by Dane, Lauren
“This threat needs to be addressed in another way too.” Rebecca looked straight at Helena. “Faine, I need to speak of something very sensitive.”
“You can trust me. As Helena is Gennessee, I am Gennessee.”
She shrugged and spoke under her breath and the privacy spell knitted around them.
“We need to think about what we’re going to do if and when these bills pass through Congress.”
“Yes. I’ve created a master plan for full military mobilization. I’ve coordinated with the wolves, cats and Vampires on this plan through the COO. We do not have the numbers the humans do, but we have the power they don’t. Lark is working with the witches to get spells in place to shut things down. The power grid, their communications network. The Kelly sisters up in the archives at Owen think they have a spell that will create a version of an EMP, which would disable nearly all their vehicles and everything else electrical. We’d need to be sure ours are shielded and Gage has been working with Marian and reps from different Other groups to get all that in place.”
Rebecca nodded, smiling. “You’re very organized.”
“I feel better when I make plans. If they try to advance this plan to arrest us and put us in camps . . . or worse, we have contingencies in place. I just finished it all when I returned this morning. I hard-copied everyone rather than taking the chance and emailing. It’s probably in your inbox.” She pointed.
Rebecca leaned forward to sift through her mail and found the envelope. “Smart to hard copy. We just don’t know if they have anyone else in our ranks, or if they have ways of hacking into our email or phones.”
“There’s a basic evacuation plan. The kids in the school will be transported to the nearest enclave. That’s where we’ve got the best numbers for protection. They’ve all been warded up tight. Once a physical evacuation has started, we’ll get the spells in place. You, Meriel, the other Clan leaders, Warden, de La Vega and Franco Pendergast will issue a statement of noncompliance. I’m told you all have that in hand?”
“Yes, we agreed on wording just a few hours ago. Meriel pre-recorded it and it’s set to go if and when we need it.”
Helena tried hard not to think about it in a big-picture way. If she just took care of all the preparatory steps she didn’t have to focus on the fact that they were actually really going to war with humans.
“I don’t think the humans have a majority on these ideas. I think the fringes are driving this bus.”
Helena tended to agree. “Hopefully if this ridiculous legislation passes through the both houses, the president will veto and the people will stand up and tell their elected officials to back off.”
“I hope so too. But planning is important. And how are we situated here?”
“If we’re stuck here, we can hold out for some time. The bottom floors are fortified. We’ve got food, water, generators. The armory is stocked. Several staff are trained medics.”
“A year ago, if someone had told me this would happen, that I’d be sitting here in my office planning an actual war with humans, I’d have told them they were crazy.” Rebecca blew out a frustrated breath. “All right, I’ll move to a enclave. Today. Keep me apprised on this business.”
Helena paused. “I think we need some eyes and ears on the ground in DC.”
“Yes? And what do you propose?”
“I think they’re watching us here as well as they can. I may have a way to travel to DC quickly and without notice. If it works out, I can go to DC, plant some spells in the homes and offices of a few people, and be back in a few hours.”
“Do it then. But damn you, Helena Jaansen, do not get caught and for all that is holy do not get killed. I love you like you’re one of my own and that would be something I’m not sure I could recover from.”
“I’ll do my best. I’ll have Marian coordinate with you on getting moved into the enclave as soon as possible and report back when I hear more.”
They left Rebecca’s office. “Have you eaten today?” Faine asked her as they walked.
“I had wedding cake.”
He smiled down at her, unable not to. “Be that as it may, other than what we ate at three in the morning, have you eaten?”
“Not in a while.”
“Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll have lunch while I call Mei to see what we can set up for later tonight.”
“All right. There’s food set up in the conference room for the live feed for the floor debate in the senate. I’m expecting a call from Lark soon as well so I’ll have to step out at some point.”
“I’ll make the call and meet you in there. Save me a seat.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
Rebecca wasn’t the only one who wasn’t sure she’d be able to survive it if anything happened to her. He’d keep doing what he was doing, which was everything possible to keep her safe while helping her do her job.
He dropped her off at the conference room.
“I’ll make you a plate too, but I can’t promise I won’t steal your pickle so don’t be gone too long.”
He shook his head. “Be back in a few.”
He headed to her office and put in a call to Card’s place, hoping they had stopped in San Francisco instead of heading to Tir nA nOg.
Card answered. “It’s Faine, is Mei around?”
“What trouble are you going to get my lovely wife into?”
Faine snorted. “You know me well.” He explained Helena’s plan to them both, as Mei had picked up the other line.
“Easily enough done,” Mei said. “Jayce can help. He’ll bring you, since I imagine you’re not going to let the two of us go alone, and Card will want Jayce with me anyway since he can’t go.”
“Exactly.”
“We’ll meet you in your living room at half past nine our time tonight.”
“Thank you, Mei.”
“She’s something else, your Helena. I’m glad to help.”
