Whats going on between you and Faine? Im sorry for my bluntness. Mollys laugh told Helena she was no such thing. Hes going to be lumbering down here with Gage any minute and I want to hear all the details.
Helena hoped she wasnt blushing. Nothing really. I mean. She looked toward the door and, finding the hallway empty, she leaned closer to Molly and kept her voice down. He kissed me. A few times now. I like him. Hes ridiculously easy to look at, hes got fists the size of giant hams, his butt is spectacular and he doesnt try to do my job or treat me like a fragile flower. But, its just a kiss or three. We dont have a lot of time to make it anything else, and thats okay because he kisses pretty damned well.
I figured Tosh would make a move.
Youre the second person whos said that to me lately. He is a lovely man, handsome, powerful, he knows how to wear a suit and I bet he knows his way around a ladys business. But its not me hes into. Its Delilah. He gets a dreamy look on his face when hes looking at her and thinks no one notices. Hello. My job to notice things. Tosh really was cute, the way he crushed on Delilah.
Hes always looking at your boobs. I just figured . . .
Helena barked a laugh. Hes a dude, Molly. Plus, if I do say so myself, I have great boobs. But when Delilah talks he watches her mouth. He likes to touch her a lot and he finds any excuse he can to seek her opinion and to sit next to her. Boobs are one thinghe looks at yours too, though hes at least pretty wily and I figured no one noticed. But when a dude cant stop looking at a womans mouth thats a whole different level of interest.
Mollys eyes widened and she nodded. Oh my goddess, youre totally right! Ive noted that he seems to listen to her well and now that you mention it, he does look at her mouth. Ha! Im going to rub Gages face in this so much!
Helena laughed as she ate her bacon. He used to get that line between his brows every time you and Tosh would talk. And then hed be all, Oh, were just casual, its not a big deal about you.
Molly rolled her eyes. Lucky for him hes gotten past that point now.
He is lucky. Youre a good catch. You smooth him out when he gets ragged.
Thank you. Hes . . . well, I never expected him.
Helena figured thats how it always worked. Its always the ones you do expect who fuck you over. You have your listand I know you did, because were alike that wayso you get the guy who is 9 of 10 on that list and you feel so accomplished. And he turns out to be wrong for you in every way.
You lucked out. I mean, I dont know the whole story. But the broken engagement.
Helena liked Molly a great deal. They were alike in temperament, which helped just then when she decided to share.
He hit on my sister. He was a fool and so was I for never seeing it. He was so perfect on the outside. He had a great job. He drove a great car. He was handsome, but not too handsome. His family was a great family. He stood up when my mother came into a room. My judgment is flawed, clearly, because I didnt see past any of it to who he really was.
Molly waved that away. You were what? Twenty?
Twenty-three. Id known him for years. Hed made her feel pretty.
We all make mistakes. Im sure Lark made him sorry he hit on her, and you did the right thing by breaking up right away.
Im assuming you heard the whole story.
No, I mean, I knew he hit on Lark and she told you and you broke things off and things were tense between you two for a while. But thats really it.
Things werent tense because I blamed her. I would never, ever have believed shed betray me like that. He was mistaken in any attempt to claim that. I should thank him though because once he tried that it made it even easier to cart him to the curb and leave him there. He was a dick. Is a dick. I doubt hes changed. She chewed her bottom lip.
You dont have to say more. But if you want to, Im here. I like you, Helena. I consider you a friend and Id like you to confide in me, but I understand its hard.
My judgment is bad. Thats really it. Later, once he was gone and I looked back, I could see it all so clearly. All the stuff he did that was crappy. But I missed it during the relationship. Or maybe I ignored it. Either way? Helena shrugged. It was pretty obvious. I didnt care that he looked at other women. Hes a dude, they all do. Most of them just do it well enough that we dont notice too much.
Thats respect.
Exactly. I look too, for heavens sake. But my sister. My. Sister. Lark never in a million years would do that to me. No matter what. I never doubted that. It just, it sucked that hed try to betray me in any sense, but with the person I was closest to in the world. Hell, maybe I was jealous that he preferred her to me.
Molly sniffed. He did it to hurt you. He chose her because it would hurt you if you found out. Yes, Lark is lovely and I quite enjoy her. But he didnt hit on her because he preferred her; he hit on her because he could, because he liked the thrill of the potential to get caught. And, Id wager, he figured that even if she turned him down shed never tell because Lark didnt want to hurt you.
Helena paused, thinking that over. I guess I hadnt thought of it that way. She smiled, buttering her toast. He seriously misjudged her if that was the case. She gave him a black eye and then she dragged him, by the ear mind you, to me and told me what hed done. She was so outraged.
Hes clearly lucky to be walking without a permanent limp.
She smiled at Molly. He is.
Things are better now. Well, not like in the big picture, which seems to be full of bombings and shootings and that sort of thing. But Lark and I are close again. Ive missed that. Shes in Seattle though. But maybe . . . maybe its better that way. Maybe Lark needed to be in a place where she could make her own decisions, which were clearly better than Helenas choices anyway.
She misses you a great deal. And I know what you mean about things being better, some things anyway.
Gage.
Molly nodded. Yes. We had some rocky moments. But in the end, he comes to me. He accepts his feelings and hes at my side. Im glad to have that. Especially now when things seem so dark. But back to Faine. Things are moving in a good direction. I like that because hes a sweetheart and you deserve someone like him.
Well, dont go registering us at department stores or anything. Just a kiss. Things are way too busy for anything else, and to be totally honest with you, I dont know if Im cut out for a relationship.
