Marked in Flesh Read online

  Black didn’t reply.

  “Any word yet about the attack?”

  “We’re supposed to wait until the special equipment from Cel-Romano arrives. Once the designated HFL chapters have that equipment, we’ll be ready to make a coordinated attack.” Black didn’t like taking orders from anyone, especially some slick prissy-boy from Cel-Romano. Scratch’s plans had worked just fine at first, but they’d started to unravel when the scandal broke about that farming association selling grains and feed to Cel-Romano that ranches and towns here needed. Without the feed to help the cattle through the coming winter, would he be expected to sell his beef at a loss because he wouldn’t be able to feed the whole herd? No, this next strike would drive the fucking terra indigene so deep into the wild country no one would need to kowtow to them again.

  “We’ll wait for the order to attack.” Black opened the door that his men had freed from the barbed wire and posts. “Let’s get to work on those fences.”

  • • •

  Joe Wolfgard stood at the doorway of Tolya’s motel room and watched Prairie Gold’s residents drive up and form a line of vehicles, waiting for the fuel truck to fill the storage tanks at the gas station across the street.

  Nyx drifted toward him. “I heard some of the humans talking. The fuel truck driver will stop now so that the humans can fill their vehicles. Then he’ll continue filling the storage tanks.”

  That made sense. After a hunt, Wolves would allow all the members of the pack to eat before caching some of the meat.

  A Hawk glided in and landed on the roof of the motel.

  He had seen the dust storm when he’d escorted the fuel truck to Prairie Gold. He’d wondered if the Elementals had been involved in preventing humans from stealing the fuel again or harming the driver. He’d never heard of them being involved in shifter concerns until the Elementals in the Lakeside Courtyard became interested in Meg Corbyn.

  He was about to ask if the Hawk had seen Tobias and Tolya when the ranch pickup drove past and stopped in front of the general store.

  Joe called.

  Jackson sounded relieved. Too relieved?

  Joe hurried to Jesse Walker’s store, aware that Nyx had turned to smoke but stayed behind him instead of racing ahead to meet up with Tolya.

  He glanced at the pickup. It looked dusty, but no more than usual. “You missed the storm?” he asked when Tobias stepped out of the truck.

  “I think at least one vehicle got caught in it, but that dust storm didn’t reach the crossroads,” Tobias replied. “At least, not when we drove by.”

  “That’s good.” He studied the human, whose voice sounded odd. “That’s not good?”

  Tobias glanced toward Tolya and Jackson, who had gotten out on the other side, then leaned toward Joe. “Is that the way it usually works? I always thought . . . Storms. Lightning strikes and starts a fire. Blizzard sweeps in and you have to wait it out and hope your stock survives. But that’s the land; that’s weather. At least, we always thought it was.”

  “Most of the time, it is,” Joe said. “But there are terra indigene who can guide weather, even shape it.” Or turn it into a weapon against an enemy. “When we sent the bison meat to Lakeside, Air and Blizzard made sure it arrived without spoiling. That was a good thing.”

  “If we started doing something wrong, you’d tell us, wouldn’t you? Give us a chance to fix things before . . . Well, before weather became something more than weather?”

  He smelled fear. “I would tell you.” He looked at Tolya and Jackson, who had joined them, and wondered where Nyx had gone. “Was the train late?”

  “No, I wanted to take a look at the town,” Tolya said. “Get an idea of what sort of businesses are there.”

  Jackson told Joe.

 

 

  Not a comforting answer. If it wasn’t for the train station, he would steer clear of the town of Bennett—except collecting the payments for the land lease and water rights for the town were the responsibility of the Others living in the Prairie Gold settlement.

  He thought about the rancher, that Daniel Black, who also owed the terra indigene for the land and water he used. Somehow he didn’t think that Daniel Black was going to turn over the payment when it came due next month.