He hung up and headed over to watch the floor debate.
Chapter 24
MERIEL Owen appeared on the screen. Beautiful. Confident and calm. The perfect spokesperson on their behalf. Helena tried to relax her spine, but it was impossible.
She’d been on some of the news shows, as had Tosh and others on their side of this issue. But they also bought commercial time so she could speak directly to the American people.
“Today, the United States Senate will have a floor debate regarding the so-called Domestic Safety Act. This legislation calls for the wholesale removal of citizenship and basic civil rights for all Others, regardless of their status before the Magister appeared.
“Naturally, we are opposed to such measures and we hope that you, our neighbors and friends, our co-workers and fellow citizens of this great country, also oppose this legislation.
“That we have to beg to keep rights that are unalienable for everyone else is a humbling and disturbing moment in history. At base, this legislation is unfair. It is racist and patently hateful. Moving entire populations to camps? Chipping us so we can be tracked? I submit to you, my fellow citizens, that this is not American.
“Worry that we might interbreed and lessen the purity of humans, as expressed by Carlo Powers, smacks of the racism of the past that we have worked so hard to eradicate. Eradicating us? Well, that smacks of an entirely different type of racism, one that ended with the deaths of twelve million. How far, then, do we allow our fear and dislike to take us? This is a question you need to ask yourselves. Each and every American needs to ask it, and if your answer is that no matter our personal feelings we need to reject this sort of hateful legislation, I urge you, every last one of you, to call or contact your elected officials. This is happening right now. Today. And it’s imperative that your voices are heard.”
She paused and looked into the camera. “There have been accusations against
us. Speeches that attempt to turn around what is truth and use it as a weapon to paint us as unnatural monsters. All I can say to that is that monsters are real. But they’re not werewolves or witches. They’re people who’d attempt to twist our democracy to use it as a weapon to harm those whose only crime is to be different. I reject the words of men like Senator Hayes and Carlo Powers and I hope with all my heart that you do as well. Thank you for your attention.”
The room filled with applause as Faine moved to Helena. “She did good. I can only hope people listen.”
“Me too, alamah. I spoke to Card, we’re on for tonight.”
She blew out a breath. “All righty then. Sit down and eat. They’re about to switch over to the feed for the floor debates.”
• • •
TOSH and Delilah entered the senate floor from the dais and took their seats. They had met with their caucus, made up of members from both sides of the aisle, all of whom were going to speak that afternoon in opposition to The Domestic Safety Act.
The anger he’d been holding on to all day long burned in his gut, fueling the fight. This was wrong. So very wrong.
For years he’d known the people he was going to argue with. Had respected most of them despite their political differences. But this? This was different. To stand up and support this bill made Tosh sick to his stomach. He lost respect for every colleague who would do that.
He did report to the special FBI Task Force what he’d overheard Hayes and Powers talking about. Kidnapping and that sort of coercion was obviously criminal. Plotting to bring back the thing that killed so many Others was playing with fire. Not only a threat to the Others, but to everyone.
He gathered his thoughts and his courage as the procedural stuff got done. The gallery was packed and filled with law enforcement. He hoped they could get through this without any sort of riots.
Hayes went first and Tosh tried his best to tune out all but what might be needed to be addressed in his own comments. It was more of the same. Incendiary. Hateful.
Tosh had spoken to his grandmother just an hour before. She’d told him to stand up and speak from his heart and he’d be fine. He smiled at those words and her confidence in him to do the right thing.
He looked over to Delilah, smiling at the look on her face. She wanted to punch Hayes, no doubt. But then he also remembered her words about what it would be for them after he’d gotten her in bed.
Much more pleasant to think on that than the garbage Hayes was spewing. Then again, if he kept thinking on Delilah in his bed, he might not be able to stand up when it was time.
And then it was and he hoped like hell he did his grandmother proud. He stood and moved to the podium, took a deep breath and spoke from his heart.
“Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, there are very few times in our history that one could truly call seminal or history altering. Brown v. Board of Education is one. The flawed concept of Separate But Equal was done away with once and for all, and over the decades since, our children of all races have benefitted from an America free of those arbitrary restraints. The women’s rights movement that resulted in the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. The Americans with Disabilities Act. These were moments in our history when contrary to the easy thing, the courts and our elected bodies stood up and did the right thing.
“Right now we stand in one of those places. A year ago, my neighbor was a citizen. He and his family have run a bakery in my neighborhood for two generations now. And then when the Magister happened, we learned he was also a witch. One day he’s the guy who makes my grandfather’s favorite cinnamon bread, a third-generation American. A success story with four children and six grandchildren and a thriving business owner. His is the American Dream come true. He pays his taxes and is a model citizen.
“He is no different today than he was a year ago. Or six months ago. Or yesterday. And yet, people like Senator Hayes and his friends at PURITY want you to strip this man of his rights simply because we now know he’s a witch.
