  “Actually, I need a word with most of you.”

  Nicely worded, Monty thought. Burke didn’t say he wanted the girls to leave—which would have made them want to stay—but he was quite clear.

  “John Wolfgard is working in the bookstore,” Burke said. “I asked him to show the girls around the store. He’s right over there.” A gesture toward the archway that connected the two stores.

  Since John was the friendliest Wolf in the Courtyard, Monty didn’t think the girls would provoke him into biting if left in his care for just a few minutes.

  He smiled at Carrie and Bonnie. “You could each choose a book to read. A present from me.”

  Carrie slid off her chair. “Can we have—”

  “A book?” Sierra smiled at her daughters. “Yes, you can each have a book since that was the treat that Uncle CJ offered.”

  Sierra’s firmness was a veneer that was wearing thin, and the girls could have broken it with whines and pouts. But Twyla’s firmness ran to the core, and one look at their grandmother had the girls heading for the archway and the Wolf waiting there.

  “You’re Mr. John?” Twyla asked.

  “Yes,” John replied warily.

  “They’re allowed a book apiece, not anything else you might sell in your store.”

  John scratched behind one ear. Monty felt relieved that the ears weren’t pointed or furry.

  “Only sell books,” John said. “And a few magazines. And some maps.”

  “That’s fine, then.”

  John hesitated, then led the girls into the bookstore.

  Nadine approached their table and looked at Burke. “Can I get you anything?”

  “A few minutes of your time. Have a seat, Ms. Fallacaro,” Burke replied.

  “I have cookies baking.”

  “This will just take a few minutes, and it’s important.”

  Nadine took a seat. Burke took another while O’Sullivan grabbed a chair from another table.

  “I offered the other side of my duplex for your use.” Burke looked at Twyla. “But I’ve been told that, under the current circumstances, it would be wiser if you stayed here. It will be cramped, especially since Simon Wolfgard has offered sanctuary to a few police families when this coming storm hits Lakeside. However, this is the one place where you should be protected—and there will be people here who can help you.” Now he looked at Nadine. “You have a room here. What about Chris?”

  “He’s bunking in one of the rooms above the social center. He comes up to my room for a shower.”

  “Impress upon him that he needs to stay here until this storm passes.”

  Nadine smiled bitterly. “He has a broken hand, Captain, and he’s been branded a Wolf lover. He’s too vulnerable right now to go out among the humans.”

  Monty winced at the way she said “humans,” but he couldn’t blame her for feeling that way. The HFL had burned down her shop and home and would have killed her and Chris. No matter what Simon thought about getting more tangled up in human concerns, the Wolf had stepped up and offered Nadine and Chris shelter and protection.

  Twyla studied the men, her eyes lingering on Monty. “This storm is part of the trouble that had you asking me to get to Lakeside as quick as I could?”

  “Yes, Mama.”

  Now Twyla looked at Burke. “How bad is the bad going to be?”

  Burke studied Twyla in turn. “Here in Lakeside? I don’t know. When it comes time for the reckoning, I hope our efforts to work with the terra indigene will count for something. Across Thaisia? We just hope for the best now.”

  A kitchen timer dinged. Nadine jumped up. “I have to get those cookies out of the oven.”

  “Miss Nadine?” Twyla said with quiet courtesy, stopping the other woman. “You run this shop?”

  “Working here. Tess runs it. I don’t know where she is right now.”

  “I think the three of us should talk soon.”

  Nadine nodded and rushed into the back.

  “And I’m thinking that Mr. Simon and I should talk soon too,” Twyla continued.

  Monty laid his hand over hers. “Mama?”

  “Whatever provisions they have here for humans living or even staying overnight isn’t going to fit the number of people they’re going to take in and shelter. Doesn’t matter how you wiggle things; they’re going to need help. I’ve got two good hands and I know how to work. So does Sierra. And the children can do what they’re able. You asked me to come and help you with Lizzy, and I will. But right now there’s a lot to do and not much time to be doing, so I’m not going to sit by, Crispin. That’s not my way.”

  “I know, Mama, but—”

  “What can you do?” Simon asked, walking over to their table.

  Monty wondered how long the Wolf had been standing in the archway listening.

  “You tell me what needs to be done, and I’ll tell you if I can do it,” Twyla replied. “One thing I know right off. You’re going to be feeding more people than you’re used to, and that might not be easy in this coffee shop.”

  “We have Meat-n-Greens in the Market Square.”

