“I’ll manage.” Stephanie started to say more but didn’t. Instead, she hoisted Tamika easily over her shoulder. “You’d better hope Mother doesn’t catch you now. You know that, right?”
“Go home, Stephanie,” Preston said.
“I’m telling her what you did here.”
“Good,” Rose said. “Tell her something else too, something from me.”
“What?”
“Next time she tries to kill me, she better not send one of her girls to do the job.”
19
Bellwether
Rose stood on the balcony of a rented house overlooking a rolling private lawn surrounded by a brick fence with thick forest in every direction, none of which made her feel secure. The Order had taken the home on the outskirts of Atlanta on short notice in hopes neither Piper nor Alice would know where they had gone. Doubtful, but better the precaution than remaining in the open. She had canceled two of Torres’s scheduled rallies for today and was entertaining the idea of postponing more. It wasn’t like Torres’s glad-handing was raising her polling numbers, and with the threat of both the Irish and vampires looming in the wings, the danger outweighed the benefits. The sun dropped below the tree line as she watched purple clouds gathering above it, their bottom edges glowing an incandescent red.
The sliding glass door behind Rose sighed open, and Matt joined her at the balcony rail. He looked haggard, his face wan, his hair disheveled from sleep. With Olivia’s brother and sister staying with them, he and Rose had decided to follow their guest’s nocturnal sleep pattern, as had much of their crew. Of course, the switch couldn’t account for the sum total of Matt’s appearance. He was worried, and it showed.
Rose slipped her arm through his. “Our guests awake?”
Matt’s natural lopsided grin turned up one corner of his mouth. “Grace is up. She’s just waiting for full dark before she comes up here to talk your ear off.”
Rose chuckled. “I swear I must get half my votary power from that girl. If ever there was a super fan for Drawn, it’s her.”
“Can’t say as I blame her.” Matt hugged Rose’s arm, pulling her closer to him. “I’m something of a fan myself.”
“You better be.” Rose grinned and kissed him, thankful for something familiar and altogether soothing in a world gone mad.
“If she gets too annoying, you can always tell Olivia. I’m sure she’d be happy to rein Grace in if need be.”
Rose shook her head. “No, Grace is the best. She reminds me not all vampires are monsters.”
“Or two-faced, conniving backstabbers willing to sell us out for power?”
“Or that.” Rose turned her gaze back to the gathering twilight. The air here smelled sweet, like a fresh-mowed lawn with a hint of apples. “Honey, why are we doing this again?”
“This, as in running Torres for Senate?”
“This, as in all of it? The Senate bid, working to get Society to recognize slinkers, the whole bit. I wonder that sometimes, you know? With everything that’s happening inside Society right now, it just seems like maybe we’d be better off going quiet—live our lives and keep our noses clean.”
“Become slinkers?”
Rose shrugged her free shoulder. “Yeah, sort of. But slinkers with a stable income from the businesses we own. It’s not like we’d have to move from town to town all the time searching for work.”
“You really feel that way?”
“Sometimes, yes.”
“And other times?” He watched her with a blank expression, no judgment, only frank interest in her answer. She appreciated that, the way she appreciated him. His openness epitomized their love.
“Other times, I know it would never last.”
He nodded and turned to face the distant trees hidden in the gloom. “Like you say, it’d be nice for a while. We could pretend we’re normal: get married, buy a home, have kids.”
Rose would have kicked anyone who pointed out the sudden flush that touched her cheeks or the uptick in her heartbeat, but even in the growing dark, she couldn’t hide them from herself. Matt had never spoken about marriage or starting a family, not out in the open like that. Neither of them had. Managing the Order kept them too busy for that sort of mundane planning. Had it ever crossed her mind? She’d be a liar to say it hadn’t. And if there was anyone Rose Carver would ever consider marrying, it would be Matt Snow.
“I’d like that,” she said, her voice husky, her throat tight.
“Me too. But what happens in five years? In ten? Eventually, someone is going to get the upper hand in Society.”
