I nodded, glad when they did too. “Fine, we’ll get a group for you that you’re in charge of just like your clans and tell us any you think need to go. We’ve not kicked any out yet, and they don’t seem to think we will, but we’ve also not had time to get into it as much.”
“I would say another two months here as long as the group isn’t too big, and we can give you some definitive answers who should go,” Lorenzo offered.
“Works for me.” I glanced around and realized Vitor was already starting with my plan since everything had to be loaded up. “You guys are taking fuel from boats, right?”
“Yes, and we’re going to tow ones in that we find that aren’t needed as the ocean and waters don’t need any more shipwrecked,” Lorenzo answered. “We’ll do what they did in Seattle and try to pull up abandoned traps. Hopefully, the older vamps can help with that, but we’ll make sure we’re doing things better than we used to as a whole.”
“Good. Eventually, we might have some humans for you too, and they can take the jobs we can’t do faster,” Jaxon added.
I frowned. “Don’t give them the shitty jobs just because they can’t move as fast. I mean, that’s not a good idea long-term unless we want a coup. They wouldn’t win, but that would make them want to if they’re treated like second-class citizens.”
“We’ll find a good balance,” Adam promised.
Good enough for me. I went with Kristoff to start putting together what they needed, Chris seeing it for the first time. His reaction was funny, but the betting pool on whether he would faint or not was even funnier.
For the record, he didn’t and people weren’t acting like humans were weak and would faint. No, everyone had a limit though, and once wondering if your lover was a werewolf was way different to the rabbit hole he’d jumped into.
The ghosts started, and I was whisked off to one of the radiation rooms that helped. When it was time to let out the energy, I fixed some of those motels in Albuquerque. Next round, I went to the port in St. Louis and checked out the electric buses, first fixing them before breaking one down so I knew what to do. Then it was to Texas as close to the settlement as we had energy beads ready from Vitor.
That was about the end of it as there hadn’t been that many ghosts given the levels I was used to. I was really, really thirsty though, which worried me.
“Your power grows. It’s nothing we can’t handle,” Jaxon promised. “You might need more hydration too, than a normal woman menstruating, and not just because of what you have planned.”
That made sense, and they certainly didn’t object to giving me blood.
And Darius didn’t leave like he had been. Well, he hadn’t been showing up, but he didn’t hide this time as I had fun with Jaxon and Cerdic. I met his gaze a few times, but looked away, unable to process the emotional roller coaster that was everything to do with him.
We had lunch, and by then, it was time to head back to Texas. We played the roles and brought the chopper there even if we’d just hopped from not far away. Two buses pulled up right after us and already a group was gathered.
“So you came back,” some guy greeted Chris with a snide look.
“I said I would,” Chris replied easily. “Six years of keeping my word and you thought this time I just wouldn’t? I haven’t done anything to deserve that doubt after running this settlement like others couldn’t.”
Namely this guy. Nice.
He didn’t wait for the guy to reply. “We struck a deal that they will help our elderly and those willing to take care of them as they have here. They have a few motels they got back online that will be quarantine as they’re as smart as we are and aren’t taking any risks.”
“That’s it?” the guy pushed. “That’s a crap deal if they have resources.”
“Well, we don’t owe you our resources,” I drawled.
“How very Christian of you,” he sneered.
“Well, I’m not Christian, so you just sound stupid now,” I threw right back. “And how very Christian of you to be so selfish. We have lots of people too, and my job is to keep them safe.”
“I’m sure you did the best you could, but I’m certain that will change,” he replied.
I sighed. “For the love of fuck. I’m not in charge because I was all they could come up with, you fuckhead. I’m the one who started it all and got the power on. I’m the reason we have what you don’t.” I glanced around. “Can a penis talk to him? He’s so stupid, boobs distract him from reality.”
Several people snorted and more than half behind the fences, which he didn’t like.
But he rallied. “The lord will show you the light and—”
“Yeah, so that’s the first of the rules of coming with us,” I purred. “No preaching. Your beliefs are your own, and as long as they don’t involve murder or bad stuff, we don’t care, so keep them to yourselves. We’re not putting up with that shit as a lot of us had to run from cults and all of that.”
“Oh? What’s bad stuff? Being gay?” he pushed, focused on Chris.
Dick.
“Um, no, you bigot,” I sighed. “Look, you want to turn this place into your Mecca or church of whatever, I don’t care. You do you, man. You and your followers can do whatever you want, but not everyone in there are your followers.”
“We don’t force anyone, and we’ve upheld the laws
