The Others 03 Vision in Silver (26 page)

Simon grabbed her and hustled her to the back room.

“Is she all right?” Vlad asked, rushing to join them.

“I’m fine,” she said, shaking her hands. “The prickling is fading again, so there must be something about the flower arrangement that is causing the reaction. The flowers came from a company called Blooming Blossoms. They’ve never delivered here before.” She stopped, thought.

“Meg?” Simon said sharply. “You turned pale.”

“Delivery for Theral,” she whispered. “The flowers are for Theral.”

Vlad slipped out of the back room. She heard him pick up the phone and say, “Come to the Liaison’s Office.” Pause. “Fuck waiting for someone to watch the cash register. Get over here
now
.”

Meg blinked at him when he returned to the back room. “You swore at Merri Lee?”

“How did you know I was talking to Merri Lee?” he asked.

“She told me she was working the checkout counter at HGR this morning, so it had to be her, and you said . . . something bad.”

Vlad rocked back on his heels. “It seemed appropriate. Should I apologize?”

“At any other time, you would have yelled at her for leaving the cash register unattended, so, yes, you should apologize.” Meg wasn’t sure if a human employer would have apologized, but if she’d been yelled at unfairly,
she
would want an apology.

Vlad sighed.

Merri Lee arrived at a run. So did Tess, whose brown hair had green and red streaks and was starting to curl. The rumbling voice in the front of the office announced Henry’s arrival.

“What’s wrong?” Tess demanded.

“Something to do with flowers,” Simon replied. “But we don’t know why they’re causing trouble.”

Determined to find an answer, Meg headed for the front room with Merri Lee on her heels and the three
terra indigene
close behind. But she stopped before she reached the Private doorway and wrapped her arms around her herself, wanting to claw and claw until she could reach the buzzing.

Meg backed away from the door. Merri Lee slipped past her and stepped up to the front counter.

“Nathan says it doesn’t smell like anything but flowers and a little bit like the human who carried it in and someone else,” Simon said.

“Probably the deliveryman and the florist.” Merri Lee studied the flowers. “Nice arrangement of seasonal flowers. I don’t see anything here that looks strange or dangerous, although I suppose most flowers could be dangerous if someone tried to eat them.”

“Where’s Skippy?” Meg asked.

Nathan and Simon sighed, but it was a valid question. Skippy was willing to eat anything that looked or smelled vaguely edible—and other things as well.

Merri Lee turned the vase. “There’s no card.”

“That’s unusual?” Tess asked.

Merri Lee nodded.

Meg rubbed her arms, edged close enough to the doorway to see what was happening, and looked at Merri Lee. “The deliveryman said they were for Theral.”

“You both smell afraid,” Simon said. “Why?”

Merri Lee hesitated. “You know why Theral is living in Lakeside with her cousin’s family, and why Officer MacDonald escorts her to work and home again?”

Simon nodded. “Montgomery said she ran away from a mate who hurt her.”

“His name is Jack Fillmore. He could have sent the flowers just to confirm where to find her.”

“The deliveryman called Nathan a dog,” Meg said. “And he was annoyed that the office was busy.”

“What did he look like?” Merri Lee asked, then held up her hand. “Wait. I’ll call Michael and ask him to have a quiet word with Lawrence. Maybe the MacDonalds have a picture of Jack Fillmore. The rest of the family might have tossed out the photos, but I’ll bet Lawrence kept one in case the police need it.”

“Theral thought she would be safe here,” Meg said, then added silently,
Like me.

“She is safe,” Simon growled. “Is Montgomery still at the efficiency apartment?”

“No,” Merri Lee said. “He had to go to the station. Lizzy is taking the bookstore field trip with the Wolf pups. Eve Denby said Lizzy could spend the day with Robert and Sarah, but Lieutenant Montgomery doesn’t want her to leave the Courtyard without him.”

“Sensible,” Henry rumbled.

“We need to know more, but Henry and I have to leave for the meeting with Steve Ferryman,” Simon said. He studied Meg. “Is that all right?”

“I’m fine.” She retreated into the sorting room, moving to the other side of the table. That far away from the flowers, the prickling was nothing more than a mild annoyance.

Simon followed her.

“I’m fine,” she said again. “You go to your meeting.” She waited to see if there might be some kind of prophetic response to the words.

