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“Well, that’s an idea. Maybe…” she said, dropping the subject as we reached the living room.
Hanna was following Iris and Bruce toward the kitchen. “I will help them bring in their clothes and make up the sofa bed.” She smiled knowingly at me, and I realized she’d suspected Iris’s unhappiness. “Maggie will need her cream drink in twenty minutes.”
“We’ll take care of it.” I glanced over at the corner of the living room, where Maggie was playing with Misty. Both of them missed Snickers—Marion’s cat—and I had a feeling Delilah did, too. Maggie trailed a string around, and Misty was chasing it, both of them in heaven.
We settled in, me in the rocking chair, curled up on Smoky’s lap, and Menolly in her usual place, hovering near the ceiling. Nerissa was carrying the baskets of laundry off to each room.
“Okay, I guess it’s general meeting time. We have several things to go over—infiltrating the Aleksais Psychic Network, trying to figure out how to find out whether Gulakah sneaked in any more spirit demon eggs, dealing with the zombie scare that is gripping Seattle. Oh, Menolly—you haven’t heard yet. You may have to calm Roman and Blood Wyne.”
At her look, I launched into a quick recap of what had happened, while Roz handed her the paper. She glanced at the story and rolled her eyes.
“So now, the vampires are responsible for zombie uprisings? How stupid can these people be?” She let go of the paper and it came fluttering down to the floor, where Maggie, distracted from Misty, grabbed for it.
Roz managed to snag it out of her reach, and she started to cry. Delilah picked her up and walked her back and forth, soothing the bereft baby.
“They aren’t stupid. In fact, Earthborn Brethren are smart. Pin the blame on the vampires and they’ve got a new little hate war going—one that’s easier to fan the flames on, when people start dying. Most of the citizens of Seattle had no clue zombies actually existed. Now they know, but they have no idea of how they’re made or born or whatever—for all they know, some demented stork might have dug them out of the grave.”
Morio snorted. “Zombie stork.”
“Right…I wouldn’t put it past them to come up with that one. Anyway, the story that vampires raise them? It’s as plausible as any, given the general level of knowledge about how magic works, at least among the basic populace.”
I took a deep breath. “We can’t blame them for being afraid. It’s like…well…George A. Romero’s worlds come to life. Night of the Living Dead is imprinted on people’s memories. And the Walking Dead. And…hell, even Zombie Strippers.”
Menolly lowered herself to the floor. “Yeah, yeah, I know all that shit, but fuck, it just infuriates me that the freakshow minority has to stir things up every chance they get. They’ll use anything—including the lives of the innocent who are killed—to prove their point. Or at least, to try to prove it.”
“Remember, they think of us as the freakshow minority. But they have no compassion.” I sighed, leaning forward to rest my chin on my hands. “We need to put a stop to them before they gain a foothold in society.”
“So what do we do?” Trillian looked over at me.
I didn’t want to go out again. I just wanted an evening at home, doing nothing but eating cookies and playing a game or watching a movie. However, movies didn’t solve the problem; they just offered a temporary escape.
“I want to discuss how to use that talisman, but first, we should head over to the Shrouded Grove Suites. The protesters are currently there.” I pushed myself to my feet. “We don’t all have to go. I will. Who else is up for some picket-line busting?”
Menolly raised her hand. “Count me in.”
Trillian shook his head. “I’ll come along. I usually stay home, but tonight, I feel like getting out. Even if it is to bash some sense into a few people’s heads.” He headed to the hall closet and pulled out his long leather duster.
Smoky nodded. “I will come, too. Shade, you stay home for a change.”
We ended up leaving Shade, Vanzir, and Delilah home to watch over the house, while Morio, Trillian, Smoky, Menolly, Rozurial, and I headed for the cars. We had no clue what we’d be facing, so it seemed better to bring a larger group than just a couple of us.
Menolly climbed into her Jag, and Roz rode with her, while my men rode with me. As we pulled out of the driveway, the sky was overcast and it started to pour rain. Once again, we headed out into the night.
Morio put in a call to Chase when we were on the way, to let him know of our plans. When he hung up, I could see in the rearview mirror that his expression was strained.
“Chase said things are getting worse. They’ve found another egg, though not nearly as big as the one this morning, so we have a little time before it hatches. There are more zombies incoming…feeding it like they did the one this morning. I guess we should swing by there after we disrupt the protesters.”
Glad I’d had a couple of naps during the day, all I could do was nod. The last thing I wanted to do was encounter another batch of spirit demons. Even though I didn’t want to involve them, I glanced at Morio through the mirror again.
“Call Delilah. Have her get in touch with Frank Willows and tell him to start up the phone trees, but also make sure they know not to arrive until we get there and scope out the situation. She’d better come, too, given we’ll be dealing with the Supe Community werewolves again. I guess…call Menolly and tell her to double back and pick her up? We’re not that far out from the house yet.”
As Morio set to calling, I steeled myself for another rough battle, keeping my eyes on the road as we sped through the rain-soaked night.
Chapter 14
Built by investors who’d seen the profit margin above the fear, the Shrouded Grove Suites apartment tower was in a posh part of the city. With landlords who were Fae taking the day shift, and vampires for the night shift, the building was vampire-specific. The development had been a stroke of genius, and both towers were filled to capacity, with a long waiting list. We had heard there were more in process.
Each apartment offered at least two windowless rooms, and throughout the rest of the apartment, shuttered windows kept out both UV rays and the sunlight in general. The rooms were tiled, for easy cleanup, and had security locks on the bedroom doors.
