Written In Red Part 28

Henry stripped off his own coat and hung it on a peg before plugging in an electric kettle that sat on the cabinet. While the water heated, he placed her notebook on one of the cabinet's shelves, then selected a music disc and put it in the player. A few minutes later, he handed her a mug, turned on the music, and began working on the piece of wood in the center of the room.

The scent of peppermint rose from the mug. Not sure what he wanted from her, she cupped her hands around the mug for warmth and watched him as he coaxed a shape from the wood. The music, a blend of drums and rattles and something like a flute, flowed in the air, and the sound of Henry working seemed to blend with the rest.

"I like the music," Meg said. "What is it?"

He looked at her and smiled. "Earth-native music. When humans invented the music players and the discs that held sounds so that songs and stories could be shared by many, we saw the value of those things and arranged to record the music of our people."

"Do you like human music?"

"Some." Henry caressed the wood. "But not here. Not when I touch the wood and listen to what it wants to become."

Meg studied the rough shape that seemed to be leaping out of the block of wood. "It's a fish."

He nodded. "A salmon."

When she said nothing more, he picked up his tools and began working again. She watched the salmon emerge from the wood, its body a graceful curve. Not finished, to be sure, but not unformed.

She hoped she would still be there to see it when it was done.

The music ended. Her mug was empty. Taking it from her, Henry said, "The pain is quieter now. Eat some food. Rest a little more before you return to your work."

She stood. "Thank you for letting me sit here. I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful."

"You gave us warning. That is help. As for the rest, you are welcome to come here and let your spirit touch the wood."

Now that the pain had dulled, she was hungry for more than the usual soup and sandwich she could get at A Little Bite, so she walked over to Meat-n-Greens, the restaurant in the Market Square. Training images told her this wasn't a high-end restaurant-the tablecloths were the kind that could be wiped down instead of cloth that needed to be laundered-but the menu listed everything from appetizers to full dinners. She ordered a small steak with mashed potatoes and peas, savoring the experience of making a choice.

When she got back to the office, she found a container of soup and a wrapped sandwich in the little fridge, and her lidded mug filled with fresh coffee.

"Don't have to wonder about dinner," she said as she picked up the copies of the Lakeside News and the Courtyard's newsletter that someone had left on the back table. She took them and her coffee into the sorting room, then opened the office for the afternoon deliveries.

Henry, Vlad, Blair, and Tess gathered in the Business a.s.sociation's meeting room.

Henry set the notebook on the table. "This is Meg's. I think whatever else is written here is private, but she offered these words for all of us to see."

None of them spoke as they read Meg's record of the vision, but Blair began growling.

"If this was a book, the vision would have included a newspaper that would indicate the date something would happen," Vlad said.

"But it is not a book," Henry replied. "She gave us much for such a small cut. An accident," he added when Blair stared at him.

Blair nodded and went back to studying the words.

Henry looked at Tess. "You said there was pleasure in the cutting. All I smelled in her was pain. Why?"

"I don't know," Tess replied. "Maybe it's the difference between an accidental cut and one made deliberately. Maybe it was because there was something she wasn't able to do alone, so she experienced pain instead of euphoria. I told you all I know about blood prophets."

"I used the computer to check for books or any writings about them," Vlad said. "There are stories that have ca.s.sandra sangue as characters, but they were listed under horror or suspense novels, so I doubt there is any useful information. I added a couple of them to the next book order coming to HGR. I'll keep looking."

"Someone knows about them," Tess said.

"Meg knows," Henry said quietly. "In time, she will tell us." He looked at the Wolf. "Blair?"

Blair let out a breath slowly. "Could be this year, could be five years from now. There's still plenty of time for a storm like that before the cold girl yields to her sister. That sound. Smaller than a car, but not a BOW. Has to move well over snow."

"I can help Vlad search the computers for such a vehicle," Tess said. She hesitated. "Should we tell that policeman who talks to Simon?"

"Are such visions ever wrong?" Blair asked. "Can we know that those men coming in with weapons and hidden faces aren't police?"

"Why would the police want Sam?" Vlad asked.

"Why would anyone?" Henry countered.

Flickers of red danced in Blair's amber eyes. "Daphne is dead, so Sam is the Wolfgard's child. Would anyone be foolish enough to touch him and start a war?"

"Someone will be foolish enough," Henry said. "Meg has seen it."

Silence.

Finally Blair said, "Clear skies today. Unless someone angers the girl at the lake, we shouldn't have another storm for a few days."

Tess leaned forward and brushed a finger over the page that held Meg's notes about the vision. "Even if a blood prophet is never wrong, what she sees is open to interpretation. Meg has shown us the beginning of a fight, but there is nothing here that shows how it will end."

She looked at the three men. Despite his strength as a Grizzly, Henry felt a s.h.i.+ver down his spine when he saw the way her hair began to coil.

Tess left the room, apparently deciding there was nothing more to say.

"Sam's not going to accept being left behind all the time," Vlad said. "And being around Meg is good for him." He gave Blair a pointed look. "You don't like the harness and leash, and I understand that, but a couple of days with Meg has pulled Sam away from the bad place he's been in since Daphne died. That should count for something."

"I can't speak for other Wolves, but it counts with me," Blair said. "We'll keep Sam safe. And Meg too."

Vlad s.h.i.+fted in his chair. "She hasn't seen a Wolf yet. Except Sam."

"There's always a Wolf on duty at HGR," Blair said.

"Yes, but she hasn't been in the store since she became the Liaison, so she hasn't seen one of you."

"I'll a.s.sign a couple of Wolves to keep watch around the office. In human form."

