Marked In Flesh

CHAPTER 49

Earthday, Sumor 1

“Flood warnings and high-wind warnings in effect until further notice. A travel ban is already in effect in anticipation of flooded roads or streets dammed with debris, including downed power lines. City officials are recommending that families fill jugs with drinking water and prepare for power outages. This is Ann Hergott at WZAS.”

Every new human entering the Courtyard made Meg’s skin prickle and buzz in a different place. Those people needed to be here; they were the families of trusted police officers, many of whom were her friends. She’d never forgive herself if any of them were sent away because of her and then something happened to them.

Everyone was busy, scurrying to get beds made and food prepared. Either the storm would be vicious but brief and everyone would feel like fools for closing down the city, or the flooding and damage would make the blizzard in Febros look like a weather hiccup.

Either way, today the Courtyard was crowded with strangers whose future was in question. And the answers were buzzing under her skin as prophecies screaming for the razor to release them.

She dropped the silverware on one of the tables in Meat-n-Greens, oblivious to the noise it made. Turning blindly, she rushed for the door, barely hearing Merri Lee calling to her.

“Meg!”

A hand on her arm. “I have to go. Too many prickles. Too much buzzing under the skin.”

“Go where?” Merri Lee asked. “The storm is going to hit any minute now.”

“To the Liaison’s Office. I can sort something. Mail. Packages. Anything. Need . . . routine.”

“There isn’t going to be routine today, Meg. And there’s no one else at the office. Nathan isn’t going to be there. We’ve been told to keep the doors locked so they don’t get caught by the wind.”

Meg pulled away from her friend. “Can’t stay here.” She ran to the archway in the Market Square that provided access to the employee parking lot and, beyond that, the back door of the Liaison’s Office. She didn’t realize Merri Lee had come with her until the other girl said, “Hurry up, then, so we can get inside.”

A gust of wind hit them and the door just as Meg turned the lock, and they almost fell into the back room. It took both of them to push the door closed.

“Gods,” Merri Lee muttered. She checked the under-the-counter fridge, then the cupboards. “If we’re really going to stay in here, we should have a few more supplies.”

“You don’t need to stay. I’ll be all right on my own.” Better, Meg added silently. Even now, as she tried to stay focused on the friend who was with her, her skin still prickled and buzzed in a couple of places.

“Please, Merri. Please. I need to be alone or I’ll have to cut.”

They both knew what would happen if she made a cut now. Simon, Vlad, and who knew how many other terra indigene would lash out at the humans who had come here for shelter and protection.

“You have your mobile phone?” Merri Lee finally said.

Meg nodded. “And I know the phone numbers for A Little Bite and Meat-n-Greens. I’ll stay in touch.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. Please.” There had been this many people working in the compounds. There had been all the girls. Maybe it was because the girls had been cut on a regular schedule that they didn’t experience any prickles about one another. Or maybe they had been exposed to one another so much they stopped feeling the possibilities.

Or maybe they had felt no prickles about one another because none of them had had a real future.

Once Merri Lee left, Meg felt a moment’s relief. No prickles, no buzzing. She walked into the sorting room, not sure what she could find to do, especially if she ended up stuck there for a few hours.

She looked at the five CDs she’d been playing that week, but none of that music appealed to her right now. No mail, no packages, no deliveries bringing anything new today.

She opened the drawer that held the prophecy cards.

The room did one slow spin.

Meg slammed the drawer shut and held on to the counter. She gritted her teeth, craving the silver razor as her skin buzzed and crawled.

She was alone but she was still too close to too many strangers. The humans would remain within the Courtyard’s business district. She had to get away from it—and them.

She ran out the back door, then crossed the paved area between her office and the garages that held a couple of BOWs.

Had to get away before someone saw her and tried to argue.

Once she was on the road that would take her back to the Green Complex, she sighed with relief and trepidation. There would be such snarling when Simon found out she had bolted.

He wouldn’t be able to snarl at her for hours and hours since he had to protect the Courtyard. Maybe by the time the storm ended, he would be too tired to snarl.

Maybe pigs would learn to fly.

Entertained by the image of piglets with wings, she almost relaxed her death grip on the steering wheel, when a gust of wind lifted the passenger-side wheels off the road for one heart-hammering moment.

