Marked in Flesh Read online

  She’d done as Vlad asked. She hadn’t turned on the TV news or the radio or tried to peek at the newspaper. It hadn’t been said, but it was understood between them that when the repercussions caused by the death of the Wolfgard in the Midwest and Northwest were concluded, Vlad would bring her the office copy of the Lakeside News.

  She wondered if she would ever read a newspaper again—and as she wondered, she opened the drawer that held the prophecy cards and brushed her hand over the backs of the cards.

  Don’t know enough about working with them, she argued with herself. No one knows if choosing some cards is really the same as prophecy. Blood prophets might be no better at seeing the future than Intuits are when they use these things.

  But she felt a pins-and-needles prickle in the hand brushing the cards—a feeling that quickly turned into a buzz.

  All right, then. Ask a question. “What are the repercussions from the humans killing the terra indigene?”

  She kept brushing her fingers over the cards, picking up a card when touching it turned a prickle into a painful buzz. Keeping her eyes closed, she set the prophecy cards facedown on the counter. One card. Two. Three.

  Meg opened her eyes, turned the cards over, and stared at the answer to her question.

  The first card was one she thought of as an Elemental card: tornado, hurricane, avalanche, earthquake. The second card was one of the creatures Jester insisted wasn’t make-believe. The third card was the hooded figure holding a scythe.

  Meg returned the cards to the drawer, then brushed her hand over all the cards again. “What will happen to Lakeside?”

  No prickles of any kind. That couldn’t be right. Something was bound to happen in Lakeside.

  She closed her eyes and brushed her hand over the cards again, repeating the question over and over.

  Nothing. Then the faintest prickle.

  She moved the cards around, using both hands now to locate the source of that prickle.

  Found it!

  She opened her eyes, looked at the card, and frowned. The only thing on the card was a large question mark. How was that an answer?

  Future undecided.

  She returned the card and closed the drawer.

  She wasn’t going to discuss this with Simon or Vlad or any of her human friends. After all, turning over a few cards wasn’t prophecy.

  But what if she cut herself and saw the same image? She would waste skin on a question that had been answered, which would upset Simon and the rest of her friends. And since anyone she asked to listen to the prophecy would argue about the need to make this cut, she would have to swallow the words and endure the agony of not speaking so that the cut wouldn’t be completely wasted.

  Future undecided.

  For one uncomfortable moment, she wondered if the answer was more about her than about the city. If she couldn’t avoid the lure of the razor, how much of a future would she, or any other cassandra sangue, have?

  She picked up her supply notebook and went into the front room, where she would have Nathan’s snoozing company while she checked the list of things the humans—and the Others when they were in human form—would need over the next few months.

  Undecided or not, Lakeside would have a future, and so would she. She wasn’t going to believe otherwise.

  • • •

  Henry observed.

  Tess replied.

  Vlad added.

  Simon, Henry noticed, said nothing.

  “The human pups need schooling,” Henry began.

  “Yes,” Ruthie said. “I know Eve Denby and Lieutenant Montgomery are concerned about getting the children enrolled in a school this fall.”

  “They need schooling now.”

  She blinked. “Now? But . . . it’s summer.”

  “Yes. So they should begin learning the things they must for this season, as our young do.”

  “The adults need to work, and the children need activities that will help them survive,” Tess said. “Since they are old enough, and independent enough, to cause trouble, they are old enough to do some work, to learn some skills.”

  Ruthie looked alarmed. “What kind of skills? I mean, humans have laws about child labor.”

  “Human law doesn’t apply in the Courtyard,” Simon growled.

  “The point is,” Vlad interrupted, “the human children can receive supervised learning from a human teacher, which is you, or they can be banned from the Courtyard unless they are with a human adult.”

  “Or we can let someone like Nathan or Blair teach them about the value of obeying adults.” Henry nodded when Ruthie paled. “You begin to understand. We tolerate much from all the young because they are young. But our young learn as well as play throughout the year. And our young now include any human young who spend time here.”

  “But I don’t have any of the books or supplies or—”

  “Order a dozen sets of books for all the grades of human schooling,” Simon said. “Order the supplies—the chalkboards and other things a schoolroom needs.”

  “Where are they going to school?” Ruthie asked.

  Vlad indicated the room. “Here?”

  All right, even with the bed removed, it might be a cramped space since there would have to be desks for the children and the teacher.

  “Maybe we could make one of the efficiency apartments into the human school,” Henry said. “Lorne does not often stay overnight, and the police pack will soon have their own dens across the street. These rooms could be like . . . a dormitory? There is a sink and toilet up here. We could put a wave-cooker and small fridge in the social room and move things around.”

  “But I’m supposed to help the terra indigene learn human things, and help Meg with The Blood Prophets Guide,” Ruthie protested.

  “And you’ll still do those things,” Vlad said. “Perhaps you can teach the children in the morning and work on other tasks later.”

  “Lieutenant Montgomery asked me if there was work here for his mother,” Simon said. “Maybe doing things with the children is something she can do since she is going to help look after the Lizzy.”

