She hadn’t heard him come in. Nathan squeezed behind her to crowd her on the other side, wedging her between a Wolf in Wolf form and a Wolf in human form. It made her very aware that she was a short human—and it made her aware that the pins-and-needles feeling was quickly fading.
Simon put two twenty-dollar bills on the counter. “People might ask questions if you buy too many. A box of each flavor will be sufficient.”
“Fair enough.” Harry pocketed the bills. “I’ll see what I can do.” He tapped a finger to the brim of his cap and left.
“Watch the counter,” Simon said, then took Meg by the arm, hauled her into the sorting room, and closed the Private door.
“Nathan can’t sign for packages unless he shifts,” Meg protested. “And a naked Wolf is not going to make deliverymen feel easy.”
“This will only take a minute. Why are you scratching your arm?”
“It prickled.” When she reached for her right arm again, he grabbed both her wrists and held her hands apart. “Simon!”
“Your skin hasn’t been prickling all week. Not here, not at home. And you haven’t needed to cut.”
He was being careful not to hurt her, so she didn’t struggle—especially when she realized he was right about the pins-and-needles feeling. And he was right about the cutting, up to a point. Some days she wanted to cut, desperately wanted to feel the euphoria, but she didn’t need to cut. While everyday activities couldn’t match the orgasmic release that came from cutting, they did blunt the need. And being surrounded by neighbors who had a wickedly keen sense of smell meant you couldn’t hide even the smallest cut.
“I don’t understand,” Meg said.
“When I went to that meeting on Great Island? Steve Ferryman said that Intuits live in small communities in order to become attuned with the place where they live and the people around them.”
“I’ve never heard of Intuits.”
He looked uncomfortable. “They’re a between kind of human.”
“Between what?”
“Between a human like Lieutenant Montgomery and a human like you. Most of the Intuits can’t see prophecies, but they get feelings about things, for good or bad.”
“Most of them?” Meg’s heart jumped. “But some of them do see visions, speak prophecies?”
Fur sprang out on Simon’s cheeks and hands, then retreated and returned. Involuntary shifting was a sure sign of strong emotions in the Others.
“The cassandra sangue originally came from the Intuits,” Simon admitted. “At least, that’s what I was told.”
He didn’t want to tell me that, Meg thought. So why is he telling me now?
But the wonder of it! Her friend Jean had insisted that girls like them could live outside in the world. Jean had come from a family that had lived outside the control of people who became richer with every scar a girl acquired.
Jean.
Meg cried out and tried to claw at her arms, but Simon still held her wrists.
“Meg!”
Couldn’t cut now. Not with Simon holding on to her and Nathan howling in the front room in response to whatever he was sensing. And if Nathan didn’t shut up, there would be Wolves and Bears and Sanguinati crowding in and wanting to know what was wrong.
“I’m okay,” she gasped. “I’m okay.”
“I’ll send him away,” Simon growled. “I don’t care if he wants to meet you. I won’t allow him to enter the Courtyard.”
“Who? What?” Had to regain control. Couldn’t think about Jean or the compound. Concentrate on something new. Intuits. Could they help her understand how to live in the outside world?
“Steve Ferryman,” Simon snapped. “He’s not even here yet and he upset you!”
“No, he didn’t. I was thinking about my friend Jean. You can’t blame Mr. Ferryman for that. And I would like to meet him.”
“Why? Have you seen him?”
She hadn’t known he existed until Simon mentioned him, so where would she see …?
Of course. She could have seen this man in a vision—just as she’d first seen Simon in a vision. But she hadn’t seen Steve Ferryman, hadn’t known anything about him or humans who were called Intuits.
Did the Controller know about these people?
Focus on Simon. “You said Intuits live in small communities. If blood prophets started out as Intuits, maybe that’s also an important thing to know about people like me.”
The fur receded from Simon’s cheeks. The fingernails were still claws, but he was being careful not to damage her.
“I did wonder if it might be the same for you,” Simon said. “Maybe your skin isn’t prickling all the time because you’ve gotten used to us.”
She thought about the routine of her days. She opened the Liaison’s Office and mostly had Nathan, and sometimes Jake Crowgard, snoozing in the front room in between deliveries. All the deliverymen were people she saw a couple of times a week. She went to the Quiet Mind class with Merri Lee, Heather, and Ruth Stuart. At the Green Complex, she came in daily contact with Henry, Tess, Vlad, Julia Hawkgard, Jester Coyotegard, and Jenni Crowgard and her sisters. And Simon.
There had been little prickles—like the time when Ruth misplaced her keys after class—but she was learning that small things could be dealt with in mundane ways, like having your friends help you look for the keys, so little prickles could be ignored.
“I’ll have to think about this some more, pay more attention,” she said.
“You haven’t been scratching at your skin until today.”
“Is something happening today?”
He growled, and she watched his canines lengthen.
“Maybe you need to go outside and run around for a while.”
“Did that.”
Meg sighed. When she tried to tug her wrists out of his hold, he released her. “Simon, go to your meeting. Try not to bite anyone. And after work, you and Sam and I can go for a walk.”
“Okay. Yeah. All right.”
He sounded unhappy. He arranged this meeting, so why would he be unhappy? Unless it had something to do with her?
“If it really bothers you, I don’t have to meet Mr. Ferryman,” she said, trying to interpret his body language and expression.
“You should meet him. Just … don’t like him too much.” He looked toward the front room. “Nathan says the police are here for the meeting, and another car pulled in too.”
“Then you should go.”
He hesitated, then gave her cheek a quick lick before rushing into the back room and out the door.
Meg stood there trying to sort through it all as she recalled training images of men’s faces showing various expressions and emotions. Then she shook her head and opened the Private door to keep Nathan from fretting.
When she spotted The Dimwit’s Guide to Dating, which she’d left on the counter, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine a series of images that could fit.
Simon coming into the office, thinking about this meeting and having a strange human—Steve Ferryman—in the Courtyard. Simon seeing the book that she’d hidden until now because she didn’t want to explain that she was reading a book about humans dating humans in an effort to understand him. Simon now wondering about her interest in Steve Ferryman and Ferryman’s interest in her. And last, Meg and Simon having this odd conversation.
She had to be mistaken, had to be interpreting the past few minutes incorrectly. After all, this was Simon, who was a terra indigene Wolf.
But if he’d been human, she would have said he was jealous.