Meg looked around. Straight ahead would take her to the Green Complex—where she would be totally alone because everyone who lived there would be in the Market Square or with their own gards.

If she went to her apartment, her friends would fight against the storm to reach her. If something happened to her or Simon because of her need for solitude, what would happen to Sam?

“Sam,” she whispered. She needed a kind of quiet but not necessarily isolation.

Then she couldn’t see a thing. She rolled down a window, hoping it wasn’t her vision that had gone wacky. She stuck her head out, and her fuzz of hair was playfully lipped. Pulling back, she stared at the gray muzzle of the steed. “Fog?”

“Meg?” Air leaned close to Fog’s neck. “You shouldn’t be outside now.”

“I couldn’t stay with all those other humans. They’re nice people, but . . . my skin. Too many prophecies.” Behind Air, she could see tree branches bending, almost breaking, but around the BOW there was no wind. “I was hoping Jester would let me stay with him at the Pony Barn.”

Air studied her. “You want to stay with our ponies?”

“Yes.”

The Elemental smiled. “Follow us.”

Meg turned on the BOW’s lights and followed in Fog’s wake. That was easy enough to do since the fog made by the steed swirled around her, but she had no trouble seeing him.

She pulled up at the Pony Barn, thankful that Air was still sheltering her from the wind. One of the barn doors opened. Jester ran out and helped her out of the BOW. Then they both yelped as the first fat raindrops changed to hail.

“Do you have a change of clothes in there?” Jester asked.

“No.” She hadn’t thought about that.

“Then get inside before you get soaked.” He gave her a push toward the barn door.

Hearing a familiar arroo, she turned toward the road instead. “Sam?”

Sam and Skippy ran toward her.

“Well, chew my tail and spit out the fur,” Jester snapped. “Get inside, all of you.”

“The BOW,” Meg said, finally realizing the little vehicle could be seriously damaged.

“I’ll deal with it. And the Wolfgard,” Jester muttered as he got in the BOW.

“Get inside, Meg,” Air said. “What is coming does not like humans. But you’ll be safe with our ponies.”

“Thank you. Come on, Sam. Come on, Skippy. Let’s get inside.”

She rushed into the barn, the two Wolves right behind her.

Jester returned a minute later and scowled at her. “I know you’re human, but I would swear you have some Coyote blood. Only one of my kind could cause this much trouble so easily.”

Before she could apologize or explain, Jester was conferring with Mist and fetching a harness that had baskets with flaps that kept mail dry in bad weather. As soon as the pony was fitted out, he trotted off, heading toward the Market Square.

“That stall has fresh straw,” Jester said. “We can all curl up there and keep an eye on things.”

“Okay. Jester . . .”

The Coyote waved off her apology before she could say it. He glanced at Sam and Skippy, then at her. “Good thing Simon is going to be busy most of the day. I don’t imagine Blair will be able to get here either for at least a few hours.”

Meg spread blankets over the straw, then sat down with Sam while Skippy explored the Pony Barn.

“Did you run away too?” she asked Sam.

Sam looked up at her. “Arroo.”

She sighed. “We’re going to be in soooo much trouble.”

“Roo.”

As she put an arm around Sam, she realized all the prickles and buzzes beneath her skin had stopped.

For now, at least, everyone around her was where they were supposed to be.

“Stay, Daddy. Please stay.”

Monty hugged his daughter. “I can’t, Lizzy girl. The police have to help the people who might be in trouble during the storm.”

“We’ll be fine.” Twyla put her hands on Lizzy’s shoulders. “We’re as ready as anyone can be, and we’ll be just fine.”

“Have you told Simon Wolfgard he’s not in charge anymore?” Monty asked.

“Huh.” Twyla smiled. “Eve Denby and I told him the women had things in hand to look after the people coming here for shelter, and he had the sense to go off and take care of his own business.”

It felt a little forced, but Monty returned the smile. “Yes, ma’am. Message received.”

Her smile faded. “We’ll be fine here, Crispin.”

He touched Lizzy’s hair. “You mind Grandma Twyla, you hear?”

