“The Elders did what they understood to be right. But perhaps you have a point, Deputy Paniccia, and only humans should deal with human-against-human conflicts in whatever way you see fit, and the terra indigene will deal with anything that is a threat to us.”

“But … ,” Jana began.

“Works for me,” Virgil said.

“And me.” Tolya stared at Jana. “That will be all, Deputy.”

He watched her stagger out of his office. Then he looked at Virgil.

“What about the prophet pup?” Virgil asked. “She can be used against us. If we don’t protect her, we have to destroy her.”

“She’s Namid’s creation, both wondrous and terrible. We’ll protect her.”

“She’s still a human.”

“She’s not like the rest of them.” He heard the relief in Virgil’s sigh. “What are you going to do about Jana?”

“She is still a deputy working for the town, but she and the pup will have to be their own pack. As you said, she has to deal with human troubles and we will deal with the rest.”

Now that his anger had faded, Tolya considered the strangers who had arrived recently. Too many of them were coming into town since Parlan Blackstone showed up, and none of them seemed interested in finding work. Which meant they were here for another reason.“If she’s killed by a human? What then?”

Virgil stared at him with those amber eyes. “Then we go back to killing all the problems without anyone whining about us making mistakes. Truth, Tolya? It’s never a mistake to bring down an enemy—or bring down prey. If we had killed more of the humans when they were talking about causing trouble instead of waiting until they did cause trouble, there would have been a lot less humans in this part of Thaisia and more of the shifters would have survived.”

Tolya studied the Wolf. “You don’t believe the story. That’s why you’re angry with Jana. You don’t believe those humans were innocent.”

“They weren’t the ones who stole from Jesse Walker or tried to burn her store, but the Elders wouldn’t have killed the human male the way we were told they did unless they had smelled something on him or heard something that wasn’t right.”

“And the female?”

“You know what form of Elder she saw.”

“Yes, I know.” He’d seen it the night the Elders had set the final boundaries for the town. It was a very old form—a nightmare that walked on two legs.

“Did she choose to kill herself just because she saw that form of terra indigene? Or did she choose a human way to die because she knew the Elders would have a reason to come hunting for her and now had her scent?”

“Are you going to say that to Jana?”

Virgil smiled grimly. “What for? Until she accepts what it means to live in this part of Thaisia, she won’t listen.”

* * *

* * *

“Darlin’, I don’t want to argue with you,” Tobias said.

Jana held the phone so hard her hand hurt. “You’re agreeing with Virgil and Tolya?”

Silence.

“Tobias?”

“I’ve already done this dance with my mother, who was shaken up enough that she isn’t thinking straight. And neither are you.”

“So it’s all right for the Elders to kill someone because that person was in the wrong car?”

“Jana, the Elders kill humans all the time.” Tobias’s voice was ripe with impatience. “They went to war against the humans and eliminated the population of entire towns. They and the Elementals have flung passenger trains off the tracks and killed anyone who survived the crash. People get in a car and head out for another town and are never heard from again. Maybe it’s different in towns back East where you don’t have to look the truth in the eyes every day, or maybe I learned a lot from Joe Wolfgard in the short time I knew him. Bottom line? They killed those people, and maybe that’s a sorrow.”

“Maybe? How can it be anything but a tragedy?”

“You find any identification?”

“The woman’s purse was still in the car when it burned. But she and her husband were forced to change cars with the robbers!”

“That’s the story she told.” Tobias huffed out a breath. “You’re a cop, darlin’. I know this hit you hard, but you need to start thinking like a cop who works out here.”

“Meaning what?”

“Truman told you the story as it was told to him before that woman took her own life. Right?”

“Right,” Jana snapped.

“Who was with you when you went to the ranch?”

“Yuri Sanguinati and one of the Hawks. I can’t tell them apart.” She could almost feel Tobias wince. Obviously an Intuit with a feel for animals knew the feathered Others all by name, along with the names of their mates and the chicks still in the shell.

And I’m being a bitch because I’m tired and scared and feeling very alone right now.

“Did you ask any of the terra indigene if any of them saw the exchange of cars? They might not have understood everything they were seeing, but they would know the difference between an aggressive act and cooperation.”

Exchange of cars. The words made her think of a handoff.

“You think it could have been a staged meeting?” she asked.

