She’d spent the past few days cleansing and renewing her protection stones and prosperity stones until they were strong again. Until she felt shielded again from all dissonance.

Today she’d reported for work and gave vague answers about what she’d been doing, implying that the injury Barb Debany had received when she’d been accosted by that man had been more serious than she’d let on, and she’d needed a great deal more help than anyone had realized. Being her friend, Abigail had, of course, stepped in to help.

That might have satisfied Abigail’s boss for a day or two longer if Barb hadn’t been seen riding Rowan around the town square yesterday. So Abigail was back to work with the usual crew, holding her breath every time a door opened.

At quitting time, she walked out of the office building with the rest of the men and women—and almost walked right into her father as he dodged two women who were too busy gossiping to get out of the way.

He looked her right in the eyes, touched two fingers to the brim of his black hat, said, “Ma’am,” and kept going.

Abigail stood rooted to the sidewalk until someone jostled her while trying to reach the bus that would take the first wave of workers home. Her legs shook as she climbed the stairs and almost gave out before she found a seat.

He hadn’t recognized her. She’d known him the moment she saw him, but he hadn’t recognized her. Had she changed that much in three years?

Abigail let out a huge sigh of relief. He wouldn’t stay long in a town like Bennett, and once he left, she’d really be safe.

* * *

* * *

Parlan kept walking up the street for his meeting with Tolya Sanguinati. He tipped his hat to the Simple Life women who were waiting for the bus; smiled at the blond girl who sat in a rocker outside the saloon, fanning herself; and wondered who owned the ponies grazing in the square—ponies that didn’t look like any breed he’d seen before.

No movement, no look, no gesture, betrayed his rage. But as he walked and smiled, a single thought filled him: Found you, bitch.

* * *

* * *

“The Eagles and Hawks have told me that two packs of humans are hiding in the houses just beyond the town borders,” Virgil said. “One to the north and one to the south. Big packs.” He looked at Tolya, who was leaning against the mayor’s desk, then at Air. “I think they are being squeezed between us and the Elders, just like the bad dogs were squeezed and then hunted.”

“You think those humans are going to attack the town?” Tolya asked.

“Not the town. Us. They’re going to attack us, and we can’t survive packs of humans with guns. Once we’re gone, the town will be their territory.”

“It won’t be theirs,” Air said. “Never theirs. The Elders and Elementals won’t allow it.”

“But we’ll still be dead,” Virgil growled.

Tolya thought about the book Jana had loaned him, the book now sitting in his desk drawer. The good guys hadn’t won—and most hadn’t survived—because the villains had been sneaky, had made promises that were nothing more than lies.

Was Parlan Blackstone part of this, or were his arrival and the arrival of these human packs so soon afterward two separate things? He would know soon enough.

“Do the Elders know about these packs of humans?” Tolya aimed the question at Virgil but looked at Air.

Virgil shrugged, but Air said, “They know.”

And have done nothing. After seeing some of the Elders who lived in the hills, he wasn’t sure he wanted them to do anything, but he also didn’t want to see Virgil, Kane, and John dying the way Joe Wolfgard had died.

“Those humans haven’t crossed into our territory,” Virgil said. “Not yet.”

“But they’ve sent scouts.” Tolya held up the list of hotel guests that Anya had provided. Two of them claimed to be in the cattle business and were in Bennett looking to buy some stock. One was a gambler who didn’t sneer at the betting limits that had been set for play in the Bird Cage Saloon, and for some reason, that made Freddie Kaye very uneasy. Another who had spent time in the saloon didn’t seem to have a profession, but Yuri believed the human was a predator waiting for his chosen prey. “And then there is Parlan Blackstone, who seems to be here without the rest of his pack.”

“They’ll be coming if they’re not already here and hiding,” Virgil said.

Tolya nodded. “Blackstone asked for a meeting and should be here at any moment.” He looked at Air. “Could you stay, quietly?”

“And then tell the Elders what is said?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“You don’t need me here,” Virgil said. It wasn’t a question.

“No,” Tolya agreed. “But depending on what Blackstone says, you should prepare for a fight.”

Virgil gave him an odd look. “I’ll prepare for a fight no matter what he says. But I’ll tell you now, if the humans start a fight, I’ll keep killing them until they take my last breath.”

* * *

* * *

Parlan had thought about how to approach Tolya, how to play this hand. Should he go in as the tough leader who had the force behind him to take control or the man who would have preferred a quiet life but felt he had to stand up for his people?