“Yes, Daddy. I hear.”

Being the newest members of the female pack, Twyla and Sierra were assigned the care of the children—a practical choice since three of the five were family. They were tucked in the efficiency apartment that would be turned into the school. It had drinking water and plumbing, was easily reached by the adults, both human and terra indigene, who would be looking after the Courtyard’s businesses, and had a television, a movie disc player, and a sufficient supply of movies to keep the youngsters occupied, not to mention the games, books, and changes of clothing. The kitchen was packed with food. Everything that could be done to protect the young had been done.

As he hurried down the stairs and turned toward the back door of Howling Good Reads, where his team was meeting Burke to receive their orders, he wondered where Sam Wolfgard and Meg Corbyn were going to wait out the storm.

Gods, Monty thought as lightning scarred a dark sky and the wind knocked him sideways a step. This area behind the stores was sheltered on all sides. If wind gusts were this bad here, what were they going to be like out in the open?

As he fought with the wind for possession of the door and finally got it closed, he heard Kowalski’s voice coming from the stacks on his left.

“Dad, I know what they’re saying on the radio. I’ve been listening to the freaking weather reports too. But I’m telling you, this is going to be a bad storm. Bad enough that the families of police officers are being offered shelter at the stations. You, Mom, and Tim can . . . Gods above and below! Those people are finished. Can’t you see that? Let me talk to Mom. Dad? Dad!”

A defeated sigh and a soft, “Fuck.” Then Kowalski squeezed through the stacks of books and other supplies, blushing when he saw Monty.

“Is your family going to take shelter at the station?” Monty asked quietly.

Kowalski shook his head. “‘I lived through the storm of blah-di-blah-blah, and I’m not leaving.’ He still believes the HFL movement is going to ‘sort those creatures out.’ And I can’t tell him the real reason this storm is going to be so bad, can I?”

“No, you can’t.” It wasn’t the storm itself that was going to devastate the city; it was what was coming in hidden by the storm.

Burke had had a quiet word with Captain Zajac and Captain Wheatley, two patrol captains in other precincts who recognized that the terra indigene held the key to Lakeside’s survival. He’d told all the police stations that they should offer shelter for their officers’ families, but the men working out of the Chestnut Street station were the only ones who really took the warning seriously enough.

“What about Ruth’s parents?” Monty asked. Looking at Kowalski’s bitter smile made his heart ache.

“When she called them, her mother said, ‘My daughter is dead,’ and hung up.” Kowalski squared his shoulders. “But the MacDonalds are on their way to the Courtyard. So is Michael Debany’s family. They’re bringing the perishable foods from their fridge and any other supplies that might be useful.”

Monty didn’t know if Merri Lee’s family lived in Lakeside, and he didn’t ask.

The back door blew open and Michael Debany stumbled into the stock room.

“Whoo! That’s a mean bitch out there!” Debany said, not seeing Simon Wolfgard coming in right behind him until he turned to close the door. “Ah . . . Sorry. That just slipped out. Is it anyone we know?”

“No. And she is a mean bitch.” Simon closed the door, then looked at the three men. “You want to wait for Captain Burke in the front of the store? There’s more room. I don’t know who’s working at A Little Bite right now, but there might be coffee.”

In other words, you’re in the way, Monty thought. “We’ll do that.”

His mobile phone rang at the same time Simon’s rang, so he hurried toward the front of the store, stopping near the archway that connected HGR with A Little Bite. “Montgomery.”

“Lieutenant,” Burke said. “Let someone there know that Commander Gresh is bringing his family to the Courtyard. I’ll be along shortly.”

“Yes, sir.” Monty ended the call. Seeing Simon coming toward him, Monty started to speak. But Simon rushed past him, checked the coffee shop, then turned around and ran for the inside staircase that led to HGR’s second floor. Judging by the look on the Wolf’s face, Simon had his own problems right now.

As Debany and Kowalski answered their mobile phones, the looks on their faces told him that Simon’s problem would be his too.

Ready to snarl and howl about idiot puppies, Simon rushed into the office, startling Vlad, who was monitoring e-mail and marking up a map to indicate the towns that were still out there.

Blessed Thaisia! Why would Sam go running off just as a storm was about to hit? And why take Skippy with him?

