“And the River Road Community?” Henry asked.
“I don’t want to lease any of that land to humans again, but having some humans living there along with terra indigene would give humans a reason to protect that land too.” He paused, then added, “And I’m going to increase the pay for all the humans who still work for us. They are all doing more work now, and different kinds of work. They should get more money.”
“You’re making a lot of decisions on your own,” Vlad said. “And you’re making a lot of changes very fast. Maybe too fast.”
“I am the leader,” Simon snarled. But Vlad did have a point. Once they had secured the River Road land and the human dens across from the Courtyard, everyone needed time to adjust to the changes. Including him.
A beat of silence before Vlad said, “Yes, you are the leader.” The Sanguinati glanced at the Grizzly.
“Floodwaters can trap you,” Henry said, looking troubled. “Sometimes there is a storm in the distance, and it looks too far away to matter until the water comes raging through your own territory, sweeping away what you thought was safe.”
Simon nodded. “A storm in the distance, but we’re starting to feel it here. Things between humans and Others have changed in the past few months. The Controller was making drugs from the blood of cassandra sangue. The fights between humans and Others that were caused by those drugs were the start of the floodwaters. Now humans are talking about being entitled to land, to water, to wood, to whatever they want. And there is that group calling itself the Humans First and Last movement goading humans into doing things that will turn the terra indigene against them. And bread is becoming a luxury. Why?”
“Maybe that’s something you should ask Meg the next time she makes a controlled cut,” Tess said.
Simon and Vlad snarled at her.
Her hair immediately turned red with black threads and began coiling. “Be careful, vampire,” she warned, looking at Vlad.
“Yes, the next cut should be a controlled cut,” Henry said. Though he spoke quietly, his rumbling voice drowned out the snarls. “It was different from the ones our Meg made when she was upset. It didn’t strain her body like the other cuts did.”
“How could you tell?” Vlad asked.
Henry smiled. “The weather has warmed enough that she opened the window in the sorting room when she started her work. I could hear her singing.” He thought for a moment. “Well, it was a happy sound anyway.”
“Fine,” Tess said, the black threads fading from her hair. “Humans aren’t the enemy anymore.”
“Oh, most of them are still enemies and meat,” Simon said. “But I think this plan will help us identify the few who aren’t.”
CHAPTER 14
Firesday, Maius 11
For the second time in two days, Monty joined Captain Burke and Pete Denby for a meeting behind closed doors.
“It’s unprecedented,” Burke said after Pete told them about looking at the apartments and the subsequent job offers from Simon Wolfgard. “Of course, Wolfgard has been a progressive leader ever since he took over the Lakeside Courtyard.”
“Did you have the sense they want to expand the Courtyard?” Monty asked.
Pete shook his head. “No, but I do think he’s focused on the survival of the Courtyard’s residents. That makes me wonder what he knows that we don’t.”
Burke opened his hands in a “Who knows?” gesture. “They have a blood prophet. And while Wolfgard has shared information he’s gotten from Meg Corbyn, I wouldn’t assume he shares all of it. On the other hand, there is no other police force on the whole continent who interacts with the terra indigene the way we do, and Lieutenant Montgomery and his team are largely responsible for that. So anything the rest of us can do to keep that communication open is an avenue I’d like to explore.”