  “I’d like to take a look at it, offer an idea or two after I speak with Miss Nadine and Miss Tess.”

  Those ambe
r Wolf eyes studied Twyla with too much interest.

  “If the human pups misbehave, we’ll bite them,” Simon said.

  “If I had your teeth instead of these dentures, I’d be inclined to do the same.”

  Simon cocked his head. “What are dentures?”

  “Perhaps a discussion for another time?” Burke suggested.

  “Now,” Twyla said, looking at Monty, then at Burke and O’Sullivan, and finally at Simon. “We’re here and we’re fine. Sierra and I are grown women who are capable of sorting out who is staying where. You men have your own work to do, and you don’t need to be fussing about us.”

  “Ruthie, Merri Lee, and Eve Denby are the females in the pack who already have dens here,” Simon said. “They can help with this sorting.” He went back to Howling Good Reads.

  “You sure you’ll be all right?” Monty asked. He addressed the question to his mother, but they both knew it had more to do with Sierra and the girls than Twyla.

  “We’ll be fine, Crispin.” Twyla patted his hand. “You go about your business.”

  Burke and O’Sullivan stood and said the appropriate things. Monty kissed Twyla’s cheek and whispered, “I’m glad you’re here.” Then the three men went out the back way.

  “We’ll walk over to the consulate with you,” Burke said.

  “What should I tell the governor?” O’Sullivan asked.

  Monty glanced at the back of the Liaison’s Office. He caught the faint sound of music coming from the open windows, but Meg wasn’t playing it loud enough for him to determine if it was earth native music or popular music. He needed to talk to his mother and sister before they met Meg Corbyn and saw the scars that were now visible since she’d begun wearing summer clothes.

  “You ever watch nature programs?” Burke said. “You ever see one of those anteaters with the big claws breaking open the ant hills in order to get at the ants?”

  “I vaguely recall seeing something like that,” O’Sullivan replied.

  Burke nodded. “Then you tell the governor that the storms heading our way are the claws of the beast that will break open our cities in order to get to the meat.”

  • • •

  “Can we take a walk?” Meg asked.

  Simon paused, the T-shirt halfway raised. He finished pulling it off, dunked it in the water trough in the Green Complex’s open communal area, then, with a happy sigh, put it back on.

  “That’s better. Sure, we can. Do you need to rub bug spray on your skin?”

  If she did, he’d stay so far away she’d have to shout instead of having a very quiet talk. “No, I’ll be all right.”

  “Then dunk your shirt like I did so you stay cool.”

  She looked around, not sure who else was home right now. “Girls aren’t supposed to take off their tops.”

  “That’s a stupid human rule,” Simon growled. “We don’t care.”

  She couldn’t argue that one way or the other, and the air had become close and viciously muggy in the face of the oncoming storm. The weather forecasters couldn’t decide whether Lakeside was going to be hit by the storm coming up from the south or the one swinging over the Great Lakes from the north. They were cautiously optimistic that the rain and damaging winds from the hurricane that was leisurely pummeling the East Coast wouldn’t reach Lakeside. The hurricane hadn’t stalled; it just seemed to pause at certain cities to inflict the most damage before continuing north.

  After dunking her shirt in the trough, Meg put it back on and sucked in a breath when the cool, wet fabric touched her skin.

  “Isn’t that better?” Simon asked, taking her hand.

  “Much better.”

  They walked over to the road, then paused.

  “Which way?” Simon asked.

  Good question. If they headed toward the Market Square, they would pass the kitchen garden. It was dark now, so it wasn’t likely that anyone would be working there, but there was always a chance, and she didn’t want to see her human friends right now.

  Meg turned in the other direction, which would take them up to the Utilities Complex if they stayed on the Courtyard’s main road.

  “Are we walking so you don’t itch?” Simon asked after a minute.

  Should have known he would notice. “Too much that’s new and unsettled.” She hadn’t met Lieutenant Montgomery’s mother or the other members of his family, but just their presence in the Courtyard had caused twitches and prickles and buzzes on her arms and legs. Those potential prophecies could have been caused by Agent O’Sullivan just as easily. After all, he would have more influence on whatever might happen, wouldn’t he?

  In the end, she’d closed the Liaison’s Office early and gone home—and wasn’t surprised to find Nathan waiting on her porch by the time she’d put her BOW in the garage and connected it to its charger. Until Simon got home, the watch Wolf was on duty.