He couldn’t read the damn Sanguinati, but remembering the last time he’d met Tolya in this office, he decided to go in soft.

“Appreciate you seeing me,” Parlan said as he settled in the visitors’ chair.

“Have you decided which saloon you would like to run?” Tolya pulled a yellow legal pad to the center of his desk and picked up a pen.

“Ah. Well. That might not be happening for some time.”

“Oh?” Tolya set the pen on the pad.

“You’ve got a problem, Mr. Sanguinati. The town has a problem. Nothing that can’t be sorted out, but some changes need to be made.”

“Oh?”

He wished he could get a sense of what this vampire was thinking. “People—humans—need a place to live.”

“Which is why we have allowed some humans to return to Bennett,” Tolya replied.

“And humans need to be governed by other humans,” Parlan said, watching the vampire. “We can get a little crazy when we start feeling like cattle in a pen.”

“But you are cattle in a pen, Mr. Blackstone,” Tolya said pleasantly. “Bennett may be a large pen without any visible fences, but it is still a pen that provides some shelter from the wild country. That is true of all towns in Thaisia. It’s even true of the cities. It has always been true. Humans who think otherwise are foolish or delusional.”

“We can’t view ourselves as prey animals,” Parlan replied sharply. “We aren’t prey animals to be slaughtered on a whim.”

Silence except for a clock ticking somewhere nearby.

“What did you come to tell me?” Tolya asked.

“Humans have been pushed out of so many places in the Midwest, there’s nowhere else for them to go. So they’re coming here. But they need to live in a human town governed by humans.” Parlan took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “I’ve talked to some of these men, listened to the citizens who are setting up homes and businesses. Something has to change, or things will get ugly. That’s why, Mr. Sanguinati, I and some like-minded men are going to challenge you and the other town leaders to a fight for dominance.”

Tolya blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“My former business associates must have been talking after they left Bennett about how humans could take control from the Sanguinati.” Parlan doubted the blowhards had remembered the comment, let alone said anything, but they were long gone, so he could claim they’d said whatever he wanted them to say. “And, somehow, men who have been coming into town lately are thinking that I’m going to be the next mayor, that humans will uphold human law in Bennett.”

“So the packs of men who have gathered in houses just beyond the town boundaries are here because they believe you can participate in a fight for dominance and win?” Tolya sat back in his chair. “That is … unfortunate. Quite regrettable.”

“What do you mean?” Parlan’s hands were cold. “You said …”

Tolya sat forward, his folded hands resting on the pen and legal pad. “My dear Mr. Blackstone, those men misunderstood.”

Cold, cold, cold. So cold his fingers almost couldn’t bend. “It sounded clear enough to me.”

“When I said a fight for dominance was the only way leadership would change, I meant between one group of terra indigene and another. Humans can’t challenge us for dominance.”

“Why not?”

Tolya gave him a sympathetic smile. “It can’t happen because the Elders allowed humans to return to Bennett and resettle the town on the condition that the town was under the control of leaders who were terra indigene. The day that is no longer true, the town will cease to exist. The train station will close because trains will not be allowed to reach the town. Nothing will come in—and nothing will go out. Nothing. Anyone living here will not be allowed to travel through the wild country. That is the Elders’ territory, and to them, you really are nothing but prey.”

So cold. So fucking cold. How had his luck changed so much and so fast?

A thought occurred to him—and rage warmed him just enough to consider how to get out of this mess.

He wouldn’t be able to save all the men who had gathered on the outskirts, but he might still save the clan.

“There’s no stopping it,” Parlan said regretfully. “There’s going to be a fight. But we can keep it to a display of strength, at which point I and my people will concede and withdraw our challenge.”

“In exchange for what?”

“For me and my family being allowed to remain and open our saloon and become citizens of Bennett.” Parlan leaned forward. “Look, I didn’t ask to represent this group of people, but I have enough of a reputation that I have some influence over them. If I and my delegation meet you and yours, and we are seen to concede after acknowledging that you’re the stronger leaders, the other men will have to agree or leave. And, frankly, it will prevent a slaughter on both sides.”

Tolya hesitated.

Gotcha.

“So this challenge will be made without you using human weapons? This will be done without a single shot being fired?” Tolya stared at him. “You do understand what will happen if I agree to this and a single terra indigene is injured or killed? One shot, Mr. Blackstone, and you all die.”

“I understand.” If he had to sell out the rest of the men who had come here in order to keep his family alive, so be it.

“I must take advice and will get back to you this evening with a decision.”

“Take advice? You’re the leader.”