“I have them sometimes.”
“There are four currently operating in the Los Angeles metro area. But that’s not enough, obviously. We’ve connected with the Weres. Some of them have huge swaths of private land already. They’ve hooked up with some developers about turning some of that land into mini subdivisions that would include schools, retail, that sort of thing. Oh, and networking hubs so people can work remotely without having to leave to go in to offices. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start. It’s a boom business for developers now, which is a good thing to come out of the bad, I suppose. Rebecca is looking into buying three apartment buildings on the same block in San Diego. The Vampires have offered up some property as well.”
“Really? Well, that’s interesting.” The Vampires weren’t much for playing well with anyone else.
“Franco likes Lark. I think she drew blood at their first meeting.”
Helena laughed. “She did. I guess Simon nearly blew a gasket when she went into their nest and popped someone before they’d even gotten inside the front door.”
Faine groaned under his breath.
“So we’ve got a short-term solution for most of our people. There will be those who won’t want to leave their current homes.”
Helena nodded. “I know. It won’t be mandatory. But we can’t offer protection to everyone. It’s an option. People can take it or not. It’s not an option or a solution for every Other.” She accepted that. There was already one in Pasadena. A small subdivision had just finished the first houses. The developers were connected to the ones who created the one Faine lived in, so the new owners were all Others of one type or another. She had looked at a two-bedroom cottage-style that fit in quite nicely with the architecture in that part of the city. Maybe it was time to pull that trigger.
“Evan has been working to get a schedule up and in place to patrol each of these enclaves. The Gennessee wants you to get some law enforcement structure in place with courts and that sort of thing. If we’re stepping totally out of human law enforcement it’s going to be more complicated than what we’ve been doing so far.”
She’d already drawn up a preliminary plan the night before so she’d be sure to stop in to see Rebecca first thing and drop it off.
“I don’t see any way around it. I wish I did. If they’re not going to help us, we have to help ourselves, and that means building our own structure. Maybe I’m wrong.”
“Stop it now.” Her father’s voice was terse enough to snag her attention and make her turn to him, mouth open.
Faine leaned forward but she held her finger up to stay him.
“Stop what?”
“Now isn’t the time to second-guess yourself. You’re in charge for a reason, Helena, and it’s not because I’m your father. You’re not wrong. You’re doing what you need to to keep people safe in this new world. We can’t afford to sit around and wish things were different. They aren’t. You know that more than most anyone. You have seen things most of us haven’t. Your decisions are good and sound and you have to stop this ridiculous guilt tripping over Indio and you have to do it right now.”
Faine sat back as she thought of what to say.
“Chris Stevenson was one of their spies. He was one of my people and I had no idea he was betraying us. That’s not good decision making.”
“He is, yes. And he’s been questioned by me. He has a gambling problem. He owes a great deal of money in Las Vegas. The mages had been watching for just such a weakness and they sought him out. Once he’d helped them the first time, they used that against him. And then when the haven in Indio was taken they had him for good. No turning back when your actions cause the death of twenty-two people. He wasn’t evil. But his weakness is more than a flaw.” Her father shrugged. “This is more than a mistake. This is bone-deep selfishness that brought him to his knees and still he said nothing. Still he gambled and kept himself in debt and he continued to betray our people. That hasn’t got one thing to do with your decisions.”
“I should have known he had a gambling problem!”
“Do you remember two years ago when you suggested to Rebecca that all Clan employees have their financials checked routinely?”
She blew out a breath. “Yes. She said it was an invasion of privacy.”
“And if she’d allowed it, at least for the hunter corps and those with access to sensitive data, it would have caught all his debt. But she said no. You tried once more and she said no again. Give yourself some credit. You can’t doubt yourself. Not now of all times. I believe in you. Lark believes in you. Thousands of people are relying on you because they believe in you too. You will make mistakes. Hell, I made them too. More than you. I walk with a limp because I underestimated werewolves. You’re not omnipotent. But you’re damned good at this. Let yourself believe it.”
“ARE you still upset that I went to Lycia to see my brother and father without telling you?”
Helena gathered her things as she planned to head home for a few hours’ sleep, a hot meal and a shower. Probably not in that order.
Distracted, she looked up at Faine, who took up the entire doorway of her office. “What?”
“Are you still upset that I went to my father without telling you?” He took her weapons bag and she was tired enough to let him.
“I understand why you did it.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.” He tried to take her keys and she shot him a look, keeping them.
“What exactly is it you want to know? You don’t give a crap if I’m annoyed you went to Lycia without telling me. You would do it again in a heartbeat because you believe it was the right thing to do.”
The business part of the office was normally quiet, but not so much that night. Gennessee ran an array of successful businesses, including construction, which was getting a considerable bump now that they were moving forward with several enclaves for Others statewide. People pored over plans, talking on the phone, tapping away on keyboards in order to fast-track everything.
The hunter area of the office was also humming with activity. Her people looking at maps, giving orders, coming and going for their assignments.
“Helena.”
She paused at Nikola’s desk. “Yes?”
The hunter handed her a file. “We’ve assigned three teams each to the three existing enclaves. They’ll work in shifts of eight hours each.”
“No one alone. Every patrol needs to work in teams of two or more. Have you spoken with the Alpha of South Bay?” The werewolves had stepped up in a way she hadn’t figured they would. They were doing it, so she wasn’t going to complain about how it happened, only be grateful it had. She needed to send Cade Warden a fruit basket or something to thank him for lighting a fire over there.
“I did. There’ll be at least one Were on each team in the patrol. The cats are less organized out this way, but Gibson de La Vega tells me someone will be in touch to arrange to get their people trained with us.”
“All right. Good work. Keep me updated.”
Gennessee had a hunter squad made up of sixty-five witches in Southern California ranging from the Mexican border to Valencia. She also ran a central California squad made up of twenty-five that patrolled the central valley out to San Francisco. Owen and Gennessee ran a united squad from Weed up through Oregon.
Those squads went out every single night to patrol the land around the places Clan witches lived. Helena was changing that along with Lark. They needed to pull the patrols in, no longer so worried about rogue witches or wolves and now necessarily putting focus on protecting their people from rogue humans.
She moved toward the garage again, Faine at her side.
“I do care.”
“What?”
