Whats going on between you and Faine? Im sorry for my bluntness. Mollys laugh told Helena she was no such thing. Hes going to be lumbering down here with Gage any minute and I want to hear all the details.
Helena hoped she wasnt blushing. Nothing really. I mean. She looked toward the door and, finding the hallway empty, she leaned closer to Molly and kept her voice down. He kissed me. A few times now. I like him. Hes ridiculously easy to look at, hes got fists the size of giant hams, his butt is spectacular and he doesnt try to do my job or treat me like a fragile flower. But, its just a kiss or three. We dont have a lot of time to make it anything else, and thats okay because he kisses pretty damned well.
I figured Tosh would make a move.
Youre the second person whos said that to me lately. He is a lovely man, handsome, powerful, he knows how to wear a suit and I bet he knows his way around a ladys business. But its not me hes into. Its Delilah. He gets a dreamy look on his face when hes looking at her and thinks no one notices. Hello. My job to notice things. Tosh really was cute, the way he crushed on Delilah.
Hes always looking at your boobs. I just figured . . .
Helena barked a laugh. Hes a dude, Molly. Plus, if I do say so myself, I have great boobs. But when Delilah talks he watches her mouth. He likes to touch her a lot and he finds any excuse he can to seek her opinion and to sit next to her. Boobs are one thinghe looks at yours too, though hes at least pretty wily and I figured no one noticed. But when a dude cant stop looking at a womans mouth thats a whole different level of interest.
Mollys eyes widened and she nodded. Oh my goddess, youre totally right! Ive noted that he seems to listen to her well and now that you mention it, he does look at her mouth. Ha! Im going to rub Gages face in this so much!
Helena laughed as she ate her bacon. He used to get that line between his brows every time you and Tosh would talk. And then hed be all, Oh, were just casual, its not a big deal about you.
Molly rolled her eyes. Lucky for him hes gotten past that point now.
He is lucky. Youre a good catch. You smooth him out when he gets ragged.
Thank you. Hes . . . well, I never expected him.
Helena figured thats how it always worked. Its always the ones you do expect who fuck you over. You have your listand I know you did, because were alike that wayso you get the guy who is 9 of 10 on that list and you feel so accomplished. And he turns out to be wrong for you in every way.
You lucked out. I mean, I dont know the whole story. But the broken engagement.
Helena liked Molly a great deal. They were alike in temperament, which helped just then when she decided to share.
He hit on my sister. He was a fool and so was I for never seeing it. He was so perfect on the outside. He had a great job. He drove a great car. He was handsome, but not too handsome. His family was a great family. He stood up when my mother came into a room. My judgment is flawed, clearly, because I didnt see past any of it to who he really was.
Molly waved that away. You were what? Twenty?
Twenty-three. Id known him for years. Hed made her feel pretty.
We all make mistakes. Im sure Lark made him sorry he hit on her, and you did the right thing by breaking up right away.
Im assuming you heard the whole story.
No, I mean, I knew he hit on Lark and she told you and you broke things off and things were tense between you two for a while. But thats really it.
Things werent tense because I blamed her. I would never, ever have believed shed betray me like that. He was mistaken in any attempt to claim that. I should thank him though because once he tried that it made it even easier to cart him to the curb and leave him there. He was a dick. Is a dick. I doubt hes changed. She chewed her bottom lip.
You dont have to say more. But if you want to, Im here. I like you, Helena. I consider you a friend and Id like you to confide in me, but I understand its hard.
My judgment is bad. Thats really it. Later, once he was gone and I looked back, I could see it all so clearly. All the stuff he did that was crappy. But I missed it during the relationship. Or maybe I ignored it. Either way? Helena shrugged. It was pretty obvious. I didnt care that he looked at other women. Hes a dude, they all do. Most of them just do it well enough that we dont notice too much.
Thats respect.
Exactly. I look too, for heavens sake. But my sister. My. Sister. Lark never in a million years would do that to me. No matter what. I never doubted that. It just, it sucked that hed try to betray me in any sense, but with the person I was closest to in the world. Hell, maybe I was jealous that he preferred her to me.
Molly sniffed. He did it to hurt you. He chose her because it would hurt you if you found out. Yes, Lark is lovely and I quite enjoy her. But he didnt hit on her because he preferred her; he hit on her because he could, because he liked the thrill of the potential to get caught. And, Id wager, he figured that even if she turned him down shed never tell because Lark didnt want to hurt you.
Helena paused, thinking that over. I guess I hadnt thought of it that way. She smiled, buttering her toast. He seriously misjudged her if that was the case. She gave him a black eye and then she dragged him, by the ear mind you, to me and told me what hed done. She was so outraged.