“If Society still exists by then.”
“Exactly. And what are the options? The Irish, who by all counts are choking the life out of Europe right now? How about Piper, who seems hellbent on ending succubus rule altogether and installing some sort of vampire court in its place? Where would slinkers rate in either system?”
“But if we were settled down, maybe even suppressing our powers—”
Matt turned to her, his eyes gleaming in the light reflected from the house. “Would you want that?”
“If it kept us safe...” She met his gaze. “If it kept our family safe, maybe it’d be worth it.”
Matt shook his head. “Imagine if you and I had a little girl. Could you send her out into the world without knowing how to draw? That plan backfired for a lot of slinkers when the government people in suits showed up to collect them for the fear factory. A lot of them didn’t even know they were succubi, and those who did had such weak command over their powers it did them no good.”
“Like Leslie.” Rose stared at the lawn, her vision subsumed by memories of her friend who had grown up unaware of her ability to draw. Though she had died at the hands of Rose’s sister, she at least died fighting, aware of her true nature, her true potential.
“And a thousand more.” Matt pulled his arm free and slid it across her shoulders. “We’ll never know true freedom if we skulk away and hide. And even if we somehow escaped whatever tyranny other succubi or vampires brought down on the government, could you really enjoy your freedom knowing there were others of our kind out there suffering, even dying, because we did nothing?”
“No. I couldn’t.”
“I know.” He hugged her tight and returned his gaze to the darkened lawn.
A handful of peaceful moments flowed by with nothing but the sound of crickets and frogs and other nighttime choristers filling the air before someone tapped on the glass door. Tanner stood on the other side, holding up Rose’s phone. She had purposefully left it in the bedroom to avoid taking calls. She should have put it on silent.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Tanner said when Rose slid the door open. “It’s Emily calling. She—I thought you’d want to take this one.”
“Thank you, Tan.” Rose took the phone. Tanner shut the door and retreated.
“Hi, Emily. How are you?” Rose walked back to the balcony to include Matt in the conversation.
“I’ve been better if I’m honest. Is this phone secure?”
Matt looked puzzled but nodded.
“Yes,” Rose said. “We’ve got a guy.”
“Good. Listen, Rose, I know my mom and dad want me to help you, and I’ve been happy to do it, but I’m afraid I have to bow out. Sheila’s orders.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
“She doesn’t feel comfortable helping an organization allied with Piper Ross. Surely, you’ve heard what Piper’s been up to these last few weeks? Killing succubi in their homes. She’s tried hiding her tracks, but Society owns the FBI; we know the truth. The senator can’t be a party to that—she doesn’t want her name spoken in the same breath as the Order.”
From what Preston and the others had told Rose, it wouldn’t take an FBI investigation to link Piper as the culprit behind several succubus killings. Society elites could congratulate themselves all they liked for their superior sleuthing skills, but Piper had meant them to know she committed those crimes. She desired
their fear, and they gave it to her on a platter.
Not that Rose would say such a thing to Emily. Those words would only serve to paint the Order in a worse light.
“We’re no longer allied with Piper. She broke our treaty doing those things.” Rose lifted her gaze to meet Matt’s. “As far as we’re concerned, she’s our enemy.”
He nodded.
“I’m glad to hear that, seriously I am,” Emily said. “But it doesn’t change anything on our end. Shelia cannot get involved with helping the Order. Your name is poison in Washington right now, and not just because of the vampires. I don’t know what you did to piss off Alice McAleese, but whatever it was, mission accomplished. Does she blame you for Piper killing her people?”
“I don’t know.” Rose wasn’t about to mention the Order’s failed assault on the Irish with Piper’s assistance.
“Either way, Alice has been on the move in DC. I wouldn’t have believed it two weeks ago, but she’s managed to secure a huge number of supporters up here.”
“Is she charming them?” Rose couldn’t fathom anyone following Alice otherwise.