  Ruthie tugged on her hair. Henry wondered why humans did that. He’d tried it once after observing a human do it and didn’t see the point.

  “All right.” Ruthie blew out a breath. “I can see the need to structure the children’s time. I certainly see the value of their continuing to learn, especially since their school time was interrupted. But Lizzy and Sarah are seven and Robert is nine. Why do I need to order books for the earlier or later grades of school?”

  “You need to order them now because they may not be available later,” Vlad said. “Or they may not be easy to obtain.”

  Ruthie stared at them. “You’re making this sound like the one-room classrooms in frontier towns that I read about in history books.”

  “Yes,” Henry said. “You should think of it that way.”

  Watching her, he wondered if they should have brought a chair in the room so that she could sit down. They hadn’t thought they were asking for such a strange thing.

  Finally Ruthie nodded. “I would prefer an efficiency apartment to one of these rooms. I’ll need to think about what kind of desk will work best if it has to accommodate younger children and teenagers later. And I’ll see what we can come up with right now with the furniture we have.”

  “We’ll clear out one of the apartments that overlook the area behind Howling Good Reads and A Little Bite. Less distraction than the apartments with windows overlooking Crowfield Avenue,” Vlad said.

  Henry asked. The Wolf seemed . . . twitchy.

 

  Simon, Henry, and Tess stepped aside,
giving Ruthie access to the door, which Vlad opened for her.

  “You didn’t tell her that Lieutenant Montgomery’s kin may be bringing offspring,” Vlad said as the four of them left the social center and returned to Howling Good Reads.

  “I didn’t think it would matter,” Simon replied. He unlocked the front door of HGR and went inside.

  Not good, Henry thought as Earth, Air, Fire, and Water turned to face all of them but focused on Simon.

  “Ocean has a question and would like you to help find the answer.”

  • • •

  “Girl talk,” Meg told Nathan before she closed the Private door. Since he didn’t do anything but yawn at her, she wondered if he already knew what the girls needed to discuss.

  After Ruth told them about her meeting with the Business Association, Meg looked at the expressions on her friends’ faces.

  “Studying in the summertime is strange?” she asked. Unless a girl was truly ill, the cassandra sangue had had lessons every day.

  “There’s usually a break in the summer, but I understand the Others wanting the children corralled for part of each day,” Eve said. “And while I want my kids to be safe, and would prefer more snarl and less teeth, I appreciate that the whole pack raises, and disciplines, the pups, and they see our children as two-legged puppies.”

  “They would see them that way because their pups run around on two legs part of the time,” Meg said.

  “It’s not the studying during summer that I find troubling. It’s the Business Association wanting me to order all the coursework for all the grades,” Ruth said. “Is that their way of saying that human children connected to the Courtyard will never be able to go to school with the rest of the children in Lakeside?”

  “Maybe. Or maybe there will be less paper available to print books and that will make it harder to buy schoolbooks.” Merri Lee met Meg’s eyes. “Or maybe the Others are saying something else. Meg?”

  She hadn’t intended to tell them. When she hesitated, Merri Lee added, “Girls only, need to know?” Meaning no sharing, not even with partners and husbands.

  “Future undecided,” Meg said quietly. “When I asked what would happen to Lakeside, I picked a card that had a big question mark and nothing else.”

  “Have you told Simon or Henry?” Ruth asked.

  Meg shook her head. She’d have to tell Simon now that she’d told the girls. Then she told her friends about the other three cards—and watched them pale.

  “Gods,” Merri Lee said. “Captain Burke called a big meeting, all his officers, all shifts. Michael called to say he was going in and didn’t know when he’d have a chance to swing by.”

  “Let’s call Steve Ferryman.” Meg turned toward the counter and the phone. “He can give us the name of someone who works at one of the schools in Ferryman’s Landing. They’ll already have the lists of books they use for each grade. And a teacher from that village will talk to us.”

  “Maybe we should ask about books that would be relevant for the kinds of things learned at the technical college too,” Ruth said. “We should find out how people learn trades among the Intuits. Plumbers, electricians, that kind of work.”

  Meg made the call. Steve was helpful, but she could feel him thinking hard about what she was asking and why she would be asking. After all, the Courtyard wasn’t the only place that would need schoolbooks. So would the five young cassandra sangue who were living on Great Island. So would any children in the new River Road Community, even if they were meant to attend schools in Ferryman’s Landing.

  He gave her phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the principals of each school in Ferryman’s Landing and promised to call them immediately so they would be expecting her request.

  “Meg, I can stay here and watch for deliveries while you and Ruth run up to the Business Association’s room and send the e-mails,” Merri Lee said.

  “Anything you want me to do?” Eve asked. “Until the Others take possession of the apartment buildings—or until they clear out the furniture and that efficiency apartment is ready for a good scrub—there’s not a lot for me to do. I was going to go up to the Green Complex and check the garden, see if it needed any weeding or watering while Pete watched the kids, but that can wait.”

  “I think we’re covered,” Merri Lee said.

  Brittle cheerfulness, but Meg thought they all felt better about being able to do something.

