by Erin R Flynn
I nodded in thanks to him for the backup but then decided to move on to the main point. “How much would you pay for a pallet of working solar panels to get power back? A lot, right? But you can’t get them. Something was fried in them. But we have them. I can fix them. I have for Nora.” I ate several fries while they thought about that. “The huge batteries got fried if they were plugged in.
“Lots were otherwise for some reason. Lots of theories but no one really knows. Plus a lot were destroyed. However, we have them. You can find them for me to fix. You guys need meat and provisions, right?” I waited until several nodded. “I have all of that but what you have is age. I don’t have as much of that, even is Kristof is really, really, really fucking old.”
“Thank you, My Princess,” he drawled.
It was hard not to laugh. I loved poking him on that for sure. “Now, I’m going to be a fair person because I’m not all about world domination or screwing over others, as long as they don’t screw me.” I set down my plate and pulled off the sheet I had covering some numbers. “This is what we found repeatedly for a pallet of solar panels and a pallet of industrial power plant batteries. I will take that amount in trade.”
“What kind of trade?” one of the nobles asked and I wasn’t sure if he was being dirty with that tone or if that was his normal voice.
“I’ll get to that,” I said. I pulled back another sheet. “This is what we found for venison, elk, bear, bison, rabbit, and a few others. We’re not in a spot to start offering cows or pigs just yet, as we’re still trying to get everything going for ourselves, but that could be on the table later. This is the starting point. Yes, I might allow electric semis later or other items.
“But only if you play ball with me and play nice now. Only the nice people get to advance, as I have with Nora. And before we’ll deliver or allow this, you have to clear your area and find a safe dock or landing strip with fuel. You have to. I’m not risking my people to help, so you have to help yourselves like that, or as Nora said, some idiots lost their weapons.
“And we’ll figure in delivery, but we’re not going to charge hunting license fees that went on meat prices or anything silly because there’s no more of that. Not time hunting or count bullets either. We’re all going to be mature and fair and skip the bullshit because people are dying, people are hungry, and people want electricity again.”
“How are we ‘purchasing’ these goods then?” Hanna asked, studying what I had up there.
I winced. “First, I’m pretty sure I need an apology from Olivia in whatever way you guys do those. We all know people will say I’m a doormat without that.”
“Yes, of course and I will leave that to Matilda to coordinate, as it will be given,” she replied firmly.
“It will,” Matilda agreed. “I have several ideas already and it will be done.”
I nodded. Good, one thing off the list, but then I winced again. “And I want one for Cerdic. She was planning to use her own brother as leverage like a pawn she owned. That’s not okay. It’s not. I get maybe alliances and whatever, but he’s super old and that was just horrible.”
“Agreed,” Matilda said firmly before I could ramp back up. I saw Cerdic flinch and then he blew me a kiss. Wow, so he wasn’t sure which side his mom would have landed on that. Good thing I said something.
Well, for once, because I was about to probably step in the shit all over again.
Idiot.
6
“A faction of what remains of the US government—and of course the not so sane part—is here,” I explained, pointing to the large map of the Midwest I had asked Kristof to get me. “We checked today, and they’re still in Louisville and have outposts at Lexington and Evansville, here and here.
“We would like to clear out Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville, and St. Louis before they can think to. They have started in Cincinnati but not much at all, mostly killing corrupted as they move that direction.”
“So like we helped you clear out here in Seattle for fixing what you did but there,” Nora muttered.
“Yes, but we’ll have to figure out prices for fixing because I’m nice to you and you’re nice to me. I prefer that be the way, but we know everyone won’t be. Plus, there’s also a certain amount of haste there. We can’t take over a hotel and set up shop, as we’re not clearing the corrupted just yet.”
“Because if you do, they’ll be there the next day,” Matilda muttered, bobbing her head. “So you need the stealth and speed to make this work.”
“If we’re going to do it, yes, it’s smart to do it best.” I shrugged. “We don’t have to do it. We’ve got what they don’t have. I would like to limit what they could threaten us with. I’d rather those bullets go towards killing corrupted instead of a stockpiled threat or shit we steal later. I’d rather that gas be ours, and so on.”
I waited until most nodded, revealing another set of numbers. “This is what we found for costs of moving. Packing and moving a house or office. It’s calculated by square feet.
Now, obviously that factors in how much time it would take humans to do it. However, you would do it much, much faster so I’m also adding in driving it to the trains, as my people can’t all blur out of there if there’s trouble.”
“Would you take my assessment of the rail lines you would need as a down payment on the apology?” Jacob asked, clearly wanting in on this.
I sighed. “Is Olivia even sorry? I mean, come on. I get it’s like family to family, but I already promised to bitch-slap her for hurting Cerdic. Is she ever going to say the words?”
“She will, but even I cannot force her to mean them,” Matilda said with a forced smile. “And the harder pushed, the more likely she is to turn resentful, as most of us know from memories of our ancestors.”
I opened my mouth but then closed it, trying again and shaking my head. “I can’t be objective. I keep thinking that if she apologizes and doesn’t mean it, I’m going to beat her ass or shoot her.”