“No. They’re joining her willingly. They see how powerful the Irish have become, how much control they exert in Europe and the Middle East, and they want that here. A lot of us are tired of all the infighting and jockeying for leadership. We want stability.”
“And you see the Order as the force that took that away?”
“Not me, I still believe in your cause, but the majority of Congress see you as a rebel faction that will do nothing but cause more chaos if you’re recognized in Society. They’re far more favorable to Alice than the Order.”
Rose shook her head, a feeling of bleak inevitability stealing over her. But what did she expect, to somehow overthrow thousands of years of tradition in a few months? Succubus Society around the world evolved its two factions, elites and slinkers, gradually. Its rulers possessed a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. If slinkers achieved parity with them, or even a lesser sort of disparity, they might threaten the elites’ hold on power and wealth. To the ruling class in America, the Order looked like invaders—wild, untamed marauders come to steal their birthright. For them, recognizing the Order would be tantamount to inviting a thief you’ve caught in your den to stay the night.
“I get how Society might imagine we’re a threat to them,” Rose said.
“It’s worse than that,” Emily countered. “You’ve already proven you’re more than a threat. You took out Jason Kraft. You and I both know he’s a vicious tyrant who committed horrible crimes, but there are a lot of succubi in this town who quietly yearn for the old days when he ran Society. You ended that rule.”
“And they hate us for it,” Matt said.
“Right or not, it’s the way most people feel.” Emily sounded apologetic but frank.
“Alice offers them the same sort of feeling as Kraft,” Rose said, nodding as the thoughts coalesced in her mind. “The Irish might put a boot on American Society’s collective neck, but it’s a familiar boot.”
“And one most of them won’t feel,” Matt added. “It’s not like Alice and her people will chase down elite succubi and murder them in the street.”
“They have been, though,” Rose said. “From everything Preston and the others told us, Alice has been killing elite succubi who get in her way.”
“No one here believes that.” Emily’s tone carried a note of incredulity. “First off, it doesn't make sense. If Alice is looking to woo leaders on the hill, why murder any of them? If she’s found out, American Society will turn on her, and that’s the last thing she wants. Irish Society might be powerful, but they could never take over here by force, not while maintaining our secrecy from the humans. No, the Irish want a bloodless coup, and they’re well on their way to getting it. The murders your vampire friends have committed only forward that goal.”
Rose wanted to disagree. It made perfect sense for Alice to knock off a few succubi who stood in her way, especially with Piper’s crimes screening her actions. Pinning murders on a murderer sounded like the perfect alibi. When it came time to tally the body count, who would believe a vampire who had freely admitted to murdering droves of elite succubi when she claimed a handful weren’t her kills?
In succubus Society? No one.
Rose got the feeling Emily wouldn’t hear such logic. If the closest thing Rose had to a friend in Society plugged her ears to the truth, how much more so the rich and powerful elites who had nothing to gain from listening to theories that ran counter to their deeply held beliefs or interests?
“You understand this is it for us, Emily?” Rose asked.
“I don’t believe that.” Emily sounded apologetic, and though it was hard to tell through the phone, Rose trusted that she spoke from the heart. “The Order’s cause isn’t done. You just need to bide your time a little longer. Wait things out.”
Rose shook her head though she knew Emily couldn’t see her. Emily might believe that sort of vapid platitude—she didn’t know life as a slinker—but Rose knew better. Nonetheless, arguing the point would only serve to drive a wedge between them. Emily had called to break up, and Rose knew nothing she could say would deter her.
“I understand,” Rose said. “Tell Sheila thank you for everything. She backed us when no one else would. We’ll remember that.”
Matt looked a question at Rose, his head tilted to one side, his brows tight as if to ask why she had given up so easily.
She shrugged and shook her head.
“I will,” Emily said. “Your time will come. My mom and dad believe in you, and so do I. Just wait; things will eventually change in Society. They always do.”
Rose tapped the end call icon to cut the connection.
“What was that?” Matt sounded urgent. “You just gave up there at the end.”