Nothing.

“Okay,” he said after studying her. “Henry will take the flowers over to the consulate so they won’t bother you. Vlad is calling the police.”

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

“No, but the threat isn’t in the Courtyard. Besides, Officer MacDonald is family to Theral, so the police will know anyway and want answers.”

She nodded. Then she gave him a wobbly smile. “I didn’t cut.”

“That’s good.” He hesitated, shifting from one foot to the other.

“You shouldn’t keep Henry waiting.”

But he still hesitated. Then he sighed and walked out of the office.

“You sure you’re okay?” Merri Lee asked quietly after Nathan curled up on his bed and the rest of the
terra indigene
had returned to their own work. “I’ll stay if you need me.”

“I’m okay.”

Meg thought for a moment. Simon was a Wolf, and human rules didn’t always apply because even when he looked human, he didn’t think like a human. And yet . . .

“He seemed . . . disappointed . . . when he left. Simon, I mean.”

Merri Lee leaned on the sorting table. “When Michael and I are together and one of us has to leave, we kiss good-bye. Maybe Simon would have liked the Wolf equivalent.”

Meg frowned at her friend. “I’m not going to lick his face.”

Merri Lee laughed. “Okay, but if he’s in human form, I think a kiss on the cheek would give the same message.”

“I am here.” Connection. Companionship. Touch.

“Touch of a hand works too when you’ve got an audience.”

Something to think about. Meg smiled. “Are you going to leave Vlad at the checkout by himself?”

“He yelled at me, so I’d let him fend for himself, but I think Ruth could use a hand right about now.”

After Merri Lee left, Meg opened the delivery door and pulled the handcart into the sorting room. She needed to get the mail sorted before the ponies arrived to have their mail baskets filled.

But after she dumped the mail on the table, she just stood there, making no effort to work.

Connection. Touch.
I am here.

Definitely something to think about.

Moonsday, Maius 14

W
hile Simon drove up River Road to Ferryman’s Landing, Henry answered one phone call after another. When a full minute passed without the mobile phone squawking at them, he said, “Problems?”

“Messages,” Henry replied. “A policeman has arrived from Toland and wants to interview the Lizzy. Captain Burke asked if the meeting could be held at the consulate.”

“Smart move. Why didn’t Lieutenant Montgomery ask? He’s the one who usually works with us.”

“Perhaps because the Lizzy is his child and his asking would cause some trouble we do not understand. Stavros Sanguinati also arrived this morning. He and the policeman from Toland must have taken the same night train.”

“Do you think Stavros insisted on riding in the private executive car?”

Henry bared his teeth in a smile. “If one of those cars was part of the night train, I’m sure he was riding in it.”

In Thaisia, the
terra indigene
could travel by train anytime, anywhere, in exchange for the railroads being allowed to build tracks through the wild country to connect human communities. But until Simon, Lieutenant Montgomery, and Dr. Lorenzo had gone to the Midwest during the hunt for the Controller, the Others hadn’t known there was usually a car that had luxuries, like leather seats and its own little kitchen and shower, and didn’t stink of so many humans. Now the Others did know, and the humans who used those cars could no longer
count on the travel time between cities to privately plot and plan against each other—or against the
terra indigene
.

Even when there wasn’t a vampire or a shifter in the car, the
terra indigene
now watched the humans who used those cars. It was fortunate for humans that the Elementals, and some of the usually unseen forms of earth natives, paid little attention to the clever meat unless provoked.

“After the police talk to the Lizzy, Lieutenant Montgomery will talk to Meg about the flowers and the human who delivered them,” Henry said.

“The bad mate.” This male had driven Theral away from two other jobs in another city. Being kin to Officer MacDonald and living with his parents in Lakeside provided her with some safety. Working in the Courtyard provided her with more.

Was it enough?

Simon wanted to shake off the human business that stuck to him these days like burs in fur. He knew why things had changed, and he didn’t regret Meg’s presence. She not only made it easier to deal with other humans; she provided entertainment for everyone in the Courtyard, making the press of all those humans living in Lakeside more bearable.

But that didn’t mean her presence wasn’t confusing.