“Love, you can’t shoot my sister,” Cerdic chuckled, bursting out laughing a moment later. “No shooting.”
“So I can beat her ass then?” I checked, smiling when he did. I glanced at Kristof. “You want to mediate this, my fiancé?”
“I think we can find someone more middle of the road,” Matilda interjected. “Someone more removed from the situation.”
Kristof bit back a grin. “She means Olivia tried to steal me from you when I was there.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I seethed. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“It wasn’t a formal request, simply an offer to replace Dennis at her side.”
“That sounds pretty fucking request like,” I snapped. “You tell the woman you’re courting if someone makes offers. You really tell your fiancée, got it?”
“Yes, My Princess,” he said, mirth and heat dancing in his eyes.
“I want full details later and you still might get grounded.”
“Of course, but Matilda also knows I would ask for Dennis’s head for how he insulted you, not just make Olivia apologize.”
I sighed. “No killing. There’s been so much death in the world. No killing unless someone tries to kill or does.”
It was hard not to smile when Eddie snorted, him agreeing with me that the old vamps were way too fast to kill for insults, as if that was a viable option.
“Jaxon and Darius already have overflowing plates and…” I bit back a smile. “No, of course, I know who should handle this.”
“Oh dear,” someone sighed.
“Trisha,” I declared.
“One of your knights?” Jacob checked, wincing when I nodded.
But a laugh slipped out of Hanna and she cleared her throat. “I find it rather fitting. Olivia has no spirit animal and is not as evolved as some of us that shifters are just as important as vampires.”
“So be it,” Matilda sighed. “However, there is still the matter of the apology gift from our coven, which I am again in charge of, so w
ould Jacob’s offer be a good start?”
“He’s already started and put down a serious down payment,” I answered. “He’s been all over checking rails and cars and helping us. He’s the only reason I would even think to give any Wessex another chance no matter how I feel for Cerdic, as Dennis kept insulting and being shitty to me.” I looked at Jacob. “If you check those lines and help us get this set up from the train standpoint, I say that’s a gift.”
“And punch Dennis a few more times as he really, really said a lot of shit about Inez,” Cerdic added.
“Can we shoot him?” I checked, laughing when people seemed to consider it.
“Would you provide some sort of accommodations and provisions for our people?” one of the princesses asked.
I glanced at the map and nodded. “We finished clearing out Kansas City of corrupted and there’s a clan that wants to take that area like the Perez clan is here. But Sebastian, Jacob, and their people help out. They bring in kills and handle their own rooms. The shifters aren’t waiting on them like real hotel staff. Everyone pitches in.”
“Of course,” she accepted. “How do you plan to make this work without drawing attention?”
“I’m open to suggestions, but I was sort of thinking doing round-robin,” I admitted, tapping the places in order. “So we do smaller trains, or one day is Columbus, next Cincinnati, then Indianapolis before sending to Oklahoma City for now, since we’ve cleared out of corrupted but haven’t raided yet. Next hit Nashville, then St. Louis, and send on before starting at the top.”
“There might be a better way to do this,” Nora said after a few moments of people thinking. “You could have police stations that are mostly emptied that count as so much square feet. Or you don’t want the desks or chairs really. Make it a container of weapons and ammo for a fixed price. Those would take more time than, say, pallets of goods, but you could have a whole open top container stacked with guns fast.”
“I’d rather have a higher price for the core of what you want for sure,” Hanna agreed. “And I would go even further to say those who jump first have a chance to raid those areas for their own covens, as you have allowed Nora the privilege in your deals. We get all the weapons out and they won’t notice that minute. We also kill the corrupted and we can raid houses on blocks you allow and plot out.”
“I would worry what else might be slipped into those containers,” I countered.
She nodded. “Good, smart. Fine, they are all loaded and given out round-robin. If I found a cache of weapons or something not allowed, I would absolutely tell you in case you were testing us, or because it would show someone else untrustworthy and thus, more for my coven to have access to.”
“You guys police each other knowing if you lie, you’re out too,” I muttered, thinking it a good play. Not the best play, but a good one.
“What about if we find something you would like?” Cerdic translated for a princess. “Say we stumble upon a bunch of those batteries or solar panels? We tell you, and we get a free pallet after we load them?”
“Yes, but after all the weapons are raided,” I decided. “We’ll have enough for you guys to do, as all those energy beads will need to get put in containers too.”
“Princess Inez is incredibly generous as long as you’re honest with her,” Sebastian interjected. “We found a stash of brand-new—but years old now—mattresses, and she gave them to us because she didn’t need them all and had others. She asks that if you clear a house, you clear it fully, so it can be leveled. She gifted us animals when there was culling needed.”
“That’s just because Jaxon’s hot,” I teased him, smiling when he snorted. “I’m open to all of that. If you guys are in desperate need of blankets, fine, you get a Walmart or bedding section of a store. I’m cool with that, but you have to help us clear an office building or something, or maybe syphon some gas from cars, as it takes us longer to do that.”
“What other trades can we offer?” Cerdic asked for her.
