Anne Bishop - Written in Red

He knew enough to insist she put the pieces behind the office instead of out front, where humans could see. Humans had already seen enough of between forms. It was better if they didn’t see Crows with little hands at the ends of their wings, pulling food apart.

While the Crows were distracted, he took his pieces of pizza and ate at the front counter, watching the street.

Merri Lee had brought new sweaters for Meg and persuaded her to see Elizabeth Bennefeld for a massage to relax. So Meg was in the Market Square, being pampered, by the time Simon finally locked up the Liaison’s Office. When he stepped out the back door, he noticed Blair leaning against the garage, waiting for him.

“Henry is very angry,” Blair said quietly. “He shifted and wants to be left alone until tomorrow.”

“Did he say anything before shifting?” Simon asked.

“Someone hired the intruder to take Meg away from us. They gave him a number to call but nothing else. He also said someone left him messages, telling him where Meg lived and when she was in the office. He didn’t know who was helping him.”

“Someone who knows where Meg lives.” She was protected in the Green Complex, but in the office? “Someone stays with her from now on. More than Crows keeping watch. More than someone upstairs who might not reach her before she’s hurt.”

Blair hesitated.

“She saw me as Wolf, and she wasn’t afraid. So there will be one of the Wolfgard in the office when she’s working.”

Blair nodded. “Boone wants to know if he should put out the sign and let everyone know we have special meat.”

Simon almost agreed. Then he thought about the police. He had let them in, and Montgomery was going to come sniffing around for a while. And he thought about Meg asking for meat for Sam, and he thought about the Ruthie shopping in the Market Square. Sooner or later, both females would see the sign and have to accept what it meant. But this time it would be too obvious where the meat came from.

“No sign,” he said. “Pass the word that there is meat available for whoever wants it. And make sure at least some of the blood is offered to Erebus.”

“That part was already done. Nyx came by and collected it.”

Yes. Erebus would want blood from the man who tried to take Meg, who touched Meg.

“You want us to save any meat for you?” Blair asked.

He wasn’t human. Would never be human. “I want the heart. I’ll come by for it later.”

When Meg was asleep.

By the time Meg woke up the next morning, the sun was shining and the sky was a clean blue. Poking her nose out her front door convinced her that, despite the blue sky and sunshine, it was still wicked cold. Since there was nothing she had to do and nowhere she had to go, she warmed up the last piece of pizza and ate it for breakfast while she read a few more chapters of the book she’d borrowed from the Courtyard library.

The last two Earthdays in the Courtyard had been full of turmoil of one kind or another, but just by looking out her window, Meg sensed a difference. Today the Green Complex, maybe even the whole Courtyard, felt quieter.

When she got tired of reading, she dusted the furniture, swept the floors, and ran the sweeper over the carpets. By the time she took a shower and wiped down the bathroom, she was also tired of domesticity, and feeling a little uneasy about the lack of company.

Was she the only one in the complex? Was everyone else off doing something in another part of the Courtyard?

You’re safe here, she thought. No one is going to come this far into the Courtyard, looking for you.

Even so, by the time she’d eaten the stew Meat-n-Greens had sent home with her yesterday, she wanted to get out of the apartment, despite the cold. So she gathered up her clothes and towels, then bundled herself up for the short walk to the laundry room. Once she had the washers going, she went upstairs to the social room.

Henry looked up and smiled when she entered.

“Didn’t expect to see you up and about today,” he said.

She shifted her feet, suddenly wishing she’d stayed downstairs. “Humans aren’t that fragile. I was scared yesterday, and my wrist got bruised. It’s not like I fell off a cliff or something.”

He laughed, a warm sound. “You are the first human to live among us here, so there is much for us to learn.”

She came closer to the table where he was sitting. “But you have those apartments that you let people use. And you have people working for you and shopping at the Market Square.”

“We have those things,” he agreed, “but that’s not the same as living among us the way you do now.”

She didn’t know what to say, so she focused on the colored bits and pieces on the table. “A puzzle?”

“A pleasant diversion on a winter afternoon.” He gestured to the other chair. “Sit and join me if you wish.”

She sat and picked up several pieces, one after another.

“You have never put together a puzzle?” Henry asked.

Meg shook her head. “I’ve seen pictures of games, including puzzles like this, but there was no need for us to play them in order to recognize them in a vision.”

“Then it’s time for you to experience the world instead of just identifying its pieces.”

She watched him work for a minute before she began to look for connecting pieces. There was an easiness to the silence between them. In fact, they didn’t speak until she returned from the laundry room, having put the clothes and towels in the dryers.

“Are we the only ones in the complex?” she asked when she took her seat at the table.

Henry nodded. “Most are spending the day with their kin in the other complexes. The Coyote is enjoying a run.”

“And Tess?” Meg put four puzzle pieces together before picking up her thought. “I’ve seen her only in her human form.”

“None of us have seen her other form. We know she is terra indigene. We know how to read her warning signs. But what she is when she sheds her human skin—that is something known only to Namid.”

Deciding she’d asked enough questions, Meg worked on the puzzle with Henry until her laundry was dry. She packed up her laundry bag, bundled herself for the quick walk, and headed back to her apartment.

Halfway there, she saw the Wolf rushing toward her in the fading afternoon light.

“Sam! No!” Simon’s voice.

The pup ran past her instead of leaping on her, then turned back and tried to grab a corner of the laundry bag.

“If you rip the bag and I have to wash all these clothes again, I’ll wash you with them,” Meg warned.

His head cocked. His tail wagged. And she wondered if she had just put a very bad idea in a puppy’s head. But he wouldn’t actually try to climb into a washer. Would he?

Sam spun around and rushed toward Simon, who was standing near his own apartment door. The pup leaped up, barely giving Simon enough time to catch him before leaping down and running back to Meg.

Once she was close enough that he was bouncing between them, he began talking at her.

Smiling, she shook her head. “I don’t speak Wolf . ”

“No shifting out here,” Simon said firmly. “It’s cold. ”

Sam talked back at his uncle.

As a reply, Simon opened his apartment door. “Go inside, and I’ll ask her.”