  “I rented a room at the motel for Jackson,” Tolya said. “Actually, Jesse Walker reserved the room. She had a feeling you would need it.”

  Jackson frowned. “I’m here to pick up eleven bison.”

  “We’re going to have to herd them,” Tobias said. “Well, first we have to find the ones you want.”

  “Yearling calves,” Joe said. “We can ask the Hawkgard and Ravengard to help us look.”

  “Nyx and I can help you keep the animals complacent to some extent,” Tolya said, smiling.

  Joe thought about the weak-smelling humans who had disembarked at Bennett when Tolya and Nyx arrived. Sanguinati looked like smoke but didn’t smell like smoke in their other form. Would bison see them in the dark? Would they sense any danger when that smoke curled around them and drew blood through the skin?

  “You boys going to stand out there all day, or are you going to let our guest come in and have something to drink?” Jesse Walker stepped out of her store. “Tobias, you should fill up that truck while you have a chance.”

  “Fuel truck’s not going anywhere for a while,” Tobias said.

  Jackson asked.

  Joe replied.

 

  “Did that package arrive for me?” Jesse asked.

  “I’ve got it,” Tobias answered.

  “Then bring it in here, since half the items are going on to the Lakeside Courtyard with Mr. Wolfgard and Nyx.”

  “They are?” Jackson looked at Joe.

  “I’m just helping you with the bison. The rest?” Joe shrugged.

  Tobias unloaded the box and brought it into the store. The four terra indigene followed. Joe barely got out of the way before the door opened again and two females entered. He recognized Shelley Bookman but didn’t know the other female.

  “Did they come?” Shelley Bookman asked. “We saw Tobias’s truck and wanted to see.”

  “The box is exciting?” Nyx asked, eyeing the two women.

  “Introductions first,” Jesse said. “This is Shelley Bookman, our town’s librarian. And Abigail Burch is the person experimenting with bison tallow for making soaps and candles.”

  That explained why she smelled a bit like bison. Should he mention that?

  “Do I need to know what’s in the box?” Tobias asked.

  “Doubt it would interest you,” Jesse replied, using a box cutter to slice the packing tape.

  “Then I’ll get in line for gas.” Tobias looked at Joe. “I’ll stop by on my way to the ranch, in case you want a ride back to the settlement.”

  “Okay.” Somehow he’d been pushed to the back of the crowd watching Jesse open the box. Didn’t need to look now. If Jackson was taking things to Lakeside, he could look when they hauled the box to the motel room.

  “Cards?” Tolya sounded puzzled. “I think stores in Lakeside sell cards for games.”

  “These are fortune-telling cards,” Jesse said, holding up two sealed boxes that had different drawings. “There are several different decks of cards. I’m keeping a set of the decks here.” She looked at Jackson. “The other set goes to Lakeside with you for Meg Corbyn’s use. I have a feeling these may help her find a way for at least some of the blood prophets to see visions of the future without cutting their skin.”

  “Why didn’t you arrange for the cards to go directly to Lakeside?” Joe asked.

  Something about the look Jesse gave th
e Others made Jackson growl and caused Joe’s fangs to lengthen to Wolf size.

  Jesse said, “I had them shipped here because, even though I trust the woman I spoke to when I placed the order, I had a strong feeling that it was better for everyone if the cards weren’t sent directly to anyplace where a blood prophet lives.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Firesday, Juin 15

  The Wolves, along with ranch hands on horseback, cut eleven yearling bison from the Prairie Gold herd. Then smoke wrapped around the animals’ necks, and Tolya and Nyx fed on each animal just enough to make it easy for Wolves and men to pen the bison in a makeshift corral that held tubs of water and feed.

  After giving the bison time to drink and eat, they headed for Bennett, a pickup filled with supplies leading the way while the men and Wolves kept the bison moving.