“Worse, they make thinly veiled threats of killing off those we don’t like. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not my America. We’ve seen this happen in the world more than once. How is this GPS chip they propose any more than a high-tech version of a yellow star and a tattoo? Or if we want to pretend they didn’t call for extermination of Others, any different from the internment camps my family was sent to during World War II? Or the reservations we sent Native Americans to? Will we post signs at the entrance that say Work Shall Make You Free?
“We are better than this bill. We are better than the fear Hayes and his friends are trying to manipulate so they can in one flick of a pen eradicate the basic rights and dignity of a large minority of this country. Your friends. Your neighbors. Your mechanics. The teachers, bakers, bricklayers, senators, mayors, bank tellers, hundreds of thousands of every day Americans who have done absolutely nothing wrong. Different does not mean we can’t live together. Different does not mean we have to fear what we don’t understand. We are smarter than that. We are better than that.
“We stand here on the precipice once again. We can continue to be the better people we are capable of. We are capable of the kind of action history will remember as bold and brave. Or we can repudiate everything we stand for and embrace this murderous bill and accept that our hands will be stained with the blood of innocents. The choice is clear. I will be voting no and I urge all my colleagues to do the same.”
He sat down and the smile Delilah sent him warmed him to his toes.
Delilah, who then took over at the podium.
“When I was six, my father died. Because of ridiculous medical bills, we lost everything and had to move to public housing. And from six until I was seventeen my family and I lived in a not-so-very nice part of Chicago in the projects. To many of you, Cabrini Green was a horror story you read in a newspaper. But for me? It was home. My older brother, who is now an electrician, was big for his age. He walked me and my sister everywhere. To and from school, later to my after-school job and then home again after my shift ended. We often went out together to escort my mother to one of her three jobs.
“Cabrini Green was closed by the city in 2010, but for me, the best day of my life was when we moved away from it to a small house in the suburbs. My mom still lives in that house. My sister, who is a small business owner, lives about three miles from my mother and my brother about half an hour away from them both.
“Senator Sato just spoke about the American dream? I’m living proof. I went from abject poverty and violence to college and graduate school on scholarship. And then I came back home and ran for office at the state level. Openly as a werewolf. And I was elected.”
She looked around the room. “The people of my district knew what I was and they elected me. Not because I was a werewolf. But because they trusted me to represent them and their needs at the capital. I have represented the same area of Illinois now for over a decade. First at the state level and then at the federal level as a senator. As a werewolf. Openly.
“If my constituents feel like I’m not doing what’s right for them, they let me know. They call and they send me letters and emails and let me tell you, my being a werewolf has never stopped any of them from letting me know exactly what they think.
“What I’m trying to say is this: We don’t need camps. We don’t need GPS chips. We don’t need any of this xenophobic, racist hateful rhetoric that attempts to estrange us all from one another. So we didn’t know this time last year that there were witches and now we do. Is this an excuse to simply lose our minds and our dignity? We are Americans. This is a time when we need to come together and be an example of how to overcome adversity, not to act shamefully and hatefully because we are afraid.
“Earlier today, Carlo Powers stood in the hall outside my office and he called me a werewolf whore.”
Gasps sounded as people turned to look at Powers, who
shook his head as if she were lying.
“Now, as a strong woman with her own voice, it’s not the first time a man who was threatened by that called me a whore or attempted to use my gender to try to shame me. But he didn’t stop there. He called me a werewolf whore. This, my fellow Americans, this is where their agenda leads us. Nothing good will come of this legislation. Nothing good ever comes from reacting with hatred to things we fear. We are Americans. We are entirely capable of taking this moment and turning it around and learning from each other. Let us join together instead of letting ourselves be torn apart. We can be stronger than the fear. Better than the haters. I’m voting no on this legislation and I urge the rest of my colleagues to do the same.”
Tosh was on his feet, applauding before he realized it.
• • •
“STOP thinking about that right now and focus.” Faine smacked her butt to get her attention.
“Hey!”
“Hey what? I’m trying to show you how your weight distribution is off with your kick and you’re trying to watch television.”
“There’s a riot in St. Louis, for heaven’s sake, Faine. I’m not watching a sitcom or anything.”
“There will be riots all over the place. You know it. You can’t do anything to stop it, and in an hour you’ll have other things to deal with, so get your head in the game or stop wasting my time.”
She sniffed, clearly annoyed, but turned the news down and gave him her full attention. Which was good. She was distracted and he realized that this thing they were about to do in DC was dangerous enough with her totally focused on it. She needed to let go of everything else for the time being.
“Your pivot is the issue here. You redistribute your weight at the pivot in a way that’s predictable. Anyone who watched you fight for more than a few minutes—and they should because you’re quite good—would see that flaw and they’d anticipate it. You leave too much of your body exposed for those seconds. Kick lower and snap your leg back as you pivot to cut that exposure down.”