“We weren’t going to convince her to keep helping, and it’s not even Emily’s call, it’s Sheila’s. Both of them obviously view the Order as a lost cause. Nothing I could say would change that.”
“We’re not giving up like she said.” Matt placed his warm hands on Rose’s shoulders, his expression grave. “The Order’s worth saving, and I’m not about to see it disbanded over the Irish or Piper.”
“I’m not giving up, hon, but I know a lost cause when I see it.”
“So, what are you thinking? I know that expression. You’re brooding; you’ve got a plan.”
Rose nodded slowly, her thoughts racing as she drew mental acuity to bolster them. “We have nothing to offer Society, and like Emily said, they have every reason to distrust us. No one’s going to believe we’re no longer affiliated with Piper and fighting to convince them otherwise while Alice is busy souring our reputation is useless.”
Matt shook his head as Rose spoke, his lips compressed into a line. “Please tell me you’re not suggesting we go to my father and Rubio for help. We’ve got the Consortium. We can go to them. We can—”
Rose placed her hands over his on her shoulders. “Not Kraft. Alice.”
Matt’s eyes widened, and he straightened up as if he had heard sudden, unexpected thunder. “What about her?”
“Hear me out,” Rose said. “We’ve lost our battle for recognition.”
Matt started to speak, to argue, but Rose overrode him.
“Emily is right; we’ve got nothing Society wants. In fact, they positively don’t want slinkers taking part in government. With Piper off the reservation, we’ve got no allies outside the Consortium, and let’s be honest, they’re powerful in their way, but they have no clout in American Society. They’ve allied with us because Thandiwe sees the Order as her means of getting a toehold in the States, but I wouldn’t blame her if she reconsidered that decision now that we’re on the outs with Sheila.”
“Okay, granted, but we’ve got more to offer the Consortium than we do Alice. Maybe you recall we tracked her down and attacked her? I don’t think she’s apt to forget that. And how’s Thandiwe going to react
if we make some sort of agreement with the Irish?”
“Alice is smart or she wouldn’t have made the sort of inroads she has into American Society.” Rose slid her arms around Matt and pressed her cheek to his shoulder. His skin felt warm through his shirt. “She knows we have a large network of slinkers. Yes, she can make our lives hell, but that’s a two-way street. We could make her little coup insufferable, attack her at every turn only to fade back into the shadows.”
“So what, we offer peace in exchange for some sort of recognition?”
“Yes. You heard Emily; Alice already has the elites sown up. They’re falling in line with her a little more every day.”
“And you want to fall in line with them.” Matt spoke without heat, his expression earnest. Had he reacted otherwise, she might have dug in her heels, but his respect for her opinions gave her the latitude to examine them without bias.
It took Rose a moment to order her thoughts. She understood Matt’s point of view. More than that, a large part of her agreed with him. The fighter in her yearned to rebel against the Irish, against Piper, against Society, while the pragmatist knew she would lose that battle.
“I want our people safe. I don’t see another way to accomplish that besides playing ball with the winning side.”
“And you don’t see the Consortium as that side?”
“Do you?” Rose pulled back to look Matt in the eyes.
He met her gaze for a moment before shaking his head. “They haven’t abandoned us yet, so that’s something, but no, they’re not as powerful as the Irish.”
“Especially not once Alice takes over Society. She’ll have all the might of the US Government at her disposal.”
“So, that’s our plan, humble ourselves before Alice and beg for peace? That’s going to shatter our treaty with the Consortium.”
“Maybe not. I think we can talk Thandiwe into siding with us. If Alice recognizes the Order as part of Society, Thandiwe might see that as her best means of keeping a finger in government here. She has to see America is going the way of Europe, and the Order isn’t big enough or powerful enough to change that. The best we can do is carve out our own bit of autonomy. Because what’s the alternative? A genocide on slinkers? A shadow war we’re destined to eventually lose? Even if we don’t lose, we’ll spend generations living as insurgents in our own country. I don’t want that for our people.”
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