"Keep in mind that they'll see Meg and Sam," Henry said.

Blair growled. "That is for Simon to deal with when he gets back."

"Agreed."

Satisfied they had done what they could for the moment, Henry stood. "I am close by during the day, and the Hawks and Crows keep watch when Meg is working. They will alert the Wolves if there is a threat."

The three went back to their own work.

As Henry walked the narrow path to his studio door, he looked at the Crows gathered on the wall. Jake replied. He sounded disappointed.

Back inside, Henry hung up his coat and walked around the pieces of wood waiting to be given a new kind of life-and thought about the female who, despite being human, he was beginning to see as a friend.

In between deliveries, Meg scanned the Lakeside News, but didn't see anything she thought should be reported to Henry or Tess-and wondered if she was out of place to even be looking. Surely Tess or Vlad did that anyway. But they didn't have all the images she did and might not recognize something that could have an impact on the Others.

She noticed the sale ads, which were set up as Asia said, but she didn't know if any of the residents would be interested in such items.

She read the comics and didn't understand most of them. But there was a comic strip about the Others that disturbed her. It seemed to be part of an ongoing story, so the words had little meaning, but the slavering Wolf, standing upright and looking like a furry man with a wolf's head, made her uncomfortable. Maybe it was a way to diminish something that was feared, but it felt dangerous. She couldn't say if it was dangerous to the Others or to the humans, but she absorbed the image, then looked at the date at the top of the newspaper. Another image.

Folding the paper, she reached for the Courtyard's newsletter, then stopped. Too much information, too much to absorb already today. Besides, distributing that new catalog to the residential complexes had produced a flurry of orders that had arrived that afternoon, so she still had to separate a cartload of packages and contact the complexes to come and pick up their orders.

She locked up promptly at four o'clock, filled the back of the BOW with small packages for the Chambers and the Green Complex, made sure she had her package for Winter, and headed out to make her deliveries.

It still made her nervous to get out of the BOW at any of the mausoleums that housed the Sanguinati-except Mr. Erebus's home-but she was getting used to the smoke that flowed out of the buildings whenever she stopped the BOW. The Sanguinati in smoke form didn't flow beyond their fences when she was around, and the ones who remained in human form didn't speak to her or approach. She always bid them a good afternoon as she tucked packages into the delivery boxes-and always breathed a sigh of relief that none of them wanted to make a meal out of her.

Mr. Erebus, on the other hand, came down the walkway to meet her as she got out of the BOW.

"Your movies arrived," Meg said, holding up the package. She noticed his fingernails didn't look as yellow or h.o.r.n.y as they had the first time she'd seen him, but maybe that was because she'd been nervous and the doorway had been dark.

"I do enjoy my movies," he said. "Such a sweet girl to bring them to me." Then he pointed at the black delivery boxes to indicate she should put his package inside. Even when he came out to meet her, he wouldn't take a package directly from her hand.

"I'm pleased to do it," Meg said.

Erebus studied her as she put the rest of the packages inside the delivery boxes. "Vladimir is kind to you?"

The question surprised her. What surprised her more was the feeling that Vlad's well-being depended on her answer. "Yes, he is. He and Nyx were very helpful this morning."

"That is good." He stepped back. "Go finish your work, then enjoy the night."

"I will."

As she drove toward the lake, she wondered if that was a warning that she should stay within the Green area of the Courtyard after dark.

Winter was skating on the lake, wearing the same white dress. Meg parked in the same place as the first time she'd visited, pulled a scarf out of the shopping bag, then walked down to the edge of the lake.

The girl gradually joined her.

"It is the Liaison," Winter said. "Do you skate, Meg?"

"I never learned."

"Humans wear metal on their feet to glide over ice. I have no need of such things." Winter tipped her head. "Did you come to collect the library books? We have not finished reading them."

"No, I'm not here for the books. I brought you this." Meg held out the scarf.

The girl stiffened, and the eyes that fixed on Meg were filled with an inhuman anger.

"You brought me the color of Summer?"

Staggered by the depth of the anger, Meg looked at the green scarf. "Summer? No. I didn't think of it as a summer green."

Winter seemed taller than she'd been a moment ago-and less human. And the air, which had been tolerable that afternoon, suddenly had a bite.

She had insulted the girl. That much she understood. It sounded like Winter and Summer didn't get along, despite being sisters. Were they sisters?

"When I saw this, I thought of you," Meg said, hoping to explain.

"Me." The word was a furious whisper. Snow suddenly whipped around the other side of the lake, a curtain moving toward them.

"Because of this." Meg unfolded the scarf, revealing the snowflakes that became the white ends and fringe. She struggled to find the right words. "Winter isn't an absence of color; it has all these shades of white. And then there are the evergreens with their branches tipped with snow, their color an accent for the white. When I saw the scarf at a shop in the Market Square, I thought of you because your dress has shades of white, and the green would be an accent for the dress like the evergreens are for the land."

The snow on the other side of the lake quieted. Winter studied the land and the trees, then looked at the scarf. "It is the color of the evergreens." She reached out and rubbed the scarf between her hands. "Soft."

Meg hardly dared to breathe.

"Kindness," Winter murmured, taking the scarf and wrapping it around her neck. "So unexpected."

The eyes that would never be mistaken for human stared at her. "Thank you, Meg."

"You're welcome, Winter." She walked back to the BOW and waved before she got in. The girl didn't wave back, but as Meg drove away, a second girl glided over the ice and linked hands with Winter.

During the drive back to the Green Complex, Meg noticed how the snow beside the road swirled in the air like skaters twirling over the ice on a lake.

CHAPTER 12.