Chapter 19 #2
He tried to warn me. He tried to stop us from getting into this situation where more humans knew about our existence—and might decide to come after us.
And I didn’t listen.
I hang my head, as much as I have a head in my current state. “I think we’re all fine. I’m sorry. I had no idea—I didn’t think they’d be so scared after everything I said on the TVs.”
Why do so many of them hate us for what seems like no reason at all?
Rollick sighs. “It isn’t your fault, Peri.
Maybe we couldn’t have helped word spreading farther, and your efforts have meant they aren’t as unwelcoming as they would have been otherwise.
I can understand wanting to believe in people.
It’s only that they don’t often justify the faith, in my experience. ”
“Some of them have. But… so many of them think the worst of us without giving us a chance.” My insides squirm. “What if it only gets harder? What if even more of them start attacking us?”
Rollick’s presence halts at the edge of the camp, and we all stop alongside him. He’s quiet for a moment, but his energy continues roiling.
“I’ve been considering what measures we could take,” he says, “if we decide it’s gone too far, that we’re dealing with an emergency. Do you know about Andreas’s powers?”
Andreas—the shadowblood Riva usually calls “Drey.” I haven’t seen as much of him as some of the others.
I peer around us as if I might spot his dark, lanky frame. “No. Can he make humans like us more?”
The demon sounds as if he’s stifled a guffaw. “No. His supernatural skills mainly have to do with memory. With some effort, he could make all the humans here forget they ever saw us. And since shadowbloods aren’t affected by silver and iron like us, that includes the ones wearing badges.”
Hail sounds skeptical. “The rift would still be here. And all the people who saw us on the news.”
“We could continue working on the rift’s issues more discreetly than we are at present,” Rollick says. “As for our wider audience… Andreas has done some experimenting with using his powers at a distance. He may be able to broadcast them just like you did your little show.”
The idea gives me a rush of relief. If we could hide back away that easily, escape all the animosity that’s been aimed at us, pretend we were never here… wouldn’t that be better after all? Has knowing about us actually helped anyone?
Even as the urge to tell Rollick to go for it full speed ahead wraps around me, other sorts of doubts rise up.
“Not everyone who saw us before will be watching TV at the same time. And what if the memory wipe doesn’t work completely even though Andreas is a shadowblood? If the humans realize that we’ve tried to mess with their heads, they’ll have a good reason to be afraid of us.”
And then what? Will they declare war on us with their tanks and guns?
As if drawn by that thought, Colonel Hueber struts past us, unaware that we’re watching from the shadows. He waves to a nearby cluster of his soldiers. “All clear on the east side?”
They salute him. “Yes, sir!”
“No more meddling from those crazy monsters?”
“Things have been very quiet, sir.”
“Good riddance. Stay on your guard and keep your weapons ready.”
I ball in tighter on myself. “He knows we’ve been doing our best to work with him.”
“Not if he doesn’t want to know it.” Rollick’s presence brushes closer to mine. “I’ll call together a meeting. We can hash it out together. I wanted you to know that there are options.”
As he veers off through the shadows, I notice another figure in military uniform standing by one of the temporary cabins. Major Yin is watching the colonel, his mouth slanted at a tight angle.
I’m so used to picking up on the emotions of everyone around me that I’m not surprised to taste his uneasiness, tart as pomegranate. Then a jolt ripples through my essence.
I can’t pick up anything from Hueber or the other nearby soldiers. Unlike them, Yin isn’t wearing a badge to ward me off.
He’s not as scared of us as they are. Is it his boss making him uncomfortable, not the shadowkind who might be lurking around?
Mirage sidles over to me. “Come on, Rainbow. Let’s get away from these grouches.”
“I don’t think they’re all grouchy.” I push myself forward. “I’m going to talk to Major Yin.”
Raze and Hail both let out sounds of consternation, but they tag behind me as I slink over. I don’t want to make a big production out of this conversation.
After a few minutes, the major heads into the cabin. I slip after him and note that he’s alone in the compact space.
Perfect. Well, other than the fact that I’m going to look like a breaking-and-entering stalker.
I pop into physical form with an appeal already on my lips. “Hi! I’m sorry to barge in. I didn’t think your boss would be happy if he saw me coming over.”
Yin startles and takes a step back toward the wall as if he needs it to steady himself. He doesn’t reach for the gun on his belt, though, which I think is a win.
His voice comes out carefully if a bit rough. “You’re the shadowkind who caught the attention of all the news stations. Periwinkle? What do you want now?”
