Old Harold's service the night before looked to be a poorly attended affair, too, until the multitude of expensive automobiles had driven into the schoolyard. Ashe, Cori and Sali had gaped at the well-dressed vampires whose limousine doors were opened by vampire drivers. Radomir had walked up to one of them, dipped his head respectfully and called the vampire he spoke with "Honored One." Ashe didn't know what that meant until after Old Harold's service was over and he and the others watched the vehicles drive away.
"Son, that was the Head of the Vampire Council," Aedan had pulled Ashe against his side. "His name is Wlodek, and he knew Old Harold longer than any of us."
"He was a friend?" Ashe had searched his father's face, watching as Aedan grimaced. Ashe realized his father had been surprised by Wlodek's visit. Radomir may have known and kept the information to himself.
"A good friend to Harold. He was much upset over this. Come, we will take Salidar home." Sali's parents hadn't stayed for Old Harold's service, and Aedan had promised to see Sali home safely. Ashe thought it a shame that the Cloud Chief Packmaster hadn't stayed; Marcus might have been surprised to see the Head of the Vampire Council.
Now, Sali wasn't at school to talk about the night before. Cori, too, had been shocked that so many important vampires had come. Another visitor had been a member of the Council. He, Radomir and the Head of the Council had talked at length before the visitors drove away.
"What do you think this means for the peace agreement?" Cori pushed peas around her tray with a fork.
"What?" Ashe was pulled away from his thoughts by Cori's question.
"That somebody—maybe a werewolf—killed a friend of the Vampire Council's chief."
"I don't know, Cori." Ashe sighed and pushed his tray away. The food suddenly tasted like dust. "But I'm worried that they'll break up the supernatural communities, and that means we won't get to see our friends."
"Yeah. Something like that would definitely break up a lot of friendships. Ashe, I miss James."
"I know."
"It was nice of Mr. Winkler to come talk to us last night."
"Yeah. Cori, there's a bunch of people coming down the hallway outside." Ashe heard more footsteps than usual. Principal Billings strode down the hall, leading a group of werewolf parents and their children, smallest to tallest, as they walked inside the school cafeteria.
"Has anyone seen Marco?" Marcus DeLuca stepped around Principal Billings and looked about Cloud Chief Combined's cafeteria. Ashe saw Sali, partly hidden behind his father. Sali looked frightened and Sali didn't frighten easily. Heads were shaking all over the cafeteria now; none of the students had seen Sali's older brother.
"Oh, no," Cori's hand went to her mouth and it was shaking.
"Cori, don't jump to conclusions," Ashe grabbed her fingers and held them.
"Ashe," Cori wiped tears away with her other hand.
"Dad! I'm here, Dad!" Ashe heard Marco's voice from the front doors of the school. Marcus heard it too, a bare second after Ashe did. Marco was running.
"Son, what happened?" Marcus now gripped a panting Marco's shoulders in strong hands.
"Dad, somebody killed her. Somebody shot Megan." Marco sobbed in Marcus' arms. Cori's arms were around Ashe quickly, and she was crying as well. Ashe blinked as he awkwardly patted Cori's back. Megan was the girl Marco went to see at the Burger Hut. She was human and she'd been killed, just as Terry Smith had. Whatever this maelstrom was, it was pulling humans into it, too.
* * *
"Early this morning," Adele explained the circumstances surrounding Megan's death as Ashe picked at his dinner that evening. School was let out in Cloud Chief after Marcus and Principal Billings had come to the cafeteria. Rides were found for all the children, even if two trips had to be made. Nobody was allowed to walk home. They all waited, holding their breath to see whether Megan Lindley, the seventeen-year-old human girl, had been shot with the same gun that killed Terry Smith.
"Where?" Ashe asked as he watched his mother. Her head was down, her eyes staring at her plate as she grimly dipped into the enchilada casserole she'd made for dinner.
"On her way to school. She was walking through a neighborhood when the shot rang out. Nobody saw anything. The sniper had to be on foot; there wasn't a car driving through."
Ashe had watched the six o'clock news before his mother came home, and all they'd said was the girl had been gunned down by an unknown assailant. The journalists were waiting for a statement from the authorities, who couldn't make a comment at the time. Ashe had seen Megan many times at the Burger Hut; she worked there after school. Had even seen Marco talking to her often during the previous summer, when school was out and he'd been helping his mother at Cordell Feed and Seed. Ashe worried about his mother, working in Cordell as she did, six days a week.
Aedan found them still sitting at the kitchen table when he walked through the middle door later. Neither Ashe nor his mother had cleared the table. "Adele?" the question was heavy in his father's voice.
"That girl that Marco liked in Cordell? She was shot and killed this morning." Ashe heard his father curse, and Aedan's eyes were red. Ashe dropped his head into his arms at the kitchen table. Radomir came up the steps and stared at the family sitting at the table. Aedan growled as he explained what happened to the vampire Enforcer.
"I am glad that the Honored One and the others kept their visit a secret," Radomir said, causing Ashe's head to jerk up in surprise. Radomir suspected that those vampires might be targets if the community had known they were coming? This bore thinking about. Ashe rose and started clearing away the dishes. Adele rose to help.
"I'll do this, Mom, if you and Dad want to talk."
"We'll go outside for a bit, son. Do you have homework?" Aedan asked.
"No, Dad. They let us out today at noon, when we found out about the murder." Aedan nodded at Ashe's statement.
"Just get the dishes into the washer, I'll get it started when I come back inside," Adele caressed Ashe's head, her fingers bringing a little order to Ashe's slightly curly hair.
"All right." Ashe nodded and emptied uneaten food down the disposal.
* * *
"Sali, Mom has to go there to work every day. What if they come into the store?" Ashe poured his fears into the phone later as he talked with his best friend.
"Can't we hire bodyguards?" Sali asked.
"Who would you hire? Sali, the one you hire could be the bad one." Ashe wanted to talk to Sali about what he'd chased the last time he'd gone out as mist; he just couldn't. If he revealed those secrets, he'd be in trouble for sure.