“Simon, what . . . ?” The phone rang. Vlad answered it. After a moment, he said, “Yes, I’ll tell him.”

Vlad hung up the phone, but Simon didn’t give him time to say anything. “Sam ran away from the Wolfgard Complex. You’ll have to deal with the humans until I find him.” Assuming he would find the pup. He’d been trying to reach Sam through the terra indigene form of communication but hadn’t received any response. That was bad. Very bad.

“Sam is fine,” Vlad said. “So is Skippy. So is Meg.”

“Meg? But Meg is . . .” Not in A Little Bite, where he had expected to find her. His fangs lengthened to Wolf size. “Where are they?”

“With the ponies and Jester in the Pony Barn. Jester thinks Meg was overwhelmed and too close to cutting, so she ran away from the other humans.”

“The pack’s nanny thinks that Sam ran off because he wanted to be with Meg during the storm.” Simon scratched behind one ear, then made an effort to shift the ear—and his teeth—back to human form. “She almost died the last time a storm hit Lakeside.”

“I remember,” Vlad said softly. “But, Simon, except for staying with Grandfather Erebus, I can’t think of a safer place for the three of them to be than in the Pony Barn with the Elementals’ steeds.”

Tense muscles began to relax, and he began thinking past finding Sam. “Did Meg pack anything?”

“No. Mist is on his way to the Market Square. Jester doesn’t have enough food for the four of them—and certainly not enough human food. We can ask the female pack if Meg kept any spare clothes at the office.”

He could sniff out any clothes that belonged to Meg. But if there weren’t any, the females would be better at guessing what to pick up from the Market Square stores. And Meg and the brainless Wolves would need something to do, especially if Sam shifted to human form. Which meant packing shirts and shorts for Sam too.

As if I don’t have enough to do, Simon thought as he bounded down the stairs. Someone was going to get a sharp nip for the worry those three had caused—even if the worry hadn’t lasted more than a few minutes.

Turning toward the stock room, he almost slammed into a human male he didn’t know. He bared his teeth and snarled a challenge before realizing there were two females with the male—one of an age to be the mate and the other a grown pup.

“You must be Mr. Wolfgard,” the man said with a smile that wobbled. “Michael told us to come through the back door of the coffee shop, but there’s a pony blocking that door, and he didn’t seem inclined to get out of the way.”

“Michael . . . ?”

“Debany. I’m Michael’s dad. This is his mom and his sister.”

Simon gave the younger female a quick but thorough look. This was the sister who wanted to work with animals—the sister who might be suitable to go to Bennett and work with Tolya.

Wishing he hadn’t been quite so quick to snarl, he ran a tongue over his teeth before he tried a smile. “Sorry I snarled.” He wasn’t, but that seemed like the right thing to say.

“You’ve got a lot on your mind,” Mr. Debany said.

“You can come this way to reach A Little Bite.” He led them to the archway that connected the two stores and almost ran into Officer Debany.

“Dad. Why did you . . . ?”

“Mist is in the way,” Simon said, figuring he could distill an entire conversation with those few words. “Where are Ruthie and Merri Lee?”

“They’re here. Any word from Meg? Karl and I were about to go out and help you look for her.”

Touched that Meg would matter to them enough that they would leave their own pack, Simon felt easier about having Debany’s family in the Courtyard. “She’s with Jester at the Pony Barn. Sam and Skippy are with her. Mist is here to bring supplies.”

Debany turned and raised his voice enough to be heard over a buzz of human voices. “Karl! Lieutenant! They found Meg. She’s okay.”

Now Merri Lee and Ruthie rushed toward him. “She’s okay? You’re sure? Does she need anything?”

“Change of clothes. Clothes for Sam. Books. Food for Meg. Boone Hawkgard will make up a package of meat for Sam and Skippy. Mist will deliver it.”

They stared at him for a moment, blinking. Maybe thinking. Then they both rushed past him, calling out greetings to Debany’s family and leaving him feeling less sure of who was in charge. At some point, he was going to have to take the time to establish dominance.

First he would see just how big a human pack he was dealing with now.

he called to the Hawk who ran the butcher shop.