Chapter 9 #2
"The sheriff has a gun." Many had guns, and he feared some would fire at crows without hesitation. Fuck, what if a crow came to the shop, and the sheriff shot them?
Without thinking, he stepped closer to Thano and took his hand. "Thano, I don't want anyone to get hurt."
"Don't worry." Thano pressed his free palm against Eli's chest. "I'll deal with this."
"Deal with it? How?"
Thano smiled. "Not sure yet. I'll talk to the others. It feels like the board didn't learn their lesson last time."
Eli's breath stuttered. "You're gonna kill the board?"
Thano shrugged. "I'm not sure who's on the board anymore, and Conal won't know either.
" He went up on tiptoe and pressed his lips against Eli's, but he only kept them there, didn't move.
A bit strange but not unpleasant. Eli angled his head a fraction and turned it into a kiss.
Then he jerked away. What the hell was he doing? Again.
"We can't do this here."
"Why?"
"It's forbidden." Eli wasn't sure if there was a written law against it. It didn't mean you wouldn't die if caught, though. Eli had lived all his life in Last Hope, he was well aware of the risks, which was why he never touched anyone. "I'll be killed or exiled if caught."
"Right now, exiled sounds pretty good." Thano took a step in the direction of the door.
"If you're a vampire perhaps, but humans die quickly off the paved road."
Thano grinned. "Don't worry. Too many breed care about you to want to eat you. Stay away from the vampires, though. We bite." He winked, and Eli gaped. He hadn't believed Thano capable of a gesture like that.
"See you tomorrow." Then Thano was gone. Eli stared at the door and blew out a breath. What a fucked-up day.
* * * *
Thano shadow walked back to The Moonlight Ranch and went straight for Romeo's. He was working in his garden with Humbert by his side.
"Meeting tonight."
Romeo jumped, squealed, and clutched his chest. "Jesus fucking Christ, Thano! Don't do that!"
"What?" But Thano was trying hard to suppress a laugh. Humbert wasn't trying, he was laughing full-on.
"Stop scaring me." Romeo glared at him, then he blew out a breath, and Thano noticed he had the onions and Jerusalem artichokes Tuur and he had given him. "Why is there a meeting?"
"They kicked Conal off the board, appointed a sheriff, and have forbidden breed to enter Last Hope."
Romeo stared at him. "What?"
"Eli is worried."
"He should be. It doesn't sound safe." He looked out over the crumbling cabins and scrunched his face. "Should I move my family?"
Move them? Where? "Let's see what happens. I want a meeting, and I want everyone to be there."
"I'll be there!" Humbert quivered with excitement.
"I meant all adults." When Humbert shrank into himself, Thano sighed. "You can come too. You're always there anyway."
Romeo smiled at him. "Do you want me there too, or only breed?"
Romeo didn't attend the meetings, never had. Breed made the decisions on The Moonlight Ranch. Romeo did his thing in and around the house, but they ruled their territory. "Yes, we might need some human input, so you can come too."
Romeo nodded. All joy was gone from his face. "You realize this is bad, right? Eli is right to be concerned. Everyone knows he's making deals with breed, and if they're forbidding everyone who isn't human to be in Last Hope--"
"They can't. How will they control vampires' shadow walking? It's where we hunt. Last Hope might be a human settlement, but it's in our territory, it's our hunting grounds. And the crows fly where they want, Raven and Draven too. They can't forbid breed to be there."
Romeo pressed his lips together. "They can try, and if they want to make an example out of anyone, Eli or my family are the ones they'll target."
Thano wasn't sure he understood what Romeo meant. "Target how?"
Romeo grimaced and rubbed his chest. "I'm not sure what they'd do. I suspect they'd fire my family members, so they don't have an income." He pressed his lips together, then straightened his back. "I'm gonna go get them."
"What?"
"I have a bad feeling. They can stay in the house for a couple of days." Romeo threw the small spade-like thing he'd been using to dig on the ground. "Will you come with me?" He looked at Thano.
Come with? He'd come back from Last Hope moments ago.
"I'd feel safer if someone came with me."
"I'll come!" Humbert waved his hand.
"I'm sorry, bud, but we need not to be seen, and people notice you."
Humbert looked so sad, it tugged at something deep inside Thano, but they couldn't bring a non-human-passing person into town.
They didn't allow it on good days, and Romeo was right, there were people with guns in the town.
If they saw a boy with bear ears, bear feet, and bear eyes, there was a risk they'd shoot.
"Thano."
Thano didn't know what the look Romeo sent him meant. "What?"
"Please, come with me."
"Where is Ciar?"
Romeo gestured at the trees, and Thano took it to mean he and Draven were out hunting again, but then he spotted a black panther resting on a thick branch. His eyes were fixed on Thano.
"But Ciar would take up a seat in the car. You could be in smoke form."
Thano glared at him. "I don't have a smoke form, and even with the shadows around me, I take up space."
"I was hoping you'd shadow-hop back." He grinned. "Stay invisible as I get my family, make sure we get out okay, then you hop on home."
The sound coming from Ciar wasn't a growl exactly, but it was a sound of displeasure. He stretched and jumped down from the tree. He stalked over to them with his head held low only to shift when he was a few steps away.
"Thano."
Thano dipped his head in greeting.
"Do we need to attack them?"
"It might come to that. Meeting tonight to discuss how to handle it."
Ciar nodded, then focused on Romeo. "I can run home. I'll go with you in the car, and then come back on foot."
"No. I don't want you out there running. What if someone shoots you?"
Ciar huffed. "It's off the paved road."
"Not inside Last Hope."
"I'll go." Thano didn't want to, but if someone harmed Romeo in any way, they'd slaughter the people in Last Hope.
* * * *