Hes clearly lucky to be walking without a permanent limp.
She smiled at Molly. He is.
Things are better now. Well, not like in the big picture, which seems to be full of bombings and shootings and that sort of thing. But Lark and I are close again. Ive missed that. Shes in Seattle though. But maybe . . . maybe its better that way. Maybe Lark needed to be in a place where she could make her own decisions, which were clearly better than Helenas choices anyway.
She misses you a great deal. And I know what you mean about things being better, some things anyway.
Gage.
Molly nodded. Yes. We had some rocky moments. But in the end, he comes to me. He accepts his feelings and hes at my side. Im glad to have that. Especially now when things seem so dark. But back to Faine. Things are moving in a good direction. I like that because hes a sweetheart and you deserve someone like him.
Well, dont go registering us at department stores or anything. Just a kiss. Things are way too busy for anything else, and to be totally honest with you, I dont know if Im cut out for a relationship.
Molly thought this was hilarious. Not a kiss. Kisses. Which is different. Also, hes not some twenty-four-year-old human. Lycians, like all alpha malesshe snortedthey dont play around like that. Hes four hundred. He and Simon, males like them, they know what they want and they will stop at nothing until it happens. Hes not smitten with you. Not only smitten anyway. He wants you. He watches you work and its clear he approves. I say ride that train because you need it.
Helena guffawed. Youre sort of dirty.
Molly winked. Dont tell anyone.
Ha. Itll be our secret.
Shortly after that they heard footsteps down the back stairs.
Thanks for listening.
Molly shrugged. I can say the same. Its what friends do. Also? Cant wait to see the looks on their faces as they realize weve been talking and they dont know about what.
My respect for you grows every time I see you. Helena winked and went back to her breakfast as Faine and Gage entered the room.
* * *
TOSH didnt see much more than Helenas back and Faine to her right. Big dude, and so not like any shifter hed ever seen. Then again, it wasnt like he had a huge amount of experience with shifters.
Speaking of . . .
He looked to his left and caught Delilahs profile. You all right?
The crowd all around them surged, but he trusted his people and Helenas magick to hold it all back. When things were tense like this, he could sense Delilahs otherness. The wildness in her eyes, just beneath her skin. It made him a little sweaty. In a good way.
But just then she was angry.
I dont spend ninety hours a week working for my constituents to have people call me names. Oh sure, were supposed to have thick skins, but how much deeper can these assholes dig, huh?
He wanted to brush the hair away from her forehead, wanted to ease her stress. God knew there was enough to go around just then. Raised voices buffeted them from all sides, though he was pleased to note it wasnt all negative. But Marlon knew how to pack a hearing room, hed been doing it for years, and stupid, fearful people were easily manipulated.
Helena held a hand up, bringing them all to a stop. So serious, his friend. All business as she spoke to the capitol police officer who was at the side door where theyd entered the room. He nodded and Faine went first, two other guards followed and then Helena waved them forward.
Remember the days when the worst thing about a hearing with Marlon Hayes was having to listen to his asshattery for an hour?
Delilah giggled a moment and touched his shoulder. Thanks for that. I needed the laugh.
They moved to their seats at the dais and Helena settled a few rows higher with several other aides and guards. Shed gone into some sort of watchfulness, still, seemingly calm and relaxed, but he knew better.
Funny how he doesnt need bodyguards. Tosh lifted his chin in Senator Hayes direction as the smarmy bastard glad-handed his way over. He shot a glare toward Molly, who was, this time, sitting on the panel with the rest of the experts.
If he keeps pushing this agenda, he will. Ive spoken with a lot of my people back home. Things are getting worse. If he pushes, hes going to get way more than he bargained for. They keep underestimating people they themselves refer to as monsters. Which is a tactical error of epic proportions. Delilah moved to her seat, just a row behind, and pulled her notes out.
It was and he knew it. The Others were done waiting around to be protected by their government and law enforcement. They were done being patient, and people like Marlon Hayes were too caught up in the power politics of appealing to the hateful fringe that they lost sight of what was really going on.
Toshio feared for everyone. For humans most of all, because they were afraid and he understood that fear. Understood, too, that witches like Molly Ryan were attempting to keep communication open between humans and Others to alleviate the fear.
Sadly, he also understood that it was humans like Hayes who were too eager to label that attempt at openness as some sort of manipulation. In the end, if humans didnt reject the hateful assurances of Marlon Hayes and PURITY that they only had to corral the Others and detain them, treat them like animals and the problem would disappearif they didnt see it for the lie it was, it would be to their detriment.
