gender or her age. Before the Wolf could throw Jesse out of the room, Tolya said, “Sending it to Ferryman’s Landing would cause a delay.”
“No,” Jesse said.
He looked at Virgil.
She returned to the desk, shaken, her right hand clamped over her left wrist. “This is why I needed to be here today. This. Right now.”
“Then, speak.” And I will listen. He didn’t complete the words usually spoken to a blood prophet, but everyone in the room would have filled in what he hadn’t said.
“By the time anyone in the Northeast receives a copy of that drawing, Lakeside will be in turmoil,” Jesse said. “No one is going to be sitting at a desk waiting for an e-mail they don’t know is coming. They’ll be out trying to find Meg Corbyn, will be coordinating with the Lakeside police. And it would be cruel to show that picture to Meg’s loved ones.”
Would Vlad consider himself a loved one? Simon?
“We have to warn them,” Virgil growled.
“Yes, we do,” Jesse agreed. “That’s why you should send it to Steve Ferryman. Someone will be answering the phone at the mayor’s office.”
Tolya looked pointedly at his own phone, a reminder that his phone wasn’t always answered.
“It’s an Intuit village. Someone will be answering the phone during business hours. And they’ll have some kind of police force who can run the license plate just as easily as the police in Lakeside and get that part of the investigation moving. And Steve has contact with all the Intuit communities in the Northeast and can send out an alert. Another source of help, Tolya.”
“They’ll be one step removed,” Jana said. “That doesn’t mean they won’t be concerned, but they won’t be in the middle of the crisis.”
Tolya started to ask John his opinion, but the Wolf who had lived in the Lakeside Courtyard and had known Meg Corbyn looked too devastated to offer anything right now—which made him realize Jesse Walker was right. Someone had to bring this information to the Lakeside Courtyard in person.
“Suggestions?”
“Let Jesse Walker call the communications cabin that sends our messages to the Northeast,” Stazia Sanguinati said. “She is Intuit; so are the humans who work at that cabin. She will know what to say to them to convey the urgency of sending this picture to Ferryman’s Landing.”
He wasn’t sure that Jesse Walker could express herself better than he could, but he would allow her to make the call. “Anything else?”
“The trains should be stopped,” Nicolai said. “It’s unlikely that the enemy has had time to reach the border, but I think the trains should be held at the stations and searched.”
“The railroads will be reluctant to stop the trains without an explanation,” Jana said.
Nicolai smiled, showing his fangs. It wasn’t in any way a pleasant smile. “I will e-mail them and tell them the terra indigene are hunting a human enemy, and no train will be permitted to stop at the Bennett station until the enemy is found. Then each station will have a choice.”
“That message doesn’t tell them much,” Jana protested.
“It tells them everything,” Jesse replied, looking at Nicolai. “His name alone will tell the other station masters everything they need to know.”
Tolya gave Nicolai a nod. “Send your message.”
“Maybe it hasn’t happened yet,” Jana said. “Maybe we have time to stop it. Sometimes prophecies don’t happen because they were seen and people acted on the information. Right?”
“You can’t always act fast enough.” Jesse Walker met Tolya’s eyes. The grief and regret of what had happened to Joe Wolfgard and the rest of the Prairie Gold pack was still fresh for both of them. “Do you have Steve’s e-mail address?”
“Yes,” he said. “Make the phone call, Jesse Walker. Impress upon the humans working at the cabin that this message is more than urgent. It truly is a matter of life and death—for all of you.”
If we help, we won’t die. The words she had whispered such a short time ago seemed to echo in the room. He wondered if she argued to have Steve Ferryman involved in order to save the Intuits or if she had a feeling that involving the Intuits would make the difference in preventing the death that could become the trigger for so many more.
* * *
* * *
Jesse’s hands shook as she placed the call to the communications cabin.
“Hello?” A male voice filled with tension, like he’d already seen too much. Already knew too much.
“This is Jesse Walker. I’m calling on behalf of Tolya Sanguinati,