I shrugged. “We haven’t had a real home base and we’re taking over places. Nora traded us for cheese and helping us get set up to make our own, moving a dairy farm in Canada.”
“Nora has certainly helped a lot,” Hanna muttered, giving her a look that she had some choice words about how much she’d gotten.
Nora didn’t even hesitate. “The noble I sent to make sure everything went smoothly didn’t treat her like she was far beneath him, and not even refer to her in a proper manner—only ‘young princess’ if anything at all.”
I saw several people wince. “Oh, so that was some extra insult I didn’t know of, huh?”
Matilda cleared her throat. “It’s how one normally refers to any other princesses born of a bloodline that won’t take over.”
“Ahhh, but that was what we told him and he was throwing it in my face,” I muttered and shrugged. “Whatever, asshole.”
“That’s it?” Hanna asked, her tone not hiding her shock.
I sighed. “Yeah, I don’t care if people call me a bitch either. Whatever. Oh no, I’m so hurt I might cry.” I smiled at her. “Besides, Kristof punched in his face when he insulted me. It was fun.”
“He wasn’t the only one,” Jaxon admitted.
“No, he wasn’t,” Darius added, Cerdic nodding as well but then pointing to Branko.
“You didn’t hit him besides that one time, Eddie?”
“Inez, you’re like my favorite princess ever and you’re my friend, but I’m just as much a baby of a vampire as you, and Dennis would have squashed me because I don’t have your power,” he answered, scrubbing his hands over his head. “Hell, I hid from him so he didn’t tell my mother I’m here, and she started with the same kind of ‘court niceties’ or something.”
“We can absolutely clear you a port in Portugal, but we have no way to transport anything from there to the coven,” Cerdic said for the princess. “Is there any chance on getting electric vehicles or at least a semi so we could facilitate that? I would trade directly for it. We have ample produce, cheese, and more we could trade you. We simply have no meat or other luxuries you have.”
Before I could even answer, others seemed to realize this was really how it was going to be—and not normal coven pushing back or hitting hard with whatever up their sleeves—and started offering what they had as well. I nodded along with what was said and was seconds from blowing a raspberry or making exploding noises by my head, but then I knew what I wanted.
I crooked my finger and James, smiling when he stood and came over to me. “Kiss your princess and go for a run before we play on the boat. Check for me what Jacob said about the wildlife around here.”
“You’re up to something,” he accused.
“Do you not want a kiss?” I teased him.
He lowered his head to mine and gave me a soft but long kiss. “We’re supposed to protect you, Inez, and we can.”
“Of course you can. We’re done with that tactical stuff, so you guys should just all stretch your legs before we drink whiskey and shoot baddies.”
He made a disbelieving sort of grunt noise and then left. The others had already gone to help clean up dinner and get ready for what came next.
I focused on the princess from Portugal who was so quick to jump on the idea of help. “I will give you two electric semis with extended battery and recharging arrays my knights have rigged up, plus a full freezer shipping container of meat as a gesture of friendship.”
She didn’t respond at first but then she glanced towards the door, nodding.
“You worry that your young knights would go first if the humans and their remaining government are stupid and use what large weapons they have left like tanks. And we have the age and lethalness your coven does not but a few,” Cerdic interpreted for her.
“Yes,” I admitted. “I doubt they would start with that and we’re checking in on the situation, but if it comes to the point where we think we need to take away their weapons, or maybe cut off a head or something,
I’d like to know I had really old friends who would have our backs.”
She didn’t reply right away. “If you added a shipping container of our items you would fix so we may store that meat and more, I would agree to send you two dozen that were at least a thousand years old, should you ever have a conflict with humans or government—not another coven without knowing which or understanding the situation. However, that wouldn’t be off the table completely.”
“I’ll do three as that’s more than I was asking for.”
“I would absolutely take that deal as well,” Hanna told me. “And I’ll even take some of the wolf meat I heard you had as part of it, as we have large cat shifters in our coven as well.”
“Deal,” I agreed. I blew a raspberry then. “I even know where we should cull first.”
Darius snorted. “I could think of several places we’ve been already.”
I didn’t reply, clearing my throat and looking out at the group. “Anyone else want to take that deal?”
Nora burst out laughing, the musical tone of it echoing in the room. “You have some area that’s overflowing with animals more than what Sebastian told me of the areas in Canada, don’t you?”
“Minnesota,” Cerdic, Kristof, and I answered at the same time but I went on. “So many turkeys. Just fucking everywhere. Every place I had to go, there were turkeys there and they’re fucking mean. They were coming after me like I was on their turf, and they were all over cities.” I rubbed my forehead. “So many geese. Just geese and geese and all their poop.”
“Huge herds of bison and deer,” Kristof added. “Some of the cats might need to be culled to keep it that way, but they were everywhere. A lot of bears too.”
“If you would check the rail lines we can take a day and help hunt and handle the animals, if you’re fine with us having the feathers and down. I would like to have some new pillows and bedding made for my princess before winter,” Sebastian said. “And we could again split the bison hides.”