There was no way. The humans could pass all the laws they wanted, but if they tried to enact them . . . well, thered be open civil war with an enemy they could have easily kept as an ally. An enemy far more powerful than even hysteria pushers like Hayes could understand.
He blew out a breath and paid attention as the hearing was called to order.
* * *
HELENA kept an eye on the room as she listened to the hearing start up.
This bill isnt about harming the nonhumans, as theyve preached to you. This bill is about protecting natural-born Americans. Real Americans who are human. You saw what they did with their little speech threatening us all. This bill doesnt call to kill anyone. It will assure us all that these abominations are no longer allowed to live among us and hide their real agenda.
Real agenda? Goddess, Helena rarely lost her shit, but she found herself having to hold it together instead of walking over and popping this fool in the face. Shed been trying for months now to get the Others to remember not all humans were this way. But people like Hayes and PURITYs Carlo Powers were gaining traction, and that made it a lot harder to remember that.
It went on this way for some time longer until he finally shut up and it was Toshs turn.
Two generations ago, my grandfather served this country in World War Two. He did so while his family was being held in a camp. He did so despite the fact that his pregnant wife had been removed from their home and his business had been taken from him. My father was born in a relocation camp and my grandmother nearly died because of the lack of real medical facilities and care. All because his last name was Sato. Even after the war was over and my grandfather, whod been decorated twice, returned home, he had to spend the next several years getting his familys life back on track because the government refused to return his business and hed lost his home.
Hayes interrupted. You see? His family listened and did what the government told them to. Even served in the military like his kind should have to prove their loyalty. What makes any of you think youre better than that?
Sato interrupted, his face hard. Senator Hayes misses the point, so let me be clearer. My kind, my familys kind, is American. What happened to my family was wrong. It was a miscarriage of justice. It was not what this country should be. My grandfather was better than the people who harmed his family, yes, but the harm was done. People died. People lost everything and it did not make us safer. It did not make us better people. The Domestic Safety Act does not make us better Americans. It does not make us safer. It takes Americans and strips them of their rights. It depersonalizes them and puts them in camps. Some of the provisions in this bill bear a horrifying similarity to things done to the Jews during World War Two in Germany. Tracking chips. Camps. Restricted movements. Removal of property and redistribution to the government. How long before we put them on trains and steal their gold watches? This bill is wrong.
Helena wanted to stand up and cheer.
But he wasnt done. Two weeks ago a so-called expert panel was here at the capitol to testify about this bill. Not a single Other was on that panel. Worse, when an OtherMolly Ryanwas given time by members of this body, the room was hit with three bombs and Ms. Ryan was severely injured. Today we have an expert panel with actual experts on it and Id like them to each introduce themselves. Once weve got that out of the way we can get to questions and answers.
The introductions went fine and then the questions from the senators started.
Lynn Reed, Carlo Powers second-in-command nationwide, was on the panel, just a few seats down from Molly. Helena caught the shift in her energy, the darkness inside her gut as she spoke. There was a great deal of hate, but more than that, a sheer greed for power. If it wasnt Others, this woman would be screeching about something else. She liked scaring people, liked using fear as her cudgel to whip folks into a frenzy.
The proof is that these monsters lived next door to us for generations and never once revealed themselves until they brought down some sort of retribution on their heads. This thing that killed so many of them was divine punishment for their evil. Whatever pact they made to keep the remaining ones safe is what we need to know. Why havent they told us about this pact?
Molly sighed heavily. We havent told you because there is no pact. No divine retribution for existing. What happened to usto us and not youwas an ancient power. It was not about punishment. It fed on our magickal energy and we were able to defeat it, but not without a heavy cost. It has nothing to do with humans at all. And nothing to do with this bill, so if we could get back to the subject at hand, that would be a better use of our time.
You dont get to decide what we talk about. Marlon Hayes sneered at Molly.
Sato interrupted. The hearing is regarding the Domestic Safety Act. As a matter of fact, its the topic and its quite helpful if we stick to that. We were all sent here to do a job. The peoples business. To get sidetracked by all this other stuff is not helpful. Nor is it the peoples business. So if we can get back to the topic at hand, please.
Hayes turned, red faced. Youre insulting Ms. Reed when shes answering a question.
Thats enough, Marlon. The question was asked, we got a bunch of nonsense. Her time is up and so is yours. Moving on. Delilah Sperry narrowed her gaze, daring Hayes to continue.
Lynn Reed spoke from the table. Youre going to spend eternity in hell, Delilah Sperry. I dont have to listen to you.