  • • •

  Monty had expected all the patrol officers under Burke’s command to show up whether it was their shift or not, and he wasn’t surprised to see Commander Louis Gresh and his bomb squad in attendance, but he was surprised to see the other captains who worked at the Chestnut Street station file in to hear . . . whatever this was.

  “Make a little room?”

  Startled by the voice, Monty took a step to the side to make room. Apparently, even the station’s chief was attending—and looking apprehensive.

  Burke stood behind the podium. “I appreciate you all responding so quickly. I’ll be brief so you can get back to your duties.”

  Burke hesitated, and Monty felt a cold knot in his belly. Douglas Burke didn’t hesitate.

  “As most of you know, I have a pretty good grapevine when it comes to getting information.” Nervous laughter followed Burke’s statement. “This is a best guess based on the photos news reporters took when they went back to some of the towns in the Midwest and Northwest for a follow-up story, as well as reports from police officers who drove to towns where they couldn’t raise anyone from the police station or government building.” He scanned the room. “Based on those sources, I would say the terra indigene retaliated against every town or ranch that had some residents who killed the Wolfgard. They gutted those towns—in some cases, literally. The terra indigene slaughtered the humans in the same way the Wolves were slaughtered. In some cases that meant they killed everything that was human, whether it was a man, woman, or child. In other places, a phone call was made to the nearest surviving human place. The people who answered that call found all the young children in the community together in a building at the edge of the town. Those children were unharmed, so I’m speculating that the Wolfgard young had also escaped the slaughter of the adults.”

  Burke waited a moment, letting all the men consider that. “Gentlemen, I’ve seen a few of the photos taken of the people who died as retaliation. These killings weren’t done by the shifters humans usually have contact with. They weren’t done by any kind of shifter most of us have seen—or will ever see while we have any chance of staying alive. The denizens of the true wild country—those parts of Thaisia that have never been touched by anything human—are no longer willing to let shifters like the Wolfgard act as a buffer between them and us, because we’ve just shown them that we can, and will, kill the terra indigene who were dealing with us. So now other kinds of earth natives are on our doorstep. They had already declared a breach of trust and had limited the use of the right-of-ways that run through their land and connect human populations. I think from now on, we should assume there is no right-of-way. Not for vehicles traveling on the roads; not for the trains. Certainly not for any vessel traveling on the lakes or rivers.”

  Burke gripped the podium. “This next part has to stay with the people in this room. You’ll be tempted to tell other family members and friends and your next-door neighbors. If you do, you’ll only cause panic over something I hope will never happen.”

  Extinction, Monty thought, feeling cold as he recalled Simon’s comment about not fearing humans because most of them would be extinct.

  “Every family member should have a go bag,” Burke said. “A couple of changes of clothes, toiletries specific to each person, including any prescription medications that person needs to carry. Have a separate bag for general medications and first aid supplies, or put essentials in the bags for the adults. Include a list of bank account numbers as well as any important papers you don’t keep in a safe-deposit box. Put the go bags somepl
ace where they can be grabbed by people scrambling to find them. You want your families to be out of the house in a couple of minutes.”

  Silence. Uneasy looks.

  Louis Gresh cleared his throat. “Having go bags is fine, but if they’re needed, where are our families supposed to go? If the terra indigene are going to attack us for what was done in another part of Thaisia, and if your point about there no longer being a right-of-way through the wild country means the Others are going to attack anyone who tries to leave the city, where can we go?”

  “Here.” Burke sounded grim. “We’ve been working with the Lakeside Courtyard and have gained the trust of the leaders. I think if this is put the right way to Simon Wolfgard, he might know how to prevent a direct attack on this building and its personnel. He might be willing to help us.”

  “Captain?” Kowalski raised a couple of fingers. “Why now?”

  “Some of you met my cousin Shamus Burke, who was visiting from Brittania. I received a cable from him this morning, which is the second reason I called this meeting.” Burke glanced at the station chief. “I don’t know how far this news has traveled through official channels, but the Cel-Romano Alliance of Nations attacked the terra indigene all along their border. They have new kinds of weapons—airplanes—that can fly over a long distance and drop bombs that can destroy buildings and kill a lot of people, no matter their shape. They bombed terra indigene settlements situated between Cel-Romano and the wild country. Troops followed and killed the Others who survived the bombing. The Alliance of Nations has expanded its borders by miles in one collected attack.”

  “What have the terra indigene done in response?” the station chief asked.

  “They’ve done nothing.” Burke looked grimmer, if that was possible, and pale. “They’ve done nothing. If you read Thaisia’s history—or the speculations that have been written about conflicts in the past between humans and the terra indigene throughout the world—you’ll see they do nothing while they consider the actions and behaviors of the predators attempting to take their territory. Those hours or days are usually the calm that precedes a catastrophic counterattack. I have no doubt the terra indigene are going to strike Cel-Romano. Maybe, if we’re lucky, the Others from the wild country won’t understand that the Humans First and Last movement is the common factor between the attacks on the Wolfgard in Thaisia and Cel-Romano’s grab for land that resulted in an unknown number of terra indigene deaths.” He paused. “That’s it.”