“They were in the wild country, Jana. Believe me when I tell you that when you’re out there, there is nothing a human does that isn’t observed by someone. Not anymore. My guess? The Elders watched whatever happened between the two men who robbed my mother’s store and the middle-aged couple who died and concluded they were a single pack. And having decided that, they attacked the stationary target.”

“They were driving to Bennett,” Jana argued, but there was no longer any conviction in her words.

“Did you go out to look at the car?”

“Yes. It was … at the crossroads.” She’d heard the words when Truman told the story but hadn’t absorbed the meaning at the time. “If they’d been stopped at the crossroads by the robbers and were driving to Bennett when the Elders attacked, why were they still at the crossroads?” And what had been said when they thought no one was around to listen?

Exhausted, Jana sank into a chair. “They weren’t innocent.”

“If there really are outlaws gathering in Bennett, I think it’s more important to make amends with Virgil than to argue the guilt or innocence of people who are already gone.”

Later that evening, as Jana heard the Wolves howling, she wondered how a female Wolf apologized to a pack leader and how much groveling a human female would have to do to be accepted back into the police pack.

CHAPTER 31

Thaisday, Messis 30

“Bennett is Virgil’s territory.” Morgan Wolfgard glanced at the small cooler tucked behind the seats. “Why do I have to come with you?”

“I need to get this meat to Jana before she goes to work, which means being on the road before daylight,” Tobias replied. “You’re here to tell the Elders why I’m bending the rule about only traveling during daylight.”

“Why does she need meat from you? Don’t they have meat in Bennett?”

“She and Virgil had a fight. This fresh meat is her way of saying she’s sorry.”

“Huh.” Another glance at the cooler. “So you risk being eaten in order to bring Virgil some meat so he won’t eat the human female?”

“She works for him, so he won’t eat her.” Gods, I hope he’s not angry enough to start thinking that way.

“Is it good meat?”

“A cow’s liver and a good-size roast.” Seeing the wistful look, Tobias fought to keep a straight face. “I wrapped up the heart for you as a thank-you for coming with me.”

Morgan licked his lips and turned back to watch the road.

I guess he doesn’t need to watch the cooler now that he knows he’ll get his share of the meat. Which was good because Tobias really wanted Morgan’s attention on whatever might be watching the car and deciding to attack them.

They passed the crossroads. The burned-out car was two car lengths away from the road. Most likely, that was where it had landed when it had been struck by whatever Elder had first attacked the vehicle.

Morgan sat up straighter. “These humans, the outers.”

“Outlaws,” Tobias corrected.

“They are a breed of human, like Cyrus humans?”

The question chilled him. “I don’t rightly know. What did the Cyrus human do?” He’d heard what had happened to the man in Bennett, but he still didn’t know exactly what the first “Cyrus human” had done to deserve being killed that way.

“He stole Broomstick Girl—and he hurt her,” Morgan replied. “Cyrus humans are enemies of the cassandra sangue and the terra indigene. The teaching story hasn’t traveled this far yet, so that is all I know.” The Wolf stared at Tobias and added softly, “That is all we need to know.”

Tobias drove for a few minutes, thinking it over. “Why is this girl so important?” When Morgan growled, he said hastily, “I’m not saying she shouldn’t be, I’m asking why. I’d like to understand.”

“She saw the danger. She tried to warn all the Wolfgard. Many didn’t hear the warning in time and were killed, but many escaped the HFL humans because she bled … and she saw.”

Blood prophet. Through his mother, and because of some things Jesse had told him in strictest confidence, he knew the locations of the two cassandra sangue whose vision had saved not only some of the Wolfgard but Prairie Gold as well. “Does Broomstick Girl live in Sweetwater or Lakeside?”

A soft growl of warning before Morgan said, “Lakeside.”

Gods, what had the terra indigene heard? “Would it be permitted for a human to hear the teaching story about the Cyrus human?”

Morgan cocked his head. “Why would you need to hear our story? Don’t you have teaching stories of your own?”

“We do, but I’m not sure our teaching story about Broomstick Girl and the Cyrus human would travel this far from Lakeside.”

“It is an important story.”

He didn’t dare tell Morgan that a young woman being abducted might not be considered important news if the abduction took place in another region.

“It’s a very important story for my people as well as yours. But news doesn’t always travel between regions anymore.” Not quite true, since the Elders hadn’t eliminated the means for radio and television programs to span the continent of Thaisia. But lately there had been too much—and nothing—to say, especially when humans finally understood that the Others also listened to what was said on the radio and television.

“When I have learned the story, I will tell you,” Morgan said.