Delilah waved a hand, appearing bored. Thats Senator Sperry to you. But Helena saw her energy, knew she choked back rage. Her wolf pressed against the womans skin, but she held it together.
My constituents voted for me knowing I was a werewolf. As for eternity, mind your own and get your nose out of mine. Now, back to the question. Ms. Ryan, can you please address the issue of registration and how it would impact the witches in your Clan?
Molly nodded once and smoothly dove in. Any time Reed tried to interrupt her she simply continued to speak and Helena thought a few times she might have even used her magick to hold the floor. But if she had, Molly was too damned good to get caught, so good Reed had no idea. Which was a positive thing because heaven knew if she thought she was being hexed to shut the hell up, shed flip out.
The issue is, Reed spoke again at the end of the hearing, we dont know that they havent been manipulating us all along. What if they decide to use their magic to harm us? Make us do something wrong? Maybe theyve done that since the beginning. We have no proof they havent.
Mollys mouth tightened, but she didnt interrupt and Helena wanted to laugh, knowing her friend was annoyed.
I can only refer you back to reality. The reality where were sitting here in a room where some of you want to put us in concentration camps. If we had the ability to make you all our puppets, why would we allow people to bomb our schools and homes? Why would we sit here and listen to this hateful drivel when we could just use our power and make you do whatever we wish?
You cant prove you dont.
What was this, third grade?
You cant prove a negative. Its impossible and it makes me wonder what youre getting out of scaring people and stirring all this violence. This from Delilah.
I dont have to answer to you and your people.
My people? United States senators?
The time was up. Many of the senators, including Sato, needed to be in other hearings, so it broke quickly, if not without some verbal sparring.
Since it was no longer Other business and since Sato had a really busy schedule, his security people took over and Helena headed down to where Molly stood speaking with Cade Warden and Faine.
Lynn Reed hung at the outer edges of the group, watching through narrowed eyes as she waited on Hayes to approach her.
Interesting dynamic there.
Nicely done, Ms. Ryan. Helena bowed slightly. Ready? You have a few hours free and then its to the interview. She didnt say more than that. Although shed used some magick to keep what she said quiet, she didnt want to risk Mollys safety. The more exposure she had to PURITY and the people at the top, the more she was convinced they were behind the major attacks. Not just the low-ranked idiots who got gung ho, but the very top.
Molly looked back over her shoulder at Reed, who emanated so much negative energy it was palpable, even at a distance.
Yes, Im done here.
Brace yourselves. We need to go out that way and the hallway looks packed. Gage came back from the doors where hed peeked out.
Absurd that we cant be safe in the halls of Congress, for heavens sake. Molly sent a glare Hayes way, but he was too busy slavering all over Reed to notice.
Helena moved forward. Faine and I will take point. Gage, youre on Molly. They began to move, the rest of her crew taking on their own places to guard the rest of the group.
The hall outside was always loud, Helena figured. Daily work in Congress would be full of contentious issues as well as mundane stuff. Staffers moved through the crowds, some on phones, some heatedly talking amongst themselves. There were protesters for every cause imaginable on their way to hearing rooms.
Normally shed have found it fascinating. Now she just found it distracting and worrisome. A lot of people to keep an eye on. A lot of energy to try to wade through to get past the normal frustration and anger at issues not related to them in any way.
She put out a low heat energy field around herself and Faine. He cut his gaze to her quickly and then was back on the job once hed ascertained there wasnt a problem. Shed experimented with something similar a few days before and it seemed to keep humans back. She didnt need to hurt anyone; she just wanted to keep a space bubble around their group. Molly moved slow because she was still on crutches and Helena didnt want her jostled.
When they got to the main doors leading outside it was a whole new level of challenge. Several hundred people had gathered on the steps. Some holding signs with the usual and lame God hates werewolves/witches/Others along with the gamut of abomination, warnings of danger and violence, that sort of thing.
A counter-protest was just steps away, meeting at the edges. In some places there seemed to be earnest discussion and debate, but in others there was jostling, angry, raised voices and the chance for far worse than words and shoving.
So much potential for things to go bad in so many ways. She spoke to Faine, knowing that even with the din all around hed hear her.
Faine, Im going to need you to pick Molly up so we can move quickly. Gage, youre on them. Im going to clear a path.
Several of the Weres whod accompanied Cade Warden showed up, ready to follow her lead. She explained what she needed and even Molly simply sighed and let Faine pick her up. Gage started to argue, but Helena lifted a brow.
Im not arguing with your orders. I wanted to tell you something bad is coming. I can feel it.
