by Anne Bishop
Meg stopped walking. Her gray eyes were filled with alarm. “You’re not going to make me eat heart or liver, are you?”
“I wouldn’t make you eat anything you didn’t want.” Besides, the hearts and livers of their prey weren’t items that would be offered in the butcher shop. Those delicacies belonged to the Wolves.
He just hoped he’d made it clear to Sam that Meg wouldn’t appreciate the gift of a piece of deer heart or liver. Or lungs. Or brains. Or tongue.
He was pretty sure she wouldn’t appreciate any of those things even if they came from a cow.
“You promise?”
“You don’t have to eat them. And I promise I won’t try to sneak any of them on your plate and trick you into eating them.” He looked at her and laughed. “You get finicky about bits of meat, but you’ll eat that yogurt stuff?”
“One has nothing to do with the other,” Meg muttered.
But she didn’t sound sure, which made him laugh again. He’d choose eating brains over yogurt any day.
Most of the human pack was in the Market Square this evening. Ruthie held a string bag, but she wasn’t carrying food. It looked like she had a couple of books from the library and maybe a movie from Music and Movies. Kowalski came out of Chocolates and Cream carrying a small container. They paused for a moment to talk to Merri Lee and Debany before leaving the Market Square.
“Do you want to join them?” Simon asked, tipping his head to indicate the exploding fluffball and Debany.
“No. Since they have permission to be in the Market Square, Michael’s parents are going to join them and celebrate Merri Lee’s promotion.” Meg looked around. “We’re going to have some food restrictions, aren’t we?”
“Nothing anyone needs to howl about.” You won’t go hungry. Neither will Sam. “We may not always have foods that come from outside the Courtyard, and there will be limits on how much the humans can purchase from the stores here, but we’ll be all right.”
Sam raced back to them. “Can we have ice cream now?”
“When Meg and I reach Chocolates and Cream, we’ll get ice cream cones.”
“Skippy is here. Can he have one too?”
Simon was about to refuse. The juvenile Wolf with the skippy brain wouldn’t be able to hold a cone.
“They could put Skippy’s scoop of ice cream in a bowl,” Meg said.
That settled it. Sam arrooed, and Skippy hurried to join them.
The ice cream was made in an Intuit community that had branched out from the original dairy farm that the terra indigene had permitted within their land. Other Intuit families had joined the dairy farmers, bringing skills that made use of the supply of milk. Some of those humans made cheeses. And one family made ice cream. Once a week, the refrigerated truck made the trip to Lakeside, followed by a van. Once a week, the Courtyard received ice cream and a selection of cheese in exchange for manufactured items the Intuits wanted—or for money if the trade that week wasn’t an equal exchange.
After considering the humans who were connected to the Courtyard, Simon had asked for a larger supply of ice cream—enough so that everyone could have one scoop each week as a treat. He wasn’t sure they would receive more. Cows produced only so much milk, and the ice cream makers were dependent on the supplies they received. Still, he’d asked. He also knew asking for any additional food might not matter if the manufactured items the Courtyard brokered for terra indigene settlements and Intuit communities in the wild country were no longer available.
Those were problems for another day. This evening, they had ice cream.
Sam got a scoop of chocolate; Simon chose strawberry. Meg wanted vanilla, and Skippy was given a scoop of vanilla in a bowl, which Simon carried outside since he was the one among them whom the juvenile Wolf wouldn’t dare try to knock over in order to get the treat.
They chose a bench where they could observe the comings and goings of everyone else who had ventured into the Market Square. Simon put the bowl on the ground and watched it scooting this way and that in response to Skippy’s enthusiastic licking.
Then the bowl headed toward them. Meg made a V with her feet and the bowl scooted into the space.
Skippy looked up, growling that someone else was claiming his treat. Simon bared his teeth and noticed Sam doing the same thing. But Skippy paid no attention to them; his eyes were focused on Meg.
“I’ll hold the bowl for you,” she said.
The growling stopped. Skippy licked the ice cream and seemed surprised that it didn’t try to run away. He flopped down in front of Meg, his forelegs bracketing her feet, and happily licked his treat.
Simon turned his attention to his own cone, catching the drips. Sam was also focused on his cone. Then Meg sucked in a breath, and they looked at her.
“Ice cream tongue,” she said.
Sam looked at Skippy, who gave Meg’s ankle a lick before turning back to the last bit of ice cream. He looked at Simon and grinned.
Simon flashed a grin at the pup and then looked away before Meg noticed. She had a special relationship with Sam. Because she was a cassandra sangue, she didn’t feel like prey, didn’t smell like prey. That had confused all of them when she’d first come to work for the Courtyard—especially him. But that difference had sparked Sam’s curiosity, had drawn the pup out of the trauma of his mother’s death. Meg was like a big sister who was wise and brainless at the same time.
It was a good match for Sam’s puppy brain as long as there was an adult Wolf close by to make sure they didn’t get into too much trouble.