  She wasn’t sure if it was being home, or doing some of the moves she’d learned in the Quiet Mind class, or her amusement at Nathan, in Wolf form, doing some of the moves with her, but the prickles faded. And yet the unease had lingered through the rest of the afternoon.

  “Simon, what’s going to happen?”

  He didn’t answer. Then: “I don’t know. A lot of things broke at the same time. A lot of the Wolfgard died. In the past, trouble boiled up in one place. One form of terra indigene or other would deal with it, the humans who caused the trouble would be gone, and some—or all—of the land would be reclaimed and become part of the wild country again.”

  “The terra indigene who none of you will talk about.”

  “The Elders.”

  Meg nodded. “The Elders. Are they going to reclaim all of Thaisia? What’s going to happen to people like the Intuits at Ferryman’s Landing? They aren’t the terra indigene’s enemy.”

  They walked in silence. Finally Simon stopped and looked around. Meg wondered how much more he could see than was apparent to her.

  “Do you know why Wolves howl?” he asked.

  “To say, ‘We are here.’”

  He looked at her and smiled. “Yes. We are here, keeping watch. We are here, thinning the weak from the elk and deer herds, from the bison. We are here to defend the wild country that borders on the human places.” The smile faded. “But the terra indigene who are Namid’s teeth and claws are coming to deal with the invasive predators, and where there are no Wolves to sing to the night sky . . . I don’t know what’s going to happen in the places that are filled with silence.”

  “It won’t be silent in Lakeside. You’ll tell them you are here and you’re still keeping watch.” Meg thought a moment. “What about Ferryman’s Landing or the River Road Community? None of the Wolfgard live there.”

  “The Coyote and the Fox live there. And there are a few of the Beargard on the island, and now there are Bobcats and Lynxes and a Panther at the River Road Community, as well as the juvenile Sanguinati. Different songs but the same message.”

  He stepped closer and put his arms around her in a tentative hug.

  Meg tensed, not sure what to do. The assault of male hands. Her body still reacted to the memory of her life in the compound. But this was Simon, and Wolves just liked contact with members of their pack.

  She put her arms around his waist and allowed her body to relax against his.

  “We were attacked here too, so I don’t know how much of Lakeside will be standing when this is done, but I think our pack will be all right,” Simon said quietly. “I don’t think the girls at the lake will let things get too bad in the Courtyard.”

  “When?”

  “At least one of the storms will reach us by tomorrow.” His arms tightened around her as he rested his cheek against her fuzz of hair. “You’ll be all right, Meg.”

  “We’ll be all right.” She wanted to believe that, but would believing it be enough to make it true?

  CHAPTER 46

  Watersday, Juin 30

  Jesse Walker opened the general store’s door, glad to hav
e even that much relief from feeling closed in. She’d pulled the shutters over the store’s windows just before the storm hit. Prairie Gold hadn’t lost electric power—yet—but the lights kept flickering and annoyed her enough that she’d shut the damn things off, preferring the twilight and the reassuring hum of the refrigerated units to the constant reminder of how much food they could lose if the power went out in town.

  “Arroo!”

  “Rachel, honey, that’s enough. Come in now.”

  The juvenile Wolf had shown up shortly before the storm hit and had stood outside the general store howling and howling. And her howls had been answered by two Wolves who had arrived in Bennett the day before—the new leader and dominant enforcer of the Prairie Gold pack. Jesse had expected them to continue on to the terra indigene settlement once they reached Prairie Gold. Instead, they had taken one of the rooms at the truck stop motel.

  The howling of the wind and the howling of the Wolves started at pretty much the same time.

  “Rachel?”

  The Wolf looked at Jesse, then resumed her howling.

  Jesse stayed in the doorway to keep Rachel company and because she had a feeling she would learn something important if she did. Besides, the wind had finally quieted and the rain was more a drizzle.

  Gods above and below, no one would be able to travel on the dirt roads until they dried out some—assuming that the roads hadn’t washed out completely. At least the storm had passed over them quick enough. She saw some trash that had blown into the street, and a few shops had a shutter or two missing, but it didn’t look like too much damage.

  “Arroo!”

  A shimmer in the rain was the only warning that something moved out there. More than one. Intelligence and power. She’d felt that when she’d taken the human children and terra indigene youngsters to the hiding place in the hills. That same sense of something out there, thinking. Judging.

  They moved on past the town. Jesse sagged against the doorframe, realizing only then how much they frightened her.

  “We are here,” Rachel said, now a naked, shivering teenager. “That’s what we told the Elders. We are here to take care of the land, and you’re helping us.”