She knew his gift was a sort of intuitive foresight of intention. If he felt something, it was out there and it was her job to deal with it.
She nodded. Keep tight. Keep alert.
Helena adjusted her spell, speaking under her breath to make the field around them a little larger and a little hotter. She added an aversion spell to overlay it. Nothing that would create an emotional aversion, but enough of a hint to back up and let them pass.
Since the Magister it had seemed a lot easier to bend her magick to her will. One positive from all that negative, she supposed.
She scanned the crowd as they went, her hands free should she need to repel anyone or use her weapons.
Which was good because the moment the crowd recognized them, the angry voices raised and the crowd turned to face them. Helena cut toward the side, making a hole for the group. Her spell held and she only needed to push people back twice, more due to crowd surge than anything else.
Helena was glad shed called ahead for the cars to be brought for them. Having to wait at the curb for their ride would have only exposed them to danger for longer.
They idled nearby. Safe harbor. She hustled the group in that direction, scanning the crowd for weapons, peoples faces for signs of violence, the air all around for any signs of impending negative action.
Later, she figured she was so busy doing that, shed missed the sick feeling emanating from the vehicle in front of her until a split second before the air sucked from all around them and then blew outward in a hot wave.
Time slowed as Helena moved to respond, trusting Faine to deal with Molly as she called her magick fast and hard, yanking it from the air around her and the ground at her feet. It filled her instantly in a painful slice as she managed it. As she used her magick to push back against the explosion, to repel the flaming metal and burning tires.
Dimly she realized the car behind it had also blown and she managed her magick to repel it as well.
It filled her, raw power. Bright and searing hot. Her filters were down so she could take in as much as she could as fast as possible. It roared through her, responding to her will, but she knew enough to understand that could change.
So much magick she knew shed have trouble regulating it, keeping it from going wild and burning her to the bone. But she needed all she could get to keep her people, and the crowd behind her, safe from all the flying wreckage.
She held it even as she tasted blood and her nose began to drip. Her skin burned and as the energy around her from the bomb died down, she shoved it all away, back to the twisted metal, which groaned as she hit the pavement on her knees, the blood from her nose and mouth staining the front of her shirt.
Damn it. That much blood would never come out and she really loved that blouse.
Her vision grayed at the edges as she swayed, fighting consciousness and beginning to lose.
She heard Faine roar and then snarl. Shit. Shit! Helena?
Faine had been watching the crowd, taking care not to hold Molly too tightly, not to bump her casts or injure her. And then he turned, noting Helenas body language had stiffened, her focus shifted to the curb where the vehicles were.
Helena was right in front of the vehicle and she shouted for them to get down and he felt the air suck away and then the taste of her magick as she pulled it from all around. Hed covered Molly with his body, expecting the blow of the flaming wreckage, but instead hed watched as Helena had shouted in a language he rarely heard, her hands drawing runes as she wove the spell. He knew channeling that much power was dangerous for anyone, a fact underlined when her nose started to bleed.
He heard Gage shouting at people to get back, heard the panic behind him as humans scattered. All he could do was watch, helpless as she took all that power and shoved it at the explosion.
Molly spoke to him quietly. Shell be all right. Shes strong. But her words were nearly a question. Not quite, but close enough that it only scared him more.
Hed only held himself in place because he knew that if hed disturbed Helena she could have lost control of her magick. And his job was Molly right then. Hed promised Helena and he couldnt break that promise.
But when Helena dropped to her knees and pitched forward, blood all over her face, he made sure Gage was there with Molly before he exploded up, running to her. He scooped Helena into his arms as the sounds of sirens began to break through the wall of power shed kept between the car and the crowd.
He shook so fucking hard it was a challenge to stand, but he did, holding her close, breathing her in until he was sure she was alive and would be all right. Her blood was everywhere, freaking him out.
Damn it, Helena Jaansen, you will open those eyes right this moment. Youre scaring me. He gave her his best officer-issuing-orders voice and hoped the fear wasnt showing.
Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, but then she seemed to grasp consciousness with a gasp. Is everyone all right?
He growled. Everyone but you, brown eyes. What the fuck do you think youre doing?
She sighed, turning her face into his chest. Not failing.
Chapter 8
WE need to get her help. He turned to Gage, still holding Helena.
Gage held his hands up, approaching slowly, understanding exactly what it meant to be wild with the need to protect the woman you loved. When the ambulance arrives, well send her first. You go with her.
Helena stirred, trying to get down and he held her tighter.
Stop that.
So imperious. She blinked. So slowly he found his panic fighting to return. Stop growling. Im all right. The police are going to want to question us all. And Im not leaving the scene.