The question isn’t exactly friendly, but I’m warmed by the fact that he remembers my name—and that he called me a shadowkind rather than a monster.
I back up to give him more personal space and clasp my hands in front of me. “I just… Things have gotten kind of tense in the camp for us shadowkind. You must have noticed. I wanted to find out… Do you want us to go away? Or for the hunters to get rid of us?”
If he has negative intentions, he could lie—but I’d be able to tell from the shifting of his emotional state.
Instead, the major hesitates, uncertainty and something with the cherry-tang of hope winding together inside him.
“I think you’ve been doing more than any of us have managed to mitigate the effects of the catastrophe,” he says in a guarded tone. “What exactly is it you’ve been doing that’s diminishing the dark areas over the city?”
Oh. Er.
“I’m not totally sure how it works,” I admit. “When I focus on warm and friendly feelings, it seems like the rift’s energies sort of… calm down, at least a little. I want to figure out how to cover more area faster so we can get all those people back home.”
A flicker of a memory passes through my head—how I managed to reach farther with my glow earlier today with my men helping.
What would happen if I had more beings focusing on those encouraging emotions with me? Would the collaboration even work with anyone other than my mates?
Yin’s stance and his inner state relax more.
“That’s a goal we can all agree on, even if we have some differences of opinion about the methods.
” His gaze darts to the cabin’s small window and back to me.
“You know we have to look after our own. We can’t place the needs of whatever exactly you are over humankind. ”
“Of course not.” I smile at him. “But I do hope we can at least cooperate so we’re all better off.”
A hint of his own smile touches his lips. “I’d like that too, Periwinkle. I’m doing my best to see that we get there, for all our sakes.”
At the rap of knuckles on the door, he stiffens again. Without needing an order, I duck into the shadows so whoever’s calling on him won’t find me there.
My shadowkind mates and Fen have been watching the whole conversation. I drift with them back into the center of the camp. Around us, other shadowkind are moving toward Rollick’s trailer for the meeting he’s called.
“What are you going to do?” Fen asks.
Hail lets out a humph. “One human who isn’t totally awful isn’t much in the grand scheme of things.”
No, it’s not. But when I think about Major Yin and the way he accepted my presence, his curiosity about my methods and his willingness to show his appreciation, the worries that’ve been jabbing at me soften.
It isn’t just Yin. There are dozens of people who’ve spoken up for us right here in the camp. Who knows how many have all around the world?
How can we risk a full-out human-shadowkind war when there are still so many reasons to hope?
We enter the trailer to find Sorsha and her men as well as all six of the shadowbloods already there. A large assortment of Rollick’s other shadowkind allies lurk around them, mostly sticking to the darkness.
Jonah comes through the door right after we arrive, and we materialize to stand around him. He shoots me a grateful smile. “I was starting to wonder how far you’d wandered off.”
I squeeze his hand. “I had a chat with Rollick. And… someone else.”
Rollick himself emerges from the shadows at the head of the table and claps his hands for attention. “All right, people. Let’s get down to business. If we’re going to attempt to return to our previous state of secrecy—”
I don’t see any point in letting him go on. “No.”
Rollick’s gaze snaps to me. His tone turns dry. “You have an objection already, Peri?”
I lift my chin. “I got scared today, but that’s on me.
I don’t want to take back what I’ve done, not unless we absolutely have to, and I don’t think we’re there yet.
If we try, we could create a way bigger problem.
We have humans hunting us, but we also have lots of them cheering us on.
Aren’t we just as bad as them if we dismiss them all because of a few horrible ones?
Don’t you criticize them for doing that to us? ”
Rollick’s glower makes me want to crawl back inside my skin. Have I driven my point home a little too hard?
But the words felt even more right coming out of my mouth than they did in my head. If we want humans to be better than they are, we have to show them how.
Before he can speak, Sorsha’s tall, slim mate with the bright curls nods and speaks in an equally bright voice. “That sounds right to me. I have seen a lot of kind behavior from some of the humans around the camp.”
Sorsha shoots him an affectionate glance. “You see the good in everyone almost as much as Peri does, Snap. But you do have a point.” She turns to Rollick. “We’ve got to tread carefully. I don’t see any reason to pull out the big guns yet.”
Murmurs of agreement pass around the trailer.
Rollick’s mouth twists. Before he can say anything else, another shadowkind bursts into physical form right by the door she must have ducked under.
“That bunch of hunters who’ve settled in outside of the camp,” she says breathlessly. “They’ve captured a human! Because she came here asking to talk to the shadowkind—to talk to Peri. I think she said her name is Gracie.”