When they’d finished the cones, Simon returned the bowl to Chocolates and Cream. As he came out of the shop, he saw Lieutenant Montgomery and all the members of his pack, along with the Denbys.
“Coming for some ice cream?” Simon asked.
“If that’s all right,” Montgomery said.
Simon nodded, pleased that Montgomery understood that making room for a different kind of pack required adjustments for everyone involved. “There are several flavors this week.” He looked at the oldest female in that pack. “Miss Twyla.”
“Mr. Simon.” Twyla nodded her head. “It’s a fine night.”
It would have been finer if he’d been wearing fur instead of jeans and a shirt. Speaking of fur . . . Simon squinted. Meg stood there with her hands over her eyes. Behind her was a pile of discarded clothes and a furry Wolf pup.
Sam had had enough of the human form.
The pup gave Meg’s knee a lick, making her squeak loudly enough to draw the attention of all the Wolves and Sanguinati in the square.
“I have to go,” Simon said, seeing Blair and Nathan heading toward Meg.
Montgomery tried but couldn’t quite keep a straight face. Miss Twyla didn’t even try. The Denbys and the Sierra had glanced at Meg and Sam, then herded all the human children into the shop, sufficiently distracting them.
By the time Simon returned to Meg, Vlad had joined them, but Sam and Skippy had scampered off to sniff all the new and interesting scents.
“We’re heading back to the Wolfgard Complex,” Blair said. “We can take those two with us.”
“If you want to shed your clothes and shift to Wolf, I can drop off all the clothing on my way home,” Vlad offered.
“Meg and I will walk home, so you can take her BOW,” Simon said.
“We’re walking?” Meg said.
“It’s a nice night.” And happily, they had all discovered that the sweet blood of the cassandra sangue, while alluring to the terra indigene, repelled biting insects. Probably some instinct told the bugs that Meg’s blood was lethal to them.
Nathan and Blair left the Market Square to discreetly shift into Wolf form. The two Wolves collected Sam and Skippy while V
lad collected the clothing and headed out in Meg’s Box on Wheels.
That much settled, Simon smiled and turned back to Meg, looking forward to some time alone with her after a busy day full of human strangers. Then his smile faded and he looked to see who had caught her attention.
Lieutenant Montgomery. Miss Twyla. And, mostly, the Sierra, who was just coming out of the shop with an ice cream cone, followed by her two daughters and Lizzy. Simon watched Meg watching the Montgomery pack and rubbing her right arm as if there was something buzzing under her skin.
“Let’s go home, Meg.” He took her hand and led her out of the Market Square, feeling the tension in her. He wanted to run, wanted to pull her away from the humans as fast as possible. But if she tripped, a scrape would be as bad as a cut with the razor. Worse, because a scrape might not leave a scar that would indicate that the skin had already been used for prophecy.
Eventually Meg relaxed and began to notice the small amount human eyes could see by moonlight.
“Something’s coming,” Meg whispered.
“We already knew that. You already drew the prophecy cards that warned us.”
And her reaction tonight confirmed that the threat to the Courtyard and the city of Lakeside was connected to Montgomery and his pack.
“No.” She pointed. “Something’s coming.”
He’d been focused on her, on the threat she’d seen coming toward Lakeside, and hadn’t taken in the potential threat coming right at them now.
Not a threat, he decided as his fingers tightened on Meg’s, then relaxed. This was just another Courtyard resident enjoying a fine summer night.
Air rode by on Mist—not the barrel-bodied, chubby-legged pony but the elegant, and dangerous, steed. The Elemental smiled at them as she passed, and Mist . . . misted.
Meg laughed as water droplets cooled warm skin.
Simon smiled, enjoying the pleasant sensation produced by the water—and by Meg’s laughter.
CHAPTER 5
Windsday, Messis 8
Simon kept glancing at Meg as he drove the BOW toward the Market Square. Her hands were closed into tight fists and she stared straight ahead, not talking, not even paying attention to the land. If he hadn’t been convinced already that she shouldn’t spend the day around a crowd of strangers, he was certain of it now.
She had endured the first day of the job fair when it had been the Simple Life folk, and she had seemed to fully recover by the next morning. But she’d lasted only until noon on the second day of the job fair. Nathan had warned him about the itchy restlessness that had plagued Meg throughout the morning and kept the watch Wolf alert for the slightest hint of blood. That had made Simon, Vlad, and Tess look more closely at the humans crowded into A Little Bite and realize that humans from Lakeside were mixed in with the Intuits and Simple Life folk. Some came in because they saw other people inside the coffee shop and were curious—or simply wanted to buy a cup of coffee. Some came looking for work but backed out fast when they learned where they would be sent—and who would watch their every breath once they left Lakeside.
Those additional humans seemed to be the tipping point for Meg, overloading her ability to endure the futures of so many people prickling and buzzing under her skin. That was why Simon had already decided she wouldn’t go to the Liaison’s Office today—and already knew that she couldn’t be left alone with the silver razor.