Molly thought this was hilarious. Not a kiss. Kisses. Which is different. Also, hes not some twenty-four-year-old human. Lycians, like all alpha malesshe snortedthey dont play around like that. Hes four hundred. He and Simon, males like them, they know what they want and they will stop at nothing until it happens. Hes not smitten with you. Not only smitten anyway. He wants you. He watches you work and its clear he approves. I say ride that train because you need it.
Helena guffawed. Youre sort of dirty.
Molly winked. Dont tell anyone.
Ha. Itll be our secret.
Shortly after that they heard footsteps down the back stairs.
Thanks for listening.
Molly shrugged. I can say the same. Its what friends do. Also? Cant wait to see the looks on their faces as they realize weve been talking and they dont know about what.
My respect for you grows every time I see you. Helena winked and went back to her breakfast as Faine and Gage entered the room.
* * *
TOSH didnt see much more than Helenas back and Faine to her right. Big dude, and so not like any shifter hed ever seen. Then again, it wasnt like he had a huge amount of experience with shifters.
Speaking of . . .
He looked to his left and caught Delilahs profile. You all right?
The crowd all around them surged, but he trusted his people and Helenas magick to hold it all back. When things were tense like this, he could sense Delilahs otherness. The wildness in her eyes, just beneath her skin. It made him a little sweaty. In a good way.
But just then she was angry.
I dont spend ninety hours a week working for my constituents to have people call me names. Oh sure, were supposed to have thick skins, but how much deeper can these assholes dig, huh?
He wanted to brush the hair away from her forehead, wanted to ease her stress. God knew there was enough to go around just then. Raised voices buffeted them from all sides, though he was pleased to note it wasnt all negative. But Marlon knew how to pack a hearing room, hed been doing it for years, and stupid, fearful people were easily manipulated.
Helena held a hand up, bringing them all to a stop. So serious, his friend. All business as she spoke to the capitol police officer who was at the side door where theyd entered the room. He nodded and Faine went first, two other guards followed and then Helena waved them forward.
Remember the days when the worst thing about a hearing with Marlon Hayes was having to listen to his asshattery for an hour?
Delilah giggled a moment and touched his shoulder. Thanks for that. I needed the laugh.
They moved to their seats at the dais and Helena settled a few rows higher with several other aides and guards. Shed gone into some sort of watchfulness, still, seemingly calm and relaxed, but he knew better.
Funny how he doesnt need bodyguards. Tosh lifted his chin in Senator Hayes direction as the smarmy bastard glad-handed his way over. He shot a glare toward Molly, who was, this time, sitting on the panel with the rest of the experts.
If he keeps pushing this agenda, he will. Ive spoken with a lot of my people back home. Things are getting worse. If he pushes, hes going to get way more than he bargained for. They keep underestimating people they themselves refer to as monsters. Which is a tactical error of epic proportions. Delilah moved to her seat, just a row behind, and pulled her notes out.
It was and he knew it. The Others were done waiting around to be protected by their government and law enforcement. They were done being patient, and people like Marlon Hayes were too caught up in the power politics of appealing to the hateful fringe that they lost sight of what was really going on.
Toshio feared for everyone. For humans most of all, because they were afraid and he understood that fear. Understood, too, that witches like Molly Ryan were attempting to keep communication open between humans and Others to alleviate the fear.
Sadly, he also understood that it was humans like Hayes who were too eager to label that attempt at openness as some sort of manipulation. In the end, if humans didnt reject the hateful assurances of Marlon Hayes and PURITY that they only had to corral the Others and detain them, treat them like animals and the problem would disappearif they didnt see it for the lie it was, it would be to their detriment.
There was no way. The humans could pass all the laws they wanted, but if they tried to enact them . . . well, thered be open civil war with an enemy they could have easily kept as an ally. An enemy far more powerful than even hysteria pushers like Hayes could understand.
He blew out a breath and paid attention as the hearing was called to order.
* * *
HELENA kept an eye on the room as she listened to the hearing start up.
This bill isnt about harming the nonhumans, as theyve preached to you. This bill is about protecting natural-born Americans. Real Americans who are human. You saw what they did with their little speech threatening us all. This bill doesnt call to kill anyone. It will assure us all that these abominations are no longer allowed to live among us and hide their real agenda.
Real agenda? Goddess, Helena rarely lost her shit, but she found herself having to hold it together instead of walking over and popping this fool in the face. Shed been trying for months now to get the Others to remember not all humans were this way. But people like Hayes and PURITYs Carlo Powers were gaining traction, and that made it a lot harder to remember that.
It went on this way for some time longer until he finally shut up and it was Toshs turn.
Two generations ago, my grandfather served this country in World War Two. He did so while his family was being held in a camp. He did so despite the fact that his pregnant wife had been removed from their home and his business had been taken from him. My father was born in a relocation camp and my grandmother nearly died because of the lack of real medical facilities and care. All because his last name was Sato. Even after the war was over and my grandfather, whod been decorated twice, returned home, he had to spend the next several years getting his familys life back on track because the government refused to return his business and hed lost his home.
Hayes interrupted. You see? His family listened and did what the government told them to. Even served in the military like his kind should have to prove their loyalty. What makes any of you think youre better than that?
Sato interrupted, his face hard. Senator Hayes misses the point, so let me be clearer. My kind, my familys kind, is American. What happened to my family was wrong. It was a miscarriage of justice. It was not what this country should be. My grandfather was better than the people who harmed his family, yes, but the harm was done. People died. People lost everything and it did not make us safer. It did not make us better people. The Domestic Safety Act does not make us better Americans. It does not make us safer. It takes Americans and strips them of their rights. It depersonalizes them and puts them in camps. Some of the provisions in this bill bear a horrifying similarity to things done to the Jews during World War Two in Germany. Tracking chips. Camps. Restricted movements. Removal of property and redistribution to the government. How long before we put them on trains and steal their gold watches? This bill is wrong.