Take her friendship with Nathan. He was glad they got along. The Liaison’s Office wouldn’t run smoothly if Meg and the watch Wolf didn’t get along. But sometimes Simon resented looking out the window and seeing
his
squeaky toy romping outside with another Wolf when he had to deal with stupid human paperwork.

But Nathan was what humans called a work friend. Meg didn’t spend much time with him away from the Liaison’s Office. She didn’t cuddle up with him to watch television or movies. She didn’t share a bed with Nathan whether he was human or Wolf.

Those were things she did only with
him
because he was a different kind of friend. It was almost . . .

A scent, a
feeling
in the air, caught Simon’s attention, scattering his thoughts and reminding him of why he’d made some of the choices he’d made over the past few years.

“If the
terra indigene
who work in Courtyards become too human, do we become the enemy?” he asked softly.

Henry turned his head, his shaggy brown hair whipped by the air coming in the windows. “Are you asking for yourself or for another reason?”

“Do you smell it?”

Henry looked away and said nothing. Then, “Yes, I smell it. Their scent wasn’t here the last time we drove to Great Island. It’s a reminder of how far removed we are now from the earth natives who live in the wildest part of the wild country.”

It also meant that the ripples caused by rash actions the humans had made over the past few months had reached the primal wild country, disturbing the kinds of earth natives who usually didn’t come this close to human habitation when their intentions were still benevolent.

The wild country was a term for all land that humans weren’t allowed to use, but the wild had different levels, like the circles of a target. The center was a human place. The first circle contained the
terra indigene
who could shift and pass for human, at least long enough to interact with the interlopers and receive the agreed-upon goods that were payment for use of some land—that is, the Others who worked in the Courtyards or lived in their own settlements near human villages in order to keep watch. The next circle were
terra indigene
who liked some of the things humans made but didn’t want contact with them. Those two circles made a buffer of a few miles between humans and the wild country that was unmarked by human influence in every way. Beyond that buffer . . .

The forms they took when they didn’t walk in their true earth native form had no names. Their footsteps were a silent thunder felt beneath stone and grass. Even powerful shifters like the Wolves, Bears, and Panthers were no match for them. They were Namid’s teeth and claws.

The rest of the
terra indigene
referred to them as the Elders.

“Log cabins,” Simon said. “Wells. Farms. Spinning wheels and looms. Windmills and water wheels. Years ago, when humans were erased from a part of Thaisia, what was left behind became homes for other beings or quietly became part of the world again. The absence of humans made no difference. The
terra indigene
had learned how to build their own log cabins; how to spin and weave the cloth and blankets we wanted; how to farm in our own way and store the harvest for hungry days. We could do all that without absorbing too much from this form. But now . . .”

Henry blew out a breath. “Now, if humans weren’t around to tend what
they’ve made, those things would not quietly become part of the world again. At least, not for a long time.” He turned his head so the air blew his hair out of his face. “Is that why you’re so interested in this River Road Community and nurturing a pack of humans at our Courtyard?”

Simon nodded. “It’s going to happen again. Humans are going to push until the
terra indigene
destroy them. The drugs that were being made from the blood of the
cassandra sangue
were just the beginning of the trouble. Even without the drugs, trouble is still spreading. It’s like catching the scent of smoke but not being able to locate the fire. None of the
terra indigene
who work around the farms we control can understand why humans are claiming there is a shortage of food or why they’re going to go hungry this year. There is no reason why they
should
go hungry, at least most days.”

“That is true of all of Namid’s creatures, including us.”

“We
know
not all days end with a full belly. Everything in the world
except
humans knows that. But fear of hunger has humans looking toward
our
lands, and the anger that they can’t take what isn’t theirs is building. At least some regions of Thaisia are heading for a fight for territory.”

“So you’re trying to figure out if
terra indigene
can be sufficiently human to replace humans without losing who we are?”

“Yes.”

Silence. Then Henry said, “This explains why you’re interested in helping the Intuits on Great Island and the Courtyard’s human pack. They’re an experiment.” He paused. “Is the time you spend with Meg also an experiment?”

“No,” Simon said, swallowing the desire to snap out an answer. Wouldn’t be smart to piss off Henry when they were in a moving vehicle and he couldn’t dodge a swat. “Maybe it is. She’s learning from us; we’re learning from her. And she and I . . . We’re learning together.”

Another silence. “Good,” Henry said.