Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,185

Tolya pulled a yellow legal pad to the center of his desk and picked up a pen.

“Ah. Well. That might not be happening for some time.”

“Oh?” Tolya set the pen on the pad.

“You’ve got a problem, Mr. Sanguinati. The town has a problem. Nothing that can’t be sorted out, but some changes need to be made.”

“Oh?”

He wished he could get a sense of what this vampire was thinking. “People—humans—need a place to live.”

“Which is why we have allowed some humans to return to Bennett,” Tolya replied.

“And humans need to be governed by other humans,” Parlan said, watching the vampire. “We can get a little crazy when we start feeling like cattle in a pen.”

“But you are cattle in a pen, Mr. Blackstone,” Tolya said pleasantly. “Bennett may be a large pen without any visible fences, but it is still a pen that provides some shelter from the wild country. That is true of all towns in Thaisia. It’s even true of the cities. It has always been true. Humans who think otherwise are foolish or delusional.”

“We can’t view ourselves as prey animals,” Parlan replied sharply. “We aren’t prey animals to be slaughtered on a whim.”

Silence except for a clock ticking somewhere nearby.

“What did you come to tell me?” Tolya asked.

“Humans have been pushed out of so many places in the Midwest, there’s nowhere else for them to go. So they’re coming here. But they need to live in a human town governed by humans.” Parlan took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “I’ve talked to some of these men, listened to the citizens who are setting up homes and businesses. Something has to change, or things will get ugly. That’s why, Mr. Sanguinati, I and some like-minded men are going to challenge you and the other town leaders to a fight for dominance.”

Tolya blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“My former business associates must have been talking after they left Bennett about how humans could take control from the Sanguinati.” Parlan doubted the blowhards had remembered the comment, let alone said anything, but they were long gone, so he could claim they’d said whatever he wanted them to say. “And, somehow, men who have been coming into town lately are thinking that I’m going to be the next mayor, that humans will uphold human law in Bennett.”

“So the packs of men who have gathered in houses just beyond the town boundaries are here because they believe you can participate in a fight for dominance and win?” Tolya sat back in his chair. “That is … unfortunate. Quite regrettable.”

“What do you mean?” Parlan’s hands were cold. “You said …”

Tolya sat forward, his folded hands resting on the pen and legal pad. “My dear Mr. Blackstone, those men misunderstood.”

Cold, cold, cold. So cold his fingers almost couldn’t bend. “It sounded clear enough to me.”

“When I said a fight for dominance was the only way leadership would change, I meant between one group of terra indigene and another. Humans can’t challenge us for dominance.”

“Why not?”

Tolya gave him a sympathetic smile. “It can’t happen because the Elders allowed humans to return to Bennett and resettle the town on the condition that the town was under the control of leaders who were terra indigene. The day that is no longer true, the town will cease to exist. The train station will close because trains will not be allowed to reach the town. Nothing will come in—and nothing will go out. Nothing. Anyone living here will not be allowed to travel through the wild country. That is the Elders’ territory, and to them, you really are nothing but prey.”

So cold. So fucking cold. How had his luck changed so much and so fast?

A thought occurred to him—and rage warmed him just enough to consider how to get out of this mess.

He wouldn’t be able to save all the men who had gathered on the outskirts, but he might still save the clan.

“There’s no stopping it,” Parlan said regretfully. “There’s going to be a fight. But we can keep it to a display of strength, at which point I and my people will concede and withdraw our challenge.”

“In exchange for what?”

“For me and my family being allowed to remain and open our saloon and become citizens of Bennett.” Parlan leaned forward. “Look, I didn’t ask to represent this group of people, but I have enough of a reputation that I have some influence over them. If I and my delegation meet you and yours, and