He slowed down as they reached the fork in the Courtyard’s main road. Going straight would take them to the Market Square. Going to the right would take them to the Pony Barn. He saw a handful of ponies standing near the fork. Jester must have told them Meg was going to spend the morning with them and they were waiting for her.
“Stop.” Meg’s voice was barely audible, even to his Wolf-sharp hearing.
“We’re almost—”
“Stop the BOW!” Her voice rose in a wail. “Stop!”
She opened the door and tried to leap from the BOW.
Simon grabbed her arm to keep her inside and stomped on the brakes. “Meg, wait.”
She flailed at him, screaming and trying to scratch. The attack surprised him so much, he let go of her arm. Then she was out of the BOW and running back toward the Green Complex.
He threw the BOW into PARK, flung himself out the door, and ran after her.
Jenni Crowgard flew over him, then turned and flew back to him.
She had a head start, but he was fast enough to catch her—and the ponies were even faster. Thunder got ahead of her and turned, blocking her path. She ran into him and bounced off his side, right into Simon’s arms.
“I can’t,” she gasped.
“I know,” he replied, holding her against him, the only comfort he knew how to give right now. “I know.”
He heard Jenni still cawing a warning, heard Crows responding—and heard a couple of Wolves respond as well.
“Meg.” He said her name as both warning and plea when the smoke that had been rushing toward them shifted into Nyx and Grandfather Erebus, who was the leader of the Sanguinati and doted on Meg. Having the Sanguinati wanting an explanation was bad enough. But most of the Elementals who lived in the Courtyard were also there.
“Did the humans upset our Meg?” Fire asked.
Not a question he wanted to answer.
As if unaware of everyone around them, Meg started finger combing Thunder’s forelock. That seemed to calm her.
“Did they?” Erebus asked, his dry-leaves voice producing a skitter of fear down Simon’s spine.
“What’s all the howling about?” Jester asked. He had patches of fur on his torso and arms, indicating his haste in shifting to his human form after running up from the Pony Barn. Fortunately, enough of the Coyote was hidden by Mist’s body that Meg wouldn’t notice he was naked. “Doesn’t Meg want to spend the morning with us at the Pony Barn?”
Damn Coyote, Simon thought when all the ponies tried to crowd in a bit more as if to encourage the correct answer.
“What?” Meg said.
Thunder lipped her chin.
“You. Me. The ponies. All of us being sensible and staying away from the chaos in the Market Square,” Jester said. “Simon already made arrangements for the mail to be brought there so you can sort it and the ponies can make the deliveries.” He looked at Simon. “Didn’t you tell her?”
Meg twisted in Simon’s arms in order to look at him. “What?”
“Stupid human books,” he growled. “It was supposed to be a nice surprise. Human females are supposed to like nice surprises.” On the other hand, he’d been concerned about Meg’s reaction to the job fair and only skimmed a couple of the kissy books they still had in stock, so he might have missed the part that would have told him that this was what usually happened when a male tried to give a female a nice surprise.
“Oh.” Meg petted Lightning’s nose. “We were going to the Pony Barn?”
“Yes. I was going to drop you off before going to Howling Good Reads to deal with the last group of humans.” He really wanted someone unsuitable to show up today and give him an excuse to take a bite or two.
“Caw?”
“I would like to go to the Pony Barn,” Meg said.
“Good,” Simon replied.
“Can you walk back to the BOW and p
ick up your carry sack?” Simon asked Meg.
She blinked. Her eyes widened as she finally took in who had reacted to her panicked flight. She nodded.
Jester shifted to his Coyote form and quickly got out of the way of all the hooves as the ponies sorted themselves into two lines.
“Sorry,” she said under her breath.
He gave her waist a light squeeze to tell her he’d heard her. Then he let her go and watched as the Elementals, led by Fire and Summer, and the ponies escorted Meg to the BOW and then on to the Pony Barn.
Jester looked at Simon.
Simon turned to Erebus and noticed Blair standing by the side of the road, watching Meg. Then the dominant enforcer shifted to human and joined Simon and the Sanguinati.
“Why is the sweet blood so upset today?” Erebus asked.
Before Simon could decide the best way to respond, Blair said, “I was wondering the same thing. Why is Meg more upset today?”
“Overload,” Simon replied. But was that all of it? “There were humans other than Intuit and Simple Life who came in yesterday. Vlad and I didn’t recommend any of them to go on to Bennett. We wouldn’t have hired them, so we weren’t going to send them to Tolya to cause problems for him. But word about the job fair has spread beyond the preferred employees, so there are bound to be humans today looking for work.”
Having human employees wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Barbara Ellen Debany was human, and Tolya was pleased with her as an employee and new resident of Bennett.
“Vladimir said he found unknown humans in the stock room yesterday,” Erebus said.
Vlad hadn’t told him that. But that explained why HGR’s comanager wanted the back door of the store locked during the day. Humans could be as curious as Crows, so an unlocked door could be the next best thing to an invitation to come in and look around.