Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,187

have done this in some of the empty places the smaller shifters reclaimed, and we killed enough of them to drive them away.>

the female said.

Air understood now. The Elders who had gathered to thin the human herds were scattered again, hunting and moving within their territories as prey moved to feed. But here, in these hills, there were many Elders—more than enough to destroy this particular kind of human.

What had Tolya told the Blackstone man? Cattle in a pen. Yes. Knowing there were many Elders here, these humans who preyed on their own kind had been herded toward Bennett. Toward this one Elder in particular.

the terrible one said.

Air said.

It was settled, then—or as settled as anything could be when humans were involved. The Elders and Elementals would keep the human packs currently in the wild country from entering the fight, and Tolya would allow the Blackstone man to challenge and yield in order to prevent a fight that would kill the Wolfgard in Bennett.

As she rode back to Bennett to give Tolya the Elders’ decision and then meet with her kin, Air wondered if the Blackstone man would keep his word. And she wondered which human was going to break the rules and get them all killed.

* * *

* * *

Parlan searched his hotel room, then searched it again. During the third search, he finally found the slit in the mattress—and the black stone that had been placed inside.

Fucking bitch, trying to sour his luck with one of her fucking stones! But when had she slipped into his room? Or would he find a similar stone in other rooms at the hotel? Who else’s fortune had Abigail soured? Not the people who were looking to stay in Bennett. She wouldn’t need to play that con with them, not at first. But there were a limited number of rooms available for transient guests. Had the bitch put a dissonant stone in each of those rooms? If she had …

William and Wallace Parker. Sleight-of-Hand Slim. Durango Jones. They were all staying at the hotel.

Despite being an Intuit himself, Judd didn’t believe that gemstones could bring a person good fortune or sour a person’s luck. He didn’t believe Abigail’s claim to recognize which stone could alter a person’s fate. He’d always said she was playing a con within a con while doing her spiel with Lawry.

But Parlan believed there had to be something real about her ability—and that’s why he began to sweat as he studied the black stone now sitting on the bedside table.

Now he knew why his meetings with the vampire had been going sour. His bitch of a daughter had set him up to fail even before he arrived.

Parlan twitched when the phone rang. “Hello?”

“This is the front desk,” a female voice said. “Mr. Sanguinati would like to see you at your earliest convenience.”

“Thank you.” He hung up. A couple of minutes later, he left the hotel and walked to the building next door.

“I thought you were going to take advice,” Parlan said when he entered Tolya’s office.

Tolya smiled. “I did.”

“That was fast.” And made him wonder if the vampire had tried to play him.

“Sometimes it is.” Tolya stood in front of the desk. “Your proposal to challenge and then yield has been accepted. You and your delegation and I with mine will meet in the town square. Once the challenge is concluded, as long as no weapon is fired and no terra indigene are injured, you will be allowed to leave town by car or train.”

“We agreed I could take over one of the saloons,” Parlan protested.

“We did, but the Elders overruled that agreement,” Tolya said softly. “If you remain in Bennett, you will not survive very long. Your family will not survive.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No, that is a statement. Now I must go. I have other business to attend to this evening.”

Parlan