  Tolya had called the train station to let them know a livestock car would be required for the train going east to Lakeside. Joe hadn’t heard what the human at the station said, but he’d heard Tolya’s reply: if the terra indigene couldn’t reserve a car for livestock, no livestock would be permitted to travel by rail from this part of Thaisia. That meant the ranchers who sent cattle to the slaughterhouses located in cities beyond the Midwest Region would be stuck with animals they couldn’t sell and couldn’t move overland without losing half their herds to the predators who would gather for the feast.

  Could he have stopped Tolya from making such a threat? Did it matter? The Sanguinati was far more skilled at dealing with the humans in Bennett than he could be. Besides, Tolya deferred to him whenever decisions involved the Intuits, who were the humans the terra indigene settlement needed to interact with on a regular basis.

  They kept the herd moving at a steady pace.

  Joe wanted to push on while they still had light, but Tobias argued that there would be nowhere to set up camp for the night once they passed the crossroads. There was nothing but human-controlled ranchland between the crossroads and Bennett, and once they arrived in town, they would have to hold the bison in the stockyard until the train was scheduled to depart. The less time they spent in town, the less time for people to stir up trouble.

  Since Tolya agreed with that assessment and Tobias was confident they could reach Bennett in plenty of time to catch the train if they headed out at first light, Joe went along with them. They set up camp within sight of the crossroads—and not that far from the spot where bison had been shot the previous week. No one mentioned the incident, or said anything about the number of carcasses that had been stripped down to bone already, but the Wolves sniffed the area for any sign of intruders, and Tobias and the ranch hands put on their gun belts and checked their revolvers before setting up the watch for the night.

  The next day, they started out right after breakfast.

  As Joe snapped at a yearling to encourage it to keep up with the other bison, he noticed the trucks parked on the side of the road and the men who stopped working and watched their little herd trotting toward Bennett.

  he called to one of the Ravens.

 

  That was sensible. Cattle that strayed off the land used by humans were considered edible, and the Elders who had come down from the hills last week to feed on the dead bison were still prowling the edges of human land. It was their lingering scent, as much as the herding skill of humans and Wolves, that kept the bison from trying to break free. There was also the sound and smell of water as it sloshed in the two barrels loaded in the back of the pickup—and Nyx hand-feeding the bison when the humans stopped to rest, teaching the animals that she was not something they needed to fear.

  Joe wondered if the Sanguinati did something similar with humans, lulling them into a trust that allowed vampires to feed without their prey being aware.

  And that made him wonder how long Tolya planned to stay around Prairie Gold.

  When they finally reached the train station, there were two livestock cars being loaded with cattle. After being told they could load the bison into the third stock car once the cattle were settled, Joe and Jackson took advantage of the wait to shift to human form and pull on clothes.

  A human noticed them and the bison, then said something to a couple of men on horseback before walking over to them.

  “I’m Stewart Dixon.” He tipped his head to indicate the bison. “You boys need a hand getting them loaded?”

  Tobias glanced at Joe, and Joe understood it was his decision. He also understood that Tobias didn’t feel wary of this man the way the Intuit did around that Daniel Black.

  “Thank you,” Joe said.

  A wave of a hand had the men on horseback approaching slowly, nodding to the men from Prairie Gold.

  Tobias eyed the cattle that had been loaded into the two stock cars. “Pardon me for saying, but your cattle look a bit young and underweight to be sent to market.”

  The Stewart smiled. “Shows you’ve got a good eye, and you’d be right if they were going to market. But I wanted to reduce my stock, and there were two settlements east of here that were looking to buy some cattle to start their own herds. From what they said, they already have a small herd of dairy cows—enough animals to provide their communities with milk and such—and would like to be able to eat something besides elk when roads and weather make it impossible to drive to a bigger town for supplies.”

  “Don’t humans like eating elk?” Joe asked.

  “Sure. One of the freezers at my ranch is filled with elk meat every hunting season, but it’s a delicacy for most folks, same as milk and cheese might be for you.”

  Joe, Jackson, Tobias, and the Stewart moved out of the way as the men on horseback herded the bison into the empty livestock car.

  “If you don’t mind me saying, those bison look a little young if you’re sending them to market,” the Stewart said.

  “They aren’t food yet,” Joe replied. “They’re going east to a city on the shores of Lake Etu. Sending smaller bison was sensible.” Besides, Simon wanted everyone in the Lakeside Courtyard to have time to get used to bison living there before they were old enough to breed.

  “I’ll help Nyx and Tolya load the box going to Lakeside,” Jackson said. Then he added,

  Joe looked at Tobias. “Give him a hand?”

  “Sure.”

  That left him alone with the Stewart Dixon. “Thank you for your help.”

  “Happy to lend a hand.”

  “You aren’t connected to the Prairie Gold settlement.”

  The Stewart shook his head. “My ranch is several hours north of here, but Bennett is the closest rail line, as well as the largest town when we need supplies or want a night out. It’s a day’s drive in any direction to find another town with a music hall and a movie theater. A different group of terra indigene watch over the land north of Bennett. At least, I’m assuming it’s a different group, because I haven’t seen you around before.”

  “It’s a different group,” Joe agreed. Had the Wolves north of the hills felt the presence of the Elders?

  The Stewart hesitated. “Look, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, or cause trouble between you and the Wolves I usually deal with, but . . .” He took a small pad of paper out of his pocket and a short pencil, wrote on the paper, and handed it to Joe. “That’s the phone number of the ranch house. Like I said, we’re north of Bennett, so I’m not sure what we could do, but if you need help, you call and ask for me.”

  Joe studied the number. “Why would you do this?”

  “Anyone but a fool can see trouble is on the horizon. My family has never had any problems with your kind, and I don’t want problems now. Your people have been good neighbors. I try to be the same.” The Stewart looked over when someone shouted his name. “I’m needed.”

  He held out a hand. After a moment’s consideration, Joe shook hands.

  “See you around.” The Stewart walked away.r />
  Joe headed to the platform to say good-bye to Jackson and Nyx.

  “Safe travels,” Tobias said as Jackson and Nyx boarded the train.

  “They’ll be fine,” Tolya said, joining them. “The train will be watched all the way to Lakeside.”

  Joe found that comforting. Jackson was away from his pack, but he wasn’t alone. He glanced at Tobias and wondered if a human felt the same kind of comfort, knowing the residents of the wild country were keeping a closer watch on everything and everyone who traveled through their land.

  When the train pulled out of the station, Tolya turned to Tobias. “Mr. Walker, do you and the others want to remain in town for the night? You worked hard bringing the bison here.”

  “I was told this town has a music hall and a movie theater,” Joe added. “Having entertainment seemed important to the Stewart Dixon.”

  “I had overlooked those two businesses when we drove around the town square the other day,” Tolya said, then added privately to Joe,

  Tobias looked at both of them. “I talked it over with the men. None of us have a good feeling about staying here. If it’s all the same to you, I’ll check the baggage room at the station to see if there are any packages for us to bring back. Then we’d like to put some distance between us and this town.”

  “All right,” Joe said. “Won’t the humans returning on horseback need food and water? Should we purchase some here?” They’d carried food and water in the pickup, but most of it was gone now. He wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible, and he knew the other Wolves felt the same way, but humans were part of his pack for this trip and they weren’t as hardy as the terra indigene, who could do without food and water until they reached Prairie Gold.

  “I’ll call Jesse, tell her we’re on our way back. She can send up another truck with supplies to meet us,” Tobias said. “We can make camp in the same place we did last night—on terra indigene land.”

  Tolya said.

  Joe replied.

  They carried out two boxes of books from Howling Good Reads, and eight boxes of goods from different parts of Thaisia, all addressed to Walker’s General Store. And all around them, humans who should have left the station by now stood around and